I thought the seawatching would have been better this morning given the wind direction, southwestely 15-20 mph, and the fact that it was spring. But unfortunately it was fairly quiet probably as a result of the hazy conditions with the wind turbines coming in and out of view. I know that won't mean a great deal to you, but if you can see the wind turbines the visibility is good, it's even better if you can see the Isle of Man, and if you can't see them it's crap!
However, it was worth sticking it out as Ian and I had four Velvet Scoters; two pairs! The first pair had unusually latched on to a pair of Common Scoters and the second pair were on their own, which is more typical, as they motored out of the bay.
The supporting cast at sea consisted of 118 Common Scoters, two Grey Plovers, two Red-throated Divers, five Gannets, five Cormorants, 100 Knot, six Bar-tailed Godwits, a Guillemot and a Kittiwake.
There was some vis this morning but it was light due to the direction and strength of the wind. The Swallows were moving west into the wind, with some of them at sea, whilst the remaining species headed north across the bay. The vis totals were just ten Swallows, six Meadow Pipits, seven Goldfinches and two Linnets.
In addition to the waders moving at sea we had 180 Sanderlings, 142 Dunlins and 32 Ringed Plovers on the shore. The only other birds to report were three male Wheatears on the beach.
I apologise for a lack of photographs in these last few postings but I haven't had the opportunity to snap any of the passage out at sea. The wind is remaining southwesterly tomorrow, so it will probably be another couple of hours seawatching for me again before heading up the Wenning valley to deliver some nest boxes and wildflower seed to a client.
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