Port Eynon produces again!

Another good session at Port Eynon today. Kept watch from 06:00 to 09:30 with the main passage between 07:00 and 08:15 when 1011 Manx Shearwater past going east (this time). Also a Balearic Shearwater past during this time. However, the best hour was from 06:00 to 07:00 with 2 Great Skua kicking things off. Flying West about 10mins apart but a little later sitting on the sea together. While I was watching them a Storm Petrel past close by. I decided to follow it for a while and this brought me a Black Tern. I followed this Tern losing it often against the sea. After a while it was seen, loosely associating itself with an Arctic Tern and both spent about 10mins feeding around the buoy. The passage was slow considering the numbers involved but generally everything past going west.

Near enough to 07:00 the Manx started to fly east, generally further out than on Thursday but this enabled me to keep a better record of numbers involve. A Skua Sp was attracted by these Manx and when I first saw it it was giving chase to some Manx with some success(going east). It was pretty distant but looked quite bulky. It went to sea for a while but later flew west with some purpose. This time I decided to try and capture it on video with the hope that the id would be secured from this. The video has not provided good enough footage to secure the id and unfortunately remains as Skua sp, between Pomarine and Arctic.

The video below shows a Great Skua on the sea. Just before this it forced a Kittiwake to give up its breakfast. The chase didn't last long and luckily for me finished close to the point.


Totals today :- 1 Balearic Shearwater, 1011+ Manx Shearwater, 2+ Great Skua, 1 Skua Sp, 3 Storm Petrel, 1 Black Tern, 1 Arctic Tern, 3 Common Tern, 16+ Sandwich Tern, 5 Common Scoter, 5 Whimbrel, 23 Cormorant 1 Kestrel and 18 Linnets. Not accurately counted but, 300+ Kittiwake and 200+ Gannet

Brief glimpses of 1+ Common Dolphin and 1+ Harbour Porpoise, here and there. Also 1 Grey Seal in the bay between the head and the point at high water and 2 Red Fox near the Caravan Site.