A distinctly autumnal spell of weather has seen no boats running to Ramsey since Saturday. This type of weather is good for a spot of seawatching so the dog and I plodded up to the hide in a gale force north westerly at 06:30 this morning to try our luck
While the dog sighed and curled up in the corner of the hide I trained my telescope seaward. It was a good couple of hours with 5 sooty shearwaters being the highlight. We see these birds in most years in August and September but it never ceases to amaze when I think of the journey they are on.
They breed in the southern hemisphere on islands off New Zealand, Australia and Chile and on the Falklands. They undertake a staggering migration that takes them to the northern hemisphere and some of these birds end up heading past the UK on their way south again. Strong onshore winds blow them in close enough to be seen from headlands and islands.
They are larger than our Manx shearwaters and brown all over apart from silver flashes on the underwing. Some photos can be seen here
Other notable species seen today were 7 great skuas and 7 arctic skuas
With a similar forecast for tomorrow I’ll be setting my alarm and dragging the dog out at first light once again!