Honestly, honestly, honestly, I had planned to check out Marshside this afternoon, honestly.
But as the Baby Black Death nosed onto the Pontins roundabout at Ainsdale, the sea looked just too tempting to pass up - tide was well on the way out, but the light was good (apart from when torrential rain battered the shoreline) and the wind was still blowing steadily from the south.
I know, I need help.
Before I knew it I was seawatching from a low dune behind the Discovery Centre place...I just couldn't stop myself your honour...as it turned out, it was pretty good given the conditions.
I scoped the receding tide from 3.40pm to 4.45pm before going for a wander on the beach proper.
Manx Shearwater 124
Gannet 53
Common Scoter 60
Red Throated Diver 1
Guillemot 2
Kittiwake 1
Arctic Skua 3
Sandwich Tern 150
Common Tern 80
Arctic Tern 12
Not bad for a quick squint after work!
The birds all seemed to be feeding north of the rig generally, rather than passing through, with most of the Manxies in two large rafts, which occasionally rose off the water.
Staring really hard at this pic above (think pelagic-magic eye and you get the idea) you can just make out the blurry shapes of Gannets and Manxies in the middle, either that or there's a few midges stuck in my scope...
One dark phase and two pale phase Arctic Skuas occasionally gave the terns a bashing, and there was another immature skua out there too - small, with a nice chest and no belly with a longish tail and narrow wings...and right here's the big draw back with seawatching from Ainsdale.
The bird was little bigger than a Sandwich Tern, and drifted aimlessly about amongst them, often landing on the sea.
No white on the upper wing was visible, dark tail and lighter barred rump, although it was paler below..but it was just too far off to call with certainty, which is often the case from Ainsdale when it comes to species where subtle details are necessary...
Off Formby Point I'd probably have nailed it, here it was just that bit too distant...
Gannets, Manxies and seaduck pose no such problems, so I made do with them.
Two Guillemots on the water were my first this autumn, and there were plenty of scoter out there too, plus a single Kittiwake going south.
One Harbour Porpoise moved north about 100yds offshore at 4pm (another one for Mr McGrath), and there was a good roost of Common and Sandwich Tern on the beach.
Seawatching aside, there were a few gorgeous summer plumage Grey Plovers on the beach, feeding around the channels - imagine the twitch if these things were rare.
I watched one in between the downpours for about 20 minutes as it stalked along a shallow channel, running and stopping to grab a morsel not unlike a Wheatear or Song Thrush.
Sanderling (with a few Dunlin) were flying across the sand at breathtaking speed without opening their wings, but there's always plenty of them down here, and the usual roost of Lesser and Greater Black Backs, Herring and Black Headed Gulls was scattered about the upper beach north of Shore Road.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Do you think that I saw a porpoise off Crosby at high tide today around 1.30pm?
What appeared to be a black triangular dorsal fin surfaced about every 5 minutes, in a different place each time.
When I referred to a book back home, it resembled a porpoise fin more than anything else, being more broad than pointed, only problem is that the illustrations seem to show the back of the animal just above the water and I didn't see that.
I know you've had a couple of sightings this week off Ainsdale.
What did I see?
Hi Maurice - Harbour Porpoise is by far the most regular cetacean off the Sefton coast (I've seen Bottle Nosed Dolphin only once, and that was years ago).
Your description of the broad fin sounds like Harbour Porpoise - they're only relatively small things in cetacean terms, and although you often get a glimpse of their backs as they break and "roll" over the surface, like a "cartwheel movement" (thanks DR), it's not unusual to just see the stubby little fin, depending on the height of the swell.
Hope this helps...seawatching could be good again today.
I've been doing some heavy metal scoping this week from the Natural England lookout at Banks.
Televue scope which can give me sharp widefield images at 134x (makes my Swarovski HD seem like a toy, a nice portable one mind) albeit one needs ideally a nice bright shimmer free day. Plenty of those of course this year.
Lots of waders in on top of the high tides, mainly roosting though a few parties hanging out full time and feeding.
A lot (4/500) Grey Plovers, stacks of Dunlins and Ringed Plovers, smaller numbers of Knot (well "inland") plus 3 at least Curlew Sands, 4 Greenshanks and a Spotted Red. Odd Whimbrels about plus the usual Green Sands.
Wildfowl numbers building up with Teals, as usual in September, the most numerous, must be a thousand there, with smaller numbers of Wigeons and this morning (and yesterday at Marshside) a couple of Pintails.
Ducks nearly all in eclipse of course. No sign yet of any proper geese.
My best count for aerial Kestrels, invariably over the un-grazed "Sea Aster" (I think) parts of the estuary is 21 but Graham Clarkson told me his record this year is 41 (!!). Merlins in, plus resident, more or less, Peregrines, one of which I saw pursuing and catching a Merlin last week, the Merlin managing to break free just before they grounded.
A few Wheatears about, good movements of Mipits and Alba wagtails (both types), and this morning two Yellow Wagtails both looking like winter plumage males, maybe local breeders, maybe not.
Surely, somewhere out in the vastness of the estuary, among the tens of thousands of waders, is a "Yank" or two.
Trouble is, unless one goes and plonks itself in front of "Sandgrounders" or decides to hang around in front of the lookout at Old Hollow it ain't going to be noticed.
Ron
The dead Minke Whale (off Range Lane, Formby) was still there this morning and seems to be the first record for the Sefton Coast since 1954.
Six Common Buzzards soaring low over the dunes at Ainsdale NNR on Tuesday.
At least one pair has bred on the reserve.