Anticipation was unreasonably high for Thursday mornings seawatch - the wind had turned due south and was moderate 20 mph. A few Cory's and a smatter of other interesting seabirds should have been a reasonable haul given the conditions however the previous days 120 Great Shearwaters, my Fea's type, the number of large shesrwaters off Scilly and the large number of birders who'd travelled overnight awaiting the 50mph winds forecast in the next 24hrs led to a feeling of anti-climax. The winds ramped up during the night to a full on gale and Friday morning saw 70 or so birders hunkered down at Porthgwarra with the storm raging in from the south west but unusually clear skies making for harsh and difficult light much of the time. In theory it should have been chocca with large shearwaters but all we could muster during the day were 3 Cory's, a few Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters, some Storm Petrels and an increasing feeling of dissappointment. After 9 hours I retired to my bed with a cracking headache. This passed after a couple of hours sleep and Mark joined us for a last night of the holiday meal in Penzance. I only had a few hours on Saturday morning as we had to leave our cottage by 10 - I asked Mark to choose where we watched from as the wind moved to due west - he opted for Pendeen and my alarm was set for the last watch of the holiday.
I met Mark at 6.15 and within 10 minutes we joined a huddle of birders below Pendeen light.
We had a quick chat with great bird artist and Cambridgeshire birder Richard Johnson on our way down and found ourselves a spot to set up. Manxie passage was considerable and, as is often the case at Pendeen, just behind the rocks offshore. I had been struggling to pick up Storm Petrels the previous couple of days but they were easier here, birds moving pretty continuously. A call went up and a Great Shearwater passed close in, fantastic and prolonged views in brilliant light. A few Balearic and Sooties did the same. It was busy,
Mark picked up a couple of Stormies to the right, I got on them and one stalled and started dancing on the water. Wings aloft I couldn't make out any white on the underwing. I made sure we were staying in this bird and started talking it all out loud - I checked the rump - wrap around white, the underwing again, the wing shape. This was looking very, very good - I ran through the features quite loudly for anyone listening for over a minute, sure of the id but unbelieving, the call of "Wilson's" went up - no panic for us we'd been on it for a while already. However the heart thumping, finger tingling adrenalin kick was there alright. This bird performed, steady flight, glides and regular feet pattering stops let us take it all in, including direct comparison with a European Storm Petrel - which flicked along the water while the Wilsons cruised. As it moved west the grey carpal bar became more evident on the upperwing and I even glimpsed the feet projection beyond the tail at one point. In total it was on show for over 6 minutes, fantastic views of a brilliant bird. I couldn't believe I'd found land based Fea's and Wilsons Petrel within a week. As a very good birding buddy would put it - scenes.
The buzz of chat and jubilation went around the crowd - what a way to start the day/finish the holiday. It wasn't over, although my time was limited, Manxies were counted at 160 per minute, Stormies continued to move through - each one checked and double checked easily with great light and close views. Further out Sabines Gulls, the most beautiful of gulls with their tern like flight and bold wing patterns, had begun to appear, 8 in total by 8.45 when I had to go. And then it was over - utterly dumbfounded that in the course of 4 days both holy grails of seawatching had passed through the sacred circle, the scope view, and burnt their image upon my retina like some shamanic scar tattoo.
It didn't quite end there either, as on the back of another forecast blow on Tuesday, Mark drove back to Cornwall and dug into those headlands again - and he only bloody went and did it. He picked up a Fea's, late in the day at Porzhgwarra and amongst a huge movement of seabirds off Pendeen the next day, found one of the 4 Wilsons Petrels seen during tbe day.
SCENES
I met Mark at 6.15 and within 10 minutes we joined a huddle of birders below Pendeen light.
We had a quick chat with great bird artist and Cambridgeshire birder Richard Johnson on our way down and found ourselves a spot to set up. Manxie passage was considerable and, as is often the case at Pendeen, just behind the rocks offshore. I had been struggling to pick up Storm Petrels the previous couple of days but they were easier here, birds moving pretty continuously. A call went up and a Great Shearwater passed close in, fantastic and prolonged views in brilliant light. A few Balearic and Sooties did the same. It was busy,
Mark picked up a couple of Stormies to the right, I got on them and one stalled and started dancing on the water. Wings aloft I couldn't make out any white on the underwing. I made sure we were staying in this bird and started talking it all out loud - I checked the rump - wrap around white, the underwing again, the wing shape. This was looking very, very good - I ran through the features quite loudly for anyone listening for over a minute, sure of the id but unbelieving, the call of "Wilson's" went up - no panic for us we'd been on it for a while already. However the heart thumping, finger tingling adrenalin kick was there alright. This bird performed, steady flight, glides and regular feet pattering stops let us take it all in, including direct comparison with a European Storm Petrel - which flicked along the water while the Wilsons cruised. As it moved west the grey carpal bar became more evident on the upperwing and I even glimpsed the feet projection beyond the tail at one point. In total it was on show for over 6 minutes, fantastic views of a brilliant bird. I couldn't believe I'd found land based Fea's and Wilsons Petrel within a week. As a very good birding buddy would put it - scenes.
photo - Dan Pointon
It didn't quite end there either, as on the back of another forecast blow on Tuesday, Mark drove back to Cornwall and dug into those headlands again - and he only bloody went and did it. He picked up a Fea's, late in the day at Porzhgwarra and amongst a huge movement of seabirds off Pendeen the next day, found one of the 4 Wilsons Petrels seen during tbe day.
SCENES
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