Serengeti of the seaside

The Safari was back on a cold and gloomy Patch 2 at lunchtime, the first time in over two months. Not far offshore was a thin string of Common Scoters was sitting around the low tide mark, it might not have been wide but it was certainly a long string stretching well over a mile! How many were there? hard to tell as they were mobile with flocks of between one and two dozen coming past from the north all the time we were there, but probably in excess of 500 altogether. Other than the scoters only Cormorants a Great Black Back Gull and a Common Gull were seen.

Too dark for much to be found on patch 1 but a Peregrine was asleep on the ledge.

Where to next? More from Patch 2.

In the meantime let us know what's sitting in a long line in your outback - talking of long lines it is good to see that the RSPB/BirdLife International's campaign to reduce Albatross deaths from being caught as by-catch from long-line fishing vessels is beginning to bear fruit in many areas of the Southern Ocean with deaths down around 90%...just need to sort out the atrocious Taiwanese shark finning nonsense now...maybe they have taken note and taken the first positive steps...