With winds due to strengthen and swing into the north-west, most of the attention was focused on the sea today, with just shy of ten hours consecutive coverage yielding some good returns (although arguably there perhaps wasn’t as much activity as might have been expected). Highlights included three Long-tailed Skuas, one early in the morning and the other two in quick succession early afternoon, with two Pomarine Skuas similarly distributed. A pulse of activity early in the afternoon involved large numbers of birds feeding offshore, which included three Roseate Terns (which eventually headed north), the first of the year of this just-about-annual species (MJP, BP, JS).
Common Buzzard (Mark Pearson)
The best of the rest involved 25 Manx Shearwaters, an exceptional 42 Bar-tailed Godwits south, and 12 each of Arctic and Great Skuas (with another five unidentified skuas). Visible migration at the Gap was notable for an increase in Meadow Pipits, which numbered 306 south this morning, with three Common Buzzards to the south of there this afternoon.