Sooty Shearwater at Berry Head

Sunday 26th August and a pelagic trip out of Brixham with my mate Mavis was cancelled due to the forecasted poor weather which was a big shame as I had really been looking forward to getting offshore again. Instead I decided to finally visit Berry Head for a sea watch, something I have been wanting to do for some time now. The weather was as forecasted when I awoke in the morning - wet and windy - and so I caught the train to Paignton via Newton Abbot and then the bus to Brixham for the walk out to Berry Head. I arrived at the quarry at the base of the cliffs below the coastguard lookout at around 11am where I joined a group of birders already gazing out to sea in the wet, windy and misty conditions.

The birders were all professional sea watchers with huge telescopes, folding chairs, huge fishing umbrellas and thermos flasks and made me feel decidedly amateurish but they were friendly, welcoming and helpful. My little telescope was of no use in the wet and misty conditions and so I didn't even get it out of my rucksack and had to rely on just my binoculars but I still managed some good views of the birds.

Gannets, kittiwakes, fulmars, herring gulls and great black backed gulls were milling around offshore in the wind and the rain and things started off well with an Arctic skua picked up close in harassing a comic tern, a dark phase adult bird showing its long central tail feather as it twisted and turned after the tern. A Manx shearwater with a Balearic shearwater were picked up soon after flying low over the waves in the misty gloom and so the sightings continued until I left at 3pm when I was soaked through but very pleased with the birds I had seen.

I never kept a proper total of the birds I saw in all the excitement and there is always the issue of birds circling around offshore but I saw 9+ Arctic skuas (dark and pale phased), 7+ great skuas, 7+ Balearic shearwaters and around 10 Manxies. Also seen were 3 whimbrel, an oystercatcher and a juvenile Mediterranean gull along with a rock pipit along the foreshore, a flyover peregrine and a flyover yellow wagtail. Harbour porpoise also gave some good views close to the headland as they surfaced to breathe and at times I could see them just below the water surface as they rode the waves.

The highlight were 2 sooty shearwaters picked up by one of the assembled birders which I could not get onto at first. They landed on the sea but I eventually managed to find them as they took to the air again, a distant and brief view as they flew off around the headland and out of sight but their long wings and all dark plumage stood out - finally my first UK sighting!

And so my first proper sea watch was a great success and I've learnt a few things for next time - firstly I need a bigger telescope (to see the birds better), waterproof shoes are essential (mine weren't) and waterproof gloves would be a good idea (my hands were cold and wrinkly by the time I headed back home).