Trip reports

Day Trip to Filey and Scarborough in North Yorkshire

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

The weather outlook was doubtful as we drove through showers to the north Yorkshire coast, but these soon cleared and we arrived at a dry if somewhat blustery Filey Brig where a flock of starlings interspersed with oystercatchers was close to the car park.
From the cliff top several species of wader were visible below but the strong winds made using binoculars and scopes difficult, so a walk down the zigzag pathway to the beach was worth the effort as we had lovely close ups of purple sandpiper, turnstone, redshank, dunlin and oystercatcher. A grey phalarope was an added bonus for those who made it to the rocky tip of the Brig.
Sheltered from the wind and with the sun shining it was hard to believe it was late November as we dodged the rock pools on our way back to the coach. A lone grey wagtail was spotted flitting along the top of the cliff adding to our list.
After lunch we made our way to Filey Dams, a nature reserve with ponds, grass and wetland with two viewing hides. Birds seen on the water included teal, mallard, mute swan and a good number of wigeon, but a common snipe very close to the hide was the highlight for me.
A short walk through a wooded area on the edge of the reserve was fairly non-productive, but after boarding the coach, a small area close to the car park and a garden with feeders was suddenly alive with birds - dozens of tree sparrows, chaffinch, gold and greenfinch, blue great and long tailed tits, robin, wren and great spotted woodpecker amongst others. One of those magical moments.
We finished our day on Scarborough seafront where purple sandpipers are known to roost on the sea wall. Unfortunately none were about, probably due to the bad weather. Sand and seaweed strewn across the road showed how ferocious it had been. A red -throated diver in the harbour was our only bird of interest before leaving for home.