Loony tunes......

Black throated Diver and 3 Velvet Scoters passed Whitburn Obs by 10.00 this morning. From the start of the watch Common Scoter were heading north, 3 Velvets went through close in as well but no Surfer...yet. Star bird was a moulting adult Black throated Diver supported by some nice close Red throats some calling/singing
The light became poor with bright sun and distant mist so i bailed out, 90 Pink feet went south as i got in my car, i was nearly  tempted to go back but....tomorrow

Monday 31st October 06.40-10.00 W1-2 cloud 6/8 some mist

Black h Gull 12n 83s
Common Gull 14n 24s
Common Scoter 517n
Cormorant 1n 8s
Red th Diver 12n 9s
Tufted Duck 1n
Blackbird 3 in/off
Scan Herring Gull 1s
Eider 2s
Brent Goose 1s pb
Shag 3s
Grey Wagtail 1s
Curlew 6n 1s
Goldeneye 2n
Goosander 1n 1s
Black th Diver 1n 08.22 moulting adult
Teal 4n
Turnstone 5n
Velvet Scoter 3n 1 ad and 2 not all drakes
Redshank 1s
Pink footed Goose 90s

Faster than a speeding bullet......

2 Great northern Divers and 4 Long tailed Ducks passed Whitburn Obs by 10 o'clock this morning. Magic and Saint Mark joined me and we filled our boots with birds. Another 2000 plus Pinks south bringing our total this autumn to over 10,000 and a high class supporting act. Magic Mark was giving directions for me to get on another group of Little Gulls heading south, just in the wake of that speed boat he said, I got on them and was amazed as they overtook the boat. Just like Superman...faster than a speeding bullet
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Sunday 30th October 06.30-10.00 W1-2 cloud 8/8

Common Gull 29n 15s
Common Scoter 44n 8s
Black h Gull 64n 27s
Red th Diver 13n 10s
Cormorant 2n 18s
Eider 6n
Turnstone 1n 11s
Shag 1n 18s
Curlew 4n 1s
Porpoise 1n
Little Gull 31s
Redshank 2s
Long tailed Duck 4n
Bonxie 3n
Pink footed Goose 2110n
Grey Wagtail 1n 4s
Fulmar 1n
Goldeneye 1n
Sparrowhawk 1s
Great n Diver 1n juv landed on sea in front of obs 1s ad
Whooper Swan 3s
Sandwich Tern 1n
Wigeon 2s
Starling 10 in off
Grey Heron 2n

Mellow Yellow.......

24 Whooper Swans and 1980 Pink feet passed Whitburn Obs by 11am. Stevie Thunder called 2 Yellowhammers south an Obs MEGA and a year tick, it left me feeling very mellow cheers Steve.
A flock of 42 Whoopers were reported coming south by @Elliottatchev but sadly we didn't connect but thanks for the heads up. We did get a few though and along with the Geese gave the watch a winter feel
We all headed off for more views of the Daurian Shrike and another 160 Pinks flew south over the Leas
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 29th October 07.35-11.00 SW1-2 cloud 6/8

Black h Gull 17n 80s
Common Gull 7n 34s
Eider 4n 2s
Common Scoter 31n 7s
Cormorant 8s
Red th Diver 19n 16s
Redpoll 3s
Whooper Swan 24s
Curlew 4n 1s
Redshank 1n 2s
Porpoise 1n
Little Gull 4s 2ads
Tufted Duck 3n 1s
Mallard 1n
Velvet Scoter 1s
Pink footed Goose 1980s
Shag 17s
Goosander 1s
Yellow Hammer 2s
Skylark 2s
Goldeneye 2n 2s
Grey Heron 1s
Golden Plover 75s
Whimbrel 1n

Beanz meanze geeze.....

2 Bean Geese went south past Whitburn Obs yesterday morning and the goose theme continued today with Pinks and Canada's south. Its been a quiet couple of days but we had a few more birds of note today after yesterdays no blog. Hoggie and co joined me late on and he called a cracking Long tailed Duck, then as i was about to leave the Pink feet started to move. I hope they got lots more than the 2 skeins i saw but it was sea watch over for me and back tomorrow eyes rested and fully refreshed
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Thursday 27th October 07.30-10.30 SW1-2 cloud 7/8

Common Gull 4n 37s
Black h Gull 25n 76s
Siskin 1s
Red th Diver 4n 12s
Eider 11n 11s
Teal 1s
Shag 1s
Little Gull 2n
Curlew 1n 1s
Common Scoter 8n 5s
Redshank 2n 3s
Turnstone 1n 1s
Grey Heron 1s
Canada Goose 14s
Cormorant 2n 1s
Red br Merganser 2n
Redpoll 2s
Bonxie 1n
Long t Duck 1n dr
Fieldfare 1 in off
Wigeon 1n
Pink footed Goose 133s

A little bit of what you fancy....

275 Little Gulls and some quality Ducks passed Whitburn Obs by 11.20 today. I was joined by Ian a blogger fan who travelled far to sample the obs experience, Hoggie and the newly retired Peter Bell who has yet to be christened with a printable blog name
Things started very quiet then i noticed a few very distant Little Gulls, i fancied a few more and the swarm arrived circling above the incoming Ferry. More were on the sea put up from time to time but never counted and thankfully 20 or so showed really well going north close in
A Drake Scaup and 2 Velvets were memorable  near the end of the watch ensuring i will be back for more tomorrow
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Monday 24th October 07.20-11.20 NE2 cloud 6/8

Common Gull 118n 8s
Black h Gull 112n 12s
Red th Diver 9n 6s
Eider 24n 2s
Curlew 2n
Wigeon 50n
Fulmar 1n 1s
Shag 6n 1s
Common Scoter 6n 1s
Manxie 1n
Little Gull 275n
Bar t Godwit 1n
Bonxie 4n 6s
Arctic Skua 2n 1s
Porpoise 1
Teal 9n
Skylark 2n
Tufted Duck 1s
Scaup 1n cracking close in drake
Velvet Scoter 2s drks

One Hundred and Eighty.......

King Eider and a Pom Skua passed Whitburn Obs by 11.30 this morning. Magic Mark called the King Eider as it went north close inshore. Its a County Durham MEGA being only the second ever recorded, the first being in July 98. Six were in the obs to see this most royal of ducks. Well done Mark. It also brought my Obs year list to 180 species and still two months to go, it may be a struggle next year to better 2016's total

It was a quieter day as the North Easterly continued, and a little stronger than yesterday but the birds had dried up somewhat until the King went north
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Sunday 23rd October 07.20-11.30 NE3 cloud 8/8

Common Gull 46n 13s
Guillemot 1680n
Razorbill 1n
Black h Gull 56n 7s
Red th Diver15n 10s
Common Scoter 35n 4s
Tufted Duck 1n
Common Eider 15n
Manxie 3n
Bonxie 7n 5s
King Eider 1n 08.30 dr
Great n Diver 2s
Wigeon 1n
Goldeneye 1s
Shag 2n
Teal 3s
Pom Skua 1n ad
Cormorant 1n
Red br Merganser 1s
Dunlin 1n

The long and the short of it.....

5 Long tailed Ducks and 4 Scaup passed Whitburn Obs by 11 this morning. Saint Mark joined me and we were surprised at the lack of observers for such a cracking sea watch. The Long-tailed Ducks were the stars of the show in perfect light. The Balearic was a close second, so dark it could have been a Sooty. Auk movement was up but no Terns today and another Long tailed Skua. Beat that in County Durham today if you can
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 22nd October 07.20-11.00 NE2-3 cloud 7/8

Common Gull 69n 11s
Black h Gull 128n 12s
Guillemot 1960n
Razorbill 3n 1s
Tufted Duck 1n
Wigeon 76n 17s
Common Scoter 134n 17s
Red th Diver 15n 10s
Fulmar 2n
Eider 15n
Grey Wagtail 2s
Long tailed Duck 3n 2s all drakes
Puffin 2n
Sooty Shearwater 2n
Bonxie 8n
Balearic Shearwater 1n 08.56
Red br Merganser 1s
Teal 6n 1s
Goldeneye 3n
Redshank 2n
Long t Skua 1n juv
Shag  2n 1s
Goosander 1s
Scaup 4n drakes
Little Gull 20n

Swanning about.....

35 Whooper Swans and 2 Pom Skuas were the headline birds passed Whitburn Obs this morning. They were our first Whoopers of the autumn and a packed front row were all ooh's and ahh's as they give fantastic views. No Geese today but lots of birds to enjoy
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Thursday 20th October 07.20-11.45 N2 cloud 7/8

Black h Gull 71n 44s
Scan Herring Gull 6n 1s
Eider 9n 1s
Common Scoter 93n 24s
Basr t Godwit 1n
Curlew 2n
Red th Diver 10n 28s
Wigeon 81n
Bonxie 2n 5s
Redshank 1n 2s
Cormorant 4n 9s
Pom Skua 1n 1s
Teal 3n
Grey Wagtail 1s
Manxie 3n
Red br Merganser 3n
Sooty Shearwater 3n
Shag 1n 19s
Dunlin 15n
Black th Diver 1s
Shelduck 1s
Ringed Plover 12n
Arctic Skua 4n
Great n Diver 1n
Mallard 3s
Whooper Swan 35s (25 and 10)
Turnstone 2n
Long t Duck 1n
Fulmar 1n
Sandwich Tern 3s

North of the moon.......

Great northern Diver and a Med Gull passed Whitburn Obs by 11am this morning. A few Geese were moving but not yesterdays mass surge. Dave Foster was birding nearby and shouted in that some Pinks were going south inland i ran out to see them and asked directions, just north of the moon he said. Which was a bit strange as it was 10am but quite correct.
The morning had started very quiet and as yesterday it was only when Mr Goose himself  (Hoggie) sat down that we saw some magnificent Barnacles head south fairly close inshore
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Wednesday 19th October 07.15-11.00 NW2-3 cloud 6/8

Grey Heron 1n 1s
Black h Gull 81n 44s
Common Gull 45n 37s
Eider 9n 8s
Cormorant 5n 46s majority were distant and migrating
Red th Diver 4n 19s
Shag 49s mainly distant migrating birds
Goosander 6s
Common Scoter 1s
Barnacle Goose 5n 48s
Goldeneye 4s
Great n Diver 1s
Pink footed Goose 58s
Curlew 1s
Med Gull 1s ad stunning views of this
Teal 13n
Skylark 6n

Colour me Pink.......

Over 6000 Pink footed Geese went south past Whitburn Obs by 10.30 this morning. This is the highest ever count from the Obs, the change in weather broke the bottleneck. The morning started with good light but few birds and i was about to leave early as Hoggie and Walter arrived. As we looked through our scopes we began to see Pinks moving south with some large groups, they just kept coming and i have to say our final number was an underestimate. We had a quick look out the back of the obs at one point and saw 600 going south inland. It was a fantastic experience although only a few close skeins could be heard. Peter told me when after I left for my Hospital appointment they didn't have another one
The other event of the morning was a large Diver south. I called it as a Great northern but the views i got of its bill angle made me wonder, i could not see the colour well due to the light. I tweeted news in case anyone else further south got a better view

This is what we saw in order of appearance

Tuesday 18th October 07.15-10.30 W2 cloud 4/8

Cormorant 3n 46s (some were distant and not from our colony)
Brent Goose pb 2n 2s
Common Gull 2n 62
Black h Gull 13n 141s
Eider 4s
Red th Diver 2n 6s
Puffin 1n
Common Scoter 5n 15s
Turnstone 2s
Porpoise 1
Curlew 2n
Pink footed Goose 6550s
Great northern Diver 1s
Siskin 8s
Shag 3n 8s
Barnacle Goose 2n
Meadow Pipits 100 plus s

I should be so lucky, lucky........

2 Long-tailed Skuas and a Balearic Shearwater passed Whitburn Obs early morning before we moved outside to enjoy the vis mig. Magic Mark joined me and gave me a shout so i could get the Richards Pipit flying low down over my head. It is Obs year tick number 179, that's 10 more than last year already, we also had Brambling Siskins Snipe and loads of thrushes.
Then it was thanks to Saint Mark who drove me down for the Siberian Accentor with his dad. The journey for the Sibe was daunting and i did struggle with my currant mobility problems. The bird was not showing and people were leaving and heading off to look at the other birds on offer Sibe Chat, Pallas's, Dusky...
I managed to bump into Damian Money who found the Accentor to say hello as we do chat on social media tho we had never met before. This delayed our departure and i was walking behind a man and his dog when he saw and called the bird, i think it was Mark Askew so thanks guys
I should be so lucky lucky lucky, lucky

This is what we saw from the Obs in order of appearance

Saturday 15th October 07.05-10.30 E2

Black h Gull 27n 13s
Long-tailed Skua 2n
Common Gull 49n 8s
Red br Merganser 1s
Eider 1s
Teal 20n 1s
Curlew 1n
Red th Diver 7n 1s
Common Scoter 44n 2s
Dunlin 5n
Balearic Shearwater 1n 08.14
Arctic Skua 1n
Pintail 5n
Wigeon 25n
Woodcock 1 in off
Snipe 1s
Brambling 3 or 4
Siskin 3
Redwing 800
Owl sp 1
Richards Pipit 1s

Full winter plumage......

2 Long-tailed, 3 Pom and 14 Great Skuas continued yesterday afternoons superb Skua passage. Its back to full winter plumage in the obs as it gets a bit nippy first thing , i wore thermals gloves and scarf. I was joined by Magic Mark and we went about finding a few winter warmers. The light wasn't as good as yesterday afternoon at times and the Skuas more distant but it was a damn good watch. Later in the watch birds began to move south with Redwing in numbers. Unusual was the movement of Jackdaw we don't see many in front of the Obs, some stopped off in the Obs field but eventually they all went south
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Friday 14th October 07.05-11.05 SE2-3 cloud 6/8
Common Gull 84n 16s
Black h Gull 20n 6s
Eider 4n 5s
Curlew 2n 1s
Shelduck 1s
Common Scoter 11n 61s
Bonxie 5n 9s
Wigeon 14n 23s
Pintail 3n 3s
Blue Fulmar 1n
Sandwich Tern 5s
Goldeneye 7s
Red th Diver 9n 6s
Sooty Shearwater 1n 3s
Arctic Skua 2n
Velvet Scoter 5n 1s
Long tailed Skua 2 juvs
Pom Skua 3n juvs
Little Gull 1s juv
Teal 3n 24s
Skylark 3s
Goosander 6s
Manxie 1n
Pochard 1s
Jackdaw 61s
Redwing 80s
Grey Wagtail 1s
Meadow Pipit 2n 8s
Brent Goose 1n db

Poms, Sootys, Long Tails.....

8 Sootys 3 Long-tailed and 5 Pom Skuas passed Whitburn Obs in 4 Hours this afternoon. Saint Mark had to let his mum receive delivery of a pallet of turf, Magic Mark had to get off work early and i had to postpone a visit to a poorly granddaughter. It was all in a worthy cause as a Black-browed Albatross was reported as coming north past Filey. Sadly Albert did not arrive but we did enjoy a really fantastic sea watch with some great views of all 4 species of Skua plus supporting cast.
It certainly made up for the poor early morning passage
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Thursday 13th October 14.00-17.45

Manxie 3n
Arctic Skua 4n
Red th Diver 5n 1s
Knot 37n 25s
Goldeneye 4n 1s
Common Scoter 1s
Pom Skua 5n
Wigeon 10s
Long-tailed Skua 3n
Bonxie 2n 2s
Eider 10n 1s
Fulmar 1s
Sooty Shearwater 8n
Med Gull 1n ad
Arctic Tern 1n
The watch did start with Sir Ian and Hoggie but they abandoned ship when news came from Easington...not sure how they got on

Big feet big.........

26 Sooty Shearwaters and 32 Bonxies passed Whitburn Obs by midday. Yesterdays sea watch was nothing special so with similar conditions but a stronger wind i didn't expect much. How wrong i was, the Sootys started to move and a few giving fantastic close views and then my first Bonxies north were a flock of 7...
Star bird was a Great northern Diver going north at just the right distance to enjoy it in perfect light, delicious.It had massive feet and as they say big feet big bird. The Tuesday gang were in and saw a few of the birds i called but missed both cracking Long tailed Ducks one very close in and both moving fast.
This is what i saw in order of appearance

Tuesday 11th October 07.00-12.00 ENE3-4 cloud 8/8

Black h Gull 96n 8s
Common Gull 93n 10s
Gannet 597n
Sooty Shearwater 26n
Bonxie 28n 4s
Eider 10n
Red th Diver 13n 5s
Puffin 3n 1s
Wigeon 101n 12s
Pom Skua 2n (1 ad)
Little Gull 5n ads
Bar t Godwit 1n
Teal 8n
Pintail 2n
Manxie 6n 1s
Curlew 1n
Fulmar 1s
Arctic Skua 4n 2s
Arctic Tern 1n
Goosander 1s
Common Scoter 10n 2s
Long tailed Duck 2n drks
Great n Diver 1n still in sum plum ish
Med Gull 1n ad
Shag 1n

You make me feel like dancing......

3 LEO's and a Brambling from Whitburn Obs today brought my Obs year list to an unbelievable 178. Could 180 be on the cards......with Glaucous Gull and Lap Bunt still needed and a few more besides.
Magic and Saint Mark joined me, Hoggie even came in earlier than usual. It was good light and the birds just kept coming, LEO's were on our mind,  no not Sayer the Owls. They seemed to be coming in up and down the east coast and we were due..

We got news of a LEO trapped and ran off to see it released (video later) ive never seen one in the hand before thanks Kieran, but it was from the Obs i needed one for my list
Mark had an Owl south yesterday while we looking at the Pallas's Warbler but its id was uncertain. Today he called 2 coming south high up but this time we nailed them as Long Eared, and a text from Sir Ian got us a 3rd out the back of the obs just as a Brambling flew past calling.....
Yes i could have danced with joy Leo....

This is what we saw in order of appearance

Sunday 9th October 06.55-11.35 NNE2 cloud 7/8

Common Gull 58n 33s
Red th Diver 6n 16s
Black h Gull 80n 46s
Common Scoter 38n 14s
Cormorant 3n 34s
Bonxie 5n 4s
Wigeon 39n 13s
Eider 2s
Sooty Shearwater 8n Manxie 5n 1s
Med Gull 2n 1s ads
Skylark 1 in/off
Fulmar 1n 1s
Brent Goose 1n db
Red br Merganser 2n
Balearic Shearwater 1s
Shoveler 1n
Redwing 21s
Goldeneye 1n 2s
Teal 3n 3s
Mallard 1n 3s
Redshank 7s
Sandwich Tern 1n
Snow Bunting 2n
Tufted Duck 1n 1s
Arctic Skua 1n 1s
Grey Heron 1s
Puffin 1s
Shag 1s
Pintail 1s
Knot 1n
LEOwl 2s 1w
Long tailed Duck 2n
Velvet Scoter 1n
Brambling 1s

Snow is in the air......

Sooty Shearwater and 11 Little Gulls passed Whitburn Obs by 10 o'clock this morning. Magic and Saint Mark joined me , a rare occasion of late and we had an enjoyable watch in mostly good light. Star bird was a Snow Bunting i noticed sitting on the Obs wall in front of us, it posed nicely for photo's and was our first of the season
This is what we saw in order of appearance

Saturday 8th October ENE2 cloud 5/8

Black h Gull 22n 17s
Common Gull 10n 56s
Red th Diver 4n 17s
Wigeon 84n 1s
Brent Goose 2n 2s db
Grey Heron 1s
Eider 2s
Teal 3n 17s
Cormorant 5n 47s
Common Scoter 28n 4s
Med Gull 3s ads
Sooty Shearwater 1n
Goosander 1s
Manxie 4n
Velvet Scoter 1n
Bonxie 1n 4s
Little Gull 11n 6 ads
Snow Bunting 1 on wall
Common Tern 1n
Eider 1n 2s
Fulmar 2n 1s
Arctic Skua 3n
Stonechat 1
Peregrine 1n
Puffin 1n
Shag 2n 12s
Owl sp 1 in off
Barnacle Goose 150s
Blackcap 1 female type

East wind blows no good....

127 Barnacle and 25 Brent Geese passed Whitburn Obs by 11am this morning. The old saying goes an East wind blows no good and i wasn't expecting much i have experience of sea watches on an easterly. I was pleasantly surprised at the number and variety that i did see but disappointed when the cloud lifted early on. I kept a sharp eye out for the Bonaparte's but no luck this morning, bet its still about tho

So if easterlies are no good we are in for another few great days like this over the weekend
This is what i saw in order of appearance

Thursday 6th October 06.45-11.00 E2 cloud6/8 then 2/8

Common Gull 77n 88s
Black h Gull 40n 65s
Teal 35n 17s
Wigeon 118n 85s
Red th Diver 6n 24s
Common Scoter 78n 10s
Eider 18n 3s
Brent Goose pb 22n
Med Gull 1s ad
Shag 3n 2s
Bonxie 4n 1s
Brent Goose db 3n
Arctic Skua 6n 2s
Fulmar 2s
Barnacle Goose 127s
Velvet Scoter 4n
Curlew 1n
Pintail 1n
Grey Heron 2s
Redshank 1s
Sky Lark 3 in off
Red br Merganser 1n
Long tailed Duck 1n

All the B's

Bonaparte's, Barnacles and Brents passed Whitburn Obs in over 10 hours today. The three B's and the Bonaparte's was the star. Hoggie and myself were in the obs this afternoon enjoying the Barnacle passage when Fos came in for a rest from birding the bushes. No sooner had he sat down and put his scope up when he leapt in the air shouting 'Bonapartes' and sure enough it was right under our noses dip feeding just beyond the surf. I had just got my camera onto my tripod when it headed off north fast and gone
Peter Bell arrived for some goose action and was a bit disappointed he had missed out, i said you never know it might come back and bloody hell a few minutes later i called it heading south close in. It came back for a third time and we were loving it. Video on Twitter later
The sea watching today includes over 10 hours of records and this is what was seen in order of appearance, sort of

Wednesday 5th October 06.45-16.50 SE 2-3 cloud 7/8 early on and 2/8 later
Black h Gull 63n 23s
Common Gull 249n 16s
Wigeon 631n 16s
Common Scoter 142n 3s
Velvet Scoter 3n
Curlew 5n 2s
Teal 159n 2s
Eider 26n 12s
Red th Diver 8n 3s
Little Gull 6n
Brent Goose 8n 2s pb 1n db
Shag 2s
Sandwich Tern 1n
Bonxie 2n
Puffin 6n
Manxie 3n
Pintail 3n
Arctic Skua 13n
Shelduck 2s
Barnacle Goose 212s
Pom Skua 3n 1 ad w/spoons
Pochard 2n
Sooty 1n
Long tailed Skua 2n juvs
Mallard 1n
Bonaparte's Gull 1n 14.57-15.00 then south 15.20-15.25 then nth/sth 15.55-16.00 hat trick
Shoveler 2n

Ducks in the mist....

2 Little and a Med Gull went south past Whitburn Obs early morning along with a load more Ducks.The Duck movement was the main feature as mist and bright sun made scope work hard work. Is it heat haze or cold haze when its 4 degrees...
A large Raptor going north low down was hard to nail in the haze and heavy swell but it was possibly an Osprey
I was joined by Steely the shrew who is not great company as he doesn't say a lot
It was an early finish for me today as my new Swaro ATX95 is being delivered today so lets hope they come early and i can go back for more, in the mean time Hoggie is counting the Ducks

Monday 3rd October 06.35-09.00 SW2 cloud 2/8 mist heavy swell

Common Gull 41n 26s
Black h Gull 141n 135s
Eider 20n 2s
Common Scoter 53n
Teal 149n 5s
Wigeon 248n
Red th Diver 5n 8s
Cormorant 6n 242s
Meadow Pipit 12n
Dunlin 3s
Curlew 3n 1s
Pintail 8n
Grey Heron 1s
Shag 1n 1s
07.45 large raptor north low down
Shrew x 1
Red Breasted Merganser 2n
Shoveler 4n
Little Gull 2s ad
Arctic Skua 1s
Fulmar 1s
Med Gull 1s
Manxie 6n

Mile high club....

23 Little Gulls and 2 Bonxies passed Whitburn Obs by 10 this morning. Saint Mark was back from the jungle with tales of high speed car wrecks and kept the rest of us entertained with holiday snaps.A high flying bird turned out to be a Shag, someone commented the highest shag they had ever had...

Most exciting bird was a Tern going north that i said was flying oddly, but no one took any notice of me, too busy chattering,  by the time i insisted they check it out it was well north.  Ross got on it and mentioned a white rump because of the poor light i hadn't picked that up earlier but it did have a pale rump. He mentioned could it be a WWBT, well if it was one it got away.

The expected Pinks didn't happen and with the light deteriorating we left early, too early by the sound of it with Pinks and Swans moving later this morning

Saturday 1st October 06.35-10.00 SW1-2 then N1-2 cloud 3/8

Black h Gull 180n 279s
Common Gull 39n 24s
Eider 13n 30s
Common Scoter 20n 9s
Cormorant 21n 134s
Red th Diver 12n 22s
Curlew 4n
LBBGull 1n
Manxie 12n
Porpoise 5n
Little Gulls 15n 8s
Shag 2n 9s
Pink footed Goose 13s
Redshank 2s
Golden Plover 30s
Shelduck 2n
Brent Goose 1s
Mallard 1s
Swallow 2s
Fulmar 3n
Sandwich Tern 2n 1s
Bonxie 1n 1s
Common Tern 2n
Redpoll 20 plus north
Knot 4n