An excellent seawatch was had at Cow Gap, Beachy Head today between 8am and 3pm. It was great to see Chris Ball who joined my for four hours.
Without doubt the highlight were two Leach's Petrels! This mega county rarity was of course in the back of my mind for today, but I didn't hold out too much hope of seeing one, yet alone two. The first was picked up briefly by Chris, before showing off for over five minutes as it slowly battled its way westwards. Then, once Chris had left and safely securing two county ticks in a morning, another Leach's flew through, this time much closer but also much quicker!
Other notable highlights included:
Sooty Shearwater - 4
Balearic Shearwater - 17
Manx Shearwater - 3
Arctic Skua - 5
Bonxie - 3
Razorbill - ca. 150
Sandwich Tern - ca. 50
Fulmar - 1
With the winds diminishing from today, I wonder how many more years it will be before the next opportunity for a Leach's presents itself?! Perhaps the last 'live' bird was back in 2012 which flew past Selsey... though I know some moribund individuals have been found since inland.
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| Me living the dream... |
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| Cow Gap in the distance |
