As I returned towards Holmpton with the provisions a Little Egret (H.109) flew over the road and appeared to land in a nearby ditch. After dropping the provisions off I gave Gavin a text and returned to look for it. Gavin's text informed me that he was just passing the Sewage!
After parking up we walked North towards the ditch. No sign.
Luckily, there's a public footpath that runs along the ditch so we gave it a go. 5 minutes later we were both enjoying this...
A few minutes later we were looking at TWO.
Over the past few months Phil had seen a single bird in and around the Sewage but I'd succeeded in missing it. Pleased to catch up with this species on the last day of the year.
We then checked out a few local spots and ended up on the clifftop.
A message..."probably LITTLE BUSTARD 2mls SSW of Bridlington at Wilsthorpe then flew South"
The usual cynical jokes were (unfortunately) shared. Too much to drink, early New Year celebrations, late Turkey?
My youngest was arriving at 3(ish)...and the thought of a trip to Brid' never crossed my mind...although I did have the slightly unsettling thought about the sighting in East Suffolk? We didn't see anything of note and we'd reached our cars when...another message at 11.43...This time the slow drip...surely not?
"MEGA E.Yorks LITTLE BUSTARD 2mls SSW of Bridlington again in flight 11.07am 1 mile South Wilsthorpe + just south of Wilsthorpe Farm"
My Word!!!
I asked Gavin if he was up for it but he had plans. I had 4 hours and I was OFF...
After an initial Sat Nav issue which took me up a dead end, I arrived on site around 12.15 thanks to a call to RBA. I estimated around 50 birders present. Quite a few familiar faces were about. It was obvious the bird was present and showing in the chosen field...cue relief!
I was soon enjoying cracking views of this tremendous bird through Tony Dixon's 'scope. What a fantastic occurrence. I'm old enough to have seen the Lizard bird of Oct '96 but this in no way dilutes the moment...besides, it's a Yorkshire tick!
A wonderful end to 2014.
Happy (Bird-filled) New Year!
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