A Gale With Skuas and Gulls - Reculver 25/09/20

I tried for a short sea watch early morning but it proved to be quite quiet so I thought I would give it another go this afternoon. The wind was a very strong gale force north north westerly and became almost pure northerly at times. I tucked into the most sheltered spot I could find which unfortunately still gave very little protection from the wind. The visit started well with a group of Arctic Skua's moving west, as were all of the birds I saw during the afternoon. This turned out to be the largest group I saw during the afternoon and they were quite a sight as they made there way through.

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skua's continued moving in groups of 2 to 4 birds as well as singles during the afternoon but there were fairly long intervals in between. Great Skua's were also heading past and, once again, there were fairly long intervals between them coming through. A couple were obliging enough to come through a little closer than the others enabling me to try for a photo.

Great Skuas

I had a single, what I thought was a Long-tailed Skua, move west. It kept very low to the sea as it came past but was too far out to get a useable photo. At present I have not got enough experience or enough confidence with my identification of Long-tailed Skuas to be one hundred percent happy that I had identified it correctly so it will have to remain a query. But each of these experiences will only help me to get better at identifying them in time.

In between looking out for whatever was passing by out to sea I enjoyed watching the various gulls that were also moving west and coming in close to the towers as they did so. A lot of photos came out blurred as I was really struggling to hold the camera steady enough in the wind but though none of these are the sharpest of images they give me some good memory shots of what I saw, as well as the chance to see upper and lower wing patterns. The first gulls I tried for were the juvenile Herring Gulls that were giving good views as they came past.

juvenile Herring Gull

juvenile Herring Gull

juvenile Herring Gull

All the adult Herring Gulls coming past were showing signs of wear and various stages of moult in their wings, some with bigger gaps than others.

adult Herring Gull

adult Herring Gull

adult Herring Gull

The Black-headed Gulls looked very smart in the dull light and a first winter gave good views of its upper wing pattern as it came past.

Black-headed Gulls

first winter Black-headed Gull

Small numbers of Common Gulls were heading west and came close in to the towers as they did so. They are beautiful birds.

Common Gull

Common Gull

One of the Great Black-backed Gulls on the move was strikingly plumaged in the light as it came past and I think that it is a 2nd winter bird.

2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull

2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull

2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull

A 3rd winter Herring Gull gave some good views as it moved west. Out to sea I could see 3 distant Common Terns heading west.

3rd winter Herring Gull

3rd winter Herring Gull

3rd winter Herring Gull

3rd winter Herring Gull

It was time to head for home so I grabbed a quick photo of the rough sea to give a reminder of the afternoon. 

Rough Sea

Unfortunately disaster struck as I left when I was blown off my feet by a particularly strong gust of wind and having landed badly it was clear that bird watching was going to cur-tailed, at least for a few days. The fall also damaged the voice recorder I carry so I am unable to put down the numbers of birds that I saw as that was on the recorder. It did not make the best of endings to the visit but I had enjoyed watching the pulses of Skuas that came through and watching the various gulls that passed by close in.

Northerly Seawatch and a Puzzle - Reculver 30/08/20

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.

Gannets

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. 

Arctic Skuas

Arctic Skua

Arctic Skuas

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. 

Great Skua

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. 

Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua

Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua

Update: puzzle bird identified for me as a Long-tailed Skua

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.

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.

Pintail and Wigeon

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. 

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,  

Two Sea Watches and an Osprey - Reculver 26/08/20

With a breezy north westerly blowing this morning I decided to try a sea watch to see if anything was passing. Overall it turned out to be fairly quiet but I enjoyed seeing my first Arctic Skuas (136) of the year with a couple of singles seen heading west during the morning. Even though distant, one came close enough to try for a memory shot.

Arctic Skua

Wader wise it was fairly quiet. Oystercatchers were heading east in small groups and a Bar-tailed Godwit (137) west was nice to see. A single Snipe also headed past. It was mainly Sandwich Terns that were heading east in small numbers while 3 Common Terns (138) passed west close enough to the towers to try for a photo. 

Common Terns

The undoubted highlight of the morning was when Marc Heath, who was also sea watching, spotted a distant Osprey (139) coming in from the north. I really hoped that it might head our way but it remained too far away to try for a photo and came in over Coldharbour instead and carried straight on, presumably ending up at Stodmarsh. I would have loved to have been able to get a photo of it. As a first sea watch for a long time it had been an enjoyable morning and I am very grateful to Marc for all of the help he gave me during the morning.

In the afternoon I headed to Coldharbour and sat on the sea wall to see what was moving out to sea. It was clear that there were more terns on the move this afternoon, with both Sandwich and Common Terns moving west. One of the Sandwich Terns gave a nice close fly past.

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

I also saw a single Great Skua (140) west and an Arctic Skua east.

Great Skua

Arctic Skua

I enjoyed watching as groups of Terns moved through, sometimes small mixed groups of both Sandwich and Common, other times larger unmixed groups. All were a pleasure to watch.

Common Terns

Sandwich Terns

Small groups of waders were on the move as the tide continued to come in and it gave an opportunity to try for some flight shots as they came past.

Sanderling

Ringed Plover

Oystercatchers

With the movement of terns seemingly come to an end I started to make my way back to Reculver and as I did do a Rock Pipit landed on the beach and gave some very good views as it searched amongst the shingle for food. A nearby Meadow Pipit was equally obliging.

Rock Pipit

Meadow Pipit

A Common Sandpiper was on one of the groynes and I did well with them on the way back seeing 8 in total. Waders were roosting on the beach and a single Dunlin was amongst the Ringed Plover whilst a very smart Sanderling gave a very nice view.

Common Sandpiper

Dunlin and Ringed Plover

Sanderling

Four Whimbrel flew west calling and a short while later another Whimbrel flew west before turning and returning east. They have a very distinctive and far carrying call.

Whimbrel

Three Yellow Wagtails were on the beach in the company of a couple of Pied Wagtails while Linnet and Goldfinches chattered away from the other side of the sea wall. A Whitethroat peeped out at me from one of the bramble bushes and another three were more skulking.

Whitethroat

An adult and juvenile Cormorant were feeding in close proximity to each other close in to the shore. A Cormorant coming into land showed just what an impressive wing span they have and was moulting various flight feathers.

Cormorants

Cormorant landing

A juvenile Sandwich Tern was resting on the beach as I neared Reculver. They are beautifully marked and it showed its wing markings well as it wing stretched several times. It called as another Sandwich Tern flew past out to sea but it did not receive a reply.

juvenile Sandwich Tern

juvenile Sandwich Tern

juvenile Sandwich Tern

A Common Gull was on the beach as I approached the towers and a large number of Herring and Black-headed Gulls were swooping and soaring, presumably catching the many insects that were on the wing. The juvenile Sandwich Tern joined them briefly before flying back east.

It was good to reach the car park but had been an enjoyable and productive visit.

Birds seen during the morning sea watch included: 2 Arctic Skua west, 27 Sandwich Tern, 3 Common Tern, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit west, 1 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 3 Little Egret, 1 Osprey in off the sea and south over Coldharbour.

Birds seen during the afternoon visit included: 1 Great Skua west, 1 Arctic Skua east, 86 Sandwich Tern west, 49 Common Tern west, 2 Dunlin, 29 Turnstone, 63 Ringed Plover, 78 Oystercatcher, 5 Whimbrel, 6 Meadow Pipit, 61 Sanderling, 8 Common Sandpiper, 1 Sparrowhawk, 56 Linnet, 3 Redshank, 2 Dunlin, 2 Little Egret, 5 Sand Martins, 25 Swallows, 15 Goldfinch, 2 Stonechat, 1 Reed Bunting, 5 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Whitethroat,  2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Common Gull