With the very stormy conditions further north yesterday followed by a bit of a northerly airflow down the North Sea along the back edge of the low as it tracked eastwards, it was worth having a look at the sea today even though it was a WSW wind here.
Three hours of watching from Cromer was rewarded with 40+ Little Auks moving west, in groups of up to 4 birds. A few passed just beyond the breakers giving excellent views, with those, along with some others slightly further out, pitching down on the sea temporarily by the pier, before they carried on their way.
A Grey Phalarope was also noted heading west, briefly landing on the sea a few times to feed as it went, which is always good to see just to confirm the id. The other notable sightings were my first Great Northern Diver of the year, and a pair of Harbour Porpoise
Wildfowl were very notable by their absence with a Red-breasted Merganser being the only duck species noted, along with just a single Brent Goose. A couple of Great Crested Grebes, Red-throated Divers, Guillemots, Gannets, Kittiwakes, an Oystercatcher and a Dunlin were the other species noted during the watch.
