Saturday 12 May 2018

Cumbrian seabird mirage and Little Tern for the year list

Low single figure temperatures and bright sunny weather often leads to a heat haze on the sea and that was the case this morning.  Loads of birds remained unidentified including an identikit of the 'Five Fastnet Flappers' of historical Cape Clear fame.  They could have been anything from swans to geese to Egyptian vultures etc etc..  Most of the unidentified birds were probably Common Scoter, although judging by Rossall reports from Ian, others could have been Manx Shearwater.

Sea 0600-0830
Manx Shearwater - 3
Common Scoter - 362 identified but at least double that as 'probables'
Sandwich Tern - 151 out leaving three still on buoy
Little Tern - two together out with a bit of fishing en route 0615
Common Tern - 1 in close inshore
Arctic Tern - 38+15 in
Goosander - two males in
Kittiwake - flock of 7 in
Gannet - two singleton ads out
Guillemot - one on sea floating in
Arctic Skua - light morph at 0620 and dark morph at 0645 both floating in then rising up off sea to chase sandwich terns
Whimbrel - 1+8 in
Red-throated Diver - 1 out
Mute Swan - 2CY out at long range then landed on sea
Raz/Guille - one out
Swallow - just 14 in
Common Sandpiper on the Near Naze

Grey Seal - 2
Harbour Porpoise - 1