Did a bit of seawatching this morning off Overstrand which proved very productive with a good tally of birds recorded. The large Common Scoter flock was still offshore and amongst them were a couple of drake Eiders. A Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and a Great-crested Grebe were all noted heading west along with a good number of Razorbills and Guillemots and a single Little Auk.
Then as I was continuing to search through the scoter flock for something good I noticed an auk flying along the back edge of the flock, with the obvious white wing patches making me immediately realise that it was the Black Guillemot that I first saw on Saturday. I watched it fly for a few hundred yards before it pitched down on the sea but it was frustratingly lost to view as it dived, but nevertheless it was a relief to have finally nailed it.
A few birds were noted coming in-off including 3 Snow Buntings, and a few Starlings, Skylarks and Blackbirds, with one of the latter seen to pitch down in the sea twice, and although I feared the worse for it, happily with one last effort it lifted itself off the water and safely made it to land much to my relief. However the best bird recorded coming in was a single Waxwing.
I then changed position to slightly further west to try to relocate the Black Guilemot, but by this time the rain had set in making visibility very poor, but despite this I was delighted to pick up a Great Northern Diver on the sea which was still mostly in summer plumage and was a really smart bird.
The rain and poor light made photography pretty much a non-starter however I did manage this one shot of the diver just to record its occurrence.
