The planned itinerary for today was to hit three species, one a butterfly species (Marbled White, easy but nice), two a dragonfly species (Black tailed Skimmer, for the Yorkshire list and decent photos), and three a bird (Black browed Albatross, lifer).
Started at Kiplingcotes CP on the way thru to the coast to find Marbled White Butterflies, been here the previous year so I knew the layout. Marbled White were everywhere number one in the bag, I enjoyed a good 90mins here picking up other things on the wing namely, Brimstone, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Green veined White, Large Skipper, Large White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath, Small Skipper and Small Tortoiseshell (12 species of Butterfly). I found only one moth species, that being a Six spot Burnet Moth. Bird species I noted were Crow, Chaffinch, Woodpigeon, Wren and Yellowhammer.
I was then off to my next stop with the butterfly species under the belt it was now the turn of the Dragonfly. Seamer Tip Pools near to Scarborough was to be the hunting ground, a place I haven’t had the pleasure of, by all accounts a good site for various Dragonfly species. On arrival I started off around the small pool and was struggling to find the target species, I had picked up Brown Hawker, Four Spotted Chaser, Common Darter and Ruddy Darter along with various Damselfly species (Azure, Common Blue, Blue tailed). I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to find this next target species, when all of a sudden I caught sight of a blue body low over the water, was it a Broad Bodied Chaser? no it wasn’t this defiantly had a black tip to the body. I watched it settle out of sight, so I made my way over slowly and found it settled on the ground, a Male Black tailed Skimmer, that will do nicely. I stayed with it for about 20mins watching it, flying off and settling back to the same place, a great opportunity on which I ended up taking plenty of photos.
After this great encounter I decided on looking around the larger pool where I found quite a few Black tailed Skimmers, mainly lining the pathways, there was also a few Damselfly species, mainly ones I had seen around the small pool.
So two target species in the bag now for number three which was to be out at Bempton Cliffs, this one could be difficult Black browed Albatross (BBA) here I come. On arrival at Bempton I quickly checked out the notice board the BBA hadn’t been seen since 12:45, it was now 16:00 hrs.. blast. Anyway I gave it a good 2 1\2 hrs but the BBA didn’t show but there plenty of seabirds to see and take photos of these being Gannets, Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots, Herring Gulls, Kittiwake, Linnet, Tree Sparrow to name a few.
My day was over it ended with seeing lots of nature but alas only two of the three targets species being seen, until next time.
Butterfly Species :- Brimstone, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Green veined White, Large Skipper, Large White, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath, Small Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, (12)
Dragonflies :- Azure Damselfly, Black tailed Skimmer, Blue tailed Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Common Blue Damselfly, Common Darter, Four Spotted Chaser, Ruddy Darter (8)
Birds :- Crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Linnet, Mallard, Puffin, Razorbill, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Swallow, Swift, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer (22)
Video of the Day can be seen HERE
Click on Images to make Large
Huddsbirder 