Desert storm

The twilight zone- desert dust fills the air

Ballistic gannet

The morning started off reasonable with a fresh NE beaufort 5. By 11:00 the wind had freshened to a near gale (force 7) and by 13:00 wind speeds were a sustained 40+ knots, (severe gale Beaufort 9) gusting to 50 knots on occasion. The sea built slowly but surely with wave heights of 6+ metres throwing us about by the late afternoon. Fortunately we got the more sensitive equipment onboard before lunchtime and then commenced our run east at 4 knots to get away (hopefully) from the dangerous storm centre. A strange eery pinkish/orange light filled the afternoon sky as dust and sand from the Sahara desert was lifted and blown our way. By 15:00 we were in a weird and wonderful twilight zone. With forty five knot winds my effort at taking photos was a joke but I did manage to catch a gannet - probably a 2nd calendar year bird, go rocketing down wind! A Cory's did a really close pass too, but I just couldn't get a shot from the rolling ship and buffeting wind. I got a call from the bosun at 16:30 saying that a very nice bird was resting on the starboard paravane door so I grabbed my camera and went for a look. By this time the sand filled sky made for appalling light conditions but I did manage a shot or two of a very wind-swept kestrel. 

The blow has kept up all evening so we will not be getting much sleep tonight. The wind should moderate in the small hours and then get even worse tomorrow afternoon before the real serious blow that is due our way on sunday. Of course the forecast may be wrong! 

I almost forgot that I also took a long-range shot of our tanker/support vessel getting roughed up by the sea this morning- before things got too crazy! It's a poor quality photo. but it gives the overall impression of what the sea conditions were like and what a F8 gale can do to a moderate sized vessel!

Sanco Sky in F7/F8 gale

Bunkers

Deathly quiet on the bird front with a nasty spell of weather on the way and cold northerlies seemingly holding up the migrants along the north African coastline. Just 4 birds noted over the past 48 hours- a white wagtail, a black redstart, a chiffchaff and today a solitary swallow. We took advantage of the 'calm before the storm' today and bunkered at sea. Always a tricky operation with the tanker/support vessel just 150 metres ahead of us. All went smoothly and we loaded just under 700 metric tonnes of fuel which should give us much needed stability over the weekends' anticipated blow. The seabirds have dissipated too, with just a handful of yellow-legged gulls and several Cory's shearwaters recorded. Although I cannot offer any scientific 'proof' I have noticed over the years that seabirds often appear restless and then 'disappear' just prior to a storm! Strange how scanning the ocean for long hours with little seabird and cetacean activity makes me more tired than if I was doing full- on counts!   

Fantastic feathers!

Today has been better. After breakfast I saw a few of the usual Cory's shearwaters ahead of the vessel but as usual they kept their distance. Mid morning saw a flypast of 3 Med gulls- two second winters and an adult, although they too kept their distance and made a mockery of my photographic attempts. Just before lunch I left my elevated viewpoint above the ships' bridge and decided to stroll aft to check the sea behind the ship. As I walked under the heli-deck I caught a flash of black and white and knew I was onto a Hoopoe!! The bird had flown over the side but re-appeared behind me on a railing. Camera out, hands shaking with excitement saw me rattle off a number of dismally ill-focused shots. Fortunately the bird was rather confiding and sat there for 20 seconds or so which allowed me to settle down and get a better shot.  I have only ever seen one of these birds in the UK- Portland bill, April 1981, although I have seen a number on Gran Canaria since then. This bird was visible on the heli-deck this afternoon for a couple of hours- one of the few places that are 'out of bounds' to me so I did not manage any further shots. It eventually came down a deck and although I tried for a number of flight shots I couldn't get the exposure and shutter speed right as the camera seemed confused by the blizzard of black and white and I could not get a decent focus. (Well maybe I was confused by the blizzard of black and white). Eventually I got one blurry image which shows the general plumage layout of this cracking bird. Later a Black redstart on deck seemed rather low-key although a week ago the first one was really exciting too.

Fabulous fins!

Bit of a bonus today as we had this awesome Ocean sunfish drift past the vessel. It was lazily basking at the surface (as they do) and then rolled over and dived deeply as we passed within 10 metres of it. A cracking specimen and the first I have seen alive since one off Salcombe in south Devon in 1992!- 20 years ago during a university scuba field trip- yikes!!

Ocean sunfish, Mola mola in typical basking posture

Beauty is in the eye.....

.......of the beholder- or so they say! Late evening saw the arrival of 3 racing/feral pigeons each with leg rings. The white ring on this bird read 'MALTA 2010' - I guess these birds are not enjoying a winning streak! They are not very high up my list of 'good looking' birds but I do admit to being rather taken by the close-up detail of the feathers. However what really gets my attention is the eye which looks so reptilian and reflects the common ancestry of birds and reptiles on the evolutionary highway. On that note I must get my head down as another 05:30 start is on the cards.

Whirly-bird

stonechat

inbound super-puma

Fairly quiet on the bird front with just a few stonechats and a lone black redstart on the ship today. The stonechats have been particularly nervous and flighty and very hard to photograph. A couple of other interesting looking passerines just kept going and frustratingly kept themselves between me and the sun. I didn't have a clue what they were. Helo-ops offered a bit of excitement with an inspection team out to re-validate the heli-deck certification. I guess it was ok in that at least it didn't collapse when the super-puma landed on it! Just as well there were not too many migrants about as a bird strike would not have impressed the team! Seabirds have been scarce with just a few gulls and a dozen or so Cory's shearwaters. For some reason all the seabirds are now turning up on the wrong side of 500 metres or so, which makes photography attempts a waste of space. 

what a lark!

Had a couple of skylarks land on the deck earlier and there was also a mini fly past of several pied wagtails.....voyage list up to fourteen species- woohoo!

Had to slap on the factor 30 earlier as my bald bits were starting to roast- it must be hard going for these small migrants flying in the midday heat! No wonder they stop off for a breather!- This wagtail at least managed to grab a couple of flies off the deck before resuming its' passage north!

One swallow........

........doesn't make a spring for sure but the first swallow of the year always puts a smile on my face wherever I am! :)

This one made a lovely silhouette in the pre-sunrise light. Things have been deathly quiet on the seabird front with a gannet the only bird worth a mention. Yesterday a black redstart and a stonechat were a bonus as were a flock of 9 grey herons flying north over the sea.

Black redstart

There was a bit of drama this morning too as we had several close engagements with the local fishing fleet and even managed to snag some surface long lines on our towed gear. A few unhappy bunnies about for sure! Despite scanning hard for several hours there has been no indication that any marine mammals are in our vicinity, hopefully that will change and I can get some decent photos.