Tuesday 13 August 2013

Minke Whales steal the show

2 Minke Whale, Balearic 3 Sooty and 96 Manx Shearwaters passed Whitburn Obs this evening. I saw the first Minke at 18.00 fairly distant then 2 much closer inshore at 06.50 till 07.00 at least. It was a fitting end to an excellent evening watch after a disappointing morning. The Balearic Shearwater was my first of the year and brings my Obs list to 144
Here's what i saw this evening in order of appearance

Tuesday 13th August 15.50-19.15 N1 flat calm sea with good visibility

Oyster Catcher 11n 37s
Turnstone 1n 2s
Sandwich Tern 63n 13s
Common Tern 10n 28s
Black h Gull 3s
Curlew 2s
Porpoise 4 at least
Manx Shearwater 85n 11s
Whimbrel 3s
Redshank 9s
Sooty Shearwater 3N
Black tailed Godwit 20s
Dunlin 5s
Teal 2n 3s
18.00 Minke Whale then 2 closer inshore at 18.50 till 19.00
Arctic Tern 1n
Arctic Skua 1n
Balearic Shearwater 1n then swung back south checking the area where Minke had surfaced