The title gives it away, but I had an extremely unusual sighting today down at Rottingdean. I’d been photographing the fulmars (as I tend to when I’m there), but noticed a large flock of gulls out to sea, behaving in something of a mild panic. There were no fishing boats about so I guessed that something unusual was in the air. The gulls were on the move.
Less than a minute later the cause of the commotion flew past. It was a short distance from the shore and it was its colour as much as anything that caught me by surprise. It was large (larger than any of the gulls), and dark. Stubbier than a cormorant, with a severe looking bill. This was an entirely new one for me. I’ve not previously seen anything closely resembling it. The identification is courtesy of the forums at Wild About Britain. The bird is a Great Skua, and is presumably migrating north to its breeding territory (the numerous islands to the north of Scotland) having wintered in Spain. (reference RSPB). Definitely a good sighting, up there with the osprey I saw along the same shore-line last summer.
Now to the photos…
The skua will raid herring gulls for their catch and can be extremely aggressive about it. The other sea bird which favours this kind of behaviour is the great black-backed gull, and sure enough one was also sweeping along the shore. No wonder the herring gulls were unhappy.
As for the fulmars, they were putting on their usual cliff-side show. This one was preening itself…
…before stepping out for the afternoon.
And one more flight shot… one of the better of the many I took.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
derWandersmann
9 Apr 2012Good ones, Worda!
And yes, the skua is definitely pennipotenti non grata in bird communities … they're aggressive and tough … and they like eggs, and, if they can kill them, adult gulls.
gdare
9 Apr 2012Never heard about skuas before. If you didn't mention, I would think of it as a gull :left:
Words
11 Apr 2012dW, thanks! They are a new species on me, but I can understand why the gulls were concerned.
Words
11 Apr 2012Erwin, thanks!
Words
11 Apr 2012Darko, I knew the name but had no idea what they looked like, or that this was one of them. Quite impressive looking in the flesh, and you really wouldn't mistake it for a gull if you saw it.
SittingFox
12 Apr 2012Wow! That's definitely a very special sighting. Spectacular birds but tough and merciless with it. I've never seen one.
Words
12 Apr 2012Adele, when these kind of sightings occur it makes me wonder just how much we miss every day. I did mess up the shots a bit as I'd been focusing on the fulmars against the cliffs hence these were way too dark. Can't have everything though.
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Great shots