A favourite venue of mine in the winter months, Scarborough harbour provides an excellent opportunity for close photography of any sheltering seabirds. Divers, Grebes and White-winged Gulls can all be found here with a little luck and the right conditions. Today was another day of 'black and white' photography in rather poor light for much of the day - I can't wait to get back to the Algarve next month and find some daylight! Hiding away in the small yacht harbour, a Great Northern Diver in winter plumage was an impressive bird with its dagger-like bill held out horizontally. After watching the Diver for a few minutes, it was clear that small crabs were being devoured at an amazing rate, in fact on each dive. The crab legs appeared to be either bitten off, or eaten, before the body was swallowed whole! The Great Northern Diver watching a Great Black-backed Gull overhead. In contrast, a much slimmer Red-throated Diver was asleep, outside the harbour early on and later, was seen in the main harbour. A winter plumaged Guillemot was resting in the harbour. Still present was the long-staying Black-necked Grebe. I spent a couple of hours back at Crook Ness, looking for the Shore Larks and maybe a Lapland Bunting. Unfortunately, I didn't see either but was pleased to see a calling flock of around 30 Snow Buntings pass over the fields. Back in Scarborough, a flock of 30 Waxwings were in the centre of town, stripping berries from a solitary tree.
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