Waxwings

Waxwings

23/11/2012

Taylors Way, Eastfield, Scarborough

 

Many thanks to Adrian Ewart for the text saying there were Waxwings about at Eastfield, Scarborough last Friday. Luckily I had a local site meeting and was able to get to see them for about 1/2 and hour at lunch time before rushing back to work.


These bird are fantastic to watch, with the waxwing is a winter visitor to the UK and can really only be seen between October and March to feed on berries, particularly rowan and hawthorn, but also cotoneaster and rose.

It is just smaller than a starling with a prominent crest, generally a reddish-brown with a black throat and black mask round its eye, along yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail.



 

 

Wigeons

 

Eurasian Wigeons

Scalby Mills, Scarborough

18/11/2012

Visit to Scalby Mills, Scarborough on a beautiful bright sunny Sunday morning, saw a large number of Wigeon feeding at near high tide level, at least 100 number in total.

The wigeon is a medium-sized duck. Though the birds do breed in Scotland, many birds visit the UK in winter, from Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia.

 

 Male (front) and female (rear)

 

Male (rear) and female (front)

 

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

10/11/2012

Scarborough Harbour

Just a few photographs of an infrequent visitor to the Yorkshire Coast a juvenile Glaucous Gull, which comes from as far a field as Iceland and the Northern parts of Norway. It apparently came into the harbour aboard a fishing boat.

Indeed the gull did like fishing boats of all sizes, it could not be located for the first hour or so in the morning and then came in to the harbour sat on a small cobble and then disappeared only again to appear on the front of another small fishing boat.

Also attached is a photo of a couple of juvenile Herring Gulls which were fighting over a stolen fish and a Red Throated Diver just of the Lighthouse Pier found while looking for the Glaucous Gull.

Though no photograph also seen was a very late razor bill again off the Lighthouse Pier

Juvenile Glaucous Gull

 

 

Juvenile Herring Gulls

 



 

Red Throated Diver

 



 



Buzzard Mobbed by Jackdaws

Buzzard Mobbed by Jackdaws

11/11/2012

Scarborough Harbour

While in search of the visiting Glaucous Gull to Scarborough Harbour this morning, which was a beautiful autumn sunny morning,  I was lucky enough to see a Buzzard come from the south side of the Castle, fly over the harbour /lighthouse and leave heading over the south bay quickly to the Holbeck area, all while being violently mobbed and chased by a large group of Jackdaws (10 to 12 in number).

A great sight and made up for not having a good view of the Glaucous Gull which I am sure I did see flying at one point around the Luna Park just before 9.30 / 9.45 am, but did see well on Saturday morning.

Arran Adventure Red Deer

Arran Adventure Red Deer

28/10/2012

29/10/2012

In and around Lochranza

One day I will go to the Isle of Arran and have wonderful bright sunshine to take photographs of wildlife in, but in the mean time I will persist and show pictures taken in leaden skies, drizzle and downright rain, of the resident Red Deer in and around Lochranza and hope for better weather the next time

Grey Seals (All ages and pups)

Grey Seals (All ages and pups)

02/11/2012

Ravenscar, Scarborough

Another quick visit to a place I love, the rocks below Ravenscar, near Scarborough.

After a sunny start the weather was quite dull so the photographs are probably not as good as my previous visits, but the seal life was outstanding, with many many new pups, probably 2 to 3 weeks old dotted about the shale beach and rocks, with an overall head count of old and new seals around 100.

Note and be warned, that the walk down the cliff from the National Trust Centre, near the entrance to Raven Hall Hotel is getting very slippery indeed, due to the weather conditions and is not very safe in places, though is accessible with care.