Browhouses, 23 May 2009.Er, more seawatching = no bird pics again.
What is it about birders? Never satisfied, that's it.
"Like to see the Pom' passage on the Solway this Spring"
"Would really like to jam in on a Long-tailed"
There you go then, mission accomplished? Nah, not really. My experiences with Pomarine Skuas passing through the Solway and attempting overland migration this month just left me hungry for more. But I was quite happy with my single adult Long-tailed off Southerness ....... until yesterday.
A flock of 9 Long-tailed Skuas were seen from the old viaduct at Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria (above viewed looking south across the Solway from Seafield Bay near Annan) yesterday you see. But (there's always a "but"), they didn't go "in". "In" is the term meaning they didn't pass the viaduct and head east and attempt overland passage. These birds decided to stay out in the bay somewhere so surely they'd attempt an overland crossing at high tide today?
Well, they didn't (at least as far as we* could see), but it wasn't half bad today. A six-and-a-half hour shift at Newbie produced the following (extracts from my surprisingly detailed notes):
Newbie NY179645 0900 - 1530 (high tide 1115).
SSW f3 wind becoming stronger (f7) SW around 10.00 with showers restricting vis'. Clearing after 1430 and wind dropping.
Didn't really start to pick up until high tide (first skua at 11.35), but quite productive.
4 G C Grebe
1 Red-throated Diver (west)
2 Manx Shearwater (west)
8 Gannet: minimum - depending on whether the same birds were going "in" and "out" or not. One sub-adult plopped down on the sea off Newbie and died (literally - it was floating with its legs in the air!).
60+ Kittiwake: at least - one flock of c60 was thought to comprise of flocks of roughly c30, 22 and 12 that were going in and spiralling up before going out again.
10+ Fulmar
12 Common Scoter (9 west, 1 east plus a pair drifting in with the tide)
5+ R br Mergs
3 grey geese (Pink-feet) west
2 Bonxie
7 Arctic Skua
13 Pomarine Skua
I even have the times for the skuas and the direction in which they were flying but I won't bore you (even more) wth those.
Also present Peregrine Falcon, 200+ Ringed Plover, 100+ Dunlin, 11 Sanderling (in various stages of summer plumage), 1 Whimbrel, 12+ Turnstone.
The Pom's came in dribs and drabs (max. 5 at once). It's undoubtedly one of the most spectacular sights in all my birding experiences as these powerful birds "scythe" through the air and shear the waves before wheeling up into the sky again. Can't get enough of it - imagine how a flock of Long-tailed would look! Not to be today and the clock is ticking. Who knows though, maybe one last chance.
Good to see some waders on the shore today with some Dunlin to sort through. Note the Sanderling - basically just a passage migrant on this part of the Solway with the second half of May the best time to find them.
I did get some birding in away from Newbie today but saw little at Redkirk Point and Browhouses apart from a single Barnacle Goose, a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits and a couple of Common Terns.
Oh well, have to wait until next Spring for another bash at Solway skua passage. Yeah right Bushell!
*we = me & Chris Baines at Newbie plus birders on the viaduct at Bowness (we can see you!).
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment