Balearic Shearwater, Black Tern, Minke Whale...are we in heaven.....wye no man Whitburn Obs. The started quietly with little or no wind and few birds Stoney arrived just as the wind started picking up and it all kicked off. He called a distant Shearwater going north and it was the first north so we were all over it and were pleased to see it was the first Balearic Shearwater recorded at Whitburn this year.
I picked up on a very distant Tern and called the juv Black Tern a year tick for Rob, then we both smiled as a Green Sandpiper called as it headed south a tick for me.
As always the Cetaceans stole the show with White-beaked Dolphin's breaching then a Minke Whale showed very well as it surfaced three times heading north my second of the week.
My Obs list reached 159 with the Sandpiper and Shearwater at last almost respectful
It was a fantastic watch here are the details of what we saw in order of appearance
Friday 10th August SW3 6/8 05.05-09.15
Curlew 4n 2s
Black h Gull 16n 253s
Turnstone 2s
Sandwich Tern 49n 212s
Common Gull 4n 17s
Common Tern 41n 96s
Common Scoter 7s
Gannet 148n 58s
Cormorant 19n 252s
Redshank 23n 32s
Dunlin 4n 29s
Fulmar 14n 9s
Shelduck 1n
Wigeon 6s
Roseate Tern 3s ads
Ringed Plover 2s
Sanderling 7s
Goosander 8n
Bonxie 1n 1s
Arctic Tern 1n 4s
Knot 17s
Manxie 10s
Med Gull 2s 2nd w and juv
Balearic Shearwater 1n 07.00
Green Sandpiper 1s
Oystercatcher 13s
Black Tern 1s juv 08.54
White-beaked Dolphin 4n 07.20-07.48 then at least one more
Minke Whale 1n 07.56 3/4 out
phew.....
