East Yorkshire - Pale-legged leaf warbler

29th September - 1st October

Stunning landscapes and incredible birding. Over the years the East Yorkshire coastline has delivered high quality. This time it was the pale-legged leaf warbler that drew the crowds. Seen well but briefly on a number of occasions, it was time to get out and see what else was lurking.

The first day was dominated by the far eastern phyllosc as Bempton Cliffs RSPB. With many visiting on the Saturday, there was still a decent crowd on Sunday, all behaving impeccably ensuring all got to see this extraordinary vagrant. The leaf warbler was also heard calling on a regular basis. At least one yellow-browed warbler was present there.

Leaving the throng, a visit to Holmes Cut yielded two red-breasted flycatcher and only my second UK Icterine warbler that uncharacteristically paused for a few minutes within a sycamore adjacent to the ditch. The photo attempt was taken through a fence.

Buoyed by the events of the weekend, I'd decided to stay in the area for a couple more days. Unfortunately the weather drew in and it rained heavily for at least 24 hours.

The morning of the 30th started cloudy but at least it wasn't raining. The wind was up and a walk around the headland confirmed that birding was going to be difficult. Heading to the New Fall Plantation seemed like an obvious choice. It was dull and grey but the plantation felt rare. However, an hour there only yielded a single yellow-browed warbler. Then it rained and it didn't stop.

The morning of the 1st was grim. Checking out of the hotel in Bridlington, I headed down to Spurn anyway. It continued to rain but by around 10am, it stopped, amazing really as the clouds were grey, low, and threatened a deluge. And it remained that way for the rest of the day.

It was really fun. The Arctic warbler showed incredibly well down to what felt like centimeters. It was voraciously feeding amongst the vegetation by the Discovery Centre, darting from one tree to the next. Incredible to watch. It was difficult to leave but that I did.

Along canal bank, the barred warbler showed well but briefly. A few chiffchaff and blackcap were feeding in the scrub. At least two yellow-browed warbler were present there too. My first redwing and fieldfare of the autumn were seen along the triangle walk. A few house martin and swallow were battling the breeze.

Arriving at the Crown and Anchor pub, I spent some time scouring the trees but without success. So hopping across the road, I searched through the vegetation at Cliff Farm and found myself a red-breasted flycatcher keeping a spotted flycatcher for company. I then found a yellow-browed warbler there. A group of barnacle geese flew across the Humber.

I retraced by footsteps and headed back along canal bank. In the bushes, a common redstart and greater whitethroat appeared. Wasn't sure whether they had just dropped in. It was great just being able to stumble across your own birds. The real rare stuff stayed away but it was nice just walking around with very few people about.

The last call was Kilnsea Wetlands, but unfortunately the pallid harrier didn't do the right thing and it was therefore time to leave.

E-bird list