26th December

With the wind up around gale force there was a decent flurry of sightings from the sea, with 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 Great Skuas and an unseasonable Sooty Shearwater through off the Bill, where a good-sized fishing flock of commoner fare - including 200 Gannets - also gathered; elsewhere, a lone Kittiwake passed through at Ferrybridge. Birding on the land was always hindered by the wind but both wintering Firecrests surfaced at the Obs and singles of Water Rail, Short-eared Owl and Chiffchaff also put in appearances at the Bill; 2 Short-eared Owls showed again towards dusk at Southwell.




Sooty Shearwater, Kittiwake and Short-eared Owl - Portland Bill, Ferrybridge and Southwell, 26th December 2015 © Martin Cade (Sooty Shearwater) and Pete Saunders (Kittiwake and SEOwl)