Wednesday 6th October was the calm after the storm and so I headed out to Wembury for a walk in occasional sunny spells and a gentle breeze. I had packed my telescope into my rucksack and I'm very glad I did, Wembury isn't known as a good place to sea watch but I managed some good sightings albeit a little distant even with the scope
On arriving at the main beach at around 09:45hrs I noticed a feeding frenzy of Gulls near The Mewstone but on checking them out with my scope I could only find Herring, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls amongst the throng. Gannets were noticed further offshore moving west, a mix of adult and immature birds, but more noticeable were Meadow Pipits close to shore moving west in a steady trickle with around 400 birds noted in total in around 3 hours before the movement totally dried up. (Large counts were also reported further east along the coast).
A few Meadow Pipits were also grounded in the fields and along the beach where they were getting short shrift from Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails.
Skylarks were on the move too with around 40 passing west overhead and a few again feeding in the fields. A male Blackcap and 5 Chiffchaffs were also noted in the bushes with 5 Swallows moving west along the coast and the Great Spotted Woodpecker still present in the pines at The Point. Stonechats and Cirl Buntings were very noticeable along the coast path as usual.
The tide was ebbing and out on the rocks with the usual Oystercatchers were a Curlew, 3 Little Egret and 5 Mallard (2 males) and assorted Gulls including Mediterranean Gulls.
By the time I had walked to The Point the feeding frenzy of Gulls had dispersed somewhat but I set up my scope anyway to scan over the virtually flat calm sea. I picked up some Kittiwakes feeding offshore including a few juveniles and there were still small groups of Gannets further out moving west. Two male Common Scoter flew west and were shortly followed by another 2. A flock of 10 then flew west and not long after that a flock of 14 then flew east, presumably the 14 birds already logged.
A Balearic Shearwater was picked up flying west and then 2 more were seen heading west before they settled on the sea and were lost from view. An Auk species was seen flying west too before settling on the sea, probably a Razorbill, and 2 more Auks were seen further out also flying west, probably Guillemots.
A distant and dark, wader-like bird was picked up flying low over the water heading towards shore before it suddenly upped a gear and sped towards a feeding group of Kittiwakes, a dark phase Skua species, probably an Arctic as it was a very similar size to the Kittiwakes it had started to chase and harass. It eventually settled on the sea and was lost to view but later 2 dark phase Skuas were seen flying low over the water together before also settling on the sea. A final scan and a very dark looking Skua was picked up distantly harassing Kittiwakes, it was really giving chase to the Kittiwakes in an energetic and acrobatic aerial display before finally getting a regurgitated meal and settling on the sea.
Long-winged Coneheads, Common Lizards and Ivy Bees were also seen along with a few butterflies flitting about.
