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

Pilot whales- up close and personal.

We have moved south to a newish survey area- further from land and in water circa 2500 metres deep. Seabird activity is much lighter here as we are away from the shelf edge and there appears to be little or no upwelling- just the occasional surface 'slick'. The only birds have been an occasional arctic skua and a couple of Leach's petrels- always good to see as they work their way erratically across the waves, careering drunken-like ahead of the ship. 

We had a very close encounter with a pod of 15 or so short-finned pilot whales this morning. I first saw a large dorsal fin approximately 350 metres directly ahead of the ship as we were doing a slow turn to port. The animals were in classic pilot whale mode- just 'logging' or gently resting at the surface. As we approached they appeared to wake up from their late morning snooze, gave a couple of deep blows then swam to the bow for a brief bow-ride before they undertook a deep dive and disappeared from view. These delightful and often gentle animals appear to be very inquisitive and readily approach vessels- I suppose that is why they got their name. I also had distant views of a Bryde's/Sei whale- with these two species being very similar in size and structure, the dorsal fin is often the only key to their ID but as this animal was so distant it was impossible to pin it down to species level. It made a spectacular start to my morning watch as it breached three times in quick succession. 

breaching Brydes'/Sei whale

American Robin- South Uist

I have had a good spell of time in the field over the past couple of weeks. As per usual my local patches have produced nothing outrageous, but I have had some fun putting together a number of BTO bird track lists. Great northern divers, woodcock and a merlin have been the nicest birds locally. Slightly further afield I went on a mini twitch to Findhorn in order to see little egret and green sandpiper. Although not great rarities these are difficult species to catch up with in the north of Scotland and indeed both of these birds were 'ticks' for my fledgling 'Scottish list'.

On a similar note, although I saw an American robin a decade ago at Godrevy, Cornwall, the chance to get one on my Scottish list required a trip to the outer hebrides. This is rather arduous at this time of the year with short days, poor light generally and the need to undertake an overnight stay due to the infrequent ferry crossings. Anyway, if birding was too easy I would have seen every species by now and probably feel totally bored with the whole twitching scene!

Having teamed up with fellow Ullapool birder Richard Rafe and BTO (Scotland) atlas guru Bob Swann, we undertook the drive to Uig, Isle of Skye for the ferry to Loch Maddy, North Uist.

American robin on a very dull day.

I got onto two late Leach's petrels on the way over which was rather surprising and we had good views of a white-tailed eagle at Loch Maddy. An hour later we were fortunate to pick up the American robin from the car as we pulled up at the site! We then enjoyed good views of the bird before it was flushed by a kestrel. With an hour of 'daylight' left, we moved over to Ardvule point for good views of sanderling, another white-tailed eagle, peregrine, snipe, turnstone and 60 or so purple sandpipers. 

The following morning after a night in b n b, we had a look for the female lesser scaup at Ard Mhor. Again the light was poor and the bird was rather distant but we eventually got the key ID features sorted as it fed with a flock of tufted duck and widgeon. With only another 90 minutes or so before the return ferry crossing we quickly covered a few more coastal sites and picked up long-tailed duck, grey plover, gadwall, pintail and several great northern divers. After boarding the ferry we were treated to a very unseasonal manx shearwater and on our approach to Uig another pair of white-tailed eagles were seen interacting below a large cliff face. Now it is bag packing time again as I head off for my next bout of sea time. 

lesser scaup- honestly!

Bob and Richard enjoying a very uncrowded American robin twitch!!

post tempest

It has been a tough few days, slowly recovering the equipment whilst steaming south to get away from the really dangerous conditions. We escaped the worst of the weather although even the 5 metre seas were uncomfortable as can be seen by the motion of one of our support vessels below. 

now you see me

now you don't

We eventually found ourselves 120 nm south of our survey area, hiding in the eastern lee of Lanzarote. Although the wind was generally Beaufort F7 with lots of white-capped waves the lee gave us shelter from the huge Atlantic swell. Things got mixed up nicely with common tern, little tern, bonxies, gannets and scores of Cory's shearwaters putting in an appearance. I also had bonus views of a Leach's petrel and an Atlantic spotted dolphin- a spotless juvenile as it happens. 

common tern

little tern

Atlantic spotted dolphin (juvenile)

Cory's shearwater

Leach's storm petrel

Boobies n stormies

Generally things have quietened down some what. With noon temperatures hovering around 34 celsius in the shade, being on deck is hard going when there is little to see. We seem to be surveying in an area with little marine life- the occasional flying fish, a brief glimpse of a distant great shearwater and the occasional bonus bird. Yesterday we had a very brief encounter with a nice adult brown booby- the bird kept its' distance and the light was not the best but it brightened up an otherwise dull day!

brown booby

A couple of dorado have also been seen around the bow of the vessel, ambushing the flying fish whenever the opportunity arises.

dorado, also known as dolphin-fish and mahi mahi

arty dorado!

Today was rather busier, with sooty terns, a lingering great shearwater, several leach's storm petrels, a pod of 16 sperm whales and a distant group of dolphins. I managed slightly better shots of the leach's storm petrels but admit to finding them very frustrating as they are shy of the ship and difficult to capture as they flit and bound over the waves and swell!

Leach's storm petrel

Leach's storm petrel

Leach's storm petrel

Fast running out of days to get a Wilson's as I should be doing my crew change off this ship next wednesday! (25/07)............

swim-pasts and fly-bys

Starting to notice a slow 'seasonal' change now, with great shearwater numbers dropping off on a daily basis, as the birds continue north for Canadian and Greenlandic waters. Cory's remain rather scarce too with just the occasional bird seen every 2-3 days. Aside from that it has been a hectic few days on the marine fauna front with Spinner and pan-tropical spotted dolphins seen- albeit, rather distantly.

spinner dolphins

pan-tropical spotted dolphins

I spent some time trying to get decent shots of Leach's storm petrels too, but these birds have been exceedingly difficult to capture- small, distant, flighty little things- and usually against the sunlight!!

Leachs' storm petrel

I had some success with the skipjack tuna that are constantly hanging around the bow of the vessel and occasional undertake an ambush of the juvenile flying fish.

skipjack tuna

Highlight of the last day or two though has been a lovely adult masked booby- unfortunately very late in poor evening light!

masked booby

Tropical delights.

A wonderful day at sea today. The morning started really well with 20- 30 Fraser's dolphins bow- riding the vessel whilst at the same time a pod of 150-200 Melon-headed whales frolicked 150 metres off the port beam. I was really fortunate to sea some cracking birds too- an adult laughing gull did a brief flypast allowing me to take a quick snapshot through the bridge window and later, when I was outside with the camera at working temperature, a brilliant red-billed tropic bird did a brief dive, then flew across our path. This bird was a little too distant for a quality shot but even with a heavy crop it is still recognisable. A half dozen or so great shearwaters also put in an appearance throughout the day as did a solitary pomarine skua.  In my excitement I almost forgot yesterday's Leach's storm petrel and cory's shearwater!! I'm being rather spoilt on the marine fauna front at the moment!! Happy days indeed!!

Fraser's dolphin

Melon-headed whales

laughing gull

red-billed tropic bird