Arctic Skuas and Autumn Passerines

Not had any time out today, but have a bit to fill you all in on so here goes...

I finally managed a look at the sea, this was yesterday morning.  Conditions were a bit clear and bright but there was still a fairly decent south westerly wind blowing.  I watched from Spot On for an hour from 06:15 and was absolutely delighted to see my first skuas of the year, two Arctics, fly west at 06:30.  Also flying west were 28 Balearic Shearwaters, as well as 40+ Gannet and a handfull of Kittiwakes.  There was plenty more on the horizon, oh what I would have done for some rain and cloud!

Otherwise yesterday, a couple of quick looks along the river gave singles of Bar-tailed Godwit and Whimbrel, along with single figures of Ringed Plover and Dunlin.  A bird I forgot to blog about, from over a week ago now, was a single juvenile Goosander which landed on the Estuary in front of the Tower Hide early one morning...

Love the stripey face on these older juvs/first-winters

 

Autumn passerine migration is still plodding on, and when the weather has been calm enough I have been trying to get amongst it.  I had a lovely early morning wander on Beer Head on Saturday, and although migrants weren't plentiful they did include a lovely and unusually settled Pied Fly (my third of the autumn), two or three Spot Flies, a Goldcrest and a small number of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Whitethroats.

What an autumn scene

They really are cute!

Lovely wing pattern

Spotted Flycatcher in another very autumn scene

Whinchats are clearly moving through at the moment too.  I have seen four singles, at Beer Head, Axe Cliff, Seaton Marshes and Black Hole Marsh over the last ten days.  Three of them didn't allow close approach, with most my photos looking like this...

Whinchat on Seaton Marshes - 29/08/25

 

The only one that did allow me to get near to it was the Beer Head bird, but I stumbled upon that before the sun had risen so my photo looks like it was taken in the dark...

...because it was!

 

Right I think that is me done with the catch-up.  Glad to clear the backlog for the flocks of Sabine's Gull and Grey Phalaropes that are sure to be arriving any day now...