Today's challenging conditions broke the resolve of even the hard-core seawatchers who failed to find any shelter from the at times torrential rain that set in a couple of hours after dawn and didn't finally clear through until late in the afternoon. The early watch was promisingly productive, with 315 Mediterranean Gulls, 10 Arctic Skuas, four Balearic Shearwaters, a Great Skua and a Little Gull through off the Bill where a Caspian Gull was also found settled off East Cliffs, whilst the end of the afternoon produced at least six more Arctic Skuas. The only reports from the land were of a Short-eared Owl still at the Bill and three Sanderling, three Bar-tailed Godwits and two Common Terns at Ferrybridge.
First winter Casp. on the sea off Sandholes, East Cliff, Portland at 07.44 this morning. (ID confirmation impossible in the field sorry). pic.twitter.com/n8Jnbub5PJ
— Keith Pritchard (@portlandbirder) October 2, 2021