A brisk wind was producing a choppy sea when I got up this morning. One of those mornings when Gannets begin streaming across the bay in a Westerly direction and totals of hundreds per hour are quite usual. Apart from the Cormorant colony going out for the day and several Sandwich Terns flying along the shallows, there looked nothing unusual and we took a walk into town. On our return, I noticed at least four Great Skuas were quite close in the bay, in fact just over the first few waves. Some of the local Yellow-legged Gulls were annoyed by their presence. I may not be correct but, I have a feeling these skuas may be taking out the gull casualties we see on the beaches, which I think is caused by toxic algae in the sea. It isn't the first time I have watched a Great Skua pulling at a half submerged gull. (The colour on the images is poor as I'm always into the strong light in the bay). The stream of Gannets slowed to a trickle over midday and in to the afternoon. Later on, I was watching the Great Skuas again and noticed a slimmer skua, clearly not a Great, moving really fast and far out in the bay.
The pictures are to give an idea, I think most likely an Arctic Skua. Comments are closed.
|
|