Seawatching!

Apologies for the delay, but we have been experiencing a few technical issues here...

So I threatened to rant on about said I'd burble on the subject of seawatching, seeing as it seems this is all the birding anyone's going to be doing for a while..

::Waves at the jet stream::  Hi there.

Ahem.

Why am I / was I not out there? Work. Saturday I got back feeling pretty wrecked and just couldn't summon the energy. To go sit on my arse. Yeah, well... ::Looks suitably embarrassed::
Yesterday I went for a wander around Yarner, which was mostly an exercise in listening to birds, as you might expect. I did see an interesting butterfly - big and dark if not black, high up in the canopy by the car park - I don't know if you get White Admirals there, but if you do I think it probably was one.. :)  Star bird I actually got eyes on was a juvenile Goldcrest - adorable!

Right then. Seawatching... Its not the weirdest form of birding. I challenge anyone to beat larophilia on that account. Especially those true devotees who hang around rubbish dumps. But seawatching still isn't for those of a sane delicate disposition - sitting or indeed standing around for hours in the wind and rain is a test of stamina, dedication, and the immune system..
So why do it? Well, the trite but true answer is of course The Birds. Sea birds in the definitive, who come to land only to breed and then usually at night. Or on islands on the other side of the world. You can see them only by seawatching or getting on a boat, and I've always been a believer in letting the birds come to you if at all possible.

Seriously, watching a seabird passage is one of the great experiences of birding. The first time you see Manx Shearwaters going past at anything like close range, you will be moved. The way they fly, sailing the sky; watch the sailing at the Olympics and imagine that in three dimensions, sped up like you wouldn't believe. Grace, agility, speed, and all that into a howling gale. Then just wait 'til you see a Sooty.. :D  You can see seabirds from pelagics, but then the weather is calm [or calmish..] and while you can get amazingly close views [albeit going up and down and often round and round], they're after the chum at best, or just passing casually. You don't get to see what they are really capable of.

EDIT: Having since been given Flood & Fisher and seen some actual pelagic footage, I wish to moderate my position on pelagics. I still believe the stable scopeable viewing platform of land to be beneficial, though.

Living in the vicinity of a seawatching hotspot is quite helpful for a seawatcher. Really, though, you only need the sea. There's always something out there. This may be a few Herring Gulls and the odd Shag, but still something.. Location and weather. The two go together. Like blogging and bad rhymes.
Get to the sea, find a bit that sticks out, preferably near to deeper water, that will give some shelter when nasty weather rolls in. This means looking at maps, thinking about what happens when one of those frontal systems* passes through. Which way will the wind blow, where will the birds go, [[will he ever stop that rhyming nonsense..]]. You can get very technical, tracking complex frontal systems, or you can keep it very simple; if the wind is blowing and doing so in the onshore half of the compass, and if there is restricted visibility, you will be in business. Or if a storm's just gone by, for that matter. Or not - if the sun is shining and the sea is calm, you might not get many shearwaters, but there's always a chance of a cetacean?

I am lucky, living where I do, having a headland on my frickin' Patch. It may not be Porthgwarra, but Hope's Nose isn't too shabby and is certainly the only thing I've got on the Backwater. [[Ok, censored too, but apart from them..]] The classic seawatching spot needs three things; 1 somewhere birds are going to be - be it a migration route or [ideally] a feeding ground - from there passing weather systems can move the birds into; 2 a catchment area - say a bay - where birds are trapped against the coast and have to funnel out past; 3 a headland to get you out to where the birds are passing.

On a macro scale, south Devon has the Western Approaches and the Channel for one and two [as does the whole south coast]. On a smaller scale, Lyme Bay quite neatly combines the two, it for example being recently discovered to be a major feeding ground for Balearic Shearwaters. For three, well there are plenty of headlands sticking out of the coast - old hard rocks - after the Nose you have Berry Head, Sharkham Point, Scabbacombe Head, Froward Point, Start Point, Peartree Point, Prawle Point, and Bolt Head. The more famous, the better they are to watch from.

A quick summary;
Hope's Nose has an on-site in view auk colony, it's own built-in chumming when it rains hard, [and thus some very close storm petrels] and is better in a more westerly wind than Berry [sometimes]. However, it is dodgy to downright dangerous to access, being exposed and murderously slippery, and in a SE has maybe 2 or at most 3 spots with any shelter and a view. In a wind west of south, there are natural rock steps enabling a lot more to sit.
Berry Head is duly famous, is the best spot in Devon for big shears, and has trawlers coming in to Brixham to drag in all kinds of birds, from Sabine's to Great Shearwater. You do have to walk a way and the swirling wind will always threaten your brolly. Even then, it is the easiest spot on the coast.
Sharkham is close to Berry, being a little further in, but more exposed for watching - under-used, I've only been there once.
Scabbacombe is even more exposed, is better for fair-weather watching, but is placed to gives views of both the deep water off Berry and Start Bay to the south.
Froward Point is more tucked in again, but has a great view of Start Bay and boasts the only seawatching hides on the coast - two WWII searchlight positions.
Start Point is in an excellent spot - though apparently quite exposed to rough weather, but it is the property of Trinity House and so is off-limits unless you can get their permission.
Peartree Point is.. well, its pretty much wave-height, almost no shelter, but I did get a very close Cory's there once and it is public access with a car park close by. Also close seals in good weather.
Prawle Point is again duly famous, though a long twisty drive to get to and a case of hiding amongst the rocks. In fine weather its very good for cetaceans.
Bolt Head is further around and suffers from the tucked in syndrome. It is also a bit high, but if you're coming from the west its easier to get to. Again underwatched.

Further west - wind in the southern half? 'gwarra. Northern half? Pendeen. 'Nuff said.
To the east, Portland Bill has a big car park right there, with some shelter [the obelisk if you're hard core, the lighthouse if you're not] - there are rock steps on both sides to use and though you are low down, the position gives you a fair shot. Some birds, especially skuas, will just cut north of Portland altogether and can be seen skimming over the end of Chesil Beach...



Ok, that's 'Why The Hell Is He Writing This?!?'  Seawatching! part one. Part two will follow....



[*Reading synoptic charts - these days, finding synoptic charts - is one of the unsung arts of birding.]