The weather forecast for Tuesday 5th October was looking dire although ideal for some sea watching but the forecast kept changing and I eventually switched plans and headed to St.Ives in North Cornwall instead of Berry Head in South Devon due to there being a strong North Westerly wind after a night of South Westerly gales.
I arrived at the Coastguard Station at St.Ives at around 9:30am, later than I had originally planned, and a gaggle of birders were already present scanning the rough seas out of the wind in the lee of the Station.
The sun was shining and on a quick scan through my binoculars I found 2 Great Skuas, a Balearic Shearwater and a Manx Shearwater along with Gannets, Kittiwakes, Mediterranean Gulls and Auks. With so much going on I quickly assembled my telescope and began some proper searching.
I'm still a novice when it comes to sea watching and at times it was quite overwhelming with large numbers of birds swirling around everywhere. Finding something unusual, getting my scope on it and then trying to ID it while being buffeted by strong winds and fending off members of the public passing by who wanted to chit chat wasn't easy - but I had a great time and 4 hours just flew by! I missed all the reported scarce birds (Leaches Storm Petrel, Grey Phalarope and Sooty Shearwater) but I think these were mostly seen before I arrived on site although I did have a very brief view of a Petrel species before it just disappeared in the wave troughs.
I didn't attempt to count numbers as I got the distinct impression that most birds were moving in a circle around the bay especially the Shearwaters and Skuas. Both dark and pale phase Arctic Skuas were seen, probably at least 10 birds, along with probably at least 4 Great Skuas and they gave some excellent views as they passed by close to the headland.
Flocks of Auks were flying west with many ditching on the sea to dive for fish, mostly Razorbills but with a few Guillemots as well. Gannets were everywhere, adults and immature birds, and watching them dive was as impressive as always. Mediterranean Gulls and Kittiwakes of various ages were also flying around with the Kittiwakes regularly subjected to the attentions of the Skuas and Sandwich and Commic Terns were also noted too.
A few Manx Shearwater were seen flying west but a pair of Balearic Shearwaters stole the show as they fished together close to shore, flying low over the water and diving into the wave peaks to catch small silver fish and then emerging the other side of the wave to do it again and again. They were definently moving around the bay as they would disappear around the headland as they flew west into the wind and swell before circling back into the bay to repeat the circuit again. A few other Balearics were seen moving west including one with a Manx Shearwater allowing for a good comparison between the two and they were certainly the best views of Balearics I've ever had.
A Bar-tailed Godwit, a Swallow and 13 Common Scoter (all males in 3 flocks heading west totalling 2, 6 and 5) were also noted along with Shag, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Black-headed Gull with a brief view of a Grey Seal close to the rocks.
On the return trip to Plymouth I stopped off at the Hayle Estuary for a quick look around. The tide was low but 7 Dunlin, a Grey Plover, Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher, a Greenshank and 13 Bar-tailed Godwit were seen along with Wigeon, Teal, Little Egret, a Grey Heron and Mediterranean Gulls.
A Whimbrel was feeding on Ryan's Field and a Grey Wagtail was feeding along The Quay but the best bird was a Great Crested Grebe on the Carnsew Pool, my first one at Hayle.
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