The first half of the morning was unbirdable and actually dangerous to be out with roofing and fencing flying around and shingle pebble-dashing the car at the Point. Once the worst of the storm had passed and visibility improved there was an unprecedented autumn movement of petrels with 84 Storm Petrels and 203 Leach’s Petrels recorded, mostly heading east from the fishing boats. There was also six Red-breasted Merganser, four Purple Sandpipers, 276 Dunlin, a Grey Phalarope, two Sabine’s Gulls and 49 Little Gulls of note. There was quite a variety of other birds, but mostly in surprisingly low numbers other than 680 Gannets. A Peregrine Falcon also came in with a Storm Petrel in its talons.
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| Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus with Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus prey 2nd November 2023 |
Two Grey Seals were managing to ride the waves.
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| Crow Trap - the result of Storm Cairan |