Stunning Cornwall

What a weekend! Perfect weather and westerly winds meant it was third time very lucky for out seabird trip. On route to Cornwall we bagged Dartford Warbler at Woodbury Common Devon and Cirl Bunting at Prawle Point.
However the 8 hour pelagic on Saturday was the highlight. Epic views of Great Shearwater, Cory's Shearwater and Storm Petrel were enjoyed. We also had a Black Tern and a single Balearic Shearwater on way back to Penzance. We also had a couple of Sunfish off the boat.Thanks to Paul Semmens for organising such a brilliant trip.
On the Sunday we did a short seawatch from Pendeen and had 3 further Cory's Shearwater, 2 Great Shearwater and 2 Balearic Shearwater

American Black Tern

It was great to see the juvenile American Black Tern had relocated today at Pennington Flash after disappearing from Eccleston Mere this morning. Also present was a European Black Tern and the two went fishing together and then sat on adjacent bouys allowing a nice comparison! Less black on head looking like it has headphones, grey flanks and darker underwing than the European Black tern.

Four species of tern at Audenshaw

I braved the showers at Audenshaw this lunchtime hoping some of the reported 150 arctic terns seen last night were still around. There were around a dozen Arctic Terns on the water intermittently flying up and feeding or being mobbed by gulls. Also present was a winter plumage Little Gull, 2 Little Terns and a fine looking summer plumage Black Tern. I also saw a couple of Swifts which are the first I have seen this year. No photos as they were all distance and the weather was just too wet for me to bring out any gear!