With a strong northerly wind blowing I headed to the towers for a seawatch this morning. When I arrived the spots giving the most shelter form the wind were already taken with quite a few birders on site. Even though I ended up in a pretty exposed spot it, too exposed to use my scope, it turned out to be a very enjoyable and productive seawatch. Most of the birds throughout the morning were heading west.
Gannets were passing west in small groups, although a small number then returned east before heading west again. When watching Gannets I enjoy seeing the mix of plumages showing the various ages and I am always in awe of their sheer mastery of flight.
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| Gannets |
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| Gannets |
I did well for Skuas. I enjoyed watching the Arctic Skuas that came past and tried for some photos of the closer ones. Pale morph Arctic Skuas are beautiful birds. The Arctic Skuas came past mainly in ones and twos but also the odd group of 3 and a couple of groups of 4.
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| Arctic Skuas |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skuas |
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| Arctic Skuas |
The highlight was seeing a Long-tailed Skua (142) west with 4 Arctic Skuas.The size and build difference was striking when seen in comparison to the Arctic Skuas but I am not sure that I would have been able to have picked it up if the Arctics hadn't been available for comparison. Frustratingly I couldn't manage to focus on it and the only shots I have are very blurred but it was great to see it. One of many passing Great Skuas was much more obliging and it came in quite close, giving good views as it went west.
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| Great Skua |
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| Great Skua |
I had a lone Skua come through that did not have a plumage combination like any of the other Arctic Skuas I had seen during the morning with the combination of pale rump and head. I looked at all the information I could find on Skuas and particuarly Long-tailed Skua when I got home but even after looking at all the information I could find I still did not have enough experience or confidence with Skuas to be sure on this birds identification. The Long-tailed Skua I had seen this morning seemed much more delicate and slight than the Arctic Skuas it was with while this bird seemed to have a more solid build. Without being able to be sure of its identification it will have to remain a puzzle.
Update: A couple of very experienced sea watchers solved my puzzled for me and let me know that it is a Long-tailed Skua. I am very grateful to both of them, as always, for their help and for enabling me to solve the puzzle of this bird.
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| Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua |
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| Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua |
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| Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua |
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| Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua |
I enjoyed seeing what waders were on the move and although I did not see great numbers of them I ended up seeing a reasonable variety. Most were really too distant for photos but a Curlew did give nice views as it flew west. I also saw a couple of Fulmar during the seawatch and they were one of the few birds going east rather than west.
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| Curlew |
There was also saw a pleasing variety of duck with the highlight being 6 Pintail (143) in with a flock of 7 Wigeon. A single Common Scoter also gave a good view as it flew quite close past the towers. A couple of distant Kittiwake (144) were nice to see.
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| Pintail and Wigeon |
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| Common Scoter |
It was time to make a move and the last birds I saw before heading for home were 12 Wigeon heading west and they brought a very enjoyable seawatch to a close.
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| Wigeon |
Birds seen flying west, unless otherwise stated, included: 18 Great Skua, 22 Arctic Skua, 1 Long-tailed Skua, 22 Gannet, 30 Wigeon, 2 Grey Plover, 17 Knot, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 11 Teal, 3 Mallard, 6 Pintail, 1 Curlew, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Fulmer east, 2 Kittiwake, 1 Ringed Plover, 3 Turnstone, 2 Sanderling, 7 Dunlin, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Common Gull,
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