Time: 06:30-18:40
Weather: F3 W (am) & F3-4 W-NW (pm), dry & warm.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Dan Pointon, Alan Clewes, Geoff Clewes, Alan Lewis, Ger Murray, Dave Cooper, John Cooper, Peter Gluth, Peter Colston, Brian Porter, Paul Troake, Eanna O'Flynn, Jim Sheehan, Jim Bowman, Denis Carty, Swedish House Mafia (Jacob Rudhe, Raul Vicente, Jon Jörpeland, Rasmus Elleby & Hans Elleby), et al.
Cory's Shearwater: 5
Great Shearwater: 49
Sooty Shearwater: 310+
Manx Shearwater: 3,000+
Wilson's Petrel: 1 @ 11:05am (Niall T. Keogh et al.)
Leach's Petrel: 1
Storm Petrel: 18
Common Scoter: 9
Great Skua (Bonxie): 24
Pomarine Skua: 3
Arctic Skua: 54
Sabine's Gull: 19 adults
Sandwich Tern: 6
Arctic Tern: c.120
Common Tern: 1
Black Tern: 1 juvenile
Whimbrel: 18
Bar-tailed Godwit: 1
Chough: 2
Peregrine: 1
Wheatear: 2
Common Dolphin: 20+
Bottlenose Dolphin: 8
Grey Seal: 1
A fine set of tallies for the day, most of which were logged in the morning, fizzling out in the afternoon when a handful of large shearwaters, Sab's & skuas were the highlights. No complaints all the same as Cory's aren't the easiest species to see at The Bridges. In fact, they were my first here since 2009! Birds today were very distant however, with most of the large shears mooching about amongst feeding rafts of Manxies & Sooties, often revealing themselves when a skua would burst into them! A side by side Cory's & Great was particularly nice & the day total of Arctic Skuas was pretty good for August (nice to see a few juveniles in there too). The Wilson's was rather distant unfortunately, pushing the boundaries for fine scale plumage ID. Thankfully it bounced about when initially picked up, showing off it's distinctive jizz & flight style. The Leach's was the first of the season from The Bridges & a good self find lifer for the Swedish lads who also sported some suspect umbrellas!...
What has the Bridges become, a fashion show for dude birders? Where have all the real men gone? I'd hate to see what these guys would do in bad weather, Murf.
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