Seawatching
They say good things come to those that wait, and for Worthing Seawatchers and the two resident Grey Seals off Marine Gardens they waited, and then they waited some more, as cold northerly winds brought skua passage to a grinding halt for much of the week.
Monday 5th May
Two Hobbies seen flying in off the sea and north over the beach and 31 Whimbrel east were the only birds of note between 06:30-08:00.
Thursday 8th May
A good early morning movement of Whimbrel 106e and a tight flock of Red Knot c15e but precious little else. However on Thursday afternoon the first two Arctic Skuas of the week (one light phase / one dark phase) passed Brougham Road, followed by two more on the next morning from Marine Gardens.
Friday 8th May
An interesting morning session with Whimbrel (108e 1w), Curlew (2w), Bar-tailed Godwits (3e) in a group with Grey Plover (5e) Common Sandpiper (1e) and two Arctic Skuas chasing Sandwich Terns. Swallows continued to arrive and frustratingly a raptor watched flying in off the sea and away to the north could not be identified.
Then slowly the wind moved round to the south east, and mid afternoon the stars began to align - “Pomarine Skua very close east past MG @15:09” So close that apparently even the Grey Seals gave a little fist pump, and then two more at 17:05 which were also seen past Widewater 15 minutes later. Suddenly the wait for 2025 was over and for one MG regular a Saturday trip to the land locked West Midlands was no longer such a worry.
Saturday 9th May / Sunday 10th May
Finally the winds were from the fabled south east so would the flood gates open as we moved into the finale of the spring seawatching season.
There was a bit more variety on Saturday morning with a single female Eider, Shoveler (3e), Common Scoter (68e) and an early pulse of distant Kittiwakes (45e). Waders were well represented with Sanderling (20e), Grey Plover (11e), Bar-tailed Godwits (22e) and Whimbrel (20e).
But what about the Skuas - well a single pale phase Arctic Skua (08:50) and four together (09:05), all relatively close in was a promising start and then……. Disappointment !!
Sunday was a similar story, a visiting birder recorded Common Scoter (95e), Kittiwake (12e). Grey Plover (40e),Sanderling (42e) but just two Whimbrel. The highlight of the morning being two probable Black-throated Divers. News of a Long-tailed Skua and more Poms further west meant there was more coverage from Marine Gardens in the afternoon and early evening but once again they failed to materialised.
Despite the anpparently ideal conditions over the weekend it all fizzled out as the promised Poms failed to turn up for their own party. Although there may be a few stragglers next week it feels like this year’s sea watching season is coming to an end.
The Bottle-nosed Dolphins seemed to sense this and put on a superb show on Saturday morning, coming very close to the shore at high tide to say goodbye.
The Downs and Inland
Swift numbers increased rapidly this week, with birds being reported from numerous sites around the town and hopefully they will settle down to breed in coming weeks.
There were very few reports from the Downs this week with summer breeding birds very active. A Reed Warbler on the Downs along Lychpole Bottom was the only migrant news all week.
The next few weeks still hold the chance of a scarce late migrant, such as a Red backed Shrike or even more outrageous a flyover Bee-eater. Watch this space.
