Light winds, sunny intervals and a high of 16 degrees C – benign conditions that didn’t raise expectation. However, it is October when the headland’s birding can deliver in spades …
… when news broke that a juvenile White-throated Needletail had been photographed at Tophill Low at 1450hrs several locals headed south-west, whereas others wondered if the pull of the local cliffs would prove enticing. Cue pandemonium, when another alert confirmed that the latter was indeed the case – the Needletail flew along the cliffs at Bempton at 1702hrs. Thankfully, it was soon relocated and continued to show fantastically well until 1830hrs when it drifted east; it was thought to have roosted somewhere near Staple Nook.
In other news, 11 Whooper Swans included a lone bird still at Thornwick Pools. Passerine interest included two Cetti’s Warblers at Thornwick, 34 Chiffchaff, the long-staying Barred Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler at South Landing, 27 Redwing, seven Wheatear, 17 Lesser Redpoll, a Brambling, eight Siskin and four Crossbills.
