Monday
31st
October Light NW, freshening Low cloud, some early rain, cooler.
Up
early for another seawatching session with Samuel Perfect. I am awake
at five partly due to a frightening scene in a dream/nightmare where
Wayne Rooney and I are on the way to The Olympics in a lorry, as you
do! We never got there . . . I woke up.
Rain
is falling and has been for most of the night. Breakfast for
champions is porridge with banana chips and honey and my travel mix
of nuts and dried fruit is made up today in two bags; one for me and
the other for Samuel. He deserves it being such a fantastic young
man. Seeing Samuel with his Canadian girlfriend, Larissa is lovely.
Both superb birders, Larissa found the glossy ibis yesterday, the
latest in a string of good finds. Considering she is new to the UK,
how she has developed into such a good birder is a credit to her. She
is always the one in last when doing census and I remember having a 9
hour census day when we did census area B together back in August.
Gosh
it is so good to be back on North Ronaldsay! Great to be part of the
team and part of the 'family,'
There
was excitement at the log call last night, not only over the northern
harrier, hoopoe, green-winged teal, bean geese, Glossy Ibis and what
Samuel and I saw on the seawatch (FEA'S!) but also because last
thing, at the mist netting thrush roost session, a bat was flying
around Holland. Now this is a very rare event in late October but the
hope is that George Gay's photographs will lead to an identification.
Due
to it now being what I call British Wintertime, that is the clocks
have gone forward, it is now light at seven, just. How can one top
yesterday's seawatch? Answer to that is probably can't so maybe today
Samuel and I will concentrate on counting the birds! The seawatch
yesterday had no counts for fulmar, gannet, auks, kittiwakes . . . .
oops!
Samuel
and I are at the seawatching hide by 8:30AM, as yesterday. The change
of wind direction and the freshening of it, gives different
conditions to yesterday and after deciding on making 15 minute counts
of all bird species that pass, we settle down to the task.
Sooty
shearwaters are passing, heading north west, as are good numbers of
fulmar, gannet, kittiwake and various auks.
Every
fifteen minutes we collate the counts and note 'specials'. We count
the divers, skuas and a number of sooty shearwaters, gannets, fulmars
and kittiwakes; auks of five species too.
Samuel
leaves at 10:30AM for census work leaving me to continue to count the
main three; gannet, fulmar and kittiwakes, whilst noting all other
species.
By
Noon we have the following seawatch list :
Fulmar
536
Gannet
555
Kiitiwake
109
pomarine
skua 1 pale phase adult
great
skua 1
skua
sp. 1
guillemot
53
razorbill
13
puffin
10
black
guillemot 8
little
auk 5
sooty
shearwater 32
long-tailed
duck 5
teal
1
greylag
21
whooper
swan 6
great
northern diver 8
red-throated
diver 7
common
gull 5
great
black backed gull 5
cormorant
2
shag
3
purple
sandpiper 3
goldeneye
1 female
The
pale phase adult pomarine skua was a particular delight, passing
close in and showing extensive spoons. Two of the great northern
divers were in Summer plumage still.
Returning
to the Bird Observatory, I see Samuel counting wildfowl at Ancum. All
of yesterday's whooper swans have gone; just singles of pintail and
greater scaup amongst the shovelor, mallard and wigeon.
An
evening of Halloween entertainment, a perfect time to watch Ghostbusters, followed Log.
A new nickname from
Larissa for me, Crusty The Clown!
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