Full Spooner

I headed to the Point first thing this morning and joined Ian and Howard, and boy was it cold! The skies were clear and the wind was a sharp 15 mph northwesterly! It was a toss up between standing on the bank and in the wind, but with the sun on your back, or standing behind the tower out of the wind, but with no sun; I opted for the windier but sunnier option.

There was some vis this morning and the direction of passage was anywhere between north and east. My vis totals were 25 Goldfinches, 165 Pink-footed Geese, 248 Meadow Pipits, nine Swallows, 19 Linnets, two Sand Martins, four Carrion Crows, eleven Lesser Redpolls, four Siskins, three Tree Pipits, two Alba Wagtails, a Rook and amazingly a Blue Tit that came high over the dunes and was lost from sight as it headed out to cross Morecambe Bay!

The best bird offshore was undoubtedly the 'full spooner' adult pale morph Pomarine Skua that I picked up heading in to the bay. As it progressed east it was gaining height and I don't doubt that it was going to 'over land' to the North sea!

In addition to the Pom the sea produced 16 Red-throated Divers, a Peregrine, eight Sandwich Terns, 67 Auk sp., five Gannets, three Shelducks, four Razorbills, ten Manx Shearwaters, 20 Common Scoters, 20 Whimbrels, ten Arctic Terns, nine Eiders and a Guillemot.

Two hundred Dunlins and 99 Ringed Plovers attempted to roost on the shingle at high tide but were continually disturbed. The only grounded migrants we had were five Wheatears.

Back home all my moth trap produced was a single Common Quaker, which wasn't surprising given the low overnight temperatures. Talking of back home I need to rewind to late yesterday morning when I heard all the Gulls at the rear of my house alarm calling and generally going berserk! I thought I was going to record my first Osprey over the house, but it was two migrant Buzzards making their way north!