The tranquility of the Farmoor roost was shattered this evening by the arrival of a flock of Great Skuas. Two birds appeared at about 18.15 and powered through the gulls on F.2. panicking the entire roost. They made a couple of circuits of the reservoir, with one bird settling on the water and briefly harrying gulls before circling up above the western bank and then remarkably joining two more individuals. The four then gained height and headed off to the west.
The murky gloom this evening provided typical conditions for Skua arrival at Farmoor and this group were presumably moving through quite high up, with two of them attracted down to the reservoir to try their luck in the gull roost.
The murky gloom this evening provided typical conditions for Skua arrival at Farmoor and this group were presumably moving through quite high up, with two of them attracted down to the reservoir to try their luck in the gull roost.
All the birds appeared to be in active wing moult and were presumably adults.
See my sightings post relevant to this on the Gwent Ornithological Society website at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gwentbirds.org.uk/