...and the Ecstasy

Having had a good hard look at the forecast, I resolved to take a punt at a long-time bogey and general tart of mine by getting up at "....Aauuurrrgghhhhh......." O'clock and burning all the way down to Pendeen....

It takes a while to get that far into cornwall, especially when there are SPECS to pass, so I didn't sit myself down with the huddled masses by the Humungous Foghorn of Doom until 0930. As it happened, this wasn't that bad, as it had apparently been dead for most of the previous 2 hours of light....

I nearly didn't go - when I dragged up I saw a clear night full of full moon and nearly calm wind... Norty words were thought. Then I thought - "Ah, sod it - at worst I'll see how long it takes to get there and then I can try for the Barred Warbler at Treen.." Once I'm up, and all that nonsense.... On the way down it stayed clear and bright - though a Woodcock flying through my headlights on Little Haldon was a good omen - with only the odd brisk shower. Arriving at the Watch, as soon as I got out of my car, the wind, which could at best be described as 'brisk' and at worst as "Argh that was my hat!" told me things were on the up. Strong NW wind plus the odd hulking shower made for trade.

2 Sooties within the first 5 minutes, and what turned out to be a huge sustained passage* of Gannet, Kittiwake and auks [entirely Guilles and Razorbills, too] indicated that it might be worthwhile hanging around...

[*A party of scottish birders were counting everything; from what I could tell they got into multiple thousands, maybe even 5 figures, for all three]

The stand out, uncontested, oh hell yeah, at last at last, best super wonderful BIRD OF THE DAY was a very slippery but finally nailed thanks to the very nice guy sat next to me - only a

Leach's Petrel!!!!!!

I've seen a dead one, I've seen a probable one, but now at last I've seen a full Life Tickable one..

As you might have ascertained from my subtle hints, I'm quite pleased.

Also a lovely juvenile Sabine's Gull, 2 Little Gulls, 3 Grey Phalaropes, a full 50 skuas [mostly Bonxies], 10 Balearics, 16 Manxies, and no less than 5 Sooties passed in the 6 hours I gave it. I also missed quite a bit [incidentally, all but one of us missed the Little Shear] - Pendeen has many great qualities as a watchpoint, but it's a real bugger to get on stuff! I didn't even try counting Gannets, there were so many, I went through the Kitts for Sabs and noted a high proportion of juveniles [it's been a good year for them :) ], and checked the auk groups for odd ones [no dice].

It was one hell of a spectacle - strong passage in sunshine, with a big swell and the wind pulling up the white horses and sending the spray flying.... I had a blast. :D