Beautiful Bempton - but no Black-browed Albatrosses!

Albatrosses are truly a thing of awe – masters of the open oceans and enough to make any land based birder go weak at the knees at the prospect of seeing one cruise past on a seawatch off a British headland. Having never seen an albatross of any kind in either British waters or elsewhere, the thought of a Black-browed Albatross frequenting the seabird cliffs of Bempton RSPB was more than enough to tempt us up to Yorkshire for an all-weekend albatross stake-out.

12 year old Joe Fryer's amazing Black-browed Albatross photos from Bempton!

First seen and photographed last Saturday by an eagle-eyed 12 year old boy and his Grandad, there had since been a subsequent two more reported sightings during the week from Bartlett Nab viewpoint at Bempton, when the bird was apparently seen flying close in to the cliffs. With no photographs to accompany these two reports however, there has been doubt cast by some amidst possible confusion for the unwary with immature Gannets, but without photographic evidence, who can honestly say they would have instantly believed a 12 year old excitedly running into the RSPB Visitor Centre claiming an albatross!

As to be expected, despite a Saturday and Sunday vigil through rain and shine watching from the cliffs, we didn’t even catch a sniff of the albatross, the bird being reported still from Sylt in Germany on the Saturday evening (having been roosting for 4 hours with swans on the lake at Rantumbrecken while we were battling torrential rain on the cliffs hoping it would pitch up there!) putting paid to any realistic hopes it might materialise off Bempton. Indeed, further reports surfaced later on the Sunday that the bird was still present at Sylt that morning (though we didn’t see this until after we were back!).

Nevertheless, the spectacle of the seabird city that is Bempton was enough to keep us occupied during the weekend, with Kittiwakes, Razorbills and Guillemots galore, along with firm seabird favourite the Puffin putting in several appearances. It was also great to be able to watch the Gannets up close, a small group perched on the cliffs in front of the viewpoint offering a fantastic insight in to their secret oceanic world and providing front row seats to their mesmerising courtship displays and neck dancing.

Not albatrosses...

...but still every bit as beautiful

With the albatross now seemingly back frequenting the German island of Sylt, having been reported there from Thursday onwards after its sojourn across the North Sea, now that it is aware that Bempton and its thousands of breeding Gannets exists, there is every chance that it could return in the future and settle down for a spell in Yorkshire - in which case we most certainly will be back for another albatross stake out! Indeed it seems to be becoming increasingly disenchanted from its previous favoured spot of Heligoland in Germany, and after realising that no breeding success is to be had there, could well venture further afield in the North Sea in search of a mate.

Having first rocked up at Heligoland back in 2014 this is not the first time the albatross has ventured across the North Sea either - underwing patterns revealed that the Fair Isle bird back on the 28th May last year was one and the same, having made a day trip over to Shetland from Germany, while the presumed same individual was remarkably photographed resting on a pool at Minsmere in Suffolk back on the 12th July 2015. With huge potential to turn up on the east coast, particularly when there have been no recent sightings over in Germany, it could certainly pay off by keeping a watchful eye from Bempton or any other prominent east coast headlands.

For up to date albatross sightings in Germany, it is best to check the ornitho.de website here, where all the recent sightings are displayed in the right hand column, or through the search function.

With perhaps the most famous Northern Hemisphere albatross “Albert” taking up residence for almost 30 years in various Gannet colonies off Scotland (Bass Rock from 1967-1969 and Hermaness in Shetland from 1972-1995) as well as an albatross frequenting the Gannetry at Sula Sgeir during the spring and summers of 2005-2007 for several days each year, hopefully another ‘breeding’ bird will take up residence in a British Gannet colony once more during our lifetime!

Surf Scoters in North Wales

After failing to catch up with the regular Surf Scoters that can be found off the North Wales coast each year for an incredible 4 winters (despite numerous visits probably nudging in to the 20s!!) I finally saw them for the first time last January off Pensarn.

This weekend as the weather was gloriously sunny (perfect for scoter searching) I made a return trip – this time to Old Colwyn where the reports suggested the birds had been spotted earlier that morning.

Ranging across Llandulas, Pensarn and Old Colwyn, it is always useful to know beforehand where the birds are favouring. Whereas last year they were mostly spotted off Pensarn near to the café, this year the birds seemed to have switched preferences to nearby Old Colwyn, where the majority of the reports have come from this winter.

Used to spending several cold hours staring out to sea in search of them, after around 5 or 10 minutes I couldn’t believe it when I actually picked one out! In one of the more distant flocks, the perfect spring sun made the distinctive white patch on the back of the head and brightly coloured bill literally stand out a mile away. Alex later spotted the second drake a little closer in, and eventually the two came together – a pair of white blobs clearly visible amongst a sea of thousands of all-black Common Scoters.

My phone scoped scoter!

Finding 2 Surf Scoters amongst a flock of thousands upon thousands of Common Scoters may seem daunting, but it is the large white patch on the back of the head and a second white patch where the bill is (sometimes they are too distant to make out the yellow and orange colouration) that gives them away.

The white on the back of the head is clearly visible even at a distance

The light was absolutely perfect for seawatching and by timing it with an exceptionally high tide at midday with a flat calm sea and no wind, I couldn’t have asked for more ideal conditions. Several Velvet Scoters were also in some of the closer rafts – the yellow lower bill and even the white around the eye of the drakes visible through the scope! One in particular seemed very active – flying from raft to raft and proudly displaying the gorgeous bold white squares on the wings as he flew.

The white eye and yellow bill of the velvet (third from the right) can just be made out in Alex's picture

The structural differences between the Velvet and Commons is also obvious

It’s definitely worth waiting for the ideal day to come along, as this makes it so much easier to spot the Surfs in the good light as opposed to fruitlessly scanning a choppy sea in gloomy weather. When all the birds are constantly bobbing behind the waves it can soon turn in to an absolute nightmare!

The birds will soon be leaving the wintering grounds along the North Wales coast to head to their breeding grounds, and with up to 7 drakes spotted this year, they must surely be breeding somewhere in Europe along with the many thousands of Commons. Fingers crossed they all return next year – who knows, they may even reach double figures!

To view from the Rainbow Bridge at Old Colwyn, park next to the small playground on Glan-Y-Mor Road (LL29 9AY) and follow the path to the right towards the sea and past the cliffs. Go over the large bridge that crosses the A55 road and find a good vantage point on the rocks near the small stone hut. 

Pacific Diver in Marazion

As we had a whole weekend free after visiting the Little Bunting, me and Alex decided to head back down to Cornwall to try and spot the Pacific Diver that overwinters around Mounts Bay near Marazion each year.

Pacific Divers have only recently been split from the near-related Black-throated Divers, and with only 8 accepted records for the UK, is a real mega. There were no accepted records in the UK or Europe even prior to 2007, but early that year 3 different individuals were identified, a first winter inland at Farnham Gravel-pits in Yorkshire from the 12^th January to the 4^th February, another first winter on the Llys-y-fran Reservoir in Pembrokeshire from the 2^nd Feb to the 20^th March, and this adult bird in Mount’s Bay, Penzance which first arrived on the 17^th February. What caused this mini influx is unknown, although the fact that the species became wider known to birders, with more people aware of the ID features, may have contributed to the 2 other birds being found and subsequently IDed that very same winter.

Remarkably this is the 9^th winter the Marazion bird has been back, although vagrant Pacific Divers do seem to show a tendency for remaining faithful to a site, as incredibly the Llys-y-fran bird returned again in the Februarys of both 2008 and 2009! Who knows how long the Cornwall bird will continue coming back for, although it has been showing far more regularly and reliably this winter than in previous years.

A view of St Michael's Mount from the Station Car Park

On arriving at the Station Car Park, we soon picked up several close in Great Northern Divers, but after determining the Pacific wasn’t anywhere near this car park, we adopted a different strategy to our first visit and decided to make our way along the bay, stopping off at various points. We headed over to Penzance, viewing from the road, where another GN was picked up along with a Black-throated not too far away in front of the rocks – the white diagnostic flank patch visible even at a distance. 2 Eiders fishing near the marina were nice to see, as were a pair of Gannets diving just off shore.

Deciding the best point to view from would be Long Rock Car Park itself, especially as that was where all the reports had been coming from lately, we the headed that way – managing to find it this time tucked away over a level crossing down one of the small lanes (on our last visit we just viewed from the Station Car Park, unaware of this better viewing point).  With just a few Great Northerns hanging around, there was still no sign of the Pacific, having last been reported at 10:30am that morning. Several other birders turned up as it neared to high tide, including the birder that had reported it this morning, but with still no sign we decided to head back round to Penzance and check the Jubilee Pool area. With no luck there, we returned to Longrock for one last check before the light faded, and joined the birder who had seen it that morning.

Alex spotted a different looking diver relatively far out beyond the rocks and as we got our scopes on the bird it was clear to see it wasn’t a Great Northern – structurally different with an exceptionally dark back, rounded head, and a clear, bright white contrasting throat and chest. The black line along the throat was also solid – no white collar indentations or dark curves around the neck. As divers tend to have a habit of doing as their name suggests, we were lucky that this one was busy preening, allowing us to really study the features. Despite the distance, our bird was clearly visible above the water, and the absence of the white flank patch that would otherwise indicate a Black-throated was apparent from all angles – the bird was a solid black colour all over down to the waterline. It had to be the Pacific. The man who had seen it earlier was also confident that this was the bird that he had seen this morning, and with it being way to far to determine a definite chinstrap, the absence of the white flank patch clinched the ID for me.

Sadly the light faded at this point, rendering viewing much harder (especially in my scope!) and we watched in dimming light until the bird eventually took off from the water and flew out far to sea – presumably to roost.

On our previous visit we had encountered a similar looking diver at very close range, and on seeing the bird again it was now clear that it was the same that we had been watching 2 weeks earlier. On our first visit we just weren’t armed with enough knowledge on the ID, and actually talked ourselves out of it being the Pacific back in the hotel! Having never seen one before and being alone with no one else to confirm, we just weren’t 100% confident on the ID to add it to our lists.

This brilliant video taken by Mark Hipkin in November 2014 was really useful in getting to know how the Pacific Diver would look in the field.

A lone diver’s proportions and size is always difficult to assess when it’s on its own with no other birds to compare it to, although the much smaller size (at one point I exclaimed it was nearer GC Grebe size) and the much shorter, stubbier bill that we noted should have told us it was the Pacific that we were watching and not a GN diver or BT, especially as there was a clear absence of a white flank patch.

It just goes to show that a little bit of research, knowledge and ID insights can go a long way (my excuse is that Pacific isn’t well document in my Collins!) and that you really need to know what you’re looking for in the field (as demonstrated on our first visit, when a couple were adamant that a young GN diver was the Pacific over and over again!). Having only ever seen one Black-throated Diver before (extremely distantly at Carsington Water, where it was the only diver present) I also wasn’t familiar or experienced enough with the structure of smaller divers in the field – another point that meant I just wasn’t 100% sure what we were looking at on our first visit. I always like to be 100% sure of a bird’s ID myself before I add it to my list, so I’m really glad we made the huge effort to come back to Cornwall in order to be fully sure that we had indeed seen the Pacific Diver.

For anyone looking to visit, the best vantage points can be seen on the map below. 

We saw the diver at points 1 and 3, and it apparently favours the area around the rocks (2)