Okay, so the wind was from the south east, and the tide had peaked a good three hours before, oh, and it was raining (see above), but seawatching is never (although Ron J may disagree) a waste of time, so suffering from some pretty bad skua withdrawal I spent on hour scanning the receding tide from Ainsdale this afternoon (4-5pm).
The sea was racing away from the shore faster than Michael Phelps, but there were still good numbers of Gannets plunge diving pretty close in, those and a bonus of 18 Manxies (14 south, 4 north) made it worthwhile.
I believe Stephen Dunstan had a good passage of Manxies off Starr Gate on the other side of the estuary earlier today - my Manxies were probably tailgate Charlies from that movement.
The rain kept daytrippers and kiteflyers off the beach, so a Grey Seal was mooching around the shallows and Sandwich and Common Terns fishing at the water's edge.
Manx Shearwater 18
Gannet 55
Common Scoter 90+
Little Tern 1
Arctic Tern 3
Common Tern 80
Sandwich Tern 50
Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Dunlin in the creeks, but unfortunately the rain eased, the sun came out and the daytrippers and kiteflyers appeared from nowhere.
It was time for a leisurely saunter round the Sands Lake - up to 20 Tufties there, with two Pochard now.
Common Blue butterflies in the slacks, but not many, two Willow Warblers in the bushes on the west side of the lake and plenty of Grass of Parnassus still blooming (but starting to look a bit tired).
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Hi John,
Actually it was terns, Kitts and accompanying skuas with a small number of Manxies. Maurice Jones had most of it but it was great to be able to see some of what was clearly a sizeable movement during my lunch break.
Regards,
Stephen.
Thanks for the clarification Stephen - from the Old Hall St newsbunker in Liverpool it looks pretty good out there today too...
Stunning adult Pomarine Skua past Formby Point (11.50am)
19/8 Formby Point seawatch, 10.50-14.30:
Lively session!
Manx Shearwater 218
Gannet 38
Common Scoter 95
Arctic Skua 3
Pomarine Skua 1
Great Skua 2
Kittiwake 5
Sandwich Tern 242
Common Tern 227
Arctic Tern 43
Little Tern 1
Whimbrel 2