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The Birds Of South Gloucestershire          Arctic Skua - stercorarius parasiticus

 

Arctic Skua breeds in the northern Eurasia and North America, with significant populations as far south as northern Scotland. It is usually silent except for mewing and wailing notes while on the breeding grounds. Like other Skua's it will fly at anything approaching its nest and although it cannot inflict serious damage, it is nevertheless a nerve wracking experience. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropics and southern oceans. In the British Isles, they breed in Shetland and Orkney, Outer Hebrides, Sutherland, Caithness, and some islands in Argyll. This bird will feed on lemmings and other rodents on the breeding grounds, but also robs gulls and terns of their catches. Like the larger Skua species, it continues this piratical behaviour throughout the year, showing great agility as it harasses its victims. Some historical names for Arctic Skua include; Alan, Dung Bird, Shooie and Teaser. It was also called Arctic Bird in 1750 and Arctic Gull 1776.

 

There have been around six hundred and fifty Arctic Skua's reported from S. Gloucestershire;

 

2012: (9)

Three off Severn Beach north-east up river around 11:25 on April 27th; One was seen heading up river off New Passage early morning on April 30th; One up river past Oldbury Power Station on May 1st; One off Severn Beach on May 2nd; Two up river over the Second Severn Crossing at 15:15 on May 3rd; At Severn Beach a dark morph was seen heading up river at 11:15 on May 10th;

 

2011: (c.35)

Two dark morph's were seen from Severn Beach on April 21st; Three intermediate morph's past Severn Beach in the morning on April 22nd; Two dark morph and one pale morph were noted from Severn Beach on April 23rd; A dark morph was seen on the sea off Severn Beach on April 24th; Two dark morph's flew north east past Severn Beach in the afternoon and evening on April 28th; Two, a pale and dark morph flew north east past Severn Beach late afternoon and evening on April 29th; At Severn Beach a dark morph was seen heading north east at 07:00 on April 30th; Two (one pale, one dark morph) were seen past Severn Beach on May 1st; Up to six were noted off Severn Beach and four from Oldbury Power Station on May 2nd; Up to six were seen off Severn Beach on May 22nd with a further sighting there on May 23rd; Two were present over high tide off Severn Beach in the evening on May 31st;Two were noted off Severn Beach at 17:00 on September 6th; One flew upriver at Oldbury Power Station on September 12th;

 

 

Arctic Skua off Severn Beach in April & May 2011. Paul Bowerman.

 

 

2010: (11)

A dark morph was seen off Severn Beach on March 30th; Two dark morph individuals were seen off Severn Beach on April 28th; Five, two pale, two dark and one intermediate were seen off Severn Beach on April 30th; Two were noted upriver past Oldbury Power Station at 07:15 on May 15th; A juvenile flew past Severn Beach late afternoon on November 11th.

 

 

 

Arctic Skua at Severn Beach. March and April 2010. Paul Bowerman.

 

2009: (32)

A dark phase was 'picked up' coming from the Welsh sector and noted continuing north-east inland on April 12th; Three dark morph's were seen together off Severn Beach on April 18th; Ten were noted off Severn Beach (seven dark phase and three pale phase) on May 8th; One was seen off Severn Beach in the evening on May 14th; On May 15th two were noted off Severn Beach in the morning and a dark morph was logged there in the evening; Six were seen off Severn Beach on May 16th, one upriver at 09:30 with five lingering over high tide; Two were noted off Severn Beach on May 26th; A dark morph was noted off Severn Beach on June 17th; Three, an adult and two juveniles were seen in the New Passage/ Northwick Warth area on August 18th; Two dark morph birds were noted at Oldbury Power Station in flight down river at 11:35 on August 27th.

 

 

Arctic Skua. Aust Warth. April 2009. Paul Bowerman.

 

2008: (16)

A dark phase was seen floating on the river off New Passage on the morning of April 30th;  In May at Severn Beach, one was seen  on the 4th, two dark phase on the 5th, two light phase east over the beach on the 6th, a dark phase at 09:25 heading north-east on the 8th, a light phase flew inland at 06:50 on the 16th, A dark phase flew east past Severn Beach on May 17th; At Oldbury Power Station, three (two dark phase) were seen on May 5th upriver at 07:25 into a north-east breeze; A single light phase was seen at Severn Beach on June 22nd; A dark phase was seen off Severn Beach on August 28th; A pale phase was seen off Severn Beach at 11:00 and was seen to fly off high up river on September 3rd; A dark phase was seen at Oldbury Power Station at around 11:45 on September 6th and subsequently off New Passage around mid-day.

 

 

Arctic Skua off Severn Beach. August 2008. Paul Bowerman.

 

2007: (46)

Reported from Severn Beach in April with singles on the 15th and a light phase on the 24th, two heading north-east on the 19th and two dark phase on the 25th with four on the 27th and another two dark phase on the 30th; In May, two, one dark and one light phase on the 1st, two on the 2nd and 4th, four dark phase on the 6th, ten on the 7th, five, four dark and one light phase on the 8th, three including one dark and one light phase on the 10th and single light phase on both the 12th and 18th; On June 28th in the evening, three dark phase were seen heading south-west; A single dark phase was reported on July 2nd. Two reports from Oldbury Power Station in May of one on the 2nd at around 20:00 and one light phase at around 07:20 on the 28th.

 

 

Arctic Skua at Severn Beach. May 2007. Paul Bowerman.

 

2006: (26)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. One was present on March 28th; In April singles were noted the 1st, 2nd and 28th with four on the 18th; In May one was seen on the 8th, two on the 1st, 19th and 22nd, three on the 24th and four on the 20th; Two were reported on July 9th and singles were seen on both August 19th and September 2nd.

 

2005: (12)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. In April singles were noted on the 24th and 30th; In May singles were seen on the 7th and 28th with two on the 4th, 5th and 6th; Two were reported on October 16th.

 

2004: (57)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. In March, Singles were reported on the 14th, 21st and 26th; In April, eight on the 4th, three on the 14th and 17th with five on the 30th; In May, one on the 1st and 2nd, seven on the 4th, four on the 5th and thirteen on the 6th; Singles were seen on June 23rd and July 3rd; two were reported on both August 4th and September 11th and three were seen on September 14th.

 

2003: (17)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. In April, one on the 1st, four on the 15th, two on the 21st and 22nd and one on the 28th; In May, two on the 13th, one on the 17th and three on the 20th; One was reported on August 3rd.

 

2002: (28)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. Three were seen on March 31st; In April two were noted on the 21st and 27th with three on the 29th; In May, three were present on the 1st, four on the 14th, one on the 22nd, two on the 24th and three on the 29th; Four were reported on June 10th; One was seen on July 23rd.

 

2001: (33)

All reports for this year come from Severn Beach. Three were present on March 30th; In April, three on the 5th, eight on the 22nd, two on the 23rd, and singles on the 24th, 26th and 28th; In May, singles were noted on the 3rd, 4th and 12th, two on both the 16th and 17th and three on the 5th; Singles were reported on June 6th, August 21st, September 12th and October 30th.

 

2000: (12)

All reports for this year, with one exception come from Severn Beach. Four were seen on April 17th; In May singles were noted on the 10th and 12th; Two were seen on September 1st; One was present on October 29th; Singles were noted on December 13th and 14th; The exception was a juvenile present in the evening gull roost at Oldbury Power Station on August 25th.

 

1999: (16)

All reports for this year come from Severn Beach. In April, one on the 20th, nine on the 22nd and two on the 24th; One was noted on May 15th; One was seen on June 2nd; One was present on September 25th; One was reported on November 28th.

 

1998: (c.120)

All reports for this year come from Severn Beach. In April, two on the 4th, two on the 9th and an incredible 100+ on the 13th (possibly as many as 120) and two on the 23rd; In May, three on the 2nd, one on the 3rd and two on the 4th- 5th and 6th; One was seen on June 9th; One was present on September 10th.

 

1997: (c.20)

All reports for this year come from Severn Beach with one exception. In April, seven were seen on the 23rd with two on the 24th; In May two were present on the 3rd, three on the 4th and one on the 7th; In June, one was seen on the 21st with two on the 22nd; One was noted on August 28th; In September, one was seen on the 4th and another one was noted on the 13th; One was reported on November 9th; One was present on December 25th; The exception was a dark phase seen north-east past Thornbury Sailing Club on September 12th.

 

1996: (11)

All reports for this year come from Severn Beach. In May, one was seen on the 19th, three, one light phase were seen on the 21st and one was present on the 23rd; In June, three were noted on the 1st, a light phase was seen on the 8th and two light phase were reported on the 29th.

 

1995: (3)

All reports for this year come from New Passage. In April, two dark phase were watched heading north-east on the 25th with another dark phase noted on the 26th.

 

1994: (5)

All reports for this year come from New Passage. In April, a dark phase was seen heading north-east on the 1st, one was noted heading east on the 24th and a dark phase was present on the 30th; Two, one dark and one light phase were present on September 11th.

 

1993: (14)

All reports for this year come from New Passage. In May, a dark phase was seen on the 16th, six, three dark and three light phase were present on the 30th with six, all light phase on the 31st; One was present on July 25th.

 

1992: (9)

All reports for this year come from New Passage. In April, one was seen on the 19th and one on the 26th; In May, one was noted on the 5th with two present on the 9th and the 24th; One was seen on August 30th; One was reported on September 15th.

 

1991: (15)

All reports for this year come from New Passage. One was seen on April 7th; In May, there was one on the 3rd, two on the 5th and two on the 7th; In June there were four on the 9th and three on the 13th; One was seen on September 16th; Two were present on November 2nd.

 

1990: (14)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. In April there were two on the 10th, four on the 15th and two on the 16th; In May there were two on the 2nd, three on the 4th and one on the 16th; One was seen on August 19th; One was noted on October 30th.

 

1989: (c.25)

Three were noted off Aust on April 10th, nine on April 11th and one on August 15th; Off New Passage there were four on April 26th, ten on April 27th, one on June 25th and one on October 29th; Two were present at Oldbury Power Station on May 6th.

 

1988: (14)

The majority of birds reported this year were dark phase. At Severn Beach one was noted on August 19th; At New Passage, three were seen on May 30th; One was noted on July 28th; In September one was seen on the 2nd, one on the 24th and three on the 25th; In October one was seen on the 7th and three on the 8th.

 

1987: (15)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. Two were seen on April 26th; In May, three were reported on the 2nd, seven on the 11th and three on the 14th.

 

1986: (c.10)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. In May, one was seen on the 10th, seven on the 11th and one on the 13th; One was seen on June 1st; One was seen on October 25th.

 

1985: (c.25)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. Two were seen on March 30th; In April, two were seen on the 8th, one on the 12th, eight on the 13th and five seen on the 14th; June brought two on the 9th and three on the 11th; There were two present on August 2nd; In September there were two on the 1st, one on the 3rd, one on the 5th, two on the 6th and one on the 16th; In November there were two on the 4th.

 

1984: (5)

Three dark phase were reported off New Passage on April 27th; Two, one dark & one light phase were seen off New Passage on May 5th.

 

1983: (9)

One was seen off New Passage on May 9th; At least six were seen off New Passage on September 3rd & 4th (at least three dark & one light phase) with one on September 5th & 6th; A dark phase was present on October 16th off New Passage; On October 18th a light phase was off New Passage.

 

1982: (6)

All reported from Severnside presumably off Severn Beach/ New Passage/ Aust. Two dark phase were present on May 5th; A dark phase was seen on May 25th; Two dark phase were noted on September 27th; One dark phase individual was reported on October 19th.

 

1981: (6)

Two dark phase were seen off Severn Beach on April 9th; Four light phase were noted off Severn Beach on May 4th.

 

1979: (1)

 

A dark phase was seen off New Passage on July 7th.

 

1978: (4)

A dark phase was seen off Severn Beach on May 6th; An immature was present at Severn Beach on September 9th - 10th; Two dark phase were seen off Severn Beach on September 16th.

 

1974: (1)

One was reported flying south off Aust on September 8th.

 

1972: (1)

One was picked up dead at Severn Beach on May 28th.

 

1967: (1)

One was present off New Passage on October 29th.

 

1960: (1)

A Skua seen at distance on the S. Severn at Aust on August 31st was almost certainly this species.

 

1942: (1)

Close views were obtained of one, a dark phase, off Severn Beach on October 15th.

 

1941: (1)

A close view was obtained of one in flight at Littleton on Severn on June 1st. The bird was in the dark plumage phase. This occurrence constitutes the first report of this species for S. Gloucestershire.

 

©TBOSG November 2005 - All rights reserved