This is a painting of a Manx Shearwater a hard bird to get a photo of. (Well actually most moving objects are hard for me to photograph!)

It was early morning on the return from Amsterdam, and as we cruised 
up the British coast line passing places such as Scarborough and 
Middlesbrough.

I had spotted the usual birds such as the Gannets, Fulmars, Guillemots 
and puffins, when I noticed a bird that looked very similar to the 
Guillemot and the puffin.

Managing to catch it in my binoculars I noticed that the flight 
pattern was very different to that of the Auk family, it didn’t have a 
very rapid wing beat but it had stiff wings and very few wing 
beats as it dipped from side to side flying low to the water.

  Its flight pattern gave me views of its dark back and white 
underside. I was unable to identify the bird there and then, but after 
looking up the flight pattern and the colour of the bird I realised it 
was a Manx Shearwater.

Rosie
Wildlife Officer