December 2009 - Lakeside: Stonechat

Monday 21st: Snow fell again yesterday on top of the snow that has already frozen. Finished work at lunchtime until New Year's Eve so what better way to spend the afternoon than visit the Lakeside in search of the elusive Siberian Chiffchaff.

It always seems a degree colder down by the water and today was no exception...it was FREEZING! Plenty of waterfowl about on the lake:Pochards, Coots, Canada Geese (of which there were many), Mallards, Tufted Ducks and 30+ Mute Swans. Below is a video taken with my camera of a family of Mute Swans; the cob and pen together with four cygnets. This appears to be the only Mute Swan family that is still together.







Well I tramped all over the snowy island and around the lake looking for the Chiffchaff but I guess it has departed the area. Well that's the name of the game, you win some...you loose some! But slogging through the snow, I came upon a rather flighty Stonechat as can be seen from the videos below. I followed it all over the island until it finally flew northwards, away from the lake. It's a pity I just had my camera to take video and not the camcorder.







On my way back to the car, I saw this female Reed Bunting feeding on tiny crumbs of bread dropped in the snow by people feeding the ducks. How it can see white bread crumbs on the snow is one of life's great mysteries.

December 2009 - Sparrowhawk terrorises House Sparrows

Thursday 3rd: From about lunchtime today until 4:10pm, the Sparrowhawk (I would think that this is the same individual that has visited the garden these past few occasions) resided in the garden, killing and eating two House Sparrows and preventing any bird from feeding at the feeders. It was only at around 2:30pm that she caught the first male House Sparrow. She did not kill the Sparrow before she began to pluck it. So some viewers may find the video footage upsetting. This is nature in the raw! The Sparrowhawk then caught a second Sparrow at about 3.45pm, just as it's geting dark. Again she didn't kill the Sparrow before plucking it! We've since trawled the internet and found that Sparrowhawks in common with some other small birds of prey, do not always kill their prey before plucking or eating it. Finally she departed the garden at about 4:10pm in the gloom of dusk.

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December 2009 - Sparrowhawk returns!

Saturday 5th: The Sparrowhawk came back for a return visit to the garden this morning. The raptor returned on three other occasions during the afternoon. While it was here, the bird would repeatedly fly down to the ground from its perch and try to catch a mouse. On its second visit a hapless mouse was caught and killed by the raptor. The first time we saw the Sparrowhawk was about 10:50am. In all probability it had made earlier visits but as we had a sleep-in, we don't know for sure. While it was here, as one would expect, the surrounding area was devoid of any other bird life but for a squirrel. At first the Squirrel was apprehensive but very quickly just ignored the Sparrowhawk. Though he was chancing his life by repeatedly getting close to the bird, he would get a monkey-nut and stroll past the Sparrowhawk and up a tree. I suspect that the Sparrowhawk would not unnecessarily attack the Squirrel unless he ventured too close and risk injury.

Blast from the past - Wren savages Caterpillar!

January 2008, Melanie saw a Wren bobbing about in the garden. Grabbing her video camera she hurriedly filmed the action in all its gory glory. This must be quite a rare event to witness, after all, Wrens can be very secretive birds. But if one makes your garden its territory then you could be witness to some incredible events such as this. Hard to believe that the humble Wren can be such a ruthless predator!

November 2009 - Correction: Pochard female at Lakeside.

Saturday 7th: What a difference a day makes! After a week of rain, today we awoke to a bright sunny morning. A trip down to the Lakeside was called for! But it was chilly and even colder down by the water, definitely coat and gloves weather! The usual suspects were there; Mute Swans circa 30+, Canada Geese patrolling in small family parties, maybe 50+, Mallards circa 40+, Tufted Ducks 20+, Black-headed Gulls circa 40+ along with a Little Grebe, a juvenile Great Crested Grebe (on it's own) and a solitary duck that I couldn't readily identify. Luckily I had taken photos and short videos. After checking with my Birdguides DVD and other sources I have now positively identified this as a female Ring-necked Duck.





As the two photos above show, there is a ring around it's eye. click on each image to see a larger version and one can just see the white band across the bill. The duck was in a group of Tufted Ducks, but the difference in shape and size is readily apparent when compared to a female Tufty. And of course, it has no tuft at the back of it's head! I saw no sign of a male Ring-necked Duck and would welcome any comments about this sighting. Below is a short video of the Pochard.
Correction: After a comment on www.youtube.com , Mel and I have identified this duck as a female Pochard.







The image below shows a pair of Canada Geese. One of these is seen "scolding" the other. This went on for some time without the other replying. They swam as a pair away with the "Scolding" still in progress but to a lesser extent. Is this a male asserting itself over a rival? Comment are welcomed.





I also noticed a Great Crested Grebe juvenile that was most definitely alone. It seemed in good health and large enough to survive. Do the adults cut them loose after a few months?



And of course, the Black-headed Gull. Always seen and most numerous on many lakes and fields.

November 2009 - Old Moor RSPB

Thursday 5th: It's been raining for most of the week but this morning the weather looked promising. John from Doncaster Astromonical Society, agreed to join me and we made the short drive to Old Moor. But of course the rain was never very far away and we were plagued by constant showers. This doesn't stop the birds though, they're made of hardier stuff! The Reserve has recently obtained some Highland Cattle to help keep the grass short. One of the beasts wandered over to the Hide that we were in and got close enough that I could see the eyelashes on it!

November 2009 - Treecreeper

Wednesday 4th: Went for a stroll around the local wood in the afternoon to check-out what was around. As luck would have it, the first bird I encountered was a Treecreeper. Now there's nothing uncommon about a Treecreeper in our local wood, in fact when it's a fine day, if you look and listen long enough, one will appear on a tree. The knack is finding the correct tree! I did have video of it climbing the back of the tree, but unfortunately it is no more. So these three images, which are stills taken from the video are all that is remain.

November 2009 - Starlings are back!

Tuesday 3rd: With the start of Autumn, the Starlings are visiting the garden again in increasing numbers. It must be some sort of inbuilt homing mechanism as they regularly alight onto the feeders and bath in the pond. The flock is getting larger, but it will never become as large as it was until a year ago. Then, huge numbers would roost in the large Conifers in my neighbours garden and use our garden as a canteen! Now that the Conifers are gone they must roost elsewhere...where, who knows. Often the flock is on the ground or on the feeders while one or two stand guard, scanning the sky for possible danger. And this danger is very real, in the form of a solitary Sparrowhawk that sees this garden as a good hunting ground, making a number of kills here, with three in the past month that we know about!

There's still a very healthy population of House Sparrows too. They out number the Starlings by 5 to 1 . A couple of weeks ago, we counted 108 House Sparrows in the garden. Many more are in the area. A Robin has taken up residence in the garden but we believe that it is either a youngster or possibly a foreign bird as it's very shy and only just starting to come down for mealworms. Not at all like the Robins that have made their homes here in recent years!

The male Blackbird that suffered a mauling back in early September has now fully grown his feathers back, but is unable to fly. He can flap his way up to the conifers to hide or roost and even flutter the length of the garden but his days of soaring across several gardens in search of food and providing for offspring are long gone. It is fairly safe here that's probably why he stays, the only hassle he gets is from another male Blackbird and its mate. In fact, the other week he flew upstairs and into the study...I say flew, more like fluttered according to Melanie who saw him do this. He didn't seem at all panicked as the other one did last month. In fact he spent a few minutes perched on the window ledge before fluttering over to the shelter of the Conifers!

This last weekend we have had visits from a Wren, which spent a lot of time poking about in the ivy and the undergrowth. A solitary Goldfinch, took a look at the feeders from a couple of vantage points and hopefully will pass the word onto his mates! A Great Tit spent some time flitting in and out of the garden along with a Blue Tit, who is more of a regular now.. Let's hope they come back soon!

Also we encountered a Harlequin Ladybird. A photo was duly taken and recorded with the
Harlequin Ladybird Survey.

October 2009 - Sandra's Bird Cafe!

Saturday 31st: An early morning start for me as I'd arranged to go over to view the exotic birds that visit her garden. Although Sandra's house is only 200 yards away, it is situated on a road lined with trees. Where you find mature trees you will also find a variety of song birds. The contrast between our garden which contains conifers but no trees lining the road - in fact the nearest trees being the wood some 500 yards distant - and the road where Sandra lives couldn't be more different! We tend to get House Sparrows, Starlings, Collard Doves and Wood Pigeons with the occasional Goldfinch or very rarely, Greenfinch while 200 yards away can be found more exotic birds such as Goldfinch, Greenfich, Chaffinch and Nuthatch. Crumpets (Pikelets!) and tea for breakfast... thanks Sandra. Will have to make another visit later this week to get some close-up shots. Below are the edited highlights from the video that I took through Sandra's kitchen window! Thanks Sandra!

Blast from the past - Hummingbird Hawk-Moth

14/10/2006, and we had a very unusual visitor to the garden! On this cold autumn day, a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth suddenly appeared from the wide blue sky! I was not there to see this fabled creature but Melanie was on hand with the video camera and captured this remarkable footage! What a strange and wonderful creature it is. Does this say something about so-called climate change, to see a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth this far north...in South Yorkshire! WOW!!!!

Ocober 2009 - Sprotbrough Flash YWT...again!

Saturday 3rd: Well...I got up early and was at the Flash for 9:15am, no sign of the Osprey. Speaking to some birders there, they told me that the last time it was seen was late last Thursday afternoon...typical! I was there last Thursday for a couple of hours in the afternoon, so it must've put in an appearance about an hour or so after I'd left for Denaby Ings! The talk was that it might have left the area for sunnier climes! So the world and his wife have seen the Osprey at Sprotbrough Flash...except ME!

Getting back home at lunchtime, Melanie tells me that "its all been happening here in the garden!" Just my luck, not only do I miss-out on the Osprey but I also miss-out with my own back yard! As can be seen from the photo and the short film that Melanie got, a female Sparrowhawk was playing peek-a-boo in the conifers with the resident House Sparrow population. This time she didn't make a kill. But last Thursday (again I miss-out), a feral Pigeon had a close encounter with her but got away!









So, while I was out, a male Blackbird flew into the house and as can be seen by the photo, flew upstairs! Eventually Mel managed to get it to exit via a window!



Also, the male Blackbird that had been mauled by something back in early September made another appearance in the garden. Two days in a row! He disappeared for several days and we feared the worst. But he is surviving, his feathers are gradually growing back as can be seen by comparing the two photos below. The top image is from today and the bottom image is from the 12th September when he first returned to the garden after the incident!

October 2009 - Sprotbrough Flash & Denaby Ings YWT, in search of Osprey!

Thursday 1st: Last Monday, I was told of an Osprey that had taken-up temporary residence at Sprotbrough Flash. This juvenile raptor apparently had been there since the 25th September. Checking the internet I found several stunning photos along with the dates and times it had been seen, unfortunately I am working during the day, so an afternoon off work was needed to eyeball the bird especially as the view would be reasonably close and not the usual several hundred yards distant that I had in 2007! This afternoon I made the short drive over to Sprotbrough! When I arrived at the Hide, I found only 4 birders. I was informed that the Osprey had been there in the morning buy flew away at 11:30am.........blast! Missed it by 90 minutes! Like all good birders, I decided to hang around in the hope that the bird would come back at some time in the afternoon and spent my time looking at the Gulls and ducks and chatting to the fellow birders. One showed me the photos that he had shot that morning of the Osprey...very impressive and the bird would be perched not too far away - if it came back! Well I stayed until 3:30pm and began to wonder if it hadn't gone down to Denaby Ings. My suspicions were aroused even more when someone told me that they had heard that it roosts at Denaby Ings. That was it, I had to go! It was still early and the bird wouldn't be roosting for another 4 hours.

Got to Denaby Ings and scanned the barren tree-tops and everywhere else I could think of but no Osprey! Plenty of Coots, Cormorants, Lapwings and various ducks though. To cap it all, I heard on the Saturday 3rd, when I revisited Sprotbrough Flash, the Osprey put in a short appearance at about 5:30pm!!!!!

Arriving at the Flash, I immediately made my way to the Hide that had the best vantage point for seeing the Osprey perched on a wood-pile in the water. A lovely sunny and warm day, my hopes were high but as with most things in this game; "some you win, some you loose". The Osprey had put in a good appearance in the morning but according to one of the guys at the Hide; "...it was gone by 11:30am and not been back since." Though this guy, Rob was his name, showed us some cracking photos of the Osprey taken with his Cannon DSLR and 600mm lens! We talked and I hung around just in case it returned. But all I saw were a couple of Cormorants, 4 Shovelers, Mallard, Black-headed Gulls, Mute Swans with six Signets and loads of Coots! So after nearly two hours I decided to cut-my-losses and head back home, calling in at Denaby Ings on the way. A couple I met said that they had heard that it roosted at Denaby. Well it was only 3pm, much too early but I'd call in anyway.

I'd not been to Denaby Ings since 2000 so this was a new area for me. I was expecting it to have changed. No it hadn't, a sizable lake with mostly Mallard, loads of Coot, some Lapwings, 11 Cormorants and several Wood Pigeons with plenty of Crows in the trees. I scanned almost everywhere and walked around the lake but no sign of Osprey!

On a different note; one of the male Blackbirds (Set-B), was seriously mauled two weeks ago by either a Cat or bird of prey. Some how he survived with his life though sustained a broken wing and severe feather loss. He did make his way back into our garden and stayed for a few days. Mel hand-fed him mealworms. He then disappeared, though I did see him a week last Tuesday on the street! Until today, nothing and then all of a sudden he pops back into our garden. Mel saw him this morning. Though he cannot fly...he runs like the wind! Let's hope he stays clear of trouble!

September 2009 - Potteric Carr NR, in search of Kingfisher!

Monday 28th: A pleasant sunny day so after work I drove across the road to PCNR in search of Kingfisher. Now I only had 2 hours of sunlight left but the Kingfisher had made one particular Hide area his own territory so the chances of getting a positive sighting were high. I had decided that I would stay in the Hide for the duration. Loads of Canada Geese, a family of Moorhens, Mallards, Chaffinches, a Robin, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper (highlight of the visit), various members of the Tit family, 5 Magpies, 2 Dunnocks, 6 Pheasants, a probable Sparrowhawk flying overhead and 4 Grey Squirrels not to mention a Water Rat....but no Kingfisher! Though a fellow birder did tell me that there was an Osprey at Sprotbrough Flash and that it had been there a few days. I would have to arrange time off work to go and see this elusive raptor.

September 2009: Newport Wetlands Centre RSPB

Friday 11th: Having driven back to South Wales from Cornwall last night, a few hours at another RSPB Reserve was on the itinerary. So this morning I drove over to the RSPB Wetlands Reserve situated outside Newport and on the Severn Estuary. A fine warm day in which I saw plenty of birds and wild fowl. What I liked about this Reserve was the paths that actually went through the reed bed. So giving an opportunity to catch a glimpse of reed Warblers, Bearded Tits etc. In fact a couple of weeks previously several Bearded Tits were spotted. But as is my luck, I saw none. What I did see was 4 Curlews on the mud-flats in the estuary, 92 Shelducks! Yes 92, I counted them! There were good numbers of Goldfinch and other small passerines. Newport Wetlands Center is a very smart reserve and next time I visit the area will go birding here again.

September 2009: Sea Swans & RSPB Marazion Marsh

Thursday 10th: While down in Cornwall visiting relatives, I took time-out and drove 30 minutes along the coast to Marazion, a small town lying in the shadow of Penzance. Marazion Marsh is a small reserve across the road from the beach. Getting there at 9:15am, the blue sky was bright with the Sun and contrasted wonderfully with the blue sea. Immediately I spied 2 Little Egrets, an adult Mute Swan with 2 juveniles close-by. The Reserve is mostly reed-beds surrounded by heath type ground. What is readily apparent is the great abundance of rabbits on this heath! I must've counted 20+ rabbits in one small area alone! Plenty of Jackdaws about and House Martins. I did also see a Buzzard through binoculars, but it was far off over farm land and was not circling my way. I had been told of a Hide deep within the reeds but time was limited and I wanted to get on the beach to check on the bird life there.

When I arrived at Marazion, the tide was in. Some waders were on the shore and small flocks of Wagtails, both Pied and Yellow dashed abouts. A local birder had mentioned to me that a Pectoral Sandpiper, Citrine Wagtail and a Corncrake were in the area. Well, I wouldn't know a Citrine from a Yellow Wagtail or a Pectoral from a Common Sandpiper and the Corncrake required some serious time amongst the reeds of the marsh! Time I didn't have!

Now the tide was moving out rapidly revealing the Causeway to St Michael's Mount. Intriguingly, a group of sea birds had gathered at a point where a fresh water stream trickled from the marsh, across the beach and into the sea. These sea birds - a mixture of various Gulls and Mute Swans - appeared to be drinking seawater! Swans on the sea! Yes...Sea Swans and really sailing on the sea. The pictures here are proof of that! It transpires that the Swans as with other birds (and Butterflies) swim, sail or fly from the island mount to the Marazion beach. Several Cormorants were also perched on the rocks and although I saw a group of Sandpipers, I need to examine the video footage of them to see if one or any was a Pectoral Sandpiper!

Visiting Truro, I stopped by Truro mud-flats as I had heard that many Bar-tailed Godwits descend on the flats. Unfortunately only Gulls were in residence at the time of my visit. Neil, apologies for not getting over to see you, time was very limited. Hopefully next year! Below are some images from Truro.

September 2009 - ONE GREENFINCH!!!!

Wednesday 2nd: At 4:40pm a male Greenfinch visited the garden and in particular a seed-feeder favoured by the hordes of House Sparrows that live in and around the garden. Yesterday a male Greenfinch also came into the garden to the seed-feeders at around 4pm. That too was a male and was exactly the same colour shade. Melanie saw both yesterday's and today's bird. The photo is of today's Greenfinch taken by Melanie. Are these one and the same bird or are they two different individuals? With just the one bird we both suspect that it is the same Greenfinch from yesterday. It may be that it is seeking out new feeding opportunities and will rally a flock in the near future. WE DO HOPE SO!! It's very rare to get Greenfinches in our garden! It's hard to imagine that two individuals would visit the garden alone on consecutive days. Why not come with others? Yes, it must be the same bird,let's see if it pays us a visit tomorrow!



The lone fledgling House Sparrow was around again today. When I got home, it was at the back door waiting for mealworms. It's not eating as many mealworms as a couple of days ago so hopefully it is ready to move on into the big wide world! The Sparrow also seems to be associating a bit more with other Sparrows. Spending time in a nearby lilac shrub with other youngsters.

August 2009 - Mels Moth

A very large Moth flew into the kitchen a couple of weeks ago. We've seen large moths like this before but as yet we've not been able to identify it. Well Melanie made up some sugared-water and fed it to the moth. It seemed to like the liquid and spent about 20 minutes drinking. These photos taken by Melanie show the moth and the extraordinary close-up reveals in detail how long a moths tongue is!

August 2009 - Lone House Sparrow

Sunday 30th: Today, and for a few days this week, a lone House Sparrow has been at the back door several times a day for mealworms. The Sparrow is a fledgling having not been out of the nest long, its beak is still yellow, but it always appears to be on its own even when there are plenty of other Sparrows around. It may be that its parents have cut it loose as they have younger chicks to manage, but this seems unlikely as it is rather late in the season. We usually measure the rate of chicks by the amount of Sparrows queuing for mealworms. This has dropped-off dramatically these past 2 weeks! I suspect that the young House Sparrow has either got itself lost or its parents have been predated. This seems the more likely as a Sparrowhawk has been seen on a daily basis and made numerous kills in our garden. This afternoon, the young Sparrow came into the kitchen wanting to be fed. It visits every hour or so and takes 3 or 4 mealworms and then flies away only to return about an hour later. It does tend to hang around by itself and is getting overly tame, to the extent that it occasionally will perch near Sunny our Canary who always has his cage hanging outside the back door. But more worryingly is that the bird spends alot of time in the open on the patio and an easy target for a predator.

August 2009 - Injured Collard Dove?

Tuesday 25th: Melanie took this photo of this strange-looking Collard Dove today. It had landed on the bird-table and was listening intently to all the noises around it. It let my wife get very close to take these photos. It appears that the Dove has one eye missing. What would've caused this? Possibly the bird was hatched with one eye missing, but unlikely as it is doubtful as to whether it would have survived. Maybe it had been attacked at sometime in the past? Or maybe the Dove has an infection that has become malignant? Looking closely at the photos, there appears to be some kind of growth underneath the skin on the neck. We assume that it only had one eye missing, my wife didn't get a clear look at the left side of its head. How else would it have got to the bird table if it was totally blind. It did fly off when Melanie approached too closely!

While on my lunch break today at Work, I had a splendid view of a male Kestrel perched atop a small building. It spent about 30 mins there, occasionally swooping down to the ground. Typically, I get a good view but no camera to hand!

August 2009 - Peacock butterflies in the garden.

Saturday 8th: Being a sunny and warm day, the flowers attracted the Butterflies and other insects into the garden. Two Peacock Butterflies were spending a lot of time fluttering over the Buddleia. This type of Butterfly must be one of the prettiest of all Butterflies. They seem to be fairly common as I myself have seen several at various locations this Summer! Another type is a common visitor to the garden, the Large White. Hoverflies are also attracted by the Lily and there are quite a few of them.


Until the 5th of this month, a couple of Fledgling Wood Pigeons had been visiting the garden on a regular basis. We think they were both related in that they came from the same nest. Whenever we saw one, the other was close at hand. So it was with sadness that we found the remains of one of them in the garden. We suspect that a Sparrowhawk was the culprit. The other young Wood Pigeon visited the garden a few times afterwards (I'm writing this on the 30th) but has not been seen for a few days now.

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July 2009 - Great Crested Grebes and chicks

Saturday 18th: The Great Crested Grebe pair that had been coming back to the same location for the past 5 years, have successfully hatched two chicks. The female is still sitting on, maybe 3 eggs, or so I have been told.


The pair look very confident and assured with each other. Watching them for half an hour or so, I could see and hear the two adults communicating with each other as they fed the two chicks, hidden amongst the feathers of Mum's back.


This video below is quite long, at 4mins. It shows the male taking time-out to preen himself after taking care of his parental duties. What you don't see (out of shot,top left) is a small group of Canada Geese drawing closer to the female on the nest. The male does make a leisurely drift back while still preening himself. As he gets nearer to the nest, the Geese turn around and swim the other way.

We haven't come across many Dragonflies in the garden this year but in the space of 3 weeks we've found 4 empty Dragonfly larvae cases well away from the pond, as shown below. It looks quite menacing and I'm sure for any aquatic animal it would be a monster. Below is a photo I took showing the size of the larvae. At the top of the head, if you look closely, you can see where the Dragonfly emerged. A few days later, I came across this Dragonfly in the garden. It was sunbathing on the bird table perch. I managed to get very close to it too! A few days ago a moth flew into the living room and clung to the ceiling. Now this was such a unusually marked moth and one I had never seen before that a photo was called for. It is indeed called a "Magpie Moth" for obvious reasons.

June 2009 - Sparrowhawk kill.

Monday 29th:this morning at 9:45am a female Sparrowhawk attacked and killed a House Sparrow in our garden. My wife captured this short footage on my Finepix S5700 camera of the Sparrowhawk plucking its prey in the garden next door. Just out of shot is a female Blackbird voicing a loud disapproval but mostly because she has a couple of chicks in a nest nearby.

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JUNE 2009 - Acrobatic Squirrel!!

Wednesday 17th, this morning Melanie captured these videos of a couple of Squirrels performing acrobatics to get a morsel or two of bird food. We quite often get visits in the garden by one or two Squirrels and the birds don't seem to be too worried by this, though they do keep a respectable distance.





Tonight at about 9:10pm we had a visit from a couple of Black-headed Gulls! To my knowledge this has not happened before. Oh..we get Black-headed Gulls on the school playing-fields close-by, but we have never had any land on our house roof! The quiet of this Summers' evening was shattered by a loud squawking. At first we were at a loss as to what it was. We looked through the back windows, then the front windows, but could see nothing. I dashed outside into the back garden (minus camera) a saw this pair - a mating pair of Black-headed Gulls stood on the ridge tiles squawking their heads off and presumably eyeing-up the fish in the pond! On seeing me they flew off still squawking. Does this mean that they will come back at some point in time to take advantage of an easy meal? Who knows? But in my experience, when a bird has made a mental note of where there is easy food, they invariably make a return visit!

June 2009 - Bempton Cliffs revisited - PUFFINS!

Tuesday 2nd, only 11 Puffins! Yes I took advantage of what the weatherman said was going to be; "the last of the hot sunny days", and went back to RSPB Bempton Cliffs as I had heard that some of these magical birds had returned in May.