Finally finishing work today at 4 by 4.20pm I had joined Andrew E and the chairman of the Lowestoft Bird Club, Derek B at Ness Point and we saw several Gannets, 21 flying North, (a mixture of adults and subadults and immatures) the biggest group a trio that flew by.
4 Red- throated Divers flew past, 3 North and 1 South.
After Derek had left at around 4.40 the ever sharp Andrew spotted an excellent Great Skua, (colloqually known as Bonxie because of its habit of dive bombing intruders on their breeding grounds! of which I was a victim once on the remote island of Unst; one of the Shetland islands; when I tried to cross the edge of a colony of Bonxies in August, after they had finished breeding, This was in order to reach a viewpoint to look for "Albert", a rare Black- browed Albatross. I didn't make it as the Bonxies well and truly saw me off!) this Bonxie was typically bulky, broad-winged with white wing flashes and brown flying way out on the horizon flying north up above the horizon and then dipping below again and so on.
This was the last, 36th Bonxie that Andrew had seen today at Ness Point and was pleased I'd seen the last of today's passage of Bonxies off Lowestoft Ness Point.
I fervently hope the title of this blog doesn't apply to the rarest bird I have ever seen.
Of grave concern regarding World Bird News, is the plight of the critically endangered Northern Bald Ibis, there are few colonies in the world and specifically there is a small group of just 4 individuals, which I believe are resident in Syria, I have been very lucky and extremely fortunate to have seen these wonderful birds myself in Morocco. I heard the very distressing news that an immature bird has been recently found shot on migration in Saudia Arabia.
We must not let this wonderful bird (or indeed any other species die out), without them the world would be a much poorer place.
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