6 Sep 26 - Hitting Fifty

Around mid-afternoon, I saw a message that a Queen of Spain Fritillary had been found at Silverlake. This is a local patch for some of the Weymouth and Dorchester Birders, so I was hopeful there would be a few others looking for it. After doing my bit to publicise the news, I was quickly heading for Silverlake. After a forty minute drive, I arrived in the car park next to the Scarlet Darter pool to see three people looking at a large expanse of Fleabane. Fortunately, two were focused on the same small patch of Fleabane, so I was hopeful they were. Two minutes later, I was watching my first Dorset Queen of Spain Fritillary. I like twitches where you bowl up and the subject is on view.

Queen of Spain Fritillary: The only ones I've seen before were two at Minsmere on 26 Aug 96

Over the next thirty minutes, the Queen of Spain Fritillary was nectaring on the Fleabane flowers. Occasionally, we would lose sight of it, but it only took a couple of minutes to relocate this gorgeous small Fritillary. There have been a number of sightings of Queen of Spain Fritillary Butterflies in South Coast counties this year, including one that was photographed at an unknown location near Wareham earlier in the Summer. Many amazing migrant Moths have turned up in Dorset this year and so it seems reasonable that this is also a migrant Butterfly.

Queen of Spain Fritillary: They are a small Fritillary

This is the fiftieth species of wild Butterfly I've seen in Dorset. There are currently forty-five species that regularly breed in the county. In addition, I've seen Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries in Dorset, although sadly this species has now disappeared at its only old breeding site. Also, I've seen Monarchs at Portland and Winspit in September and October, respectively, a Large Tortoiseshell at Durlston and several continental Swallowtails at St Aldhelms. Obviously, I don't count the Map Butterflies that were illegally released in Swanage. I am still hoping to see my first Dorset Long-tailed Blue, which is a species I was half-expecting would be pinned down this year.

Queen of Spain Fritillary: The large silvery spots on the underwing of the hind wings are one of the key identification features

7 Sep 26 - A New Bug For The St Aldhelms Patch?

While out Birding in the UK, I've often got half an eye on the ground as I'm walking. Perhaps not the best place for a Birder to be looking, but given I like Butterflies, Dragonflies etc, then it's worth also keeping an eye lower down. I was walking along the approach track to Trev's Quarry at St Aldhelms, when an unusual Insect caught my eye. It was too far away to initially work it out, but my immediate thought was it might have been a Verge Cricket: a new species that has arrived in the Southern counties in Summer 26. A closer look revealed it wasn't a Verge Cricket, but my second Western Conifer Seed Bug.

Western Conifer Seed Bug: A limestone track wasn't the obvious species for this Conifer loving species

Western Conifer Seed Bugs are native to North America. They were first recorded in the UK in 2007. They have quickly spread across Southern and Central England, with some records from Wales, Northern England and Southern Scotland. They feed on sap and seed cones of Pines and some other Conifers, but fortunately, they are not thought to be a major pest species in the UK. I checked the NBN Atlas, which is a fantastic resource for checking the distribution of UK species and it doesn't list any records for St Aldhelms. This wasn't surprising as there is only one area of Conifers on the patch: the private Bonvils house and grounds which are six hundred metres away. It's unlikely that this site has ever been explored for Insects, beyond a few obvious groups like Butterflies.

12 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 3 - The Bullers Of Buchan

The Plancius docked in Aberdeen about breakfast time, to allow more passengers joining us that afternoon. Oceanwide Expeditions had laid some activities for the passengers who had joined in Vlissingen. We spent the morning with some lovely Grey Seal encounters at the Ythan estuary, before heading onto the Seabirds cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan. We were dropped in the car park and it was only a few minutes' walk to the cliffs and the two sheltered coves.

There were a few fisherman's cottages next to the coves

There were two narrow channels, where the sea had cut deep into the coastline and therefore, it was possible to view the Seabird colony from the North or South sides or a narrow central ridge. I chose the latter option. There was a good selection of East Scottish Seabirds nesting on the cliffs.

Looking across the Northern channel

Looking across the Southern channel

The majority of the passengers headed to the Northern path

Ellen was one of the Inezia Bird guides

There was a good selection of East Scottish Seabirds nesting on the cliffs.

Fulmar: Pair

Eider: Pair

Razorbill

Razorbill and Kittiwake colony

There was a Puffin above the Kittiwake nests

A harsh crop of the same Puffin

We had an American couple Nick and Catherine on board. Catherine, said that morning that her main target was to see a Puffin. I was surprised by this given the likelihood of seeing Blue Whales and Polar Bears on the trip. Having found this Puffin, I looked round and Catherine was the nearest passenger and was delighted to see her first Puffin. She would have been the first passenger to see her number one target on the trip and after sightings of a number of other species, she fortunately, wasn't the last happy passenger.

Catherine is in the pink: Svalbard (27 Jun 26)

Puffin: There were a few pairs of Puffins nesting at the very top of the colony

Puffin

I spent some time trying to get some photos of the Kittiwakes. The nesting individuals weren't hard, but trying to get flight shots was more challenging.

Kittiwake nests

Kittiwake: Adult

Kittiwake: Adult

Kittiwake: Adult

After about ninety minutes at the cliffs, it was time to head back to the coaches. It was time to return to Aberdeen and reboard the Plancius. I will cover our departure in the next Blog Post.

12 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 3 - Exploring The Ythan Estuary

Day 3 of the North Atlantic Odyssey saw the Plancius arrive into Aderdeen, where we were due to pick up the rest of the mainly British passengers. We were due in port around breakfast time and I headed up to one of the bridge wings for our approach, as we had been briefed to expect a local welcome. Just outside the port, were at least two hundred and fifty Kittiwakes and about three times the number of Guillemots.

Kittiwake: Adult

Guillemot

It was time for us to head into the harbour.

The Girdle Ness Lighthouse

Aberdeen harbour and the waterfront to the North

Entering the harbour

Eider: Trips to Scotland are good as I rarely see Adult Male Eider in Dorset

Eider: There were around fifty by the harbour entrance

Scaup: Male. I Wasn't expecting to see a Scaup. RBA doesn't mention many Scottish sightings in June, so this appears to be a reasonable record

Unfortunately the main welcome committee hadn't shown up, but they appeared for our departure: which will be covered in a future Blog Post. We were called for breakfast just after we entered the harbour. The ship has laid on a couple of coaches to take us to the nearby Ythan Estuary and the cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan. This seemed a much better option that walking around Aberdeen. I had to do that once and wasn't enamoured by the city centre. Once the ship had cleared customs, we were called to disembark. This sole piper was there to greet us. Perhaps the other local pipers had headed off to cheer Scotland on in the World Cup.

This wee lassie did a good job piping us ashore

After a twenty-five minute journey, we arrived at the Newburgh Inn on the South side of the Ythan Estuary. A site I remember well, having travelled to see my first UK Sooty Tern in the Tern colony in July 2018. It was a three quarter mile walk down to the sandy estuary. We walked down the car park track and onto a boardwalk, until we reached the final Seal viewing area. There is a Sandwich Tern and Arctic Tern colony about half a mile further upriver on the North bank of the estuary, but the colony is too far away for good photos. I decided against walking upriver to get closer. Both Tern species flew distantly along the channel to the sea, along with four Little Terns (which also breed locally).

The upper part of the Ythan estuary close to the Seal viewpoint

Looking up the estuary from the Seal watching beach

There was a large group of Eider with fourteen Goosanders roosting over one hundred metres away on the sands on the North shore opposite our viewpoint.

Some of the Goosander with the larger Eider flock

The key attraction of the estuary was the Grey Seals. There is a big colony here with individuals basking at various points on the beaches on the North side of the estuary. Some of them were swimming past, while others were stopping and looking at us.

Grey Seal: This one was checking us out

Grey Seal: An inquisitive Grey Seal

Grey Seal: This individual is showing off the classic Alsatian-like head shape of a Grey Seal

Grey Seal: Another inquisitive Grey Seal

Grey Seal: They have the ability to close their nostrils

Grey Seal: On views like this, they can be separated from Common Seals by having parallel nostrils

Looking towards the seaward beach on the North side of the estuary

Grey Seal: There was a large group of Grey Seals on the seaward-facing North beach

I walked along the beach to join expedition guide Esther who I travelled with to Antarctica in Jan 2023. At one point, this small Grey Seal pup appeared right next to the beach to have a look at Esther and myself. It was right in the tide line and a bit worrying that it was checking out the Southern beach where the public are allowed to visit, whereas the North beach seems to be reserved for wildlife.

Expedition guide Esther enjoying the Grey Seals

Grey Seal: Pup. This gorgeous pup decided to check out the Southern beach

Grey Seal: Pup. It looked like it was wanting to come out onto the beach

Grey Seal: Pup

Grey Seal: Pup. Soon after this, the Grey Seal pup headed back into the channel

At one point, a lot of the Terns started alarm calling. It didn't take long to spot the culprit: a fishing Osprey. Clearly, these local Terns had still not appreciated that Ospreys are never going to be a threat to anything other than a large Fish.

Osprey

Finally, it was time to head back to the coaches. But we still had an afternoon visit to the Seabird cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan ahead of us. I will cover this visit in the next Blog Post.

26 Aug 26 - The End Of An Era?

I drove down to Bodmin Moor to my usual off the A30 sleeping layby on Tuesday evening. I set an early alarm call to allow me to finished the final hour of the journey to Penzance for my nineth ORCA survey to the Scillies. I met the rest of my team and we were quickly onboard. It proved to be a calm crossing with a gentle swell of under one metre, but mist was problem in the majority of the outbound crossing. Finally, the mist cleared as we reached the Scillies. Sightings were sparse, but one of the other surveyors saw a Sunfish and we all enjoyed views of a pod of four Short-beaked Common Dolphins, just before I was about to end the survey as we passed Old Town Bay. While we don't survey for Birds on the ORCA surveys, it would have been rude not to spend a few seconds looking at a Sooty Shearwater and a Cory's Shearwater as we approached St Mary's. Chatting to some Seabird surveyors on the back deck, they had seen another fifteen or so distant Cory's Shearwaters earlier in the crossing, but we weren't there to look for Seabirds.

Scillonian III in Hugh Town

The predicted drizzle didn't materialise which allowed me to wander around some of my old Birding haunts along Porthloo Lane, Lower Moors and the Old Town churchyard. There were a few common migrants around, with a Pied Flycatcher in Porthloo Lane as the highlight.

The Porthloo Lane duck pond was dry: It's good there was a small tray of water for the Ducks and Moorhens to get a drink

We were quickly back on the bridge and it was clear that the return crossing was going to be more of a challenge with a stiff South Easterly wind. It was a warm wind, but there was no respite for the surveyor on the starboard wing. Fortunately, the port surveyor could get out of the wind by sheltering near the bridge superstructure, while the recorder enjoyed the shelter within the bridge itself. Unfortunately, we didn't record any Cetaceans on the way back and my Avian highlight was an Arctic Skua which belted South.

There was some lovely artwork celebrating the service from Scillonian III: Like many passengers, my early crossings on the Scillonian III in the 80s were spent trying to avoid being seasick. However, I'm a confident sailor these days and I've not had a problem for many years

Sadly, this is my last scheduled ORCA survey for this season. So, unless I get offered a late notice backfill opportunity for an ORCA survey or I end up going down to Scillies for a day trip to see a rarity later this Autumn (a showy Wilson's Snipe or Ovenbird please), this will be my last crossing on the Scillonian III. Next season she is due to be replaced with a new ship, which will have an enclosed bridge. This might mean we get a more-pleasant crossing whilst surveying, but I will miss the 'Old Girl'.

I would like to thanks the two skippers that I've travelled with, Dave and Vicky, as well as, their wonderful crews, for the welcome they have given to the ORCA teams while I've been onboard. I will miss the Scillonian III.