French seawatching

Part of the hardcore Dungeness seawatching crew braving the elements on the other side of the Channel at Le Clipont, probably the best seawatching site in France, standing from 07:00 till 17:15. Not the large numbers of birds we were hoping for but still a nice variety... 12 Leaches Petrels, 5 Sabines Gulls, 6 Pomarine Skuas, 8 Long tailed Skuas, Grey Phalarope, 20 Sooty Shearwaters and at least 17 Manx. Plus numerous groups of Arctic tern, Black Tern and Little Gulls and lots of very close Great Skuas. Conditions were pretty wet and windy with waves regularly sweeping over the pier, and rucksacks nearly dragged backwards into the sea. Had the wind been much strongher the trip would have probably called off 1) because it would have been almost impossible to watch anything going past and 2) because of the potential safety risk, demonstrated later on in early November when a car was swept from the pier and lost to sea...

Juvenile Arctic tern on ther beach by the fishing boats at Dungeness