With yet another spell of wet and windy weather arriving in Devon on Saturday 5th August I had looked at heading out for a seawatch but despite being up and awake early I didn't really have the motivation or energy to head out far and so I decided to visit Wembury for a look about. Wembury isn't known for its seawatching but I figured there would at least be some Gannets and Manx Shearwaters around in the rough weather to keep me occupied and so I togged up in my wet weather gear and set off.
I caught the 07:05hrs bus and arrived in the mist and mizzle and strong winds to a broiling sea but there were periods of dry spells and occassional clearer viewing conditions offshore and so I walked out to Wembury Point to set up my scope.
The tide was high and along the beach a Little Egret and Oystercatchers were trying to roost as the surf battered the beach. A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was feeding in the surf amongst the Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls but unfortunately it soon headed off west and it was never seen again.
I had a look offshore from the grassy platform at Wembury Point and picked up Manx Shearwaters passing by just out past The Mewstone in a steady stream. Gannets and the occassional Fulmar were passing by too and a flock of 4 Common Scoters (1 male) were also picked up.
I decided to head up to the bench along the road running down to the beach from the car park where I would have a higher vantage point and I would be a bit more sheltered from the wind and rain squalls. I settled in to position at around 09:00hrs and began scanning and in the next 3 hours there must have been over 3000 Manx Shearwaters passing by, an interesting spectacle but I failed to find any Balearic or Sooty Shearwaters amongst them. However I did find 13 Cory's Shearwaters, my first in the UK, and they showed very well indeed especially when the visibility was better.
I found my first one at 09:05hrs and I don't think I took a breath as I panned across the sea following its progress over the waves until I lost it from view! I saw 7 in the first hour, 5 in the second and just 1 in the last hour and I had at least 2 more possible sightings so a pretty impressive total.
The weather began to improve at around 12pm and so I packed up and began to head for home, enjoying a much needed Chunk Pasty for lunch from the cafe along the way.
The tide was receding and along the beach there were 5 Curlew, 4 Whimbrel, 4 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone in summer plumage, 2 adult Ringed Plover and a Sanderling. There were also 6 Mediterranean Gulls present, 4 adults, a 2nd winter and a juvenile.
I only saw 1 butterfly, a Red Admiral, and there were 2 male Beautiful Demoiselle along the stream, more insects than I expected to see in the grotty weather.
A very enjoyable morning, one of those rare occasions when I'm in the right place at the right time for a change. Also a UK tick and with some decent views of what is a tricky bird to see well from land.
Sunday 6th August and the storm had passed through and unfortunately leaving a North West wind and a large swell in its wake as we headed down to Penzance on the train for me to head out on a pelagic bird trip with Mermaid Pleasure Trips. It was also very sunny and 1pm to 5pm is not the best time to head out to sea but I was feeling hopeful with 2 noisy Peregrines flying over the quay as we were setting off a good omen.
It was lovely being out on the water and we were soon having good views of Manx Shearwater, Gannet and Fulmar despite the swell. Eventually we were far enough off shore and chum was thrown overboard and we waited to see what would appear. Viewing was difficult at times due to the swell and my balance wasn't great at times either, possibly due to my varifocal lenses making me a bit disorientated but the birds were so close at times and I had some great views amongst the dips and peaks of the waves.
Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull flew in fairly quickly and were joined by an Arctic Skua which gave some amazingly close views as it patrolled over the boat. Storm Petrels began to arrive, also giving some amazing views, and eventually a Wilson's Storm Petrel arrived, a new bird for me. A further 2 Wilson's Storm Petrels were seen feeding together and all the time Storm Petrels were whizzing around allowing for good comparisons between them. I didn't even bother trying to get any photos but a couple of birders on the trip with proper cameras did and below are efforts by Richie Moore and Tim Phillips from Twitter/ X.
A juvenile Arctic Tern also showed up but all too soon we had to head back to port and along the way we saw 9 Grey Seals hauled out on St.Clements Island, brief fin views of 4+ Common Dolphin, 3 very showy Blue Fin Tuna breaching at the surface and a few Mediterranean Gulls feeding over the water in Mount's Bay.
A very enjoyable trip despite the lack of large Shearwaters which have been partying in their thousands here recently but a great experience none the less. And as great as it was to see the Wilson's Storm Petrels the Cory's Shearwaters at Wembury brought the bigger smile to my face.
