central europe pomarine skuas (1 Viewer)

I saw on winterbird's blog a pom had spent time in Switzerland and I tried to post asking him for info but I am v new to this (amazingly knowledgeable) forum and I don't know if I am too out of date on that blog to be noticed. Therefore starting a 'thread'. My question is does anyone know whether a small percentage of pom skuas migrate regularly from N Russian coast through central europe to the Med sea and Atlantic. I could not believe my eyes when an adult light phase with a tail feather ball cruised over our village (near strakonice and susice in sumava cz) and local lake before heading off west. I've seen several before around scotland and abroad. Even worse for my credibility was that it was the middle of July! But I had a good long view in excellent conditions. Cz rep has loads of huge lakes and many North south river systems but few observers and I think poms have hardly ever been noticed let alone in summer. Maybe the good czech beer got to me?B any info much appreciated den

I've seen three of the skuas species migrating over the Negev in Israel on their way north.

Thanks Bubbs, was one of them pom? I wonder how far south down the red sea/african coast your Negev skuas had been.
My original question was really about how much of an eye I should keep out for skuas in central europe, ie how many are reported each year, and I've now seen the collins guide maps which show both arctic skua and pom passage pretty much through cz rep, also long tailed skuas breeding in similar starting areas which seems to argue they could be looked for too! den

den mather said:

Thanks Bubbs, was one of them pom? I wonder how far south down the red sea/african coast your Negev skuas had been.
My original question was really about how much of an eye I should keep out for skuas in central europe, ie how many are reported each year, and I've now seen the collins guide maps which show both arctic skua and pom passage pretty much through cz rep, also long tailed skuas breeding in similar starting areas which seems to argue they could be looked for too! den

Click to expand...

It's fairly common to see Pom, Long-tailed, and Arctic at the head of the Gulf of Eilat on late afternoons and early evenings in the spring. They 'blog' around the gulf and then gain height and go like rockets into the Negev. Some do actually turn back towards Eilat though.

I don't know how many inland skuas are reported near you but you should contact your local bird group or read old bird reports (if available)

John.

Hi Den,

You're right, I didn't noticed the comment. Pomarine Skua is the rarest of all four species here in Switzerland and they are not recorded every year. There are 53 records between 1950 and 2003, most in September and October.
I had a fine pale morph adult last year in late September which was my second bird in Switzerland.
Generally Skuas obviously migrate in small numbers through central Europe, most notably Arctic Skuas (123 records 1950 - 2003). Strangley there are more Long-tailed and Poms found than Arctics, which could mean that they are overlooked (or wrongly identified as we are not experienced seawatcher here).
However I didn't find any information about where this Poms are coming from, I don't think anyone knows if they are from Russia or more from the west. The two I saw where after strong westerly winds, so I guess they came from the northern Atlantic.

Greetings from Switzerland
André

John, I am trying to find out more from czecho but my czech isn't that good yet! Andre, thanks for replying, are any of the records for july? I must try and access south German and Austrian records I suppose because skuas crosssing cz rep must overfly these areas en route south west. Den

No records in July. The earliest record was on the 2. August.

André