HB in-off

With a large high pressure system holding firm over Scandinavia and strong easterly winds blowing across the North Sea it was inevitable that birds were due to arrive but first they had to battle through an almost stationary occluded front just off the coastline of eastern England - this brought 9 hours of non-stop rain on 12/9 and grounded lots of birds. The next day saw the start of a major invasion and onward movement of Honey Buzzards and Ospreys drifted over the North Sea and away from their usual migration route South through coastal Sweden.

I had great views of a bird found by Phil Cunningham, which swept in at cliff top level below the lighthouse at Flamborough. I then spent a considerable period of time on the morning of 14/9 watching from the trig point at Buckton to bag the Honey-mummy.

In the spirit of inter-county cooperation, a co-ordinated watch took place linking Filey, Reighton, Speeton , Buckton, Bempton and Flamborough with observers in visual and radio contact with each other, the result - eight birds were seen. My contribution was the juvenile bird above which lolloped in off the sea and along the cliffs. The second patch tick, a Shoveler found by Dave Waudby - the first record since August 1st 1979 !