If The Weather Won't Come To You..

.. You must go to the weather.

Temporally, anyway.



So it was that yesterday when I got back from work I tooled up and scurried over to the Nose. There I got in 2 hours of drizzle, interspersed with bands of both clear and light rain. The wind started at a stiff SE, and eventually bothered around to a S-SSE.


At first it was dead. Not even a vague exaggeration, either, I literally had no birds passing. Then after a couple of sweeps it was just the local Cormorants and Shags. Finally, after maybe 10 minutes, a Gannet came by at zero metres [a nice sight]. Eventually 2 more passed. I was starting to think about a new record, especially given the weather...

Then it changed. Two wonderful Balearics! A classic and a darker classic, line astern and very close in - though they headed off to pass outside the Ore Stone - I was so happy to see them!


And then there was passage. Not much, not much at all, but some very nice birds.


4 Balearics went south in all, including a near Sooty-a-like, and another went NE - I watched it tacking off into Lyme Bay!

14 Manxies, a cracking juv Med Gull which lingered, 14 Kitts [10 juvs!], 43/1 Gannets, 8 Fulmars, 2 Oyks, 2 BHGs, and a juv LBB, plus a Guillemot sat on the sea.


Not a vast horde, [certainly not 118!] but worth the trip. As I sat there early on, looking at these seemingly good conditions minus the birds, I couldn't help wondering if a nice Feno's* was doing loops and things off Berry Head** [probably flying rings around a stonking adult Sabs...]. Turns out it was 'gwarra, so not so gripping...



In other news...
The Swifts mostly went [as I suspected] on Sunday, with about 8 lingering on until Tuesday.
So Summer is now officially Over. [And indeed the rain duly showed up!]




[[*"No one knows pterodromas like Feno's" ;)  ...Sorry.]]
[[**I know, I know, like I'm in a position to complain!]]