(Saturday 12th)
A late-afternoon walk to look at Stack Rocks, and the King Eider was there, bobing around on the west side, within 50m of the rocks.
My congratulations to David Ord for finding it, and sensing that something was not quite right about it as a Common Eider: even through a scope I had to know what I was looking for (the bill really appears remarkably concave, totally unlike the classic Eider triangle). It clearly helps that there are no other duck out there to confuse it with, only cormorants!
I looked at the bird from two points, c.400m either side of Mill Haven (SM 816 124): the bird, like most water birds, clearly prefers to sit head to wind, and my first attempt gave good views only of its rear! But “Waking Eye” gave a perfect side-on view yesterday.
On the way down the Broadmoor valley a male Hen Harrier whizzed over, going in the direction of St Bride’s. And Water Rails screaming around the irrigation ponds.
