A lovely walk along the coast
path this morning gave us distant (telescope views) of the king eider,
resting on the sea, preening occasionally. It was well to the west of Stack
Rocks but was drifting eastwards when we left the area. Had it not been for a
large pod of 30+ common dolphins feeding well out in the bay, we might have
missed it. We had been scanning around without success, but suddenly it
appeared in view in line of sight with the dolphins which were around for an
hour or more.
While watching the dolphins, a late
bonxie suddenly appeared above them, flying from approximately east to west
out of the bay when it and was lost from view.
Everything was distant but
there were at least 2 red-throated divers and a single great northern
diver. They were well offshore but a bit closer to St Brides Haven. Other
offshore birds included dozens of auks (mostly razorbills) and usual good
numbers of cormorants and shags. At least one gannet was feeding close to the
cetaceans.
Other expected birds along the coast included 10-12 oystercatchers, half a dozen turnstones and perhaps a dozen stonechats (mostly in pairs).