Sunday 5th July

Although enthused by yesterday's event to stir sea-watchers to start from 05:10, expectations were tempered by a persistent and strengthening WSW to WNW, and apart from brief mizzly spell first thing, it was also dry, not great conditions for this site.  Not a single shearwater passed in the morning and it was only in the evening that ten Manx Shearwater and three Balearic Shearwater were seen very distantly.  At least six, possibly eight Pomarine Skua were present most of the day and a raft of four present early morning suggested last night's flock had roosted overnight in the bay. Also offshore, lots of Kittiwake and other gulls; 80 Gannet, three Arctic Skua, two Great Skua, and single Common Scoter, Fulmar and an immature Great Northern Diver was on the sea. 

During the morning tide, an educational line-up of four tern species perched on the posts of 'Woodhenge' in front of the hide included some of today's eleven Common Tern with one first-summer (2cy), seven Sandwich Tern, four Roseate Tern (three metal-ringed), the first of the autumn, and three Arctic Tern, including the mobile first-summer (2cy) bird present since Friday.

In the estuary and along the shoreline, 435 Black-headed Gull, 30+ Mediterranean Gull (2 juv, 3 fs, 5 ss, 20 adult), 24 Great Black-backed Gull and five Lesser Black-backed Gull. In addition to the Oystercatcher flock, best wader and other waterbird counts on this and the evening tides were 219 Curlew, 55 Redshank, six Whimbrel, six Mute Swan, five Bar-tailed Godwit, four Little Egret, three Dunlin, two Grey Heron, the usual two Greenshank, one Common Sandpiper again outside Eales Dock and the resident Slavonian Grebe.

Also reported were the male Kestrel, a Swift, a Raven and a Great Spotted Woodpecker, but since attention was more watery habitats and also given the strong winds, bushes, dunes and woods were largely neglected today.

Two Mediterranean Gull (adult and ss), the adult was colour-ringed in Hampshire; and 'part of' a Roseate Tern - Dave Jewell. Footnote: the 25th June post was just update with summary details of another Mediterranean Gull from the same scheme.