July 27th 2023
Skua!
Never noticed before - skua is auks backwards! How silly! Well after seeing distant arctic skuas at the Snook from South Gare [where they were like midges even through my binoculars] I resolved to do the walk to the very far end of Seaton Snook where the last bits of clinker reach the Tees and try my luck. Now the R7 camera is hopeless for birds in flight [in my opinion] but great for stationary birds but I thought I'd try. I took lots of blurred cormorant photos, lots of blurred skua photos too but in among them were some nice shots. The thing about the R7 is that when it locks on it focuses like nothing I've ever handled before. All my skua photos were taken from much further way than you might think. 500mm zoom lens.
On the walk I was accompanied for the first rocky section after leaving the dunes by a group of linnets. Here's one.
On my left was a large expanse of samphire.
Just think what it's worth...Waitrose charge £2.15 for a 90g punnet!
Common sea lavender or sea statice was growing on the clinker. Limonium vulgare - used by dried flower arrangers.
Eventually the arctic skuas began to appear. You don't appreciate their flying abilities until you see some of the photos that capture their dazzling acrobatics.
