Shrike-y mate!

Its exam season.  The final exam season.

The last Becher's Brook size hurdle of my 3 years at university before I find myself spat out into the big wide world and wait for life to smack me round the face. The exams should go OK. That is, all except one.

 Like an academic Leviathan rising out of the exam timetable froth, formed from the most difficult to remember biological processes comes "Animal Developmental Biology", which I sat today. Well when I say "sat" it felt more like I was spending the entire time drowning in a sea of over complicated gene names and desperately fighting against being dragged down by an undercurrent of biological jargon. "Don't let go Jack"? By the end I was ready to take a lung full and let the exam markers have a feeding frenzy over my soul.

I don't get bothered by exams, as you can tell, but this one really was a nightmare and a one way ticket to Failsville. I needed to cheer myself up.

The day before I had seen through Twitter that there were reports of 5 Bee Eaters being seen in Flamborough, and I half had the mind to abandon my revision right then to go off to see them. I thought better of it in the end though and decided that it might just be the perfect cure for a bout of post exam trauma. They ticked all my twitchable bird boxes; 1. Not too far - only about an hour and a half drive from Leeds, and 2. They are absolute little stunners. Plus they are very rarely recorded this far north and particularly not in these numbers.

So today, at 12 midday, I set off to Flamborough. Flamborough and the surrounding area has been a favourite holiday spot of my family for years so it didn't take much time at all to locate where the Bee Eaters had been seen. It was made all the easier by 3 birders standing aimlessly by the side of the road looking wistfully along telegraph wires. The news was as I feared, no sightings since half 11 that morning (it was now about 2ish) and some people had even reported seeing them high up flying out to sea.

This was turning into my first unsuccessful long range (for me) twitch but the sun was shining and there was plenty else to see. Especially when one of the birders told me of a site five minutes down the road where a Red Backed Shrike had been since the day before and showing brilliantly. Sure enough, after being there for only a couple of minutes, it popped up onto a willow where it stayed for five minutes before disappearing off into a thicket from which no one could locate it.

The sun shining on North Landing. Enough to brighten anybodies mood

I had been hoping to get some photos digiscoped from my phone so hung around for about an hour and managed to see a nice Roe Deer as well as talk to a couple of birders. That's the thing about birdwatching, you can easily pass an hour talking to someone you've never met before. There's something very special in that.

My patience was rewarded after I decided to have a walk up to the direction that it was last seen (no one was checking that area so some reason) and it popped up into view where it stayed for a good 15 minutes where I managed to get some decent record shots.

For those that read this blog looking for directions to the site; the small reserve is located on North Marine Road on the road down to North Landing in Flamborough. Its the left turn dead before the Viking Pub signposted Thornwick Bay Caves and Bird Sanctuary. Good luck!

From there I headed to Bempton Cliffs, one of my favourite places in the world, to see the sea bird colony. I got good views of all the regulars; Puffin, Gannet, Razorbill, Fulmar, Guillemot and Kittiwake.

Razorbills - one of my favourites. They look so smart!

Colony of Guillemots enjoying the evening sun

The view down the cliffs

 It was about 5 when I decided to start making my way back and on the way up to the visitor centre was where I got my best wildlife encounter of the day. From the ground to my left a large white bird rose and started flying across the sky with laborious wing beats. My first instinct was a Little Egret, but as soon as I got my binoculars on it there was no mistaking it; a gorgeous Barn Owl. It its talons it clutched some prey it must have hunted in the fields as it slowly floated into the distant haze.

There was only one way to end such an amazing day; fish and chips. Which I duly demolished with haste.

What started out as a pretty terrible day had turned into one of the most enjoyable days I think I've ever had. Just goes to show that you should always get out there, you never know what's waiting for you!