Way, way more gripping that the turgid, unimaginative frame-fillers inflicted on us by modern-day toggers, Brett's little bit of shaky, phone-scoped video conveys everything about a scene we'd have loved to have witnessed as a storm-blown and clearly knackered Long-tailed Skua dropped in for a few minutes rest on Chesil © Brett Spencer:
31st August
Increasing winds from the southwest called for a day spent largely looking out to sea, with a fair return for the local area that unfortunately still lacked most of the hoped-for possibilities that have been turning up in quantity further west. The cumulative total of 78 Balearic Shearwaters logged from the Bill included 32 seen heading west from the Obs and a further 46 reorientating south out of Lyme Bay; 18 Manx Shearwaters, 10 Arctic Skua, 9 Sandwich Terns and a Sooty Shearwater were all that could be mustered by way of further variety there, with an Arctic Tern an addition from Chesil Cove. The bird of the day was a Long-tailed Skua which pitched in briefly at Ferrybridge before heading away up the Fleet. Away from the seabirds, a Pied Flycatcher at Culverwell, the lingering Firecrest at the Obs and a Common Sandpiper on the shore were the only worthwhile migrant sightings from the Bill. The wader selection at Ferrybridge was largely unchanged, with 14 Turnstone, 3 Curlew, 3 Sanderling, 3 Sandwich Terns and 2 Knot still present; 2 Yellow-legged Gulls were also there.
