5th May

With poor returns from the land and the sky it was the sea that saved the day once again, with an enticing onshore breeze pushing a steady if largely unspectacular passage within sight at the Bill. Seven Pomarine Skuas were the chief reward but 5 Red-throated Divers, 3 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Northern Divers, singles of Balearic Shearwater and Great Skua, and a miscellany of other seasonable back-ups provided just enough movement to ensure long coverage that also saw to it that respectable totals of Kittiwakes, Mediterranean Gulls and Common Gulls were accrued; yet again, terns were almost entirely absent. An inbound Hobby was the best of what precious little was on the move overhead, whilst 3 Yellow Wagtails and singles of Grasshopper Warbler and Pied Flycatcher - the latter a lingerer - were the the pick of the thin smattering on the ground at the Bill.

This morning's Pomarine Skuas weren't the best performers - at least, those that went past when we were at the Bill tip weren't - OK through a 'scope but pretty distant for photographs...


...However, the seawatch wasn't without better views of some things including this close Red-throated Diver...


...and the ongoing gull passage was worth paying attention to: Kittiwakes reached their highest total of the spring and there were good numbers of immature Mediterranean and Common Gulls mingled amongst them...



The photos also revealed quite nicely just how variable the underwings of Common Gulls are - the Dutch split things on far more tenuous grounds than this! © Martin Cade:


Video-wise, the light must have been duffer than we thought but you get some of the feel for an Arctic Skua and a flock of Common Scoter whizzing by...


...and downloading that from the camera reminded us we'd never got round to downloading some video of a group of Eider passing the Bill a few evenings ago. Is there anything that passes the Bill that flies as fast as an Eider? - since they seem to bob around all winter doing nothing in particular you'd think they'd get flabby and out of condition but not a bit of it - once they get migrating they shift like dumpy bullets! © Martin Cade