Blustery northerly winds featured throughout an overcast day with relatively light showers and a top temperature of 15 degrees C. Seawatching was the order of the day, with a Humpback Whale lingering off the Seawatch Observatory from 0650-0810hrs when it moved off north. Feeding close to the shore, it fully breached on one occasion and represents the fifth to be recorded off the headland since the start of 2018. A Minke Whale north of the headland was presumably the same animal that was recorded at RSPB Bempton Cliffs. A Storm Petrel flew north at 0920hrs, while the season’s first juvenile Caspian Gull joined other gulls on the sea off High Stacks. Other notable records included 17 Shelduck south, two Arctic Terns north, a first-summer Mediterranean Gull, six Arctic Skuas, two Red-throated Divers and a Hobby that headed inland. A Sooty Shearwater flew north past RSPB Bempton Cliffs, along with three Arctic Skuas.
