Arctic Skua in Derbyshire a Status Update

Had an email today from the Derbyshire County Bird Recorder giving me some information on the status of Arctic Skua in the county:

"This would be the second record so far this year after a juvenile at Carsington Water found late evening on 24th September and still present up to 6.45 a.m. next morning before it flew off NE.

There have been a total of 35 records since the formation of the Derbyshire Ornithological Society in 1954 with the last record being in 2007 at Ogston Reservoir, a dark phase bird briefly on 27th May. Previous to 1954 there were 9 earlier records.

It is still the most commonly occurring Skua in Derbyshire but because of it’s less than annual showing it is a species which is on our list of Rare and Scarce birds which requires a description to back it up before it becomes part of our “official” records."

In summary it appears as though my record is the 45th record of Arctic Skua in Derbyshire which is quite cool!