JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
Very wise, you'll sleep better!
Good luck for the autumn, I shall be following with interest and anticipation!
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North Sea Thread (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter Gander
- Start date
Very wise, you'll sleep better!
Good luck for the autumn, I shall be following with interest and anticipation!
Still waiting on a descent easterly to get things moving. Sparrowhawk was still about yesterday. A couple of Meadow Pipit spotted today. Another Eider seen sitting at distance just before lunch. Also a Great Skua heading past.
The Shag is still resident. If it stays any longer, it will need to be named.
GBBG (200+), a Herring Gull, a Fulmar and passing Gannets also recorded.
The Shag is still resident. If it stays any longer, it will need to be named.
GBBG (200+), a Herring Gull, a Fulmar and passing Gannets also recorded.
Wind directly from the west today. Not what I ordered! No sign of the Sparrowhawk, so hopefully he (I think it was a he) has moved onshore. No sign of the Shag either today.
A couple of Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail are the only new arrivals onboard. We seem to be having a bumper year for these two species. I've never seen so many coming through.
GBBG and Gannets as previous. Three more Great Skuas seen passing. A couple of Herring Gulls and a Fulmar also present.
A couple of Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail are the only new arrivals onboard. We seem to be having a bumper year for these two species. I've never seen so many coming through.
GBBG and Gannets as previous. Three more Great Skuas seen passing. A couple of Herring Gulls and a Fulmar also present.
It is just not happening for me at the moment. A very quiet weekend endured, while reading reports of migratory birds arriving back home.
The odd Pipit coming through, but nothing else on the platform. Out at sea there seems to be a steady trickle of Great Skua. This morning one of them came in close and decided to pick a fight with over two hundred GBBGs that were sitting on the water. It repeatedly came flying over them low, then dropping onto the backs of birds it singled out for a mugging.
I have noticed a difference with the Great Skuas I'm seeing this month. They are all very definitely heading south. Last month, they seemed to be coming and going in all directions. Certainly been a bumper year for them here. Year count is now at thirty two, as opposed to last years total of two.
Ohh, and Sherman the Shag reappeared this morning. :t:
The odd Pipit coming through, but nothing else on the platform. Out at sea there seems to be a steady trickle of Great Skua. This morning one of them came in close and decided to pick a fight with over two hundred GBBGs that were sitting on the water. It repeatedly came flying over them low, then dropping onto the backs of birds it singled out for a mugging.
I have noticed a difference with the Great Skuas I'm seeing this month. They are all very definitely heading south. Last month, they seemed to be coming and going in all directions. Certainly been a bumper year for them here. Year count is now at thirty two, as opposed to last years total of two.
Ohh, and Sherman the Shag reappeared this morning. :t:
Cormorant
A fresh bird arrived yesterday afternoon. Cormorant does not sound anything to get excited about on a North Sea platform, but it is only the second one I have seen here in twenty-five years, and it has cheered me up no end.
The bird, a juvenile, came in from the north, looped around the platform and landed on the water amongst some GBBGs on the south side. It didn’t settle long though, and was soon circling the platform. I had to leave it to its own devices, but a couple of hours later, when I had five minutes to check, it appeared to have moved on, as there was no sign of it.
The 2017 List Updated
1. Herring Gull
2. Great Black-Backed Gull
3. Glaucous Gull
4. Iceland Gull
5. Fulmar
6. Kittiwake
7. Long-Tailed Duck
8. Common Scoter
9. Gannet
10. Guillemot
11. Greylag Goose
12. Collared Dove
13. Goldcrest
14. Woodpigeon.
15. Peregrine
16. Sparrowhawk
17. Blackbird
18. Common Gull
19. Pied Wagtail
20. Yellowhammer*
21. Goldfinch
22. Siskin
23. Robin
24. Rock Pipit
25. Ruff (d)*
26. Golden Plover
27. Swallow
28. House Martin
29. Chiffchaff
30. Blackcap
31. Willow Warbler
32. Kestrel
33. Carrion Crow
34. Hooded Crow
35. Balearic Shearwater
36. Lesser Black-Backed Gull
37. Shag
38. Razorbill
39. Black-Headed Gull
40. Great Skua
41. Arctic Skua
42. Meadow Pipit
43. Grey Heron
44. Common Eider
45. Cormorant
A fresh bird arrived yesterday afternoon. Cormorant does not sound anything to get excited about on a North Sea platform, but it is only the second one I have seen here in twenty-five years, and it has cheered me up no end.
The bird, a juvenile, came in from the north, looped around the platform and landed on the water amongst some GBBGs on the south side. It didn’t settle long though, and was soon circling the platform. I had to leave it to its own devices, but a couple of hours later, when I had five minutes to check, it appeared to have moved on, as there was no sign of it.
The 2017 List Updated
1. Herring Gull
2. Great Black-Backed Gull
3. Glaucous Gull
4. Iceland Gull
5. Fulmar
6. Kittiwake
7. Long-Tailed Duck
8. Common Scoter
9. Gannet
10. Guillemot
11. Greylag Goose
12. Collared Dove
13. Goldcrest
14. Woodpigeon.
15. Peregrine
16. Sparrowhawk
17. Blackbird
18. Common Gull
19. Pied Wagtail
20. Yellowhammer*
21. Goldfinch
22. Siskin
23. Robin
24. Rock Pipit
25. Ruff (d)*
26. Golden Plover
27. Swallow
28. House Martin
29. Chiffchaff
30. Blackcap
31. Willow Warbler
32. Kestrel
33. Carrion Crow
34. Hooded Crow
35. Balearic Shearwater
36. Lesser Black-Backed Gull
37. Shag
38. Razorbill
39. Black-Headed Gull
40. Great Skua
41. Arctic Skua
42. Meadow Pipit
43. Grey Heron
44. Common Eider
45. Cormorant
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Farnboro John
Well-known member
Excellent! And there was me moaning about Westerlies.
Bird is a lifer for me.
Grey Phalarope
I had come down early from lunch, and decided to have a walk around the Cellar deck before returning to my office. As I proceeded along the east walkway, I noticed a small grey object on the sea surface below. At first I thought it was probably a feather from one of the resident Great Black-Backs. The place is full of moulted featers at the moment. Sometimes when the flock is soaring overhead in the wind, small white feathers descend like the start of a snow fall.
I realised it did not look right for a feather, so I pulled out the trusty Opticron monocular and focused in on what I was still expecting to be an inamimate object. Instead, I found myself looking at a tiny bird bobbing about amongst the GBBGs. I tracked it for a few minutes, then managed to call someone over to my location who had a camera.
With photos taken, I knew I should be able to identify the bird, and I also knew it was going to be a lifer. I was thinking it had to be a Little Gull, but I had the niggling doubt that it was too small. Not having ever seen a Little Gull though, I started to dismiss the doubt, mainly because I could not come up with an alternative.
I returned to my office, and there I met a work mate who has spotted quite a few birds for me. Although not a birder, he is a crofter and fisherman on the Isle of Lewis, so he has a good bird awareness. I rushed him down to the east side of the Cellar Deck to see if he had seen the like. Funnily enough, on the way there, I actually mentioned Grey Phalarope as a possibility, but to be honest, my mental image of a Grey Phalarope was very sketchy to say the least, and for some reason (possibly the exitement of it all), I couldn't see past Little Gull. We located the bird, but my friend had not seen the like before.
Posting on this forum, I went for Little Gull, but the beak in particular was worrying me. Thankfully, the birding wise and learned have again saved the day for me, and I now know that I have come across my first ever Grey Phalarope. I don't know how many have been reported to the North Sea Bird Club in the last thirty years, but it is listed as rare, so that means less than ten, I think. I'll have a read througth the old annual reports tonight, and see if I can work out how many.
Tomorrow, I'll see if I can sort through the photos taken, and will post a few more.
I had come down early from lunch, and decided to have a walk around the Cellar deck before returning to my office. As I proceeded along the east walkway, I noticed a small grey object on the sea surface below. At first I thought it was probably a feather from one of the resident Great Black-Backs. The place is full of moulted featers at the moment. Sometimes when the flock is soaring overhead in the wind, small white feathers descend like the start of a snow fall.
I realised it did not look right for a feather, so I pulled out the trusty Opticron monocular and focused in on what I was still expecting to be an inamimate object. Instead, I found myself looking at a tiny bird bobbing about amongst the GBBGs. I tracked it for a few minutes, then managed to call someone over to my location who had a camera.
With photos taken, I knew I should be able to identify the bird, and I also knew it was going to be a lifer. I was thinking it had to be a Little Gull, but I had the niggling doubt that it was too small. Not having ever seen a Little Gull though, I started to dismiss the doubt, mainly because I could not come up with an alternative.
I returned to my office, and there I met a work mate who has spotted quite a few birds for me. Although not a birder, he is a crofter and fisherman on the Isle of Lewis, so he has a good bird awareness. I rushed him down to the east side of the Cellar Deck to see if he had seen the like. Funnily enough, on the way there, I actually mentioned Grey Phalarope as a possibility, but to be honest, my mental image of a Grey Phalarope was very sketchy to say the least, and for some reason (possibly the exitement of it all), I couldn't see past Little Gull. We located the bird, but my friend had not seen the like before.
Posting on this forum, I went for Little Gull, but the beak in particular was worrying me. Thankfully, the birding wise and learned have again saved the day for me, and I now know that I have come across my first ever Grey Phalarope. I don't know how many have been reported to the North Sea Bird Club in the last thirty years, but it is listed as rare, so that means less than ten, I think. I'll have a read througth the old annual reports tonight, and see if I can work out how many.
Tomorrow, I'll see if I can sort through the photos taken, and will post a few more.
markspirito
Well-known member
Wow ! Nice one ....whats going to turn up next ?
Mark Lew1s
My real name is Mark Lewis
Excellent - great record!
A wonderful spot Paul - congratulations on your Lifer lad.
Any jobs going for little old ladies?
Any jobs going for little old ladies?
Any jobs going for little old ladies?
No jobs in that catagory going at the moment, but I'll keep my ear to the ground for you. :t:
Would be a good place for a Scottish bash, if the logistical challenges could be overcome.:t:
A wonderful spot Paul - congratulations on your Lifer lad.
Any jobs going for little old ladies?
Thanks everyone.
The club recorder is very pleased also. Only seven or eight Phalaropes spotted since 1979, and only four of those Grey Phalarope, with some of the four being marked as uncertain.
Since the excitement of the Grey Phalarope, it has gone very quiet here. Resident GBBGs, with a few Herring Gulls, along with Sherman the Shag, passing Gannets and Fulmar, and also Great Skuas still heading south in ones and twos.
A report yesterday of "two little dicky birds" on the Skid Deck, has been the only sniff of passing passerines. The word from the NSBC is that it has been a very slow start to the migration season, right across the reporting sites. No real surprise considering the lack of easterlies.
A report yesterday of "two little dicky birds" on the Skid Deck, has been the only sniff of passing passerines. The word from the NSBC is that it has been a very slow start to the migration season, right across the reporting sites. No real surprise considering the lack of easterlies.
No real change today, other than the flow of Great Skua seems to have stopped and Sherman the Shag appears to have moved on.
Later today, the wind is forecast to swing around to being a north easterly, through into tomorrow. Hopefully it will bring something in overnight.
Later today, the wind is forecast to swing around to being a north easterly, through into tomorrow. Hopefully it will bring something in overnight.
Rescue
Only report of anything new in today was of a small, greyish, Robin shaped bird that had a yellow tinge on its back. I never saw it, but am guessing Chiffchaff maybe? No firm ID possible though, so the log remains undisturbed.
Only other birds present are GBBG, Herring Gull, Gannet and Fulmar.
Yesterday, I found a Great Black-Backed Gull trapped in a confined area. I think it had fallen down through a gap between cable trays, into the area, which was caged on two sides, walled off on one, and had a very narrow alley leading in to it. The bird could see the sea through the grill, and couldn't work out that the only way out was down the dark alley.
I had to squeeze past the flapping gull to try and get to the far side of it from where I could shepherd it out down the alley with a broom. It is surprising how big that beak looks when you are standing a few inches from it.
I ushered it out onto a walkway then through a hand rail to freedom. It was last seen soaring away over the sea, looking none the worst for wear. Don't tell anyone though. The gulls are not universally popular with certain factions of the work force. Gull rescuer would be a title that would bring a fair bit of flak from the previously splattered, I think. :t:
Only report of anything new in today was of a small, greyish, Robin shaped bird that had a yellow tinge on its back. I never saw it, but am guessing Chiffchaff maybe? No firm ID possible though, so the log remains undisturbed.
Only other birds present are GBBG, Herring Gull, Gannet and Fulmar.
Yesterday, I found a Great Black-Backed Gull trapped in a confined area. I think it had fallen down through a gap between cable trays, into the area, which was caged on two sides, walled off on one, and had a very narrow alley leading in to it. The bird could see the sea through the grill, and couldn't work out that the only way out was down the dark alley.
I had to squeeze past the flapping gull to try and get to the far side of it from where I could shepherd it out down the alley with a broom. It is surprising how big that beak looks when you are standing a few inches from it.
I ushered it out onto a walkway then through a hand rail to freedom. It was last seen soaring away over the sea, looking none the worst for wear. Don't tell anyone though. The gulls are not universally popular with certain factions of the work force. Gull rescuer would be a title that would bring a fair bit of flak from the previously splattered, I think. :t:
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