I had been looking forward to the Bank Holiday for some time, mainly as it would surely mean I would be undertaking much seawatching. Despite the conditions not being as good as I would've wanted, there were still some noteworthy sightings, perhaps highlighted by the number of terns passing.
Due to the wind direction and very clear conditions. most birds were mega distant, though one Pomarine Skua, which happened to have an enormous tail, was relatively close inshore, but the distance factor meant that very few terns were actually identified to species, though the ones that were close were mostly Common Terns. Other highlights involved a single flock of 18 Little Terns, some high-flying Commics with a tight group of seven Black Terns mixed in and a Balearic Shearwater, which was seen relatively well.
Many thanks to Richard Fairbank for the company over the weekend!
Below are the totals from the entire weekend:
Brent Geese - 301
Mute Swan - 2
Shelduck - 2
Red-breasted Merganser - 1
Common Scoter - 450
Red-throated Diver - 11
Black-throated Diver - 4
Manx Shearwater - 3
Balearic Shearwater - 1
Gannet - 170
Whimbrel - 89
Bar-tailed Godwit - 35
Dunlin - 2
Little Gull - 10
Mediterranean Gull - 68
Sandwich Tern - 156
Common/Arctic Tern - 6140
Arctic Tern - 2
Little Tern - 20
Black Tern - 9
Great Skua - 18
Pomarine Skua - 5
Arctic Skua - 29
Auk sp. - 55
