A very much alive Little Auk, Trearddur Bay

Is it too early to call bird of the year? You tell me. 

At half the size of a puffin, this little auk is about the same size as a starling. They breed in the High Arctic and spend their winters miles out in the open ocean usually beyond sight of land. Just occasionally a run of strong northerly winds in late autumn brings them closer and gives land based birders the opportunity of seeing them fly past, especially from headlands along the east coast of the UK. At such times they are usually still very distant and only really identifiable by their black underwings, assuming that you can keep your scope steady enough in the teeth of a gale which is straight off the arctic and which cuts you in half it's so cold. In 50+ years birding I've only ever seen them on one day, way back in November 1985, when I saw four fly past Flamborough Head near Bridlington.

Today I happened to be birding near Holyhead on a bleak day on Anglesey, with strong winds gusting up to 49mph, heavy drizzle and poor visibility due to mist and dark clouds. There was not much moving and most birds were hunkered down out of the wind. I checked birdguides for the umpteenth time not expecting much, but this time I couldn't believe it. There was a little auk less than two miles away at Trearddur Bay! This I couldn't miss and eight minutes later I was pulling up at the lifeboat station in the village. 

I expected the bird to be a couple of hundred metres out in the bay, but I could see a handful of other birders on the beach who looked like they were pointing their cameras at something much closer. Then suddenly I saw what looked like a black and white rubber duck bobbing along on the water, just a few metres offshore in front of its admirers, a tiny bird being buffeted by the waves. I grabbed my camera and legged it down to the beach, where I watched it in amazement for a short while before it drifted a little further out.

 

Moribund some called it, but it didn't look at the point of death to me as I watched it dive a couple of times. Then suddenly it flew up into the teeth of the gale and rose high, before turning and heading off over the houses and away in the direction of the Inland Sea. Exactly what it's future is I can't say, but there was still a lot of life left in it when I last saw it and these are tough little birds. Hopefully it will rest up a while and then get back to its mates. A really exhilarating and breathtaking experience! It'll probably be the birding highlight of the year for me.

"Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated".

That paddle at the back of the bird are it's feet.

I mean, surely those feet are too big for a bird that size?

Spot the little auk!

There were also purple sandpipers on the rocks......

.....and a photographer.