Friday 18 May 2007

"Typical" seawatching weather!

Heysham Observatory
Sea 1200-1400
Everything was flying out bar one very distant skua spp at about 1341hrs. This watch coincided with the rapid clearance after a cold front & birds swept into the bay must not have liked what they saw as regards an overland route!

Pom Skua - light morph out and across, then south 1236
Bonxie - one out, close inshore, at 1310
Kittiwake - 7+1 out
Manx Shearwater - one distantly across the mouth
Arctic Tern - one out - the only tern seen
Dunlin - c110 out (about 6 flocks)
Sanderling - 2+2 out
Turnstone - 17+5+2 out [none on the wooden jetty this last few days]
Ringed Plover - c10 out (3 flocks)

Sea 1800-2000
Petrel spp.: almost certainly a Storm Petrel - It was trying to flutter out but was progressively swept into the Bay at about 1830hrs

Inshore
Shag - 3 juvs

Heliport roost at HT
Oystercatcher - 450
Turnstone - 23
Ringed Plover - 17 (excluding breeding pair)
Dunlin - 5

Insects
Reasonable moth catch with the scarce and local Broad-barred White new for the year as also was Silver Ground Carpet and Turnip Moth
Broad-barred White. Thanks to Jean Roberts

Elsewhere
JBP: dm Arctic Skua up the Kent channel as soon as the rain cleared at 1200hrs. Another dm Arctic Skua seen distantly offshore about a hour later.