Crex crex

Just back from a few days on the Isle of Lewis where the theme of westerly gales and tough birding continued. I only managed a trip species list of 63 over three and a half days birding- including a number of seabirds seen from the two Minch crossings. Best birds were undoubtedly a 1st summer Mediterranean gull near Stornoway- a very scarce bird in Scotland and a very smart and very obliging Corncrake. Probably best to point out that I did not disturb the corncrake- it was creeping about in relatively scant vegetation (everything is late growing this year) and I took the photos from a public road, using my maximum focal length of 400mm and have cropped the shots significantly. As it was a very blustery day the bird was clearly oblivious to my presence due to the noise of the wind and the moving vegetation between the bird and my fortuitous vantage point. Having captured a few images I watched it creep about in the nettles until it was eventually lost from view. 

1st summer Med.Gull

Arctic tern

Olive-Ridley turtle

Last day of my survey work today, so lots of 'computer work' to tidy up and finish- spreadsheets, day report, weekly report, monthly report, final report…….after sorting that lot out I then had time to do what I'm supposed to do and actually survey marine fauna!

Anyway, we had a nice close pass from an Olive-Ridley turtle today. Also a mini-surge in bird migration with pomarine, arctic and long-tailed skuas past the vessel- also a few more Sabines gulls and my first Arctic terns of the voyage. In very calm conditions I also saw a few rafts of grey phalaropes sitting on the sea, a number of black terns and a couple of Leach's petrels.

I should get off the vessel tomorrow and commence my 3 day journey home- looking forward to getting back to the UK for some spring migration and much anticipated visits to the Outer Hebrides and Cornwall! Hopefully catch-up with some cracking migrants at PG and the Lizard!!

Olive-Ridley turtle

close-up showing the scute layout

Black tern

Sabine's gull

Shear delight

After a few days of fog and light, variable winds, the forecast of a reasonable blow with a significant westerly element raised my pulse rate and guaranteed that I was on watch early the following morning. I was not disappointed, as two great shearwaters flew 100 metres or so off the port bow as I gathered my waterproofs, hat, notebook and binoculars from the bridge! From then on and over the last three days I have enjoyed three figure counts of great shearwaters, intermingled with scores of Cory's! Some birders would say that when you have seen one large shear you have seen them all, but I disagree, find them totally captivating and have no problem watching them shear and glide over the swell and waves for hours on end. Surprisingly, and contrary to the large numbers of sooty shearwaters reported from Irish sea-watching sites, I have only seen one in the last 3 days- maybe they hug the Irish coast more as they drift SE? I also had the bonus of seeing flocks of Sabines' gulls- a group of 3 and a group of five. Unfortunately being on a 92 metre vessel, with a GRT of over 9000 tonnes means that many birds are rather ship-shy, occasionally however, a large shear made a relatively close pass, allowing me to try for a couple of shots. Good numbers of Arctic and 'comic' terns have also been seen flying south and an additional grey phalarope and a turnstone have been the only other obvious passage birds. I suppose we should see some significant skua passage before too long, but with the exception of a solo, spoon-laden pom and a few locally foraging bonxies they have yet to make an appearance. Happy days!

great shearwater- close pass at last!

Add caption

Cory's - unusually close in!

brilliant birds!

Baffin bay seabirds

Due to a lack of satellite coverage and minimalistic internet availability, it has not been possible to update my blog for some time. I finished my seabird survey work yesterday and am now ashore in Upernavik awaiting my flight on Saturday. The weather is just starting to turn and the sea ice is building rapidly up north and starting to push southwards by the day. Many of the seabirds- the skuas and arctic terns in particular have already headed south, leaving the open ocean to the little auks, Brunnich's guillemots, fulmars and a few glaucous gulls.  Here's a selection of my seabird snaps from the last month :-

glaucous gull

glaucous gull bathing

dark morph fulmar

little auk

little auk

kittiwake

pomarine skua 

Brunnichs' guillemot guarding chick

iceland gull

Pelagic away day

fulmar

Although the start of June is not the ideal time for a spot of sea watching, the current nature of terrestrial birding locally meant that there was little to lose in spending a day at sea and besides, a return sailing on the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry route is usually an enjoyable experience even with few birds to be seen. As expected, low numbers of all the commoner species were encountered, plus bonus birds of 10+ great skuas, 2 arctic terns and a solitary storm petrel pushing my year list up to 149. A minke whale 15 minutes out of Stornoway and a couple of harbour porpoise in the Ullapool approaches added to the enjoyment.

razorbill

arctic tern

gannet

guillemot