Standing on a cliff with a scope in my
hand,
Staring at the sea,Staring at the sand,
Staring down the barrel of a Leica
As the Puffins and Petrel fly right by ya.
Not quite the Cure but the title is apt. As
it may be noticeable, I did not watch ‘the Valley’ today and opted for a Sea
watch as the wind was blowing a hoolie with a force 9 northerly gale. Today I drove
over to Grenham Bay Birchington to hopefully see some nice seabird movements.
Arriving at 7.00am it wasn’t long before I was counting the Kittiwakes and at
7.40 I had the first of 2 Little Auks. I was watching my second Little Auk when
Tim Hodge came alongside and gave me a start before he carried on to join Mike
Buckland in Birchington, I was then joined by Steve Ashton and within minutes
of him arriving we were watching a sill in plumage Puffin flying east quite
close in (a very rare bird in Kent) and just before Steve arrived I’d had a Grey
Phalarope taking the easterly path, again fairly close in although it did
travel more out to sea as it went. Steve and I were then joined by Phil Parker
and what must be the bird of the day flew east past us very close in, it was
Storm Petrel a bird probably even rarer than Puffin in Kent, luckily Mike
Buckland had seen it from his viewpoint in Birchington and Craig Sammels, Barry
Hunt and Mark Chidwick caught up with it at Walpole Bay in Margate, a splendid
track along the coast. Here is a list of what Phil, Steve and I noted between
7.00am and midday all going east unless otherwise stated:-
Kittiwake 72, Brent Goose 25 (12w),
Guillemot 29, Tufted Duck 1, Little Auk 2, Gannet41 (11w), Great Skua (Bonxie)
6, Common Scoter 84 (5w), large Auk spp 7, Little Gull 3 (3w), Razorbill 7,
Teal 4 (3w), Arctic Skua 2 (1 pale phase), Eider 2 drakes, Red-throated Diver
2, Grey Phalarope 1, Puffin 2, British Storm Petrel 1 and 8 Skylarks flew out
to sea. Also noted were 30+ Sanderlings, Oystercatchers, Turnstones, 1 Purple
Sandpiper, 2 Golden Plover west then south and 2 Goldfinches plus the usual Gulls
and Cormorants. The camera never left the bag today although a couple of Skuas,
Gannets and Auks did get close enough.