A week off school, a week without any exams and i week where I can hopefully add a few ticks to my yearlist that has flat lined in recent weeks. With the strong winds still blowing in from the north west today I decided it was time to do a seawatch off Rossall to try and connect with a few shearwaters that have been passing the coast recently. I decided to set up by Rossall School at first as I hoped it might be a bit more sheltered there, however the wind swung round so it was due west and right into my face, battering the scope about making viewing very difficult! On the first sweep I picked out an adult Gannet heading south and then a pair of Manx Shearwaters (yeartick) distantly speeding north. I spent 15 minutes in my position and counted 16 Manxies and 3 Gannets in total before I decided to head round to Rossall Point in the hope that I could hide behind the coastgaurd tower and use it as shelter. Luckily the tower proved to be an excellent windbreak and I spent half an hour there, with plenty more shearwaters passing by including about 1/4 that were close in allowing for excellent views. The totals between 12:00 and 12:45 for both sites were:
72 Manx Shearwaters N (my highest ever count)
8 Gannet S
1 Fulmar S
9 Auk sp (5N, 4S)
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