Minibus outing to the Wykeham Raptor Viewpoint and RSPB Bempton.
What could possibly go wrong? Knowing that raptors don’t like flying when it rains however didn’t dampen our spirits and we carried on in hope rather than expectation, and had a total bird count of 61! There was definitely no chance of raptors at the Viewpoint, when we got there it was far too wet and the cloud base was very low over the North York Moors beyond. A walk along the forestry fringe had to suffice for alternative sources of entertainment. The conifer nurseries provide excellent habitat for Skylarks which were in abundance, Thrushes and Lapwings too. Sadly as there has been a nationwide crash of Turtle Dove population they are so very hard to see or hear in Wykeham these days and apart from a very distant glimpse of a dove sp we drew a blank. Anyone who hadn’t been on a fine day could be forgiven for thinking why is the Raptor Viewpoint is so named, but on a good day the views are fantastic and given a slight breeze the raptors, including Honey Buzzard, Common Buzzard and Goshawk will soar over the ridge giving an amazing day’s raptor watching.
Onward to Bempton and hopes of us arriving before the rain. Well, we did and for half an hour had stunning views of Barn Owl, Gannets, Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Shag. But the inevitable happened and we retreated back to the new visitor centre at Bempton to dry off!
Thinking hides at Filey Dams may be our salvation we persuaded the driver to divert back there for a final fling. Jason our named driver was, as ever, very tolerant of 15 slightly soggy birders and was amenable throughout. By the time we got to Filey the wind was up and the rain was really lashing down. As a new habitat for the day we ran for the hide and added Little Grebe to our list, but then headed home to dry out properly.
Many thanks to June for her leadership on a challenging day.
Sue Coldwell