3 July 2022 - Bempton Cliffs, Wykeham Forest, N. Yorks
« Newer | Older »Turkestan Shrike, Yellowhammers, Corn Buntings, Puffins
Had a day trip out with the Lake birding group to Bempton to see the Turkestan Shrike. On leaving the car park at Bempton RSPB for the long-ish walk to the shrike, almost the first thing we saw was a freshly emerged Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet. There were plenty in the area and we saw quite a number throughout the day. A few Yellowhammers sang on the way to the Shrike, but we didn't really stop to try to photograph them, which is a shame.
On arrival at the farm where the shrike had been hanging out, it was obvious it was still on view and in fact was perched up around 50 yards away in some dead branches. The light wasn't brilliant, but a few photos were taken, naturally. After a while it flew across a field and began spending time around a distant hedge. Having had our fill, we walked back along the clifftop back to Bempton, taking in the seabird spectacular, including plenty of Puffins on the water. A few Corn Buntings were around, but there was no sign of the albatross unfortunately.
Most of the afternoon was spent looking for Turtle Doves and Honey Buzzard around Wykeham Forest, but the regular rain showers didn't really help much, and neither of the target species was seen. We did encounter some interesting plants and invertebrates on a walk near the tree nurseries however. These included Common Spotted Orchid, Grass Rivulet, Black-and-yellow Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata) and several Pammene aurana feeding on Hogweed flowers.
Turkestan Shrike, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 400
Turkestan Shrike , 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 500
Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet-, 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 6400 (view full size image)
Grass Rivulet, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 500 (view full size image)
Common Spotted Orchid, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 363 mm, ISO 1000 (view full size image)
Common Spotted Orchid , 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 343 mm, ISO 800 (view full size image)
Rutpela maculata, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 200 (view full size image)
Pammene aurana, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 400