Long-tailed Skua, juvenile, pale type, Sea Palling, Sep 1, T. E. Allwood
Despite it being the peak period for Long-tailed Skua, very few had so far been seen in the North Sea until yesterday’s stronger easterlies, when a few were reported off Suffolk. I tried of here last night and despite several Arctics and Manx being recorded, we drew a blank on anything more interesting.
I started early this morning with a stroll up to one of my vantage points with a nice hot coffee. Not a deal was happening on the sea with only a few Teal and Scoter, Gannets, Sandwich Terns, Med Gulls and a couple of Kittiwakes. However, at around 0648 a skua appeared close - just behind the reefs. Even at first look it was pretty obviously going to be a Long-tailed. Size-wise it was very small, looking no bigger than a Kittiwake or Sandwich Tern but its build was rather more powerful. It gave the appearance of a front-heavy bird with a small, rounded head and a strong neck and chest with a streamlined body. A bit like an Arctic Tern. The wings were fairly thin and long. The upperparts looked a darkish shade of grey-brown with no other detail such as primary shafts visible in the wing. The underparts were largely pale below the chest, with a large whitish area centrally and lots of barring on the flanks and the rear of the bird. Detail on the pattern of the underwing was tricky to see but the white patch formed from the pale bases to the primary coverts was obvious on downstrokes.
The flight was purposeful but on at least three occasions the bird stalled and hovered before attempting to pick something from the surface. It appeared to be at the intermediate end of a pale type, given the whitish underparts and clear barring etc.
Although seawatching isn't what it was a few years ago and the climate is becoming less seasonal, the sight of a migrating Long-tailed Skua is still just about the best thing in birding for me. The fact that I can walk or cycle a short distance to my seawatch sport and hopefully enjoy them - just about annually - in lovely surroundings, is near perfect.
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