Dungeness - cold, cloudy, good viz, SSE 4-5 - 0915 - 1120hrs - Joined the locals at the fishing boats for a seawatch this morning in ideal weather conditions, and what a cracker it turned out to be. From the get-go the bread-and-butter was provided by hundreds of Gannets, Kittiwakes and auks (mostly Razorbills), either streaming west (some cutting in close to shore) or feeding in frenzied flocks upon shoals of fish further out - a wonderous spectacle indeed. Two brown Eiders (scarce here) were bobbing about a few yards off the shingle beach, while a juvenile Sabine`s Gull flew to and fro on several occasions throughout the watch
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Two flocks of Teal rushed through as well as several Common Scoters, a pair of Eiders, a Velvet Scoter, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Brent Goose, three Fulmars, a Dunlin and at least 50 Little Gulls in scattered parties at various distances. A score of head-nodding Red-throated Divers passed close inshore along with singles of Black-throated and Great Northern Diver, and a Bonxie and two Pomarine Skuas further out. But the jam in the sandwich belonged to the auks with a single Little Auk and no less than FOUR westbound Puffins (I`ve only ever seen three since moving here almost 17 years ago!) rounding off a seawatch of unrivalled variety. A fuller account of the whole watch will, I`m sure, be posted on Trektellen this evening.
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