Auk-ward Little Blighter, Weymouth, 19th November 2021

Little Auk, Weymouth Harbour, 19/11/2021

There are some birds that I've seen and that are on my list but are birds that I've never seen well or even managed a photo of. A few years ago, I decided that for those birds, if I could see them better than before and get a recognisable photo, then that would be almost as good as adding a new bird to my life list. A few years ago, Red-flanked Bluetail was such a bird but I upgraded my efforts on that species last year. There are others that are still on the "must see better" or the "get a photo" list, quite a few from years ago, such as Long-tailed Skua and Sabine's Gull but also a few more recent additions, like Little Bustard, Western & Semi-palmated Sandpipers, and Collared Pratincole. A fairly common bird on that list was Little Auk, a migratory seabird that is seen around North Sea coasts in the winter and particularly in November and one that I'd already seen this year off the coast of Norfolk just three weeks ago. In keeping with just about all of my previous sightings of Little Auk that bird flew past about a hundred metres out from my vantage point and was just a whirr of wings and resembled a miniature flying torpedo. I did see a Little Auk sat on the sea in Dunnet Bay a long time ago but had really hoped for another chance to get a closer view one day.

That chance came on Friday when we travelled down to Weymouth. A Little Auk had been discovered in the harbour on the Sunday before, ironically the day after we had visited the New Forest to see a Great Grey Shrike which incidentally, is a bird that is getting harder to see well in the UK so it was distant views only of that bird. 

Great Grey Shrike

So we were southbound on the A34 again after hardly not heading that way all year. We were frustrated in our efforts to find anywhere for breakfast with both of the cafes that we have enjoyed visiting in the past having seemingly become victims of the reduced trade created by the pandemic. In the event going hungry did us a huge favour because as we waited at a set of traffic lights next to the marina, we noticed a gaggle of birders all looking at something in amongst the moorings. Further luck followed as there was a small carpark right opposite the birders and within seconds I'd parked, paid the fee, geared up and crossed the road to see the Little Auk swimming merrily along the rows of idle boats. 

We took our places in amongst the throng of maybe twenty like-minded souls and leant over the railings to see the Little Auk disappear underwater. When it came back up it was a good twenty metres away and dived under again just half a second later. For the next couple of minutes it was too quick for me and I only managed to photograph water! The Dovekie, as it is known further north, was extremely active and superbly adapted to swimming under water. In fact it was "flying" down there and would travel quite a way in the thirty seconds or so that it was submerged. Eventually it bobbed up just metres away and, having realised that it was too close to its admirers, scuttled along the water for a few metres which allowed me to finally get some shots.

The Little Auk having put more distance between it and the harbour wall was positively tearing away towards the sea, popping up like cork every half-minute or so but barely spending more than a second above water. Then it disappeared for a full five minutes before emerging into view again right by the Town swing-bridge. We all hurried after it and I saw it closer in again but my images were marred by a mooring post that just happened to get in the way! 

I reviewed our experience so far. We'd had excellent views of the Little Auk, a diminutive cousin of the more familiar Puffin, Guillemots and Razorbill, although this views had been hurriedly snatched in the small moments of time that the bird had been above water. The few photos that I'd taken were satisfactory but all were of the bird swimming away, although thankfully it had turned its head towards the camera for a couple of them. But all was well, we were staying with the bird in spite of the difficulty of tracking it underwater, and we had as long as we wanted to stay by the harbour to get better views and photos. Unfortunately, as is often the case, that initial flurry of activity after we left the car, proved to be as good as it got.

Now we were all assembled on the other side of the bridge and the Little Auk was seen on the far bank, diving alongside some floating pontoons there. It appeared next to one of the moored boats and had something gripped in its tiny bill. I fired off a volley of shots and then was dismayed to discover that I must have knocked the exposure setting out and the shots were largely binned. The fish the Little Auk had looked far too large for the small bird to swallow but apparently it did just that!

My last photo taken was of a pool of bubbles, I have a few of those, as the Little Auk dived again. We saw the bird again over our side of the harbour but right in against the wall and then again about fifty metres away but it was impossible to capture on the camera. And that was it. Despite searching for another two hours we never saw it after those initial views. A study of previous sightings of the bird and Tweets about it had demonstrated just how elusive it could be, someone penned it as being very Auk-ward! Indeed it was. It could somehow disappear from view for hours regardless of how many folk were looking for it. My guess is that when the Little Auk had taken its fill of food then it would nestle underneath one of the floating pontoons or alongside one of the boats, out of harms way of marauding Gulls that would probably and happily eat such a small bird, and consequently out of view of the hopeful birders.

Constant staring at rippling water and brightly coloured boats had sent my eyes funny so we retired for that longed for breakfast and coffee. I was happy to have seen the bird and could cross it off the aforementioned list although I didn't get many photos but at least my views were far better than the images that I did get. I was happy too to have my Swarovski binoculars back around my neck after being without them for nearly two months whilst they were being repaired. I'm hoping that the Little Auk stays for a lot longer so that I can maybe visit to see it again and improve on my photographic efforts. In spite of its awkwardness, it is a smashing little thing.