A putative ATLAS FLYCATCHER had been found on Flamborough Head last weekend and had generated much debate during the week. With the possibility of a British first on offer, we made plans to visit at the weekend if it stayed. I was busy on Saturday, and so we had a nervous wait until Sunday. We knew it could disappear at anytime, but it was still present on Saturday, and so the trip was on. We debated going on news or going early - in the end we decided to head off early and we arrived at 07-30hrs. We were expecting some early positive news, but none came, and we began to fear the inevitable had happened. As we drove into the car park, we realised why there had been no news so far - there were only two cars on the car park. We walked down to the two birders that we could see and they told us the bad news. They had been on site since 05-30hrs and there had been no sign. We were gutted. We knew what was going to happen and it did. The bird had done a flit. We wandered round the area, having a look and we stood and had a look, but there was no sign.
Then a small miracle occured. Someone found the ATLAS FLY. We all hurried round to the other side and there were the two birders looking up into a tree. Within moments, we were watching the putative Atlas Fly, flitting through the trees. Like no other Pied Fly that we had seen, it certainly was a striking bird. It was on show for about ten minutes, showing well at times, but it just kept moving through the trees pursued by the small crowd and it was eventually lost.
A possible tick snatched from the jaws of dipdom!
Watching the Flycatcher
The Whale bone bridge
PJ on a nest
An elusive Tawny Owl by PJ
CJW makes sure the Flycatcher isn't disturbed by photographers
And finally - We returned in the afternoon for seconds, and had good views again. Despite trying our hardest, PJ was the only one who managed a photo of the fly
