Dungeness - Rain, overcast, S 5 - My plan this morning was for a scout around the bushes at the point to see if any of the scarce leaf warblers had stayed put from the weekend. However, the weather was a shocker with heavy bands of rain lashing in on a brisk southerly rending bush-bashing a miserable proposition. There was only one other option; a mid-morning seawatch from the fishing boats with the locals - and not for the first time this autumn I jammed in a treat! Just offshore a seabird feeding frenzy was underway comprising scores of close Gannets, Cormorants, Little Gulls, Kittiwakes and large gulls plundering what looked like garfish, plus a steady stream of auks (mainly Razorbills) and several Common Scoters further out. And then a couple of bits of quality courtesy of the sharp eyes of Jacob and Charlotte; firstly a Sooty Shearwater that came in so close that it briefly joined the fishing party in front of us, followed by a Leach`s Petrel that seemed to take an age to round the point affording decent scope views before heading down-Channel into the tempest. Then, just as we were about to give in to the weather (Ted did look miserable!) out jumped a massive Tuna clear of the water in its pursuit of garfish (a first for me off Dungeness) rounding off the second wildlife spectacle of the morning.
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