Being able to walk to the sea from your home is one of the best things in the world*. I never tire of it. This means I do a fair amount of seawatching. In East Norfolk, it's a bit harder than the north coast for obvious geographical reasons, but I know that with a consistent level of effort and a bit of luck, I will find and see some good birds eventually. This means many periods of reduced activity when it can seen like an almighty achievement to get something even half-decent. Still, this is my patch, and driving up to Sheringham or Cley just isn't going to happen! I fully understand why people like seawatching in those spots. The chance of a good bird is higher, the increased number of observers helps, there are people to put you onto birds and the Fear Of Missing Out is greatly reduced. However, the downside to that is that most of the birds you see aren't technically "yours", having been found by other observers; you have to have one eye on the sea and one eye and one ear on other observers as not everything is called in a timely fashion; the number of observers can influence you, with some opinions holding more authority; differences of opinion can be a real problem with gossip and talking behind others' backs the result. Seawatching down here is much more relaxing - I've even been known to listen to the radio or a bit of surf music at times, while my eye is glued to the scope.
I much prefer seawatching alone or with Andy Kane (who is extremely sharp and reliable) but the drop-off in seabird numbers in the last two to three years has meant we have done less seawatching than before. Here, the birds we find are ours. The challenge is more personal and the rewards are perhaps more satisfying. The last week has been okay on the sea and two recent successes have prompted me to put them on here. Neither are earth-shattering records but finding my own Black-throated Diver and Cory's Shearwater is very rewarding and part of the reason I like staring out to sea. Trying to find your own seabirds is a gamble. It doesn't usually pay off, but when it does it feels like a real achievement. The future of seawatching in these times of climate emergency is very uncertain. Events in the south-west have been insane. I know it's been great for those who choose to chase rare birds, but there's another side to it that we all know. The sea here this year has been very poor with strange concentrations of Razorbills and Guillemots inshore, crazy numbers of Med Gulls and much fewer skuas, shearwaters, waders and wildfowl.
This summer's Extreme Marine Heatwave in Jun (Temps are degs C above 'normal').
*Another of the best things in the world is hearing the sea from your bedroom window, but that's another story...
Black-throated Diver, Sea Palling, Oct 15, T. E. Allwood
Seeing as Esther had driven into town, I decided to spend the afternoon doing some more seawatching. The morning had been a little disappointing with the conditions pretty uncomfortable at times. Conditions were more favourable and visibility much better in the afternoon. The birds were an improvement on the previous week with my first Purple Sandpipers, a Grey Plover, Curlew, Shag and Merganser, with Med Gulls still fairly numerous and a few Razorbills lingering. Several Red-throated Divers had moved through north and as always, I checked each one for the typical neck raising, short legs/feet and humpbacked structure of that species etc.
Around 15:30, I picked up a diver coming north not all that far beyond the reefs. The first thing I noted was that the legs and feet were much more obvious than on the Red-throateds I'd been checking. A look at the front of the bird showed that the neck looked longer than in that species too. The overall appearance then was of a more drawn-out bird both in front of the wings and behind the wings, than a Red-throated. The neck was held much more level than a Red-throated's and as I followed the bird through I didn't once see it raise its head in the typical manner of a Red-throated. The neck was a greyish colour above and white below with a slightly darker line on the lower border, lacking the overall darkness and obvious half-collar of a Great Northern.
The bill was visible, much more so than on a Red-throated but not as heavy looking as a Great Northern's. It was essentially held straight but gave a subtle impression of pointing slightly downwards or having a slight downward curve to it. The rear flanks showed the typical high cut of white, especially notable as the bird passed straight out.
This was a pleasing sighting as the species is rare in East Norfolk, being just about annual for regular seawatchers. The Oct-Nov period is the typical time of occurrence on passage.
Cory's Shearwater, Sea Palling, Oct 16, T. E. Allwood.
After a lengthy period of very low levels of activity, both on the sea and and in the bushes, the recent bad weather had livened the sea up a bit. Nothing like the numbers of a few years ago, and skuas, shearwaters, wildfowl and waders were notably reduced. The benefits of now being part-time meant I spent most of Monday morning seawatching. There was a steady stream of Brent geese north, a few flocks of scoter, and smaller numbers of Eider, Teal and Shelduck, with a few groups of Little Gulls and the occasional wader. Not much, but enough to keep me going.
It was just after midday when I picked up a bird coming south. Probably around 1km out. My initial view was of a white underside of a bird banking like a shearwater. It was clearly sticking very close to the surface of the water. As the bird came out of a slight swell I had my first decent view. It was perhaps a touch larger than an Arctic Skua, with longer wings, which were clearly held in a bowed attitude with the tips seemingly only centimetres above the water. The bird was flying in a very relaxed steady manner, with long glides and the occasional bank, but with a few infrequent flaps.
Views of the underwing showed it to be white with dark bleeding in from the wingtips. The underparts of the bird, from the chin to the tail were also white with no dark marks visible, and the tail had a slight taper to it. The head looked dark on the sides, notably so as the bird moved away north, and the angle of observation became more oblique. The large head gave the bird a bull-headed and bull-necked feel. The bill disappeared against the pale sea.
I wasn't expecting a Cory's today, but that's the nature of seawatching – it's always worth an hour or two!
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