A day in the sabines

With very strong northwesterlies and frequent showers the ringing was dismissed as a possibility.

As such observations was the primary focus of the day. Johan and i were the first to leave however we were unsure of where to place ourselves. Quickly we landed on the sabines bunker as being the best possibility. Alba and her mother came shortly after and the next three hours we counted in the bunker. There was decent wader migration with oystercatcher being the most numerous, but also turnstone and others. As the wind carried on, a decent amount of terns and gulls started migrating aswell. Highligts were 7 arctic skuas and a 1cy mediterrenean gull. 

(One of the days three 1cy mediterrenean gulls showed its lovely wing pattern and droopy bill nicely)

After standard we returned to the station for coffee, bread and some resting.

As it is my last full day i was keen to get out and see if the wind could bring some seabirds. As such Strummer and i went to the Sabines again for some obs.

The wind was very strong at this point and again, skuas, terns and gulls were migrating nicely. Also some waders.
At one point i glimpsed a larger seabird for a quarter of a second and got quite excited as i thought first it looked like a larger shearwater. The bird dissapeared completely though! But a bit later it revealed itself as a fulmar, the bird would be a lifer for Strummer but this one, and the next would prove to be quite difficult to see. We did however see a third one which gave great views going south. Lifer for Strummer!


(LIFERRRRR)

We were pretty happy but short of a minute later Strummer saw a Skua migrating south quite close. We quickly ID'ed the bird as an adult long tailed skua. WHAT A BIRD!! The adults are rare and look incredible. Another lifer for Strummer and a super cool minute of seawatching, i managed to get some good shots of the bird:

(Adult long-tailed skua with its awesome tail extensions)

We continued for a while more hoping for storm petrels but 2 mediterrenean gulls were what the seas could bring.
All in all a super cool day!

Tomorrow is more wind and we hope for more seabirds!

At the station: Strummer, Alba, Sessan Holmberg, Johan og Jonas.