With Sooty Shearwaters being seen all along the east coast of the UK in the last few days I decided to give Flamborough another try, despite the strong winds. The winds at Flamborough were very strong and it was difficult to stand up properly, but not that many seabirds were close to shore, even though the winds were northeasterly. Due to large numbers of birdwatchers, it was impossible to find anywhere sheltered to sit, but I managed to find a spot fairly well sheltered by a tussock of weeds.

Looking out to sea plenty of gannets were fishing and cruising up and down and good numbers of Fulmars were also easily seen. Very few gulls were seen in the two hours I spent there, with just about 10 Great Black-backed Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls. Plenty of Shags were easily seen flying back and forwards and a couple of razorbills sat in the water being tossed around by the waves. There were also only a dozen or so Kittiwakes; maybe the winds were too strong for them. After about 1 hour I was beginning to wonder if anything out of the ordinary would come along: 3 Sandwich Terns heading south were a small distraction until I saw a distant shearwater. Luckily, it began to head closer to shore and as it banked from side to side over the waves I could see that its belly was quite dark, in fact, due to the poor light, the bird appeared completely dark, both above and below. The powerful flight and larger size than Manx Shearwater confirmed it as a Sooty Shearwater. Finally, after 4 visits trying for this bird one came close enough for a reasonable look.

I decided to try a different spot, but half an hour of looking didn’t reveal anywhere more sheltered, so I returned to my original place. Soon, a Manx Shearwater came very close to shore, and a few minutes later 2 more came along slightly further out. This sudden flurry of activity gave me high hopes of more interesting birds but it took another 30 minutes before a 4th Manx Shearwater came along, this time quite distant, but its white belly and underwings were still easily seen.

Just as I was thinking about leaving two more distant Shearwaters came into view and headed towards shore. This was almost too good to be true as one each of Manx and Sooty Shearwaters comprised this pair, allowing me to compare the two side by side: the Sooty Sheawater’s dark underside and larger size were obvious this time. With this bit of good fortune I decided to go home to escape the strong, cold winds and sea spray – can this really be August?.