Bempton Cliffs RSPB - White-throated needletail

There were serious doubts on whether to make the trip the Flamborough today as an inconvenient high pressure system had settled in over much of the UK bringing with it moderate westerlies, not particularly conducive to significant movements of landbirds. To date, there was very little around and potentially little to enthuse over the coming days.

But this is East Yorkshire after all.

The accommodation was booked well in advance as my Scilly alternative so to honour the plan, I headed up, first stopping off at Hornsea Mere. It was quiet there but on meeting with some of the friendly local birders, conversation was soon focused on the white-throated needletail that had been seen and photographed at nearby Tophill NR. The bird was supposedly seen feeding over the reservoir for around 30 mins. It all sounded rather fanciful.

Amongst numerous wildfowl at Hornsea were around 60 recently arrived whooper swan, a few pintail, seven scaup, two Caspian gull, two great egret, a common sandpiper, and a hobby.

The sites' gates were closing and it was time to head to Flamborough. On arrival, Birdguides had pinged a couple of messages that the needletail had been relocated at Bempton Cliffs.

In haste, the car was unloaded and what felt like a long eight minute drive, a mad dash to the coastal path revealed the incredible sight of this incredibly rare swift (three UK records since 1991).

The barrel chested brute coursed its way along the cliff-face seen largely between the Bartlett Nab and Staple Newk viewpoints, flying circuits and at times diving down over the sparsely assembled crowd, twisting, turning, putting on a show that the astonished onlookers could barely have imagined. I couldn't comprehend what I was experiencing.