Late September is proving peak Balearic time for us here, with the right weather conditions of course. Formally I associated Balearics with late summer, but times really seem to have changed.
We've witnessed the first decent Atlantic front of the autumn today, and Ian Mc was able to meet it at the seafront and recorded just over 100 Balearic Shearwaters west in 90 minutes. Very little else however.
When news of this passage came through, I'd just started a methodical check of all wet bits on Colyford Marsh hoping for a Pec. A well overdue Pec at that! And I kept with it... for next to no rewards though. I did manage a half hour seawatch from 11am at Spot On, which showed Balearics were still moving. I counted 22 west, along with my first two Dark-bellied Brent Geese of the autumn also west.
I suspect an all day count would have shown about 300 or so past here today, roughly matching Berry Head's numbers. The English Channel must be full of this critically endangered species at the moment, even Dungeness way off to the east managed over 150 which is their highest ever count.
Just a pity they don't bring more Sooties with them... a true Axe patch rarity these days.
No comments:
Post a Comment