PWatching the birds go by

ALTHOUGH rain was falling and the sky was grey, I enjoyed sitting on the old stone jetty at Morecambe and watching the seabirds go by.

A couple of years ago the resort set up what has become known as the tern project. The idea was to take a dilapidated old jetty close to the Midland Hotel and make it into a bird watcher's paradise.

Statues were commissioned of birds. These were accurate representations and used almost like a field guide. Fences showed flights of waders while seabirds were set up on platforms. There were sections designed to attract children and allow them to have fun and learn their natural history at the same time.

I chose a seat, wrapped myself up warm in the face of a cool, wet March wind and focussed my binoculars on the sea.

March and April are excellent months for sea watchers.

Most seabirds have moulted into their breeding plumage and are on migration from the open sea where they spend the winter to their breeding grounds on the coast or on offshore islands. During the day I had views of four species in addition to the always-present waders and gulls.

The Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) has a confusung scientific name but at least it is consistent throughout the world. The scientific name for the puffin is Fratercula artica, a species which I also saw flying over the sea.

The word shearwater also means "cut water" and this is what these birds do. They fly so low over the water in search of food that they seem to cut through the water with their wings.

The term Manx Shearwater was once obvious because huge colonies used to nest on the Isle of Man, with the biggest colony being on the Calf of Man, a small island off main island. Somehow rats got onto the calf and soon decimated the colony. There are signs of the shearwater returning following the culling of the rats.

About 30 years ago the puffin was also declining but this lovely bird, with its multi--coloured bill, is now increasing again. It is the only British bird which not only moults its feathers but also its bill. As I watched four puffins skimming over the sea, their colourful beaks could be clearly seen. The puffin hates flying and looks very clumsy in the air. They do, however, dive for their food and when they do this they really are poetry in motion.

The puffin belongs to a family of birds called auks, which are only found in the northern hemisphere. They look like penguins, which are only found in the southern hemisphere.

Scientists think that eventually the northern auks will become flightless and this is why they are better swimmers than fliers.

The guillemot (uria aalge) is another member of the auk family and looks very "penguin-like." It flies as little as possible and dives for its food. The common guillemot breeds in huge colonies on rocky outcrops and islands throughout Britain.

Over the course of my Morecambe bird watch I saw lots of guillemots, all moving in a northerly direction, and they were probably on their way to St Bees Head in Cumbria.

The fulmer (Fulmeris glacialis) is very gull-like in appearance but is actually a member of a family of birds called the Petrels. In flight, fulmers hold their wings very stiffly while the gulls in flight bend their wings. The bill of the petrel family also differs and has a structure on it which looks like the telescopic sight of a rifle.

Opinion differs with regard to the use of this structure. Some think it is a desalinator which enables the fulmer to drink sea water and convert this into pure water so that the kidney of the bird is not damaged.

Others think that it could well be used as a sort of telescopic sighting device to prevent the bird, which flies close to cliffs, from bumping into the rock. Fulmers feed by snatching food from the surface of the sea and this telescopic device could be used while the bird is feeding.

All this proves how interesting bird watching is. It would not be much fun if we knew all the answers. Each and every day spent in the company of our fauna and flora will provide as many questions as answers. This is what has kept my interest for more years than I care to remember.