Friday 18 September 2020

Ynyslas

At Ynyslas again this morning to find Arfon at the brick house just 1 minute before me and he had already seen 4 arctic skuas. In total between 12 and 15 arctic skuas went through (a conservative estimate to avoid double counting) and a superb juv long-tailed skua close in. Gannets were the star though with one feeding flock containing at least 1500 birds with others streaming into the estuary along with masses of kittiwakes. In total there must have been 3-4000 gannets and around 3000 kittiwakes. Around 15 red-throated divers, groups of wigeon north and good numbers of Med gulls added interest. 
The wader roost at the point was disappointing and after I had finished the WeBS counts Arfon left and I had another 15 mins at the brick house where another arctic skua went north and a juv great northern diver was on the sea.