18 Apr 18 - More St Helenan Seabirds

The first day at St Helena was one of the busiest days of the Atlantic Odyssey & it left me with the best part of 2000 photos to process (the greatest number of photos I have ever taken in a single day). So, it is no wonder that it has taken me so long to sort all the photos & why it has take six Blog Posts for the day. The previous Posts covered our arrival at St Helena, my first Whale Shark which greeted our arrival, Jamestown which included so many photos that it had to be split over two parts, Jamestown part 1 & Jamestown part 2. Finally, there was the afternoon boat trip out to look for the St Helenan population of Band-rumped Storm-petrels. This final Post covers the other Birds seen on the boat trip.

Red-billed Tropicbird: This is the mesonauta subspecies which occurs in the subtropical & tropical Pacific, as well as, the Caribbean & East Atlantic

Red-billed Tropicbird: I couldn't resist another photo

Masked Booby: There were a few Masked Boobies flying around during the day. This is the nominate dactylatra subspecies which occurs in the Caribbean & SW Atlantic

Common Noddy: This is also known as Brown Noddy. There were good numbers of Common Noddies flying around & on Egg Island. This is the nominate stolidus subspecies which occurs in the Caribbean & South Atlantic islands, as well as, around the Gulf of Guinea to Cameroon

White-capped Noddy: This is also known as Black Noddy. They were also common around St Helena. This is the atlanticus subspecies which occurs in St Helena & on adjacent South Atlantic islands and the Gulf of Guinea. In good light, they are blacker with a more extensive whiter & contrasting crown & are noticeably longer billed

The Noddy nest ledges looked stunning

I wonder how old this rope is

White Tern: Proving that some individuals can sensibly nest like other Terns, rather than trying to balance an egg on a notch in a branch as some were in the trees in Jamestown

White Tern: This is the nominate alba subspecies which occurs on St Helena & Ascension Island, as well as, Fernando de Noronha & Trindade Island

 

Four-winged Flying Fish: As we were returning to Jamestown, we disturbed a few Flying Fish including this Four-winged Flying Fish

The boat trip back to the Plancius gave us the chances to see some of this historical defences a bit closer than during our arrival into Jamestown Bay on the Plancius.

I presume this is one of the Napoleonic era defences

A closer view of the Napoleonic defence we saw from the Plancius as we arrived

The rocky cliffs were full of interesting patterns caused by the various volcanic eruptions

More volcanic patterns

High Knoll Fort: The fort towers over Jamestown on the highest ground & was built to protect the ladder batteries against a rear attack

Two Elswick Mark VII Six Inch Guns on Ladder Hill: I hadn't noticed these guns when I walked up Ladder Hill & the legs were a bit stiff to want to walk up the following day to have a closer look

One of the Elwick Six Inch Guns: They were ordered to help guard the island in 1902 when there were Boer prisoners held on St Helena. By the time the guns had arrived, the Boer War was over & the prisoners had been sent back to South Africa. They were used once in World War II when a submarine surfaced close to St Helena

18 Apr 18 - St Helenan Band-rumped Storm-petrel

One of the main Bird targets for St Helena was to see & photograph some of the local population of Band-rumped storm-petrels. Band-rumped Storm-petrel taxonomy is complex. A few years ago, Band-rumped Storm-petrels were understood to breed on islands in the Tropical Atlantic & Pacific Oceans, including the Portuguese Berlengas Islands, Madeira, Canaries, Azores, Cape Verde, Ascension Island, St Helena, as well as, the Galapagos, Hawaii & islands belonging to Japan. In the last decade, studies into the breeding times of year, DNA, vocalisation & morphology have identified that there are probably three additional species which breed on the Tropical North Atlantic islands. Studies of the Band-rumped Storm-petrels which breed on Ascension Island & St Helena are only just starting, but there must be a reasonable chance of additional splits of these populations once these studies have been completed.

Heading for South West Point

A few days before we arrived at St Helena, the staff gave us the options for various tours around the island. One of the trips was a chance to visit a Band-rumped Storm-petrel colony in a small boat that could take about 20 people. I expected we would have already seen Band-rumped Storm-petrels from the Plancius & this was indeed the case. I saw eight Band-rumped Storm-petrels as we approached St Helena which were presumed to have been from the St Helena population given they were within 200 nautical miles of the island. Additionally, there had been a few seen flying past our mooring position in Jamestown Bay, but these weren't close. But by this time, I had already booked & paid for a boat trip out to the Band-rumped Storm-petrel colonies on Speery Island on the first & second afternoons. In the end, I saw so much on the first afternoon trip that that I decided to cancel the second afternoon. Room on the boat was tight & I thought I would explore more of Jamestown, whilst allowing others to enjoy the boat trip. When we got on board everybody grabbed seats at the back. I suggested to Glenn that we stay by the doors by the main cabin. No sooner than the boat had left the Plancius, then two of the Expedition staff, Martin & Christophe asked if we could stand in front of the cabin. Glenn & I were well positioned to join them, which was a good move as realistically there was only room for the four of us at the front & it looked like it would give us the best viewing position. Two or three others took up places on the side of the boat, but they weren't as well placed as us. After we returned to the Plancius, there were a few people complaining about the viewing options from the back deck, so we had chosen our position well. Another reason for not going on the second afternoon was word would have been around the Plancius that the best place was where we had been standing & it would have reduced my chances of getting this decent position again.

Glenn, Martin & myself with Filiep in the background (From right to left): Christophe took the photo before returning to stand next to Glenn

Although it was a good position for viewing, it was particularly bouncy in the seas once we reached South West Point, the imaginatively named South Western corner of St Helena. The seas were just as bouncy around the main colony of Speery Island. I ended up wedging one foot on a rope mooring point on the deck & the other one one of the wire guards on the side of the boat. For most of the next three hours, I wasn't able to change position, but it meant I was had a good stable position. This was really important as twice Martin (who was next to me) lost his footing & if I hadn't been wedged in, then I might of ended up going flying.

The St Helena coastline

It got quite rough as we reached South West Point 

I expected to see some Band-rumped Storm-petrels from the boat. What I hadn't expected that the main colony at the Speery Island had good numbers of Band-rumped Storm-petrels flying around the island during the daytime. I saw at least 500 Band-tailed Storm-petrels during the afternoon. There were also smaller numbers around Egg Island, about half way to Speery Island. Clearly, there are no avian predators to worry them. Probably the majority of Storm-petrel species in the world are only able to visit the breeding islands when it is dark, so it was a real privilege to be able to see them in the day time. Sperry Island must be around 40 metres high & so the Band-rumped Storm-petrels are generally not close. They are certainly not easy to photograph from a small boat that is rolling & pitching hard & generally all I could hope was they wouldn't be too far from the rocks behind which the camera was locking onto. It wasn't realistic to hope the camera focus would lock onto the Band-rumped Storm-petrel, unless they were against the sky. Given how few people get to see the St Helenan population of Band-rumped Storm-petrels then I've published plenty of photos in this Blog Post.

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: They are a dark Storm-petrel with the pale wing band across the secondaries to the wing bend & a noticeable white rump

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: This photo was taken immediately after the last photo, but the tail now looks more forked

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: The wing tips are pointed with dark underwings & with the white rump extending well down the sides of the rump

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: With the light catching it, it was possible to see more colouration on this second individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: There is even a line of very pale tips to the primary coverts on a second photo of the second individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A final photo of the second individual & it now looks far more typical as the lighting chances

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: This third individual came a bit closer & produced the best photos

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: The last two photos show the subtle differences in the underwing pattern when well lit & the extend of the white on the sides of the rump

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: The final photo of the third individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: The fourth individual

Finally, after a good hour of travelling we reached Speery Island.

Approaching Speery Island: It looks fairly calm in this photo, but it was a lot bouncier in our small boat

The sea was very impressive at the far end of Speery Island: At times, the difference in water levels on each side of the island was over a metre

Another view looking back on the same gap at the base of Speery Island

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: There were hundreds of Band-tailed Storm-petrels flying around Speery Island & presumably some were landing to feed the youngsters

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: Speery Islamd is a barren rock, but being offshore it won't have any of the mammalian predators that are likely to be on the cliffs of the main island

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: These two individuals flying against the rock are very well camouflaged against the guano-stained rocks

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: The eighth individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: Another photo of the eighth individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A ninth individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A harsh crop of the ninth individual's head shows the tube nose

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A rear on view of the tenth individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: The eleventh individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: This view of the twelfth individual would make a good mystery species photo in the future

There were large numbers of Band-rumped Storm-petrels flying around the top of Egg Island which we had a good look at on the way back to Jamestown. From a distance they looked more like an Asian Swiftlet species which I've seen flying around cliffs & buildings in the past. But of course, once looked at with bins it was clear they were Storm-petrels flying around the breeding site in the day time.

Egg Island was obviously fortified in the Napoleonic past: It must have been grim being based on this inhospitable rock

A few plants were trying to establish themselves on Egg Island

Another plant on Egg Island

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: Five individuals were flying around the top of the rock stack in this photo

Band-rumped Storm-petrel

Band-rumped Storm-petrel

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A number of the individuals were calling

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A close up of the left-hand individual

Band-rumped Storm-petrel

Band-rumped Storm-petrel: A final close up of the right-hand individual. It's not often you get to see a Storm-petrel species from underneath