Long-tailed Skua

With a rather blustery south wester blowing, and some pretty hefty rain showers forecast, we had a change of plan and started the day at Woods Mill. Instead of going to the beach for the Long-tailed Skua we decided that some more Turtle Dove shots would be good. Unfortunately nobody had informed the Turtle Dove and even though it showed in its favourite tree, it did not hang around for long.

 

We waited for it to return but sadly it didn't materialise and even the purring tailed off. Time for another venue, this time the Downlands Project at Steyning Rifle Range, to find a Brown Hairstreak. Unfortunately the weather conditions here meant that few butterflies were about and a message that the Long-tailed Skua had been sighted at Church Norton. it was time to move again.

We located the bird where it has been residing for the last few days, at the end of the stretch of houses on the beach between Selsey and Church Norton. The bird adopted the same pose for the duration with just minor stretches and the occasional stand up. Unfortunately the strong winds made getting sharp focus difficult and I wasn't really happy with the results. Never mind some decent records of a cracking bird.