Final innings in this series! 28th January,2012.

We'd resolved to make the final day of the holiday a real "marker" and so we departed early for Tophill Low again. Thankfully, and just as we arrived, the Cattle Egret was feeding adjacent to the road but took off and headed away to the south disturbed, I suspect, by a posse of birders who coincidentally emerged from behind a farm building close to its initial location. Some people never learn!

With little need for a detour we went to look at a White Stork to the south of Bridlington.

The bird had moved from its original site but was relocated. It carried no rings and was feverishly preening when we saw it. Soon it rose and flew off to the south but about twenty minutes later, as we drove northwards, Matthew saw it high to our right making its way up the coast.

Buoyed up by all this success we continued north to Scarborough amidst really nice sunny weather and soon located the male Black Redstart feeding along the cliff bottom precisely where we;d been unable to find it previously!  Shag and Cormorant offshore and a couple of Red-throated Divers in flight plus two Porpoises completed the rather bracing walk along the Marine Drive. We did the tourist bit and had a walk around the harbour in the vain hope of seeing a "white gull" ,but with no success, although we did have an adult Kittiwake come in and do a round flight before departing again.

A stop at Seamer to go through a big collection of gulls and then on the final return leg , via Mirfield, in the hope of seeing the reported Ring-billed Gull, which I'd not appreciated was that uncommon in Yorkshire. Despite proffered bread the bird didn't appear, although a male Mandarin Duck was in evidence besides Canada Geese  and Mallard and countless BH Gulls.

Onto our final destination for the day, after picking up Matthew's car from the bodyshop where it had resided all week for a paint job, we made our way to a woodland block north of Sheffield. Titmice moving to roost, Nuthatch and an overflying female Goshawk to add a final absolute flourish to the week ended what had been a damned good birding trip. Now for that Indian!