Quantity with seabird quality was the order of the month, with thousands of seabirds fishing in the bay. The feeding frenzy continued into August with a minimum of 3,500 Gannets, 2,400 Kittiwake, 3,000 Guillemot, 10 Razorbill, 14 Common Scoter on 1st. The Egyptian Goose continued its stay all month. 28 Pied Wagtail were on the Country Park, mostly juveniles. Seabird numbers dropped on 2nd with 750 Gannets fishing in the bay, but widely dispersed. On 3rd Arctic Skuas and 5 Arctic Terns appeared, with a summer-plumage Golden Plover on the Brigg. On 5th 150 Sandwich Terns went north past the Brigg in 30 minutes. Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher were seen on 8th. Our first Silver-washed Fritillary also appeared in a Filey Dam’s garden. On 9th 4 Little Egret, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 4 Avocet were seen. A Great White Egret touched down at East Lea on 10th. A Greenshank went south at Hunmanby Gap on 11th. A juvenile Cuckoo was seen from the first hide at Filey Dams on 16th and 17th, then again on 19th and 25th. A cream-crown Marsh Harrier flew along North Cliff west of Long Lane on 18th. A Bar-tailed Godwit appeared on 19th, along with a Curlew Sandpiper & Little Stint with 12 Dunlin, 1 Wood Sandpiper 1, Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, and 38 Curlew at East Lea. Willow Emerald damselflies were at Primrose Valley on 21st. A juvenile Mediterranean Gull came for bread at the Country Park. A Clifden Nonpareil moth was on a garden wall in Filey on 24th.A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull and a juvenile Caspian Gull were on the seafront late on the evening, the latter ringed in Germany. 13 Bottle nosed Dolphin north past Filey Brigg and 2 Minke Whales moved south offshore from Hunmanby Gap on 25th. 1,000 odd Gannets fed off the seafront and 120 assorted terns rested on the beach off the paddling pool on 26th. An adult Sabine’s Gull sat on the sea 200m off the sea-watch hide. Phenomenal numbers of mainly Razorbills & some Guillemots were in the bay – an estimated 22,000 Razorbills. A minimum of 460 Commic Terns were in the bay/Brigg area, and a Little Gull went north; 16 Whimbrel, one Swift, two Black Terns and 4 Bonxies were also seen. The six Minke Whales off Speeton would have been very popular if they had been spotted from the shore, and not the Yorkshire Belle! In the evening roost on 27th there were 1,700 Herring Gull, 220 Kittiwake, 43 Common Tern and 10 Sandwich Tern. At East Lea: 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Snipe, 8 Gadwall and 3 Mute Swan. A Minke and 15 Bottle-nosed Dolphins were seen on 28th, along with five Roseate Terns on the Brigg. The bay was again full of birds on 29th with 450 + Commic Terns [90% Common], 4,000 Herring Gull, 2,000 Gannet, 1,200 Kittiwake and 8,000 Auks (70% Razorbill) feeding in the bay from Hunmanby Gap & 8 Red throated Diver, plus 3 Whimbrel, 7 Turnstone south, 7 Redshank north. Also a dark juvenile Long-tailed Skua flew in from Bempton into Filey bay. A Great Northern Diver was at Hunmanby Gap. The tremendous fishing activity continued for the next two days, with Black Tern, juvenile and adult Roseate Tern still on the Brigg with plenty of Skua activity in the bay on 31st. Twenty Bottle-nosed Dolphins were also seen.
