Tour

Reg came up, so took him on a bit of a tour of the area.
Started at Hes East, where the pair of Wood Sands were showing along with a Green Sand and a Redshank. On to Castle Howard, no sign of any Lesser peckers, but a couple of Nuthatches were some compensation. Nothing of note on the lake. On to a wood in the north of the area, where we had a single male Redstart and four Tree Pipits singing. On to Farndale, where we saw about a dozen more Redstarts, a pair of Pied Flys and a Dipper, before climbing out over Blakey Ridge for Golden Plovers and Red Grouse. Reg was desperate for seabirds and Tree Spugs, so we headed seawards to revel in the guano-stench and cacophony of bird sounds emanating from Bempton Cliffs. Reg immersed himself in Tree Sparrows before strolling down with the hordes to check out the cliffs. Stonking Razorbills were again the stars for me, though a big gathering of Gannets ripping turf off the top of the cliffs for nesting material was good to watch, showering the auks below with soil and stones.