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.

11 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 2 - The English North Sea

The first day of the North Atlantic Odyssey saw us off the East Anglian coast and sailing North, past Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northumberland.

We had crossed to the UK side of the North Sea to pass up the West side of the Dogger Bank: There was a Westerly wind and the crew also said that the seas would be more comfortable on the English side. The swell was pretty light

Welcome to my home on sea days, albeit I would swap to the starboard bridge wing if the wind or glare made that a better location: I occasionally could be found in the restaurant at meal times, at the tea and coffee machines and attending mandatory briefings

With the mild temperatures and light seas, some of the passengers were watching from the lower decks

Two of my cabin mates: Luc (with the hat) and Joris

Our route to Aberdeen, where we would be joined by the rest of the British passengers: I was the only Brit who had decided to travel to Vlissingen to join the Plancius

I hadn't realised how cluttered the North Sea coast was.

This wind farm dwarfed this fishing boat: The wind farm off the Brighton coast is providing protected areas for Fish to breed and perhaps this fishing boat is taking advantage of a similar level of protection helping fish stocks by this wind farm

One of the oil platform complexes we passed

This is part of the York gas field: It's a natural gas reservoir and production facility that is about twenty miles off the Yorkshire coast

Bird wise it was fairly quiet, with a few typical Seabirds. It got busier as we passed Bempton Cliffs, but we were well outside the twelve mile territorial limits and thus we missed many of the numbers of Seabirds we would have seen had we been closer to the land.

Gannet

Gannet: The scattered black feathering indicates this is a fourth year individual

Kittiwake: Adults

As we passed the Lincolnshire coast, we saw a number of Grey Seals. Not surprising given the decent-sized colonies at beaches like Donna Nook.

Grey Seal

I was generally running the ORCA Oceanwatchers app at sea to record Cetacean and Marine Mammal sightings. At least, the Grey Seals meant it wasn't an empty day, as I only saw brief views of a lone unidentified Dolphin during the day.

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

There was a good sunset at the end of the evening. Something we weren't going to see again after we left Shetland.

It was a good sunset

Zooming into the sunset with the big camera and under-exposing the photos produced some interesting post-apocalypse images

I do like these zoomed-in photos of sunsets

It had been a good first day at sea and it allowed me the time to get to know many of the Dutch and Belgium Birders on the Plancius. The next day we were due in Aberdeen to pick up another seventeen, many British, passengers.