Watching the Sea

Lots of looking at the sea these past three days, sometimes there were birds in the way.

Tuesday's sunny[ish] nor'westerlies kept me away from the Nose, instead bashing other bits of the Patch. I finally caught up with LBB - not one but two 1w birds sitting on the harbour pontoon with various dodgy-looking Herrings and Geebs. The tide was up and the Sandpipers Purple were roosting down the end of the Real Living Coast. Due to their position and not wanting to disturb them I only counted 6 - there were probably more. A somewhat choppy Tor Bay had 2 BN Grebes and singles of RT Diver, GC Grebe and what was probably a Slavonian. Late afternoon saw 138 GC Grebes with a RT Diver and 5+ Razorbill off Blackball.

The last two days I've been seawatching from the Nose in the mornings and looking off Blackball late afternoons - the same times on both days. With pretty much the same weather, including sustained WSW winds, I wondered what differences would there be?

Weds.

Hope's Nose; Auks ~210/hr__Gannets 8/hr__Kittiwakes ~13/hr__6 Fulmar

+ Yellow-legged Gull [1w] + Common Gull [ad].

1w male Eider on sea near Lead Stone. ~370 Guillemots on Ore Stone first thing.

Blackball; 63 GC Grebe__8 Razorbill___~240 Kittiwake + RN Grebe*

Thurs.

Hope's Nose; Auks ~301/hr__Gannets ~25/hr__Kittiwakes ~33/hr__8 Fulmar

+ Puffin [very distant] + 3 C Scoter + 5 GC Grebe [N] + 2 GND [subadult on sea, 1w S].

1w male Eider flew in from N, then on sea near Ore Stone. ~300 Guillemots on Ore Stone first thing, also Grey Seal hauled out on peninsula! Feeding frenzy of large gulls for about 25 minutes, close in to the Nose.

Blackball; 78 GC Grebe__5 Razorbill__~360 Kittiwake

[[On Monday, the average auk passage rate projected from timed counts was ~1230/hr]]

Interesting if not mind-blowing, it's clear that there was a lot of passage going on further offshore than the the drizzle let me see, judging by the figures [Famous Devon Birder] got from Berry Head today at a similar time. I blame the tanker! There were 4 distinct lines of auk passage noticeable; far out [not always visible due to rain / drizzle etc], outside the Ore Stone ['usual line'], around the Ore Stone [including 'to the Ore Stone' for Guilles, which I didn't count] and just outside the Lead Stone [used almost exclusively by young Razorbills]. Most of the passage was small groups, but there was the occasional rush of bigger groups, including a few of 40 and more; all of these were in the outer two lines.

*This was a bugger, as I picked it up from the Downs, feeding very close in to Babbacombe beach - around the outer buoys. You don't get them in so close often, and as it was nice and calm I went hightailing it down the cliff path to get a good look. After many a slip and skid I was 3/4 of the way down when I heard shouting and laughing... Yes, a family had decided to go onto the beach and start throwing stones into the sea. Just having fun, [[they weren't throwing stones at the grebe or anything!]] I can't blame them - just one of those annoying things. The grebe naturally skedaddled. Drat and double drat, muttered the Backward Birder as he trudged back up....

Unfortunately I have Things To Do Which Cannot Be Avoided tomorrow morning, so I can't extend my little study to a third day. Oh well.

PYL: 68