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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Seawatching? (1 Viewer)

D

Denis J

Well-known member
Hi all just wanted to pick your brains again, its forcast for stong Northerlies tomorrow if it was late summer I would go to whitburn ob for a seawatch is there any point in going in February? what sort of birds could you see at this time of year on the north east coast?
 
Hi Denis,

Probably nothing more than lots of Gannets and Guillemots/Razorbills, maybe some Red-throated Divers.

In theory, lots of Little Auks, but there were none on the last northerly blow, so I suspect there's none in the area to the north of us to get blown down here.

An out-of-season Manx Shearwater is not totally impossible.

Michael
 
I've always wondered if out of season sea-watching might produce something really out of place - a southern oceans bird perhaps.

Actually quite a few birds here today on the west coast Bonxie and Fulmar were pretty unseasonable.
 
There is no out of season for seawatching. I can see good Fylde/Lancs birds any month of the year off Blackpool. Not that today was the best example, but I had Little Auk before Xmas, 8 LT Ducks and Blue Fulmar last month, 38 Scaup last weekend etc.

Denis - as Michael says Little Auk would be the normal bonus in Feb gales.

Stephen.
 
I'm lucky to be able to watch from home.. so at least I don't have to get cold and wet. Trouble is that Southern Giant Petrel will be just too far off to clinch :)
 
Its blowing 8-9 and gusting 11 just now here. Suffering sturctural damage for the first time this winter... half expecting an little auk on the garden pond tomorrow.
 
Nothing unseasonable about Fulmars - they've been back on the colonies now for nearly a month. I didn't bother to mention them, since they'd be there whatever the wind did!

Spring Bonxies (or any sort of skua, for that matter) are VERY rare in the North Sea. The odd one in late April or May. I think you can be pretty certain you won't get one of them tomorrow.

Could find that a few sea duck (eiders, scoter, etc) might get stirred around a bit, but probably not very much.

Michael
 
Good for you!!

Tim Allwood said:
out of season seawatching? :eek!:

it's bad enough at any time of the year

you people are nutters

I need a B :)
Click to expand...
Give it a try Tim you might enjoy it.
bert.:'D
 
Tim,if you go sea watching in these gales,I should make sure you are wearing a life jacket,'cos if you are blown overboard or off the rocks it could be quite disastrous.The sea spray was lashing over our sea defences today in a very threatning manner.I wasn't even able to keep a small pair of bins steady.
 
Thanks people I will see how I feel in the morning! at least the hide at whitburn is solid stone so you get no movement even in the worst weather. some of the most impressive birding I have ever seen was in the hide at whitburn late summer 2 years ago. When my wife and I got there there were about 15 or so people in the hide. some of them were at about my standard of birding but some of them were amazing it was a good passage of birds at the time hundreds of manxies going past and these guys where shouting out the birds as they passed I got long tailed skua and balearic shearwater as lifers but also saw great skua ,arctic skua, sooty shearwater, little auk, scaup and velvet scoter as well as most of the commoner sea birds, there was a real air of excitement in the hide! The best thing about it though was the way the good birders went out of their way to explain why the bird was what they said it was, so if you have never tried a sea watch find an established place and get in amongst the crowd its an experience!
 
Sit on a cliff.
Look out to sea.
Find a dot on the horizon.
Identify it as whatever you need for your list.
This seems to be the technique adopted by a lot of seawatchers.

I have heard more rubbish talked about seawatching than I have about 'races' of Canada Goose.
 
Sit in the hide
see a dot on the horizon
ID it as something you need
Bulls%*t says every one else in the hide
exit one embarrased birder!
 
Hiya Denis et al

dont know much about seawatching at this time of year, but it seems that we are getting some unseasonal/unusual birds wintering in the country........
Why then, shouldn't we get something just as unseasonal/unusual of the coast ??

Give it a go Denis!

PS. Had a cracking Slav Grebe at Wearmouth on Monday but missed the G.N.Diver reported there yesterday. (at least 3 different Iceland Gulls about there)

PPS. I'm going to PM you my Mob. fone No, as i think you're going to get an Adult ROSS'S GULL................

Enjoy your day
StevieEvans.
 
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