Balearic, Great Skua, Med Gulls

A short pre-work seawatch with Laurie and Adam this morning from 06:50 - 08:00 produced singles of Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, Whimbrel, Balearic Shearwater and Manx Shearwater all heading south, with a further 30-40 shearwaters much further out are likely to have been a mix of the latter two. Also noted were at least 14 Mediterranean Gulls (mostly juveniles), two distant skua sp. (probable Greats), 20+ Fulmars, 30+ Kittiwakes and four Sandwich Terns.

Arctic Skuas

Seawatching from the yacht club from 15:50 - 17:20 was pretty dire (as was the case at other sites nearby) but did produce two dark phase Arctic Skuas, one of which lingered and harassed a couple of Herring Gulls. Several loose groups of small shearwaters were moving back and forth on the horizon; those close enough to identify were all Manx Shearwaters. An adult Mediterranean Gull flew south; heading in the opposite direction were two Fulmars and a commic tern.

Belated WeBS

An adult Black-tailed Godwit at Passage House was the pick of the waders on the estuary this weekend. Other totals included 107 Oystercatchers, 54 Curlew, nine Greenshanks, eight Whimbrels, five Common Sandpipers, 30 Little Egrets, 12 Cormorants, 57 Canada Geese, 38 Mute Swans, 600+ Black-headed Gulls, a Sandwich Tern and two pairs of Shelducks with three and five young,