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Pacific Diver off Severn Beach. November 2009. Martyn Hayes.
On Tuesday November 24th 2009 whilst sea watching at Severn Beach after some pretty spectacular storms the previous couple of days I was eagerly anticipating good, close views of local rarities like Petrels, Skua's and Auk's. Not to be disappointed they duly put on quite a show, but in one of the inevitable quiet periods I took to chewing the fat with a couple of local birders and started to speculate as to what might be the next new addition to the S. Glos list. Surf Scoter was mooted as was the 'near miss' Pacific Diver just a couple of miles up river in the Slimbridge area. Never in a million years could anyone have dreamed it would be FREGETTA STORM PETREL! a south Atlantic 'fregetta' Petrel and to add insult to injury the very next day on November 25th...!
Typically work got in the way and to my utter dismay I'm cruising over the 'Old' Severn Bridge exactly when the little blighter is being seen off Severn Beach... DOH...!!! Managing to get away by 14:00 I pitch up at 'The Beach' and spent until dusk waiting in vain... DOH...!! Ah well 'life's a b**ch' maybe next time...! Note the pragmatic standpoint... I was mortified really.
Two days later on November 27th I'm back at 'The Beach' staring intently at a pretty flat calm sea, very little wind, glorious sunshine and almost perfect light and it looks as if someone's pulled the plug out, cos' the tide line is a postcode away and high tide isn't due in until mid afternoon...DOH!... Ah well 'life's a beach' so I guess I'll have a look anyway. One or two other birders were present when I arrived at around 10:00 but not much has been seen; a Pom had been called around 09:00ish but nothing since.
At 10:45 a Black-throated Diver type came whizzing under the Second Severn Crossing from 'up north' at about 400 metres range heading parallel with the shore line in a south-westerly direction... knowing how rare Black-throated's are in the Severn estuary (there's only been three and a half...?) I'm begging it to stop and drop on to the water so I can have a better look... and it did!
Initial impressions were, in flight, of a starkly contrasting black and white diver with a clear demarcation between upper and lower parts, and when on the water in bright sunshine on a fairly calm sea other more defining details were noted. Quickly putting the other birders on to it the salient feature's started to emerge. A sleek rounded head lacking the angularity of Black-throated, the clear thin 'throat strap', the lack of any rear flank patches, when in flight a complete 'vent strap' and at rest on the sea a few white scapulars... that'll be a adult Pacific Diver then...nice one!
Almost inevitably and because of it's proximity to Severn Beach the Slimbridge bird had a great chance of being picked up on Severnside, thankfully I can say...'I was there'... After just fifteen minutes, a couple of exploratory dives and some token preening it lifted from the bay at 11:00 it was seen flying strongly south-west towards Denny Island and Portishead to disappear into the distance.
My thanks to the co-finders mentioned above and in particular Dick Reader who reasoned that a lull in the anti-cyclonic weather conditions prompted the bird to re-orientate and make it's way back down the estuary to 'bluer' less 'brown' pastures.
Martyn Hayes - November 2009. |
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