Wednesday 19 September 2018

Too Much Southerly

I sort had this morning free so I took myself off to the Point to do some seawatching and joined Ian who said to me as I walked up to the tower, "you may as well go home mate it's awful"! Not what I wanted to here, but not surprising either as the wind was dues south without a hint of any west in it. At the Point the best direction is anywhere between southwesterly and westerly.

Funnily enough, even though I was hoping for a bit of seawatching, because the wind was fairly strong, but not very strong, and because of the southerly direction there was a bit of vis. Three Grey Wagtails and a handful of Meadow Pipits and Swallows headed south into wind.

The sea was quiet also, with the most numerous species recorded being the 86 Common Scoters that headed west and the scarcest a male Velvet Scoter that drifted slowly out and west on the falling tide. Best of the rest included a Red-throated Diver, ten Sandwich Terns (on the beach), two Auk sp., two Gannets, seven Kittiwakes, a lovely juv. Little Gull and a single Guillemot.

Interestingly two Peregrines were at sea and they seemed to be hanging round an offshore shingle island. Ian sees them regularly and it makes you wonder whether they spend a lot of time out there hunting waders and perhaps even seabirds like Auks.

Waders on the shore included 112 Sanderlings and twenty Ringed Plovers. It was interesting to note that there was only a few juv. Sanderlings amongst the flock as a result  of the catastrophic breeding season in Greenland because of summer snow cover. 

I've got work over the next couple of days, so it will be weekend before I am out again. Fingers crossed that the weather plays ball!

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