Red necked grebe

 

Sunshine and showers at Filey this afternoon and very blustery as I walked along the cliff top.

I was hoping to see a red necked grebe but it was too windy for me to use my scope. Guillemots and razorbills on the cliff ledges and gannets out  at sea. A cormorant surfaced near the end of the Brigg with a large fish and 3 great blacked gulls soon started to attack it. I then decided to drive down to the sea front to see if I could see the bird. I joined another birder on the Cobble landing and we both scanned the sea. I managed to see something a fair distance away, so walked back to my car and got my scope. I then started to look for the bird I had seen a few minutes ago. Nick Addey, "Long Nab Birder" joined us and all three of us scanned the sea looking for the grebe. The other chap left and tried his luck a bit further down the beach. I found a bird and asked Nick to look through my scope, but the bird had dived. The other chap returned but a few minutes later decided to go home. Nick and I continued to scan the sea and after a few minutes Nick found the bird. He allowed me to look at it through his scope and then I was able to find the bird in my scope. Red necked grebe, year tick 122. The tide was going out and the bird was slowly drifting further away. I thanked Nick for finding the bird and drove to Filey Dams where I spent an hour before coming home.

No sunshine at the Dams just rain. No sign of any small birds and most of the ducks were sheltering from the wind and rain. In a field close to the reserve, I could see canada geese, oystercatchers and curlews.

A pleasant afternoons birding. More reports of a waxwing some 500 yards from my house, so that is my challenge for tomorrow.