A cruise out of Brixham on Sunday started well with 7 Mediterranean Gulls and 3 Purple Sandpipers before we left the harbour. Then with some fantastic close sightings of Arctic Skuas – probably around 10 birds seen in total. a brief sighting of probably a Sooty Shearwater. An interesting Skua at the time of seeing it we had reservations over (almost entirely down to the way it flew off – fast and low – but not chasing) was actually a juvenile Long-tailed Skua. A bit of a choppy sea made watching and trying to get detail on slightly distant birds hard – thank goodness for good cameras (Mark Darlaston’s in this case)!
pale juv Arctic Skua and Kittiwake (Bill Coulson) juvenile Long-tailed Skua (Mark Darlaston)
