Sunday 2 January 2011

A Day at the Seaside - Scarborough 2nd January 2011

It's become a bit of a family tradition to have a day at the seaside in the early new year and so this year we decided to visit Scarborough for the day.

Scarborough Harbour

When we arrived it was just 1 degree celsius, a chill wind was blowing and it had just begun to rain! However, being the "hardcore birders" that we are we did a quick circuit of the harbour to locate the juvenile Iceland Gull and Great Northern Diver that had been reported on Birdguides. I'm very glad we did, because both birds were still there and we managed to see them both before the rain got harder and began to turn to sleet!

After a spot of lunch in the local pizzeria, the sleet had gone and the sun had come out (well nearly!) Another circuit of the harbour and a quick scan over the south bay added Great-crested Grebe, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull and Great Black-backed Gull to the day's list.

                                                                     Great Black-backed Gull

A quick walk on the pier saw us surrounded by a group of approximately 30/40 Turnstones and, as a lovely surprise, 2 winter plumaged Sanderling, all the way from Arctic Canada!!!

Turnstones feeding on discarded bread

Sanderling feeding behind a fenced off area, not in jail!!

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