Wanted : experienced seawatcher(s) to cover Monday 20th & probably Tuesday 21st from the north harbour wall - early morning to 1000ish (or part of this period). No-one available at this end.
Heysham Obs
No observer until 0830hrs this morning due to early morning work. The Rossall seawatch stuff hadn't yet kicked in on the pager [Little Tern, 3 Arctic Skua 12 Arctic Tern by 0730hrs] & it seemed to be "dead", therefore just about to make a beeline for the nearest coffee when a Gannet flew in.....give it another 5 minutes or so. The reward was the biggest (and one of the closest) flock of Arctic Skua I have ever seen from here. No sign yet again of the Black Guillemot.
North harbour wall 0830-0945
Arctic Skua - flock of 7 (3 lm) in at 0850hrs, just inside the line of the yellow buoys - picked up again off north Morecambe at 0915hrs (following phone calls), whence they circled high and disappeared in a NW direction into the haze (just south of Humphrey Head)
Gannet - one in at 0845hrs
Arctic Tern - flock of 16 in at 0900hrs
Sandwich Tern - 5 in with the above Arctic Terns & one out at 0920hrs
Purple Sandpiper - 3 together below the wooden jetty and almost certainly an additional singleton with the Turnstone below the NHW by the gate
Turnstone - 392
Swallow - 26 NE
Linnet - 8 NE
Meadow Pipit - 5 NE
Elsewhere
See above for same flock of Arctic Skua off Bare. Curlew Sandpiper again Allen/EM Pool and adult Spoonbill at Leighton Moss. Stunningly routine on the Lune & north Fylde.
