My fortnightly trip to Lidls provided the chance of a brief stop-off at the prom enroute this afternoon, to remind myself what the sea looks like. 22 Turnstones on College Rocks were starting to come into breeding plumage, and 2 Purple Sandpipers were roosting on the wall by Castle Point.
Several parties of Manx Shearwaters feeding well offshore were my first of the year, with a lot more on the far horizon. Also a handful of distant Gannets and 4-5 Kittiwakes, the latter associating with a Manxie flock that seemed to be feeding on a fish shoal.
While watching these a dark phase Arctic Skua appeared from the south, moving out towards them - at which point a couple of passers-by stopped to ask me what I was looking at, and I lost it... A profitable stopover though!