indie birder: Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire

Thursday, 25 February 2016

Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire - February 2016

A few photos from a pleasant four days in Robin Hood's Bay on the North Yorkshire coast during half-term last week.

Robin Hood's Bay - Saturday 13th February 2016

Amongst the birding highlights was a second-winter Little Gull in bay on Saturday morning, 13th February. There was a colony of maybe 30+ Tree Sparrows at Stoupe Brow Cottage Farm, we noticed during a walk along the cliffs south towards Ravenscar.

I didn't managed a usable shot of either, on a walk along the cliffs to Whitby with the kids, I managed a few decent photos of a fantastic male Common Stonechat.

Common Stonechat, Whitby, North Yorkshire - Sunday 14th February 2016

I didn't see a single Turnstone over the four days in the bay, which was a total surprise. I didn't exactly scour the place for them (we spent most of our time looking - pretty successfully - for fossils), but to see none here in February was unusual. Plenty of Oystercatchers though - absolutely loads of them - plus a few Curlew and Redshank.

Oystercatcher, Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire - Monday 15th February 2016

The cliffs along this coast are great for Fulmar all year round, and walks along the cliff tops can get you get views of them in flight and on tucked in on cliff ledges.

Fulmar, Whitby, North Yorkshire - Sunday 14th February 2016

The Mediterranean Gulls at Holbeck car park in Scarbough put in a good show when we called in on the way home on Tuesday. At least five birds present with the Black-headed Gulls. Two of the Med Gulls were ringed (PNN5: right leg, red ring, white lettering; ?LAN: right leg, white ring, black lettering). I'll update this post with details when I get some back from Euring.

Mediterranean Gulls, Scarborough, North Yorkshire - Tuesday 16th February 2016

Herring Gulls, Whitby, North Yorkshire - Monday 14th February 2016

I tried some seawatching on a couple of mornings, while the tide was in. But the weather on every day was far worse first thing than later in the day, and I was beaten by the conditions. Great Black-backed Gull and Herring Gulls, Fulmars and Shags were the only birds in view.

Not great visibility for sea-watching...

As with all family holidays, it wasn't all about the birds. We had a successful time fossil hunting, finding belemnites, amonites, bivalves and others among the landslips.