Rosy Terns on the move

2 Roseate Terns went south past Whitburn Obs early morning along with 140 Sanwich Terns.
A calm sea with little wind resulted in a quiet early morning watch with few birds moving
Here is what i saw in order of appearance

Wednesday 7th August 04.50-07.00 W1 calm sea and broken cloud

Sandwich Tern 11n 129s
Arctic Tern 13n 4s
Cormorant 7n 64s
Curlew 1n
Common Tern 12n 22s
Common Scoter 42n
Black headed Gull 7n 6s
Manxie 11n
Shelduck 3n
Whimbrel 1s06.25 circa 6 White beaked Dolphins breaching distantly to the south
Roseate Tern adult and juv south

Yesterday evening i did a short watch 16.30-18.00
Arctic Skua 1s
Arctic Tern 7n
Sooty Shearwater 1n (my first of the year tho others have seen them ) bringing my Obs year list to 140
Sandwich Tern 10n 17s
Sanderling 6s
Common Tern 1s
Manxie 11n
Whimbrel 2s

Bog standard sea watch 2

15 Manxies and 5 Black tailed Godwits passed Whitburn early morning on a poor sea watch.
The least said the better, westerly and bright sun sums it up. Shame the Bee-eaters didnt come over the Obs

Tuesday 6th August 04.55-06.55 W3 bright sun

Turnstone 4n 1s
Black h Gull 2n 4s
Cormorant 3n 31s
Common Scoter 28n
Manxiev 3n 12s
Redshank 12n 8s
Common Tern 4n 3s
Black tailed Godwit 5s
Oyster Catcher 8s
Sandwich Tern 8n 22s
Red th Diver 1s
Arctic Tern 1s

It never rains it pours..............waders

67 Manxies and 218 Common Scoter and a Curlew Sandpiper went past Whitburn Obs this morning along with a good selection of waders
I had to abandon my early morning watch due to the weather. Its was still raining when i arrived in the Obs but the cloud was lifting. As soon as i sat down 32 Manxies went south right under my nose and a flock of 120 Scoter went north so i knew it had been worth the effort
Waders was going south regularly and i was wondering what had i already missed, still it was a canny couple of hours
Here's what i saw in order of appearance

Monday 5th August 09.55-12.30 S2 rain, mist cloud cover

Golden Plover 3s
Dunlin 27s
Oyster Catcher 15s
Sanderling 19s
Manxie 67s
Common Scoter 123n 95s
Teal 1n
Bar tailed Godwit 3s
Knot 23s
Sandwich Tern 4n 67s
Common Tern 15n 14s
Curlew Sandpiper 1s
Puffin 1s
Arctic Tern 22n 4s
Curlew 2n 1s
Turnstone 3s
Redshank 10s
Arctic Skua 1s

Blogger City

39 Whimbrel and 3 Black tailed Godwits south past Whitburn Obs were the highlights this morning and a Peregrine. None of the regular sea watchers joined me this morning but i did have a visit from two fellow Bloggers. Howden Blogger and Segedunum Warbler, they called in on the way south to Saltholme to check out the Obs after reading my blog, fame at last
It was a mixed bag with no star birds to boast of but pleasant until the cloud cleared to bright sun
Heres what i saw in order of appearance

Sunday 4th August 04.44-09.00 SSW2 then SW3 rain cloud then bright sun, i had the lot!

Common Tern10n 63s
Black h Gull 5s
Cormorants 17n 109s
Turnstone 1n
Arctic Tern 21n 20s
Sandwich Tern 11n 355s
Knot 2n 8s
Whimbrel 39s
Teal 22n
Curlew 1n 3s
Manx Shearwater 16n 1s
Oyster Catcher 10s
Black tailed Godwit 3s
Sanderling 3s
Swallow 3s
Peregrine 1 hunting auks off the obs
Wigeon 1s
Common Scoter 43n 10s
Whimbrel 39s

'Humpty Dumpty' a Humpback past the Obs

Humpback Whale past the Obs this morning was the main event along with 6 Little Gulls 71 Manxies and a good selection of waders and ducks.The Humpback was first picked up by Mark at 08.05 we lost it for a while then he again found it as we watched it move north by 09.00. A few in the Obs this morning as i was joined by Mark, Stevie Thunder, Derek Lawrence and Pink Floyd with Desperate Den bringing up the rear. Here's what we saw

Saturday 3rd August 04.50 -09.10 sw1-2 then SW 5 mainly bright sun

Manx Shearwater 33n 38s
Common Tern 84n 34s
Arctic Tern 56n 15s
Common Scoter 370n 5s
Teal 37n 2s
Dunlin 4s
Red br Merganser 2n
Whimbrel 26s
Cormorant 13n 70s
Curlew 2n 2s
Redshank 2n 10s
Turnstone 1n 1s
Oyster Catcher 12n 16s
Knot 1n 10s
Common Gull 4s
Sandwich Tern 16n 79s
Black h Gull 3n 5s
Puffin 1s
Grey Plover 1s
Bonxie 1n
Swift 6s
Shoveller 2n
Arctic Skua 1s
Little Gull 6n
08.05 Humpback blow seen twice
Bar t Godwit 5n
08.50 Humpback Whale again moving north till 09.00 am ish

Frantic Friday

Little Gull, 111 Arctic Terns and 76 Manxies, and 563 Common Scoter went past Whitburn Obs prior to 7am.It was a busier day than yesterday with a mainly northerly movement of birds on a nice southerly breeze. Lots of Kittiwakes and Gannets were moving but we were looking for bigger fish so didn't record numbers. I was joined by Stoney and he was a welcome guest keeping an eye on the Manxies as i tried to sweep up the rest. Early mist cleatred to bright sun which meant most id was by silhouette only, it was a frantic two hours and great fun. Here's what we got

Friday 2nd August 04.55-07.00 S2-3 early mist then bright sun

Common Tern 13n 23s
Manx Shearwater 46n 30s
Cormorant 7n 25s
Common Scoter 554n 9s
Red th Diver 1n
Teal 4n
Arctic Tern 110n 1s
Turnstone 2s
Dunlin 2s
Sandwich Tern 9n 26s
Puffin 2n
Whimbrel 1s
Little Gull 1s

Breakfast with Rosie

3 Roseate Terns and 3 Arctic Skuas went south past Whitburn Obs today on a much quieter day. Following the excellent Tern passage yesterday you would expect something similar, but no in the first hour the only terns i saw were 2 Common Terns. Thankfully it picked up and 2 Roseate Terns south close in together were a real treat, a third passed before i packed in for work
Lets hope they are a regular sight over the next few weeks, here's what i saw in order of appearance

Thursday 1st August 05.00-07.00 SSW2-3, cloud cover

Cormorant 5n 48s
Common Tern 6n 39s
Arctic Skua 3s
Common Scoter 82n
Black h Gull 2s
Manxie 7s
Puffin 2n
Arctic Tern 6n 6s
Curlew 1n 1s
Sandwich Tern 12n 55s
Oyster Catcher 14s
Dunlin 1n
Roseate Tern 3s adults
Whimbrel 6s