Hurst Seawatch - 30th April

A Force 5 to 6 south-east wind on 30th April over the bank holiday weekend and I was up at 05:00 and heading with great anticipation to the seawatch point at Cut Bridge at the base of Hurst Spit. On arrival Simon Boswell was already entrenched and as I walked along the shingle Whimbrel passed by offshore and three Little Gull were overhead. Over the next 5.5 hours the seawatching was pretty exceptional by Hampshire standards with good numbers of birds and some fantastic views. At Hurst east moving birds fly into Christchurch Bay and pass parallel with Hurst Spit to the mouth of the Solent - in a strong east to south-easterly such as today these birds are pushed closer to shore meaning that views can be very good, some birds even passing overhead. The highlights of the morning were the strong Little Tern passage, Black Tern, a good diversity of wader and excellent numbers of Arctic Skua. Birds of the morning were undoubtedly the Pomarine Skua, the first bird settled on the sea briefly before crossing the spit and heading high up the Solent passing over the village of Keyhaven. The second sighting was of a flock of seven birds on the water which drifted east to the mouth of the Solent before lifting up and heading back west to land once more only to be drifted back to the mouth of the Solent with the tide - when I left these birds were still present.  I left at 12:15 and thanks to Simon Boswell for providing the following totals from 06:30 to 14:30 most of which passed during the time I was present:

• Brent Goose - 11
• Eider - 10 offshore
• Velvet Scoter - 4 possibly more with below
• Common Scoter - Many offshore but with no visible migration, c.400-500
• Shelduck - 1
• Shoveler - 2
• Teal - 3
• Red-throated Diver - 3
• Grey Plover - 20
• Ringed Plover - 12
• Whimbrel - 86
• Bar-tailed Godwit - 32
• Sanderling - 38
• Little Gull - 12
• Common Gull - 3
• Little Tern - 87
• Black Tern - 6
• Commic Tern - 386
• Sandwich Tern - 103
• Arctic Skua - 26 (13LP+13DP) (LP- 05:42, LP - 06:02, DP - 06:45, DP+LP 07:20, DP 07:31, DP 07:45, DP+LP 07:52, 1LP+4DP 07:55, 4LP+2DP 08:00, LP+DP 08:22, 2LP 09:29, LP 12:30, DP 12:46)
• Pomarine Skua - 8 (LP 07:20, 2DP+5LP 11:55)
• Great Skua - 1 (11:08)

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel (2) and Bar-tailed Godwit (6)

Arctic Skua - Intermediate

Arctic Skua - Intermediate (same bird as above)

Arctic Skua - Light and dark phase

Arctic Skua - Dark phase

Arctic Skua - Dark phase (same as above)

Arctic Skua - Dark phase (same as above)

Arctic Skua - 2 dark phase and 4 light phase. The third bird from the left is particularly pale with a very white collar.

Arctic Skua - 2 dark phase and 3 light phase. The third bird from the left is particularly pale with a very white collar (same birds as above)

Arctic Skua - 1 dark phase and 3 light phase. The upper bird is particularly pale with a very white collar (same birds as above)

Pomarine Skua (light phase) with the Needles in the background

Pomarine Skua (light phase) - Same bird as above

Pomarine Skua (5 light phase and 2 dark phase) 

Common Tern and Black tern

Black Tern

Black Tern over the base of Hurst Spit

Little Gull - 1st summer

Little Gull - 1st summer (same bird as above)

Little Gull (adult summer)

Little Gull (adult summer) - same bird as above

Brent Goose

Weather conditions on 30th May at 06:00 showing south to south-east airflow from Biscay with an east moving front which arrived at Hurst at around 11:00 and which birds moved ahead of

The totals for other seawatching sites along the south coast make for some interesting reading (although consideration needs to be given that these sites were watched for different periods of time through the day). The totals below, for selected species, were all taken from available sources on the internet and show some interesting patterns. The totals are shown with sites positioned from the most westerly to the left and the most easterly to the right of the table. 

Firstly, St. Catherine's Point was disappointing with low numbers of most species with the exception of Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit, it would appear likely that the wind was of such strength/direction (Force 5-6, south-east) that birds were forced closer to shore and hence passed along the Solent rather than around the Isle of Wight. As is typical, numbers of birds built as one progresses eastwards with Dungeness scoring most heavily on most species with the exception of Whimbrel, Little Tern and Sandwich Tern. Commic Tern patterns are interesting, why are the totals higher for Portland than for Hurst, where did the missing 500 odd birds go to, they certainly have not gone around the Isle of Wight (unless they were too far out to see from land), numbers then are high for Selsey after seemingly having bypassed Hurst - are they moving high up the Solent and thus unrecorded at Hurst? Numbers of Little Tern passing Hurst and Selsey are consistent but then there is a drop-off in numbers at Dungeness, are these birds passing further out to sea by the time they reach Dungeness or is the drop-off due to birds have stopped over en-route? Pomarine Skua numbers are dramatically higher at Dungeness than any other point along the coast, this is presumably due to the build up in numbers as birds cross the Channel in a broad front in a north-east direction before coasting eastwards. The 30th April was the fourth best ever day total for Pomarine Skua at Dungeness but this was certainly not the case for the rest of the south coast but I was very pleased with the eight I had seen at Hurst - one of my favourite species.

Isle of Wight - 9th and 10th April

My weekend was spent on the Isle of Wight visiting family and spending a great deal of time birding. It was great to get back to the island and stomp my old birding grounds without the need to dash back. On Saturday I was up at 05:15 and by 06:30 was walking the fields to the west of the lighthouse and out to Rocken End at St. Catherine's Point. The weather was overcast with a Force 5 westerly wind blowing and there had been heavy overnight rain. There seemed to be little in the bushes so I made for the seawatching point to the west of the lighthouse. The sea was incredibly rough and the 'race', an area where tides meet forming a curving transition between smoother and rough waters, was in a frenzy. Over the course of the next two hours, as the weather brightened from the west, I recorded the following (all moving east unless stated):

• Brent Goose - 24 (one flock)
• Common Scoter - 36 (largest flock of 10)
• Black-throated Diver - 1
• Manx Shearwater - 2 west
• Gannet - 28, 27 west
• Great Skua - 3 (at 08:20, 08:45 and 09:35)
• Arctic Skua - 1 pale phase 07:50
• Kittiwake - 2
• Sandwich Tern - 2

Brent Geese passing St. Catherine's Point

A male Redstart fed frantically in the Brambles beside Knowles Farm, evidently a newly arrived migrant. As I walked up the Lighthouse Road it was evident that there were large numbers of Willow Warbler in the bushes and as I wandered west through 'Wood Warbler' valley and out to Windy Corner I recorded around 50 Willow Warbler and around 15 Chiffchaff plus 8 Blackcap. There had evidently been a 'fall' due to the heavy overnight rain. The heavens were looking like they were going to open so I headed for the car.

Next stop was West High Down in the west of the island, I parked near the old Clock Museum and walked up the footpath east of Warren Farm, the hedgerow to the north of the down was hopping with Willow Warbler and at least 2 Redstart were present plus a couple of Goldcrest. I then walked over the down heading west, there were Willow Warbler in the Gorse, a Dartford Warbler, a couple of Raven and the local pair of Peregrine showed well. A scan from a viewpoint that affords good views of the south facing cliff produced none of the expected Guillemot or Razorbill. I continued towards the coastguard cottages before dropping back to the north side of the down and walking the hedgerow at the foot of the north side of the down, this is where all the bird activity was and there were at least 50 Willow Warbler and another Redstart.

Willow Warbler feeding in Gorse - West High Down

Stonechat - West High Down

Rock Pipit - West High Down

West High Down viewed east towards Tennyson Down and St. Catherine's Point in 

distance to far right

South facing cliffs on West High Down with St. Catherine's Point to right

Peregrine - West High Down

View of Hurst Castle from West High Down

Redstart - West High Down

I then drove the short distance to the Western Yar and parked by the old station and walked along the disused railway line to view the pools. Here, 30 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Willow Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, 25 Teal and Greenshank were the highlights.

It was now 15:00 and time was running out as were my energy levels! I decided to head back to St. Catherine's Point where I birded Wood Warbler Valley out to Windy Corner and the top end of the Hanging Valley. Highlights were two Swallow, 25 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 2 Peregrine and a showy Red Squirrel.

Dark-edged Beefly Bombylius major - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Red Squirrel - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Willow Warbler - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Willow Warbler - Wood Warbler Valley, St. Catherine's Point

Weather chart from 9th April showing frontal system that resulted in the fall of 

Willow Warbler and Redstart 

St. Catherine's Point showing the main birding areas

St. Catherine's Point showing the lighthouse, East and West Fields and Knowles Farm

St. Catherine's Point showing northern end of Hanging Valley, Gore Cliff and the landslip area above Rocken End. West High Down is visible in the distance far left of the image

On Sunday I was up at 05:15 once more and back to the lighthouse at St. Catherine's Point. The wind had gone south-east overnight and, given that this is a favourable wind direction for seawatching, my hopes were high. I arrived at the lighthouse at 06:30 and began scanning, almost immediately picking up small numbers of Sandwich Tern and Manx Shearwater. There was a good collection of birders that eventually joined me and it was great to spend time with Andy Butler, Ian Ridett, Dave Wooldridge and Dave Hunnybun, Andy and the two Dave's being particularly influential in my formative years of birding and natural history exploration. It was Dave Hunnybun's birthday and we had a cook-up of bacon sandwiches on the Trangia stove to celebrate. This brought back many happy memories of birding at St. Catherine's Point in past years. Anyway, enough of the nostalgia, this is what we saw with figures in brackets from other south coast sites this morning.

• Brent Goose - 23 (Portland Bill 0, Selsey Bill 7, Splash Point 105, Dungeness 939)
• Shoveler - 5 (Splash Point 4, Dungeness 31)
• Teal - 5 (with Common Scoter) (Selsey Bill 5, Splash Point 5)
• Common Scoter - 277 (Portland Bill 709, Selsey Bill 464, Splash Point 518, Dungeness 1439)
• Red-throated Diver - 3 (Portland Bill 1, Selsey Bill 5, Splash Point 6, Dungeness 0)
• Manx Shearwater - 2
• Gannet - 119 
• Grey Plover - 2
• Whimbrel - 4 (Portland Bill 2, Selsey Bill 0, Splash Point 9, Dungeness 4)
• Arctic Skua - 6 (all dark phase at 7:05, 08:10, 09:15, 10:45 and 12:05) (Portland Bill 3, Selsey Bill 6, Splash Point 2, Dungeness 5) 
• Kittiwake - 5 
• Sandwich Tern - 103 (Portland Bill 27, Selsey 233, Splash Point 150, Dungeness 1200) 
• Commic Tern - 43 (Portland Bill 16, Selsey Bill 30, Splash Point 102, Dungeness 230)
• Kestrel - One flew out to sea at around 10:30, returning at 12:15
• Willow Warbler - 2 in off sea

It is interesting to note some of the patterns in the numbers and particularly the general accumulation of numbers of birds as one progresses from west (Portland Bill) to Dungeness (east). There are some odd anomalies such as the pattern in Common Scoter, presumably the fall in numbers of birds at St. Catherine's, Selsey and Splash Point relates to birds passing too far out to be seen. It should also be noted that there is a degree of variability in survey effort with for example Dungeness being recorded for much of the day and St. Catherine's being recorded from 06:30-11:30. By 11:30 at St. Catherine's the wind had picked up to a Force 6 easterly and passage had dropped off and most of us had departed

Common Scoter - St. Catherine's Point

Brent Geese - St. Catherine's Point

Common Scoter - St. Catherine's Point

Common Scoter - St. Catherine's Point

Arctic Skua (dark phase) - St. Catherine's Point

Gannet - St. Catherine's Point

Gannet - St. Catherine's Point

Gannet - St. Catherine's Point

Main spring seawatching sites along south coast of England

After the seawatch I had a short wander in Wood Warbler valley but there were hardly any birds around compared to yesterday so I headed off content with the weekends birding.

Weather chart for 10th April showing south and eventually south-east and
then east winds which produced good seawatching conditions