It's Wet And Windy, Oh Whatever Shall I Do???

So with work and culinary mad science taking up a fair bit of time, I had Sunday morning to play with the weather. It was a repeat of a week before, only this time I had to things to do afterwards, and, well, I wasn't going to lug my kit over again.. [Also, it wasn't No Car Sunday any more!]

Gunkshine at the Nose

Five hours of brightness, gunk, the odd shower - but no epic rain, really - gave... Well, actually quite a lot! Pretty much a skua every 5 minutes, for starters and main course! :D

59 in total, more than half Arctics and most of the rest Bonxies. A beautiful dark morph juvenile Long-tail was the definite highlight :D and in a resumption of more expected service, a mere 2 Poms.

Unfortunately for you - and especially the local birds - a few skuas came closer than a kilometre and one Bonxie decided to come play with the gulls on the shreds of the slick [the SWBCM fired up but the wind was not helpful, as you will see down there], with horrific results for them. Poor babies.


Only seven shearwaters, all Balearic, and not a single Fulmar, but especially early on, loads of Gannets, and late on a fair rush of Kittiwakes.

Pics or numbers?

Pics
{Even so, don't bother expanding them, too much dizzle in the air}

Bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-Bonxie!*

Here comes trouble

Bowling ball effect;

Bonxie comes in,

everything scatters!

Very out of focus, but look at it;

Bonxie chases 1cy Herring Gull

"C'mere, you!"

"Gotcha"

::Biff!::

After much violence, 

a now lighter gull finally allowed to flee

But that one was really lucky, as later on another Bonxie came in with far more serious intent. I only caught the aftermath on camera; after the skua ambled off, there was a feeding frenzy for the poor tattered leftovers..

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

1cy GBB has just nicked the remains of an unlucky 1cy Herring from a big [male?] adult GBB. It didn't keep its prize for more than about 5 seconds, though..

::Burps::

Other skuas passed further out - almost all on the Manxie line, as you might expect, but the odd one out at Big Shear - these usually combining with either gunk or sunshine to wind up as 'spp.' [though probably all Arctic]

Arctic Skua - dark morph

Closer in was a lovely young Little Gull - hiding in a drawn out group of a dozen Kittiwakes - also 5 Meds, at least 11 LBBs and a scattering of BHGs. Kittiwake numbers started very slowly, before taking off late on as the weather cleared - this pretty much the reverse of Gannets - while not a single Fulmar was seen to pass and only 20 auks. Waders have started to pick up, with four Turnstone, two Purple Sand, two Dunlin, and a Golden Plover.

There was continuous feeding at least 3 or 4 km out - first to the ESE then working S - with a present line of mostly Gannets all the time I was there. Closer to, a couple of sightings of Common Dolphin - also moving south - with at least 3 and probably a lot more, both times shadowed by Gannets.


NOTICE:
This post is having to be curtailed due to a sudden attack of technical issues. It may be that Backward Birding may be going on involuntary hiatus for a bit..


Be Seeing You..?




[[*To the tune of 'Bonkers', obv. ;) ]]