Seawatching - whats it all about ?

[Karl J]

Seawatching - what's it all about ?



Set off about 6 this morning for my first ever attempt at seawatching. Started at Gt Yarmouth harbour entrance and followed the beach along as far as Caister- on- sea. What did I see ? Well, not much really : Herring Gull, Common Gull, Blackheaded Gull, Turnstone, did finally id the difference between Lesser & Greater Black Back Gull - and presumably anything with 'Great' in the name has to good, right ?
And that's it. Apart from the odd Starling, Hse Sparrow, Blackbird & Pied Wagtail. About 5 hours in all

I did read through several previous threads on the subject prior to going, but none specifically discuss Gt Yarmouth in April so didn't have too much to go on.
And admittedly it was a bit misty to start with, but hardly a blanket of fog though - you could see a bit of a way - and it did soon mostly clear away

Several questions arise from this trip !! and I'd appreciate any answers, comments, suggestions, ideas or anything else on the subject really.

Is seawatching always a bit hit and miss, and this was just a miss ? Or is this the one time of the year an experienced birdwatcher just wouldn't go seawatching, perhaps ? Are there great flocks of birds out to sea and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time ? What would a more experienced b-watcher have possibly expected to see ? Or have I just missed the point and actually this was a pretty succesful outing ?

I've considered the possibility it's because I live by the sea and therefore see 'seagulls' every day - hence their importance is lost on me. Don't know - ?????? - anyone ?

Right now although I'd make the effort to get to the Tern colony when it's set up, I don't think I'd be in too much of a hurry to go seawatching again.

[Harry Hussey]

Hi Karl,
A few pointers:
1)the best months for seawatching are (Jul)Aug-Sep
2)even for such common birds as Manx Shearwaters,which can be seen out at sea any time from late March to October(with small numbers in winter),onshore winds are almost essential to drive the birds closer to land
3)seawatching from a beach isn't ideal,try to find a headland which protrudes a fair bit,the idea being that the birds will be trying to move along the coast anyway,but when they are closer to shore they will have to skirt around these headlands,allowing good views to be had of a range of species.
Don't give up yet:hated seawatching when I first tried it,but have had some really exciting days since then.
Harry

[jeff]

Only ever done it once, and too be honesty if our little group didn't have expert(s) with us, they would have just been shapes in the distance. Black throated diver at one o'clock was the shout, all i saw was a dark humped back birding miles from the shore.
We saw quite a few species (divers, gannets, scoters, carbo's or so i'm told) but have to admit to a beginner most were shapes in the distance.
Maybe one day when the shapes and colours mean something I'll have another go. At least there was plovers, turnstones and gulls on the beach to keep the interest up for a bit longer.

[Reader]

I have done it a few times and I fully endorse Harry's statements. Also, to be honest, if you are a novice at it, as I am, you really need people arround you that can guide you through the ID process as the birds go by. On your own you won't have much chance unless they are close enough to give you crippling views.

You possibly need to visit popular sites such as the shelters at Sherringham. There are always plenty of experienced birders (in the right conditions when birds are expected) that will be on hand to give advice.

Given the right weather conditions, together with the right times of the year, bird movements can be very impressive and well worth putting the time in.

[Jasonbirder]

Hi Carlos! I can certainly agree with everyones comments here, at first Seawatching can seem to be hard and unrewarding.
I would also say that it can be one of the most exciting and rewarding forms of birdwatching too, offering the chance to see good numbers of birds that are rarely if ever seen during normal land-based birding and the opportunity to see a mouth watering selection of scarce and rare birds.
Seawatching usually refers to going to one place and watching the birds passing offshore, a scope is pretty much essential. The key factors affecting what you see are:-
1) Location:- most good sites are well known such as Dungeness, Portland Bill or the Cornish Headlands of Pendeen & Porthgwarra. Nearer to you Sherringham seafront is an excellent location while Ness Point at Lowestoft can also be productive.
2) Weather:- Unfortunately strong onshore winds and poor visibility usual produce the best Seawatches, sunny days are frequently poor! The best wind directions vary from site to site.
3) Time of Year:- Like all birds there are "Seasons" to Seawatching IE:- Skua`s pass up the english channel in spring & then back down the north sea coast in autumn. The pelagic shearwaters are seen off the west country in late summer/early autumn etc.
For you the very best time to go locally would be Sherringham Seafront, September with northerly/easterly winds.
In those conditions last year I had Great, Arctic & Long-tailed Skuas and Sooty Shearwater all in a single morning alongside Divers, Seaduck & others.
It is obviously beneficial to go with an experienced observer as most IDs are based on Jizz and flight action as the birds are usually too distant for detailed plumage features to be made out.
The benefit of going to one of the better known sites is that the other watchers will shout out the birds as they pass, hopefully giving everyone a chance to get onto them.
I`m on holiday in west cornwall for two weeks in August and I shall be at Porthgwarra or Pendeen every single day! Roll on I can`t wait!

[Nick-on]

Need a few essentials for starting sea watching, as well as good (bad really) weather you need the right location and a lot of luck. Also need a few helpful experienced seawatchers for reasons/explanations why a tiny black dot is a Stormie and not a Swallow etc and a really good scope is essential (in my opinion). It's on really miserable days at high magnification when you find out why you spent so much money on your Leica/Swar/Nikon etc. If any of the above things are missing you usually tend to find yourself watching the sea instead of seawatching!!!!!!!!!
When it's good it's brilliant but when it's bad its bl**dy awful.

[Reader]

Jason

You wouldn't happen to be going on the Scillonian pelagic this year, seeing as you are down there when it normally goes. I went last year. Whilst it was good, we did miss out on the Wilsons. I can't afford it this year and will really miss it as it is a good day out, even though the weather can be poor sometimes.

[Jasonbirder]

Hi John!

If its running i`ll certainly be going on it. I`ve been on it once before and been succesful with the Wilson`s Petrels but didn`t go last year, I was due to, but then it was postponed until later in the year and I didn`t fancy the trip then as I thought it`d be too late for all the good stuff!

I wasn`t fortunate enough to see the Soft-plumaged Petrel in 2001 and will be hoping against hope for one this year or even better...picking one up on a Porthgwarra seawatch!

I`ll be in west cornwall from the 9th to the 22nd of August so any BF members in the area that fancy joining me for a days birding/seawatching please drop me a line.

[Michael Frankis]

Seawatching . . sitting on a cold, bleak headland in a biting cold nor'easter, 3 woolies on in August and you're still frozen. Why do I do it? Am I completely mad?

Maybe, but when that Fea's Petrel went past, it all felt worth while :-)))

Or the day when I had a thousand Little Auks in an hour . . .

Newbiggin (Northumberland) is the place to be.

Michael

[Andrew]

I have done a few seawatches from Dawlish Warren, whilst not being good places for the job, they have thrown some nice treasures. I think of seawatching as all seabirds not just Shearwaters, Petrels et al. It also includes sea ducks and divers close in shore. I have done a proper few at Berry Head, Bolt Head and Prawle. They were quite unproductive but I know to keep plugging away at it and watchign the weather and one day I will hit the big time!

[Reader]

Seawatching is not one of my favourite pastimes but I have had the odd stunning day at the likes of Porthgwarra & Pendeen as well as St Ives island. My problem, like a lot of other land locked birders like me, is that I don't get to these headlands often enough to become really proficient in seawatching.

[peter hayes]

Karl

Thank you for starting this thread. I've never been seawatching before and it's given me some useful tips.

[T0ny]

Peter,
Bear in mind that sea-watching is exactly what it says on the tin - watching the sea. Any birds which swim (or fly) into your ken are an unexpected bonus.

Tony

PS If you're on a peak in Darien, please remain silent.

[peter hayes]

You must do a fair bit up your way T0ny..............Ever had an unexpected bonus?!!

[T0ny]

I've had some reasonable birds for a local patch - Red- & Black-throated Divers, Manx Shearwater, Razorbill, Guillemot & Gannet - but I dipped spectacularly on last December's imm Black-browed Albatross. I was there less than an hour after it passed, but it wasn't on the pager till late that evening, so I didn't know to look for it.

All together now - Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh !

Tony

[peter hayes]

Is there such a thing in seawatching as a sure fire thing? I don't want to suffer TOO much for my art!

[Karl J]

Some very knowledgable and interesting reading there - thanks for all the replies folk.

Although I have to say, after reading whats been said, I'm still not totally convinced of the fascination of seawatching. ie - sitting on Sheringham seafront with NE wind blowing looking for unidentifiable dots in the distance ........

So perhaps for now I'll leave the seawatching to a half hour stint at Minsmere or looking up the Tern colony at North Denes in a few weeks, and bear in mind some of the points mentioned for possible future reference.

[peter hayes]

Karl

I reckon you should lie low for a bit and try again one day. Perhaps go with an experienced seawatcher when the date and the winds are just right and minimise the chances of bombing.

[Swift]

Seawatching is fasciniating , you are either a half hour seawatcher or eight,ten,twelve hours on a headland , the best way to become a convert is to go to somewhere like New Zealand , take a boat out to sea and be surrounded by Prions,Petrels,Shearwaters and Albatrosses..........makes seawatching off England seem a bit tamer . In contrast to the messages about sitting in a roaring gale sometimes the best seawatching is in good weather, recently past Lancashire there have been lots of Terns (Sandwich,Arctic&Commons) which are in turn pursued by Skuas, so remember a raincoat is not always needed!!!!

[Darrell Clegg]

'fraid not Peter. There are however things you can do to maximise your chances of connecting with a good passage.

Living down here I reckon I've pretty much got it weighed off. It's all to do with geography and meteorology. Take Devon for instance. Two of the best seawatching sites are Hope's Nose and Berry Head, either end of Torbay. What you have are two headlands which jut out to sea - not much, but enough to make a difference. Seabirds migrating will generally know where they are going and will not need visual landmarks to help them, so they will usually pass way out to sea and we will never know they have been there.
An onshore wind makes a difference, but it has to be from the right quarter. A south west wind in autumn at Hope's Nose is useless because the geography of the headland means that birds are not pushed towards land. If the wind only lasts for a day or so birds will sit it out on the water and wait for it to die down before moving on.
A south west wind that lasts for three or four days however is more promising because it pushes seabirds from the Western Approaches into Lyme Bay, and holds up birds trying to migrate west down the channel. If that wind dies or moves round to the west or north west, all the birds will clear out and again we will never know that they've been there.
If it it moves round to the south or better still the south east birds will be able to move, but they will be blown on to the coast and will have to make their way back to sea by hugging the land. The last bit of land and thus the last bit of shelter they encounter are the two headlands so the vast majority of migrating seabirds will pass very close giving us a day to savour.

In Cornwall we want the wind to blow for a week from the south west, then turn north west - that gets us going to the doctor quicker than anything- amazing how every Cornish birders doctor is in St Ives!!!

It all sounds complicated but is quite easy if you look at a map and study the weather forecasts for a few days before you go out.

Darrell

[Karl J]

Peter
Yes - it's not dismissed out of hand. Just on the backburner for a while maybe.

[Karl J]

Darrell - that's interesting.

When and where would you consider good for seawatching in Cornwall ?

Cornwall is of particular interest to me as I used to live there, friends still down that way also.

[peter hayes]

Darrell

Thank you so much for that detailed and fascinating information. It'll be very useful. First off though, I might just try to arrange a trip out with you!

[Darrell Clegg]

No problem Peter - I'll let the Forum know when I think a good day is about to happen

Darrell

[T0ny]

Darrell, you mention checking weather forecasts - can you reccomend ( or recommend) a web-site which gives useful info, rather than just min-max temps and 'it is raining / going to rain', which is all I've been able to find so far ?

TIA

Tony

[Darrell Clegg]

Carlos,

Porthgwarra and Pendeen are the most popular seawatching sites in Cornwall.
I'm not really a fan of Porthgwarra as a seawatching spot. It gets very busy, and the light is terrible, because it faces south and you get the sun all day. However it is THE place to see the big shearwaters. A South Westerly in late July though to September should bring you Cory's and Great Shears - usually about a mile out, so they are not crippling views.

Pendeen has to be a North Westerly - the light is better than at Porthgwarra, and there tends to be a bigger array of species. It also gets busy with birders during peak migration months - again late July - September.

My favourite is St Ives, ideal conditions are critical here. A strong north-westerly following a few days of south-westerlies will force hundreds if not thousands of birds to pass right under your nose. 3rd Sept 1983 has passed into birding folklore as perhaps the best seawatching day ever, and who can disagree with a flock of 100 Sabine's Gulls?

Recently a few birders have started watching Cape Cornwall near Lands End, but any headland during the right conditions will produce birds. Godrevey Point, Trevose Head, Towan Head, Rame Head are all worth a look.

Darrell

[Karl J]

Darrell - many thanks

[Andrew]

Darrell,

I know Trevose Head and it is a spectacular place as well as Kelsey Head.
Also thanks for the info on Berry Head and Hope's Nose.

[marting]

Darrell, you mention checking weather forecasts - can you reccomend ( or recommend) a web-site which gives useful info, rather than just min-max temps and 'it is raining / going to rain', which is all I've been able to find so far ?

TIA

Tony

Tony try http://www.metcheck.com

This gives the weather forecast by county, amount of rainfall expected, wind strength and direction etc.

Hope this helps
Martin

[Michael Frankis]

TOny,

Here's the best site for weather charts:

http://www.maalla.co.uk/uk-weather/syn.htm

Click on the 'With Fronts: Bracknell' for today & 12/24 hour intervals up to 120 hours ahead. From these you can get the wind direction & strength, and position of fronts, which is what you need to know for seawatching.

Michael

[MarkHows]

Can anyone tell me more about the Scillonian Pelagic trip?

A website etc would be useful

Thanks

Mark

[Malvolio]

The BBC weather centre site shows animated wind flow maps:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/wind.shtml

Other sites give synoptic charts which show areas of pressure but you need some practice in reading these.

MV

[Camberley red]

Just a little bit of common sense is required when embarking on a sea watch:

Is it the right time of year for sea bird passage? June I think not!
Watch/read the weather forecast, at the appropriate time of year, this will indicate if the birds at sea are likely to be blown towards land, after all you are trying to watch sea birds! most of the time.

The more terrible the conditions the greater likelihood of good sea watching - its the only reason to get out of bed when its raining and a howling gale is blowing in Aug/Sept, as the sight of Long-tailed Skua or Sooty Shearwater flying over your head at zero feet! in a force 9 on Sherringham Sea front hanging onto a lamp post (no common sense here or regard for personal safety, but great fun) is a sight never to be forgoten! my associates tent had dissapeared some hours earlier into the night, fortunately he had moved to his car for a more wieghty location in the tempest.

As previously stated, Sea watching is exactly that, a bit like bush watching for an elusive Barred Warbler, or tree top watching for a Pallas's Warbler in November, you need the same amount of endurance but a slightly different neck postion.

Yes its cold, wet and sometimes dangerous, hit by rouge waves and large pieces of shingle flown through the air by the gale, but like everything else in life its what you put in and its eventually worth the pain, effort and determination. You might just get that Soft-plumaged Petrel to really grip your mates off on!!

Other seawatch goodies include Serin, Wood Warbler, Black Redstart and various raptors (spring watches), dolphins, whales and Basking Sharks (summer time), what more can I say.

Keep on Sea watching

Paul

[StarainBoy]

I know that this thread is about watching birds from the land but how about watching from the sea itself? I used to live in California and at least two companies there ran trips during the autumn. Are there any such companies here in the UK?

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Starain,

Welcome to BirdForum!

There's several options available. The most significant is the trip organised by 'Birding World' out to the southwest of the Scilly Islands (Cornwall, the far southwest of England) once every year in August on the 'Scillonian' (a ferry; carries about 500 people). I've never been on this myself as it is so far from where I am (and even further for you!). But they regularly get good numbers of Atlantic oceanic species.

Otherwise, there are various small trips usually organised by local bird clubs. In my area, the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club organises 2-3 pelagics out into the North Sea from Tynemouth. The small angling charter boats used typically carry up to 12 people, and trips up to last 8 hours (cost around £20). Last year, one of our trips recorded the first-ever British east coast Wilson's Storm-petrel.

I would guess you might be able to find something similar in Aberdeen, if not Arbroath - ask at your local bird club. If there isn't anything, why not organise your own - find a charter boat, arrange a day (any time from now to mid September is best), and advertise it here and on Birdline Scotland. I suspect you'll be able to fill the boat easily - our Wilson's find has increased interest in North Sea pelagics quite a lot.

Any more queries, do ask!

Michael

[Karl J]

Originally posted by Camberley red
Just a little bit of common sense is required when embarking on a sea watch

..... it's not common sense at all. It's learned knowledge.

[Karl J]

Hi there Starain, welcome to BF.

I don;t know too much ( bordering on nothing ) about this myself as I've never been but I seem to remember something about RSPB boat trips this time of year in Yorkshire ( ? ) .... or somewhere similar anyway, for seabirds

[Onurb]

Hello,

Does anyone know where I can find information on the Internet about when the Scillonian pelagic would go out this year? I would be very grateful if anybody could answer this question, as no matter where I sought on the Internet I could not find any practical information.

Thank you very much,

Bruno

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Bruno,

There's some info here, including a telephone number for enquiries (remember to add the UK code +44 to call!)

http://www.surfbirds.com/Pelagic/ukpel.html

Michael

[cjay]

Come out with me Carlos. Don't struggle. I will show you how to do it like a professional.

CJ

[Jasonbirder]

This year Scillonian Pelagic is on Sunday 10th August, it leaves Penzance Harbour at the ungodly hour of 5:00 am returning about 6-7 pm that evening. It costs £85.

(Barring any hitches that is...last years was cancelled due to problems with the boats engines!)

The real prize on this trip is the prospect is seeing 1 or more Wilson`s Petrels, which are seen most years and are still an extremely rare species from land in the UK. Other noteworthy birds likely to be seen include Sabines Gull`s (no doubt not so prized this year after the photogenic Lowestoft bird!) good numbers of Storm Petrels and the chance of other seabirds such as Balearic, Sooty, Cory`s and Great Shearwater. Arctic Skua`s and Great Skua`s will usually be seen at the back of the boat and there is the chance (though no guarantee) of the rarer Skuas; Pomarine and Long-tailed.

Many people will be hoping for a repeat of the 2001 trip which resulted in views of a Fea`s Petrel tho` I suspect we will all be going home disappointed on that score!!

[Grousemore]

I've never been on a Pelagic trip,but read somewhere that the normal procedure is to leave scopes behind,as they are impractical on board.
Any thoughts?

[Colin]

Hi Starain,
On behalf of all of the Moderators and Admin, welcome to Bird Forum. I think you will find lots to interest you here and look forward to more posts. If you are going seawatching, either from land or a boat, let us know how you get on.

[CJW]

Hi Grousemore, many years ago (1987 I think) I went out with Peter Harrison on one of the Chalice Pelagics and can confirm that scopes are mostly useless - unless you have a gyroscopic stabiliser! Most birds were very close to the boat anyway (usually within 50yds), although I don't expect the views from the Scillonian will be quite as 'intimate'....

[StarainBoy]

Hi Grousemore,

Again from my California experience scopes were actually banned from all the trips I went on. Actually I suspect it was the tripods that were the problem. Being at sea is tricky enough without the extra hazard of tripping over tripod legs!

I always took a pair of 15x stabiliser binoculars. They worked really well, although they are a tad expensive.

[sparrowbirder]

used to go seawatching at Seaforth merseyside,until the hide blew away in a force 10 gale (oh the perils of birding),had some cracking days their though,100s of leaches,lt skuas and sabs in oct 88,,images ingrained in my mind!!