South coast seawatching

[J Moss]

Hi all,

Im going to have a stab at seawatching off the south of Hayling Island, Hants, tomorrow, but I have know idea as to whether I'll see anything at all! Is the South coast any good for seawatching? I'd imaging that most seabirds move from the North, so the East and West coasts of the UK are better for seabirds in general. Am I comlpetely wrong in this assumption?

Thanks a lot

J Moss

[MSA]

Hi all,

Im going to have a stab at seawatching off the south of Hayling Island, Hants, tomorrow, but I have know idea as to whether I'll see anything at all! Is the South coast any good for seawatching? I'd imaging that most seabirds move from the North, so the East and West coasts of the UK are better for seabirds in general. Am I comlpetely wrong in this assumption?

Thanks a lot

J Moss

I reckon your best bet is to expect nothing, then you won't be disappointed!


Seriously, no idea if Hayling Island will be any cop, never tried there myself, but in general the seawatching on the South Coast is best during, or shortly after, strong onshore winds (rather more complicated than that, but that's the general idea). I believe tomorrow will be light winds - there may be a few birds to look for on the sea, but not much passage, and general coastal migration is all but over now.

You may find a Diver, maybe Grebes (Great Crested most likely, possibly small grebes, seem to recall they get Black-necked off Hayling), Scoter and Eider; there could still be a lingering Sandwich Tern, and passing Gannet and Kittiwake are possible. No reason to rule out Little Auk (or Razorbill and Guillemot) - if you see a flock of gulls harassing something on the water, it could be an auk, but you'll need to watch for a while as they don't surface for long when being hassled.

Have a good trip!

[J Moss]

I reckon your best bet is to expect nothing, then you won't be disappointed!


Seriously, no idea if Hayling Island will be any cop, never tried there myself, but in general the seawatching on the South Coast is best during, or shortly after, strong onshore winds (rather more complicated than that, but that's the general idea). I believe tomorrow will be light winds - there may be a few birds to look for on the sea, but not much passage, and general coastal migration is all but over now.

You may find a Diver, maybe Grebes (Great Crested most likely, possibly small grebes, seem to recall they get Black-necked off Hayling), Scoter and Eider; there could still be a lingering Sandwich Tern, and passing Gannet and Kittiwake are possible. No reason to rule out Little Auk (or Razorbill and Guillemot) - if you see a flock of gulls harassing something on the water, it could be an auk, but you'll need to watch for a while as they don't surface for long when being hassled.

Have a good trip!

Cheers MSA,

thats my moto too. "expect nothing, then you won't be disappointed!"

Sounds like the usual sea birds then. Thats all I was hoping for really. If something mega appeared, I'd probably miss ID it anyway ;).

Thanks

J Moss

[bartooon]

I'd recommend travelling a few extra miles and head down to Selsey. Hayling does not really stick out far enough into the Solent for proper "seawatching" (i.e. observing birds moving along the South Coast). You may well get ducks, grebes and divers lingering offshore but no real movement.

Selsey can provide excellent seawatching, especially in Spring (April and May). Even then a good SE wind is best, as it pushes the birds moving east up the Solent closer in. Then you can expect good flocks of Common Scoter, lesser numbers of Velvet Scoter, Arctic, Great and Pomarine Skuas, terns, whimbrel etc. Autumn is not generally so good, but can be interesting during a strong SW wind (as the birds tend to move west in the autumn). Then you might get Manx and Sooty Shearwaters.

Personally, I would doubt that you would see much over the next few days, given the fairly calm conditions.

[J Moss]

Thanks bartooon,

I know that the weather is not ideal, but I will be happy with anything really. I'm not going to make a day of it. I'm just looking for somewhere that suitable for seawatching and is close by. Anything else is a bonus.

Has anyone on here ever seawatched of Portsmouth/Hayling Island? I would love to hear how it went.

J Moss