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Though the White tailed Plover was rediscovered habiting Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve in Lancashire, I took Becky and Scruff the dog to Portland Bill for I was after some more month ticks. I was tantalising on 99 species but it didn’t take long to grab my 100th for the month. There were heavy showers forecasted for the area today but we escaped the bad weather and had a bright sunny day though quite windy.
There has been good numbers of both Balearic and Manx Shearwaters seen off the Bill including several more this morning. So my hopes were high in seeing some this afternoon. We actually arrived on the Bill around 4pm and quickly got into my stride with a good seawatch for around an hour.
The seawatch kicked off with a couple of Shags swimming on the water and good numbers of Guillemots seen flying past the Bill. A Razorbill showed well on the sea then flew east past the Bill. The sea was rather choppy therefore I constantly scanned the sea for Shearwaters. Luck was on my side as a pair of Balearic Shearwaters flew east low over the water fairly close in. Up to around six Kittiwakes were swimming offshore and several more flew past heading west, all adults too. Gannets flew past in good numbers with both adults and juveniles seen in various states of plumage.
Though a couple of Arctic Skua’s flew past the Bill this morning, I didn’t expect any this afternoon and my short seawatch was rewarded with a light phase Arctic Skua flying low over the waves heading easterly. I was now really hoping to see my first Manx Shearwater of the year and I wasn’t to be disappointed as a single Manx flew west low over the waves.
So, in summary, I notched up a further seven more month ticks and to round it off, a Rock Pipit made it number eight! The bird flew up from the rocky shore and perched on a rope chain near the Lighthouse. Becky, Scruff and I finished off with a cup of tea by the café, checking out the Lesser Black backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Jackdaws on the scrounge for a scrap of sandwich.
Earlier this week, a took a quick stroll over Old Winchester Hill and notched up both Yellowhammer and a pair of Bullfinches.
Becky and Scruff looking out to sea at Portland Bill.
