A unique and spectacular seabird movement off Blakeney Point – 10^th September 2007.

Following a spell of warm and sunny weather, dominated by westerly winds the conditions on the 10^th September were forecast to change. A deep low pressure system was predicted to develop in the North Sea and the wind set to whip around the top of Scotland and on reaching north Norfolk switch from west-northwest to strong northwest around mid morning. This was a potentially very exciting weather forecast for watching storm-driven seabirds on the north Norfolk coast.

Earlier that week record numbers of Great Shearwaters had been seen off the Western Isles. This species is regularly seen off the Atlantic coasts of the British Isles but is very rare in the North Sea, particularly as far south as Norfolk. Over the past few days several Great Shearwaters had been seen in the North Sea as far south as Yorkshire so there was a real chance of one being seen off Norfolk and more personally a chance for me of seeing a completely new species.

I began watching at Cley at 8.30am but there was too much west in the wind and little in the way of seabird movement. After a while watching I decided to wander up Blakeney Point where a small sea watching hide had been constructed by the head warden and myself from the debris of its storm-smashed predecessor.

At 10.00am I had reached ‘The Hoods’ with the beginnings of the main dune system and the sea-watching hide firmly in sight when, as predicted, the wind suddenly switched to strong north westerly. Almost instantly I was to witness an extraordinary scene – the seascape was transformed with an abundance of seabirds passing eastwards at all ranges. A huge circling mass of birds was evident on the north- western horizon and through the binoculars was seen to be a large gathering of hundreds of gannets circling around. Bonxies and Fulmars, Little Gulls and even more Gannets were now streaming eastwards in what had only been a few minutes since the wind had switched and increased. A chain of eight shearwaters broke the horizon, they were Sooty Shearwaters passing at close range. I quickened my step and on reaching the first dunes, which lead to the sea-watching hide I met two summer wardens. They had tried watching from the hide but due to the dry conditions the wind was blowing masses of sand straight into it. Normally such days of onshore gales are coupled with rain showers and squalls, which helps to stabilise the sand. Today was bright and dry so the only option was to crouch in the dunes to try and gain some shelter.

The birds continued to stream by, Fulmars, Gannets and Little Gulls were the most numerous species, with good numbers of Bonxies and Sooty Shearwaters. The birds were passing at all ranges, from just beyond the crashing breakers and surf, right up to the horizon. Just before midday I caught sight of a shearwater, which was unfamiliar to me. It was in the company of two Sooty Shearwaters but appeared slightly heavier in build and paler grey-brown on its back and as it banked I caught sight of its pale collar, horseshoe rump patch and black cap – I couldn’t believe it, it was my first Great Shearwater.

Later on I was to see two more at even closer range and was able to pick out the dark markings on their otherwise white underparts. Further along the coast at Sheringham watchers logged an incredible tally of fifteen birds . These were the first sightings in the county for ten years and the Sheringham day total alone exceeded the previous all time county total.

On Blakeney Point other unusual seabirds were also forced close inshore these including two Leach’s Petrels and no fewer than four Sabine’s Gulls, two single juveniles followed by, best of all, another youngster accompanied by a stunning summer plumage adult. During the day almost one hundred Sooty Shearwaters were seen. The variety of species and sheer number of birds meant that the hours just whizzed by and at the end of the day it was clear that something truly extraordinary had been witnessed.

For me, however, it was the sudden transformation of the seascape to one full of birds as soon as the wind changed to northwest and rapidly increased in strength that will always remain in my memory.