Boom!

The day started early, with a massive thunderstorm first thing! Half five in the morning is a little early, but the blasts of light and house-shaking thunder were worth the bleary eyes!

Did I mention I'm rather partial to electrical storms?


[[Well, apart from that time I got caught inside one on a mountain in Spain, but that's another story.]]



Anyway, the lightning was pretty much done by the time it got light, but the rain settled in and with a brisk NE wind it wasn't conducive to hunting for migrants. [I trust you don't need to ask why I didn't consider seawatching*]

So I stayed in and waited for the rain to ease off, figuring anything dumped by the weather would stay cowering in shelter until it brightened up anyway.



Mid afternoon I tired of waiting, donned my waterproofs and set off. A few gulls on the flotsam and jetsam off Blackball didn't include anything like a Little - let alone that Bonaparte's... - and with the wind and ongoing rain, landbirds were as unobtrusive as expected.


As I got to the Nose, however, the rain stopped and it brightened up no end - the sun almost came out! This was a brief respite, as it clouded over and drizzled quite quickly, but in the gap I had some hope. Alas, the wind didn't ease off and so the few birds on shore were for the most part staying firmly huddled in cover, with only the odd call. The lone - and notable - exception was a Redpoll! Only a standard one, of course, but still nice to see.


I had a look at the sea, which was pretty bare, too. A few Gannets passed and the odd Oyk zipped about, piping incessantly, but as to the Lead Stone... Even though the sheltered side - where the birds should be - was for once fully in view, there was bugger all apart from the usual Shags and Corms and gulls [ordinary].
But wait, what's this? Juv. Kitt- no! 2cy - no!! Shit! Yes! SABINE'S GULL!
A juvenile, it came delicately shearing along the crest of a wave, inside the Lead Stone, and went on it's way south. Yeeehaaaa!!!!!!!!!

First Sab's for 13 long months, that. I am a happy bunny.


So happy, in fact, that once I was sure that nothing else sexy was coming - the sea was pretty dead; a few LBBs in with the gulls on the blown-south slick was IT - I decided to see if that little angel had taken a right.

I searched along the coast, naturally found not a sniff of the Sab's, didn't find much else, either, and headed home.




[[*Just in case it isn't obvious; sitting in the open with what are effectively two lightning rods. Yeah.]]