Mountainous seas, screaming force 7-8 westerly, and a unique combination of driving rain, hail and sandblasting made Ainsdale one dog of a place to sit for two hours this afternoon.
But I was born stupid.
Got down just after 3pm, but the sea was a good way out already, and that combined with scope shake made seawatching extremely difficult.
To be honest I spent most of the time cowering from the deluges and hail, but there were some birds out there too.
Leach's Petrel 1
Manx Shearwater 8
Fulmar 1
Gannet 2
Arctic Skua 1
Common Scoter 6
Great Crested Grebe 1
The grebe distinguished itself by batting south a good hundred metres up the beach from the tide's edge - it was that kind of afternoon.
Tomorrrow could be amazing, if the totals from south of me today are anything to go by - 90 Leach's off Crosby; 80 off New Brighton and 120 off Hilbre.
Shame I'm working.
Duncan Rothwell was telling me the rangers had at least 5 Leach's past Ainsdale over the tide (I arrived 2 hours later), with one going past the window of the tower on the Discovery Centre!
Can't wait to see what Bazzo gets off Formby tomorrow.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Had six Leach's Petrel past Ainsdale by 2.45 pm.
All were close inshore and one poor sod was attacked and grabbed by a big (Icelandic?) female Merlin.
She was actively hunting up to 50 metres offshore checking the rolling breakers for tasty Leach's tabnabs and found not one but two.
One south along the tideline just afterwards and then one St Petering in the pools around my car.
Had badly-damaged tail, could fly but not very well.
Should have tried to to catch it I suppose, as only feet away, although not sure what my vet would recommend.
Probably the earlier Merlin snatch, but anyway after a while it 'petrel-pattered' towards the gull roost on the beach - I could almost see the big-boys licking their lips.
Also 3 Little Gull (always a good sign), Red-throated Diver along the surfline and Razorbill to add to you list.
Don't mind this sea-watching lark every ten years or so.
William Elford Leach (1790-1836) was a British zoologist, employed at the British Museum who became a world-expert on crustaceans.
He probably never ever saw 'his' petrel alive. It was named after him in 1818 when Leach purchased a collection of specimens from the estate of William Bullock to Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, a French collector/ornithologist.
Leach was likely to have been a mate of Vieillot, as he had named a Barbet species after him in 1815.
Quid pro quo !
So John, if you name a new emberiza you find at Ainsdale this week, Bannon's Bunting, I will name any re-discovered 'Goodies-like' species I might come across, Dempsey's Dodo.
Can't say fairer than that, squire.
I too was at Ainsdale beach this afternoon hoping to see my first Leach's.
Was nice to meet you John even in such terrible conditions and did not expect to see my first Leach's Petrel three feet away from me on the beach !!
Also had great views of female Hen harrier hunting over Crossens marsh a little earlier.
2.10.08: Formby Point seawatch, 10.40am - 1.45pm (with Neill Hunt):
Leach's Petrel 3
Velvet Scoter 1
Common Scoter 450+
Razorbill 4
Guillemot 1
Kittiwake 4
Arctic Tern 2
Scaup 2
Manx Shearwater 2
Hi John,
Having an afternoon off today and high tide at 2 i thought I'd try this seawatching lark !!
So I strapped my new hdr lens into my mighty midget, looking at the bucketlike clouds, I thought I'd try 'Another Place' where I could keep the heater on and use my window mount.
As I arrived 2 Leach's shot through close in, then i got onto a Storm Petrel of the normal type, nobody seems to mention them ??
Was I just lucky ??
I saw at least 2 in the hour i was there.
Manx Shearwater disappearing behind the waves, I can see why it's such a challenge !! but no ducks or much else except Cormorants and Starlings ??
Did I chose a poor site ??
Too many windmills ??
Bazzo saw much more at Formby, Is it me ??
p.s. brilliant blog, the highlight of my mornings
Neil.
Hey Neil, glad you like the blog.
I'm surprised no one got excited about your Stormies this afternoon - although they are getting commoner in Liverpool Bay, peak time is still July/August and Leach's are the petrels that come through in numbers whenever there's a wreck at this time of year.
As to your choice of site, that's always been a bone of contention...Formby Point is the hardest place to watch from because of the exposed position (sand, rain etc), but it is good whether the wind is from the south west, west or north west.
When there's a good Leach's wreck like the last few days, Crosby beach, or more specifically, right down at the bottom by the radar tower is usually better (even though it is reliant on good westerlies/north westerlies) - the birds are blown right up into the Mersey and shelter there, emerging close by Crosby and New Brighton giving great views.
Don't worry about Bazzo seing more than you - he is a seawatching god, so tends to out-seawatch most of us mere mortals.
But remember - the more you seawatch the better you get...