The Ecstasy.. And The Agony.

Ah, seawatching, what will you do with it?


So, Tuesday. With the realisation of a very interesting-looking forecast, getting in from work did not stop me. Pausing only to tool up and make a wee flask, I was straight out and down to the Nose!

The weather was sideways dizzly rain and a stiff to near strong SSW, later getting almost SSE in gusts. Conditions were even better than I hoped, though events were somewhat tarnished by my flask deciding to fail. And when a vacuum flask goes, it's never pretty.. :( At least it wasn't inside my bag when it imploded.

Looking out from my pet spot;

Glorious!

A nice band of proper rain and squall conditions around 1625 led - before and especially after - to a big pulse of movement. Not that they stopped all the while I was there.

What was moving?

MANXIES!!

Manxie!

Getting the flap on

Photobombed!

Most weren't that close, though..

Oh, they were wonderful! Lots of lovely Manxies at a variety of ranges, including as close as 'Is it going to the slick?!?' [It wasn't but for a second I hoped]. Good variety of forms [yes, Manxies do vary, just like Dunlin and Chiffs and.. well, pretty much every species], and displays of flight actions, too.

I clicked 1358 south in the 2.5 hours I gave it [having a 4AM wakeup meant stopping short of dark, more's the pity]. Though other passage was light on numbers, it wasn't just Manxies, either. Passing interest included a mere 3 Common Scoter, a lovely but too fast Sooty, 3 Balearics, a Little Tern [picked up on call - normally that only goes for Sarnies*..!] and only a scattering of Gannets, Kittiwakes, and auks [which were mostly Guilles].

Closer to, the odd gull even posed for me, thanks to the SWBCM;

"I'm a WISP. Really!"

"No, he isn't"

"You won't catch me tripping!"

"....... Bugger."

"If Gannets can do it, it can't be that hard.."

"My wings are too fast for your puny autofocus"

It wasn't just birds on display, as with a sudden roar, I got buzzed by this;

No time to zoom!

[That's my brolly in the corner..]

I suppose navigating coasts in bad vis is now SOP for Chinook pilots..


On a cheerier note;

Pretty flower sp.

Yeah, so while all that was good fun, I had no idea what was swanning by in the gunk [I sincerely hope]. The possibility that a Fea's Petrel might have gone by the Nose at the 2-300m range The Artist had it at [that'd be inside the Lead Stone!] and I missed it doesn't bear thinking about....
I'm telling myself that it moved past on a much shallower arc, following the deeper water not the shoreline, and so only came close to Berry Head, [also swinging back out to miss Start Point and The Boss].

Oh well, what can you do? You see it or you don't. I got the last one I had a chance at, so I'm in no position to complain [just bang my head against solid objects whenever I'm BONK reminded of it].


And there's always the next front.


And that EXPLETIVEDELETED albatross.....


Be Seeing You..



[[*So that day at Pagham had some benefit, then.. ;) ]]