Unseasonal Skuas

Been glancing at the sea as often as I've been able to over the last couple of weeks.  The weathers not been right for sea watching not by a long way, but the prospect, however slim, of a Red-footed Booby is worth every spare second I have!  Although I must admit, I feel like the opportunity has slipped through the net now...

An immature Red-footed Booby, photographed on Monday 24th June briefly off Portland Bill and then seen and photographed perched on a boat further east off the Purbeck coast the same evening, seemed to then disappear.  Until...

A lady waiting for a bus at Sidmouth sea front at about 5pm on 2nd July took several photos of an odd-looking bird close in off the beach circling with Herring Gulls.  Thankfully she then sent the photos to Paul Bolden's website (www.wildlifeindevon.org.uk) allowing Paul and Mark to raise the alarm, it was the Red-footed Booby! I spent most of the next afternoon/evening looking off here from various different vantage points, checking cliffs, bouys, boats and even the large crane that has been over Seaton for the last 12 or so months!  However no reward that night, and no Booby since but it has to be somewhere...

My unseasonal sea watching hasn't been without highlights though.  As ever, if you put the effort in you will get rewards, even if it's not the main prize you were hoping for.

Best of all was on the evening of 7th July, in pleasant weather with excellent viewing conditions, when I was shocked to pick up a near adult pale-phased Pomarine Skua powering west.  I watched it for almost five minutes as it flew through the bay and then around Beer Head.  A treat in any year, but particularly so after such a poor spring for skuas and sea watching in general here.  No spoons but that didn't take away from its pure awesomeness.

A still taken from a phone-scoped video. Looks miles out but wasn't that bad a view at all by Seaton standards!

Have also had two Arctic Skuas, both pale-phased adults or very near-adults, these flew high east together at 20:40 on the evening of 13th.  The sea was completely flat with a light northerly wind and there wasn't much else moving at all (as you'd expect in those conditions!).  Like the Pom, these were my first of the year.

To have these skuas around (plus a Long-tailed Skua in the Exe last week) in such still conditions means there must be plenty of food around. Promising for the next few months ahead.

Med Gulls are to be expected at this time of year moving offshore, and I have seen a small number moving west including my first juvenile through on the 13th.    Two Teal bombing around on 3rd were less expected, as have been the few small flocks of Common Scoter either on the sea or flying west.  Not seen any Balearic Shearwaters here yet, but a few Manxies have been passing by. 

Cetaceans have been OK too, with several sightings of Common Dolphins (although always small numbers) and on 13th three Harbour Porpoise showing well, including a calf.

A typical Porpoise view!

Check back soon for some more updates from the patch, including news of two of the best looking wading birds around...