With a pronounced northerly wind it seemed that seawatching at Flamborough could be good, particularly with seabirds migrating at this time of year. On arrival at Flamborough the sea looked like it should be bringing in seabirds but once on the cliffs it was strange how quiet things were. Quiet in terms of seabirds that is, not in terms of the weather with a strong wind.

Plenty of Gannets were easily seen, in fact every time I thought I’d seen something interesting, it turned out to be a Gannet, with the juveniles being particularly confusing at long range. However, not long after sitting down, a Great Skua came past, very close to the shore, giving me a great view. Surprisingly few Kittiwakes were present and just about 10 Guillemots seen in 2 hours of watching. Plenty of Shags and Fulmars were present though, with the sea conditions perfect for the Fulmars’ swooping flight. A couple of Oystercatchers flew noisily past and 9 Sandwich Terns first flew north and then returned south. As usual, a few Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew past and out at sea an Arctic Skua was busy harrassing a juvenile Herring Gull.

Just when I was ready to leave, I finally saw a single Manx Sheawater, but missed out on the Sooty Sheawaters that had been seen, although I was told that these were quite distant. Unbelieveably, after getting home, a Melodious Warbler was also seen at Flamborough, meaning that I’d missed 2 potential lifers.

Oh well.