Glorious conditions for a seawatch from the Tobacco Dump at Formby Point this morning - nice and clear (although a hell of a shimmer on the horizon), bright sun and a beach-engulfing 9.4m high tide, all stirred up by a force 4-5 west/south westerly.
Down there from 11.10am to 1.20pm, and while there was nothing startling, a good steady movement of birds, largely going south, kept me fully occupied.
Manx Shearwater 134
Gannet 190
Kittiwake 33
Guillemot 3
Arctic Skua 1
Fulmar 2
Sandwich Tern 21
Arctic Tern 18
Common Tern 44
Most of the birds were a fair way out today, but it was easy counting the Manxies and Gannets as they powered through, or weaved above and below the horizon.
Just before the tide reached its height, a few came right through the surf, with some Gannets so close I was almost tempted to try digi-scoping them.
Good numbers of Kittiwake heading south too, but the terns were a bit of a disappointment today - I was expecting more from them, as I imagine, was the Arctic Skua which came in to rest on the swell.
Barwits, Sanderling, Knot etc coming through after being displaced from their roosts by the tide, while the woods were a bit quiet, just singing Chiffy and Blackcap.
The Red Squirrels are still thin on the ground at Victoria Road by all accounts, but the discovery by the Sefton Rangers of a dead Roe Deer last week on the coast road between Ainsdale and Birkdale suggests that while we may be losing one species of mammal, we are in the process of gaining a much bigger one.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Good result; I figured that Manxies would be prominent, they nearly always are in late spring/early summer blows.
Looks like wind will hold, though too wet to go out today.
The latest assessment of the status of all of the UKâÂÂs 246 regularly occurring birds â Birds of Conservation Concern 3 â shows 52 are now of the highest conservation concern and have been placed on the assessmentâÂÂs red list. The revised red list now includes even more familiar countryside birds, including the cuckoo, lapwing and yellow wagtail, joining other widespread species such as the turtle dove, grey partridge, house sparrow and starling.
Alarmingly, red listed species now account for more than one-in-five (21 per cent) of all the UKâÂÂs bird species. This is a far higher proportion than compared to the last assessment in 2002, when 40 species (16 per cent) were red listed. Most species on the red list have suffered a recent halving of range or population in the UK, or have undergone a historical decline since 1800.
Amongst the species new to the red list is a suite of birds visiting the UK in summer, notably the cuckoo, wood warbler, and tree pipit. These birds, are widespread, but rapidly-declining, summer visitors to the UK. Their addition to the red list is highlighting the concern that many long-distance migratory birds nesting in Europe and wintering in Africa are increasingly in trouble. Currently 21 of the birds on the red list are summer visitors to the UK, with the majority of these spending the winter in sub-Saharan Africa.
However, the 2009 assessment does contain some good news. Six species (bullfinch, reed bunting, woodlark, quail, Scottish crossbill and stone-curlew) have been moved from the 2002 red list to the amber list, largely because of a recovery in their numbers or range, or a better understanding of their populations.
Two winter visitors to northern England have joined the red list for the first time. The dunlin, a starling-sized wading bird, and the scaup - a duck â have been placed on the red list because of declines in wintering populations. The ongoing decline of the dunlin population has seen this wader slump to its lowest levels since recording began. Dr. Peter Robertson, the RSPBâÂÂs Regional Conservation Manager for northern England said: "Northern EnglandâÂÂs estuaries such as the Ribble, the Solway and Morecambe Bay are particularly important for wintering birds such as the dunlin. Our estuaries are some of the most productive habitats on the planet. However they also face a wide range of threats, from land-take for industrial development to rising sea levels resulting from climate change, and so need our continued protection."
The continued decline of widespread farmland and woodland birds is a theme that has developed since the compilation of the last list in 2002. Lapwing, formerly a much-more widespread wading bird, and the hawfinch, a woodland bird largely confined to England, have both joined the red list in the latest assessment. Peter Robertson added: âÂÂNationally, lapwings are in decline, however there are still good populations in some parts of northern England. We need to continue our work with landowners to ensure that there is suitable habitat for these birds to breed successfully. The modest recovery of bullfinch and reed bunting populations show that this approach can be successful.âÂÂ
Birds of Conservation Concern 3 is compiled by a partnership of organisations, including the British Trust for Ornithology, Countryside Council for Wales, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Natural England, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.
27.5.09 Formby Point seawatch, 1150-1500:
Great Crested Grebe 3
Fulmar 2
Manx Shearwater 147
Gannet 160
Common Scoter 22
Great Skua 1
Arctic Skua 2
Kittiwake 9
Sandwich Tern 18
Common Tern 32
Arctic Tern 11
Everything going south. 1 Arctic Skua knocked crap out of an adult Lesser Black Back!