The first strong north westerly blow for a while had me in the motor and over to the Point of Ayr to indulge my proclivity for seawatcing.The wind probably in the realm of 35 knots and the there was a fair amount of sleet too, but there is a lovely sheltered spot on the dunes behind the lighthouse and after no time at all I was hunkered down as snug as a bug.
Seawatching is my favourite ‘type’ of birding, although I know it is not everybody’s cup of tea. As somebody once famously said “Work, I am fascinated by it. I could sit watching it for hours”, well this holds true for me and the sea. Even if there are few birds I could quite contentedly sit observing the ocean for ages – especially like today when it was very angry.
There were a few bits and bobs today, but for volume of birds it was fairly disappointing. Ten Kittiwakes went past over the couple of hours I was there and later on a couple of Fulmar flew through. Bird of the day though was a Sandwich Tern looking hopelessly frail and just about ready to snap in two as is valiantly attempted to fly out of the estuary into the strong gale – my first this year too.
A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and three Common Scoters was the only wildfowl recorded, and on the wader front quite a few Grey Plovers seemed to be passing through.
Incredibly, not one, but two people were out walking in shorts today - and one of those wasn't even WAO!
31.3.10 Point of Ayr Seawatch (10:45 – 12:45)
1 Sandwich Tern
2 Fulmar
10 Kittiwake
2 Red-breasted Merganser
3 Common Scoter
100+ Grey Plover
Until later.
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