Wednesday 11th October - Balearic Shearwaters, Bonxies and a Pomarine Skua: the reward for lots of seawatching

Tim Davis, Tim Jones, James Diamond and Chris Baillie report a very windy all day, with about 3 hours of rain early pm. They did lots of seawatching from north and south ends of the island, which brought 1 Red-throated Diver, 13 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 50 Gannets, 8 Guillemots, 60 Razorbills, 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 Great Skuas and a 1st-winter Pomarine Skua (off Castle). Birding on land was tough going, but main sightings were single Merlin, Golden Plover, Firecrest, Song Thrush, Redpoll and Siskin. Also 20 Meadow Pipits, 20 Swallows, 7 Goldcrests, 5 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcap, 17 Goldfinches.