4 Feb 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 16 - Back At Sea In The Eastern Med

We had enjoyed five consecutive days ashore, on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise, with two landings in Cyprus, followed by landings in Turkey, Rhodes and Crete. However, the ORCA team were onboard to survey for Cetaceans. Consequently, we were looking forward to a day at sea when we could enjoy some surveying.

We had a pre-dawn breakfast and were still on deck, just before eight, for the sunrise

The ORCA sightings board was exciting, but frustrating. A passenger had seen a Seal swimming around in the Crete's Heraklion harbour on the previous afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't hear about it, until we were sailing away from Heraklion. The only Seal that occurs regularly this far into the Mediterranean is Mediterranean Monk Seal. With a population of only six to seven hundred individuals and only three hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty mature adults, this is one of the rarest Seals in the world. Their main range is limited to the Eastern Mediterranean and the coast of Mauritania, with a small population on Madeira's Desertas islands. The latest IUCN assessment was reassessed in June 23 to Vulnerable (from Endangered), as the population is slowly increasing.

Mediterranean Monk Seal: This was the sighting of the cruise and sadly none of the ORCA team saw it to confirm the identification beyond doubt. There is always a small chance of a vagrant Grey Seal or Common Seal: albeit either species would be a good record for the Straits of Gibraltar, let alone the Eastern Mediterranean

We had enjoyed good weather throughout our time in the Mediterranean, despite it was still very early in the year. However, the weather was changing as we sailed West and we had a strong headwind on the starboard side throughout the day. There was even a short burst of rain during the morning.

The rain brought this double rainbow: We were all hoping for a Cetacean under the rainbow, but it didn't happen

Karen surveying and nattering with Andy, who was our most frequent visitor

Despite four and a half hours of surveying in the morning, I hadn't seen anything other than a lone Mediterranean Gull. Fortunately, mid-afternoon, I picked up a pod of Striped Dolphins on the starboard side. They weren't close, but it was good to see them.

Striped Dolphins: The lead individuals in the pod. Unlike Short-beaked Common Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins, Striped Dolphins generally don't approach ships to play in the bow-wave. These were no exception

Striped Dolphins: The main group in the pod

Striped Dolphin: This large youngster was tagging along behind the pod

Striped Dolphin: Two final individuals. They are the commonest Dolphin species in the Mediterranean, with an estimated half a million individuals. Their numbers are increasing, whereas the other Dolphin species in the Mediterranean, Short-beaked Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins and Risso's Dolphins are declining.

An atmospheric sunset is a good way to end a day of surveying

The end of the day's statistics were, we had covered around one hundred and seventy nautical miles during the eight and a half hours of surveying. In that time, we had recorded seventeen Striped Dolphins. It hadn't been a bad day, albeit the strong wind had made us all appreciate the warm clothing we had brought.

23 Sep 25 - Standing To Attention

As I walked back from Pier Bottom Valley, after finding a Little Stint at St Aldhelms (see the last Blog Post), I noticed this Wheatear sitting on a fence post. It looked remarkably upright. It flew a couple of posts, but again it was remarkably upright. I took this photo on the second fence post.

Wheatear

At the time I was wondering if it was a Greenland Wheatear, given it had such an upright posture. This subspecies is generally larger and bulkier. However, without measurements, it's not going to be possible to figure this out. Greenland Wheatears are described as having a more orangey wash to the underparts. So, perhaps it was just a regular Wheatear, which was looking more upright due to how it was sitting on the edge of the posts.

23 Sep 25 - Migrants Can Always Astound You

I'm sure many patch Birders will think that they have a reasonable idea of what they are likely to see on their patch at a particular time of year and weather conditions. The visit to St Aldhelms this morning started off fairly normally. Light North Easterlies and dry, sunny conditions which are likely to produce some migrants. Had I been out from half-light, then I would have seen more Chiffchaffs piling off the Head than I saw when I arrived about eight: c'est la vie. A couple of Wheatears in the field weren't a surprise given the conditions. There were some Swallows and a few Martins moving East as expected. Linnets were everywhere and I put a conservative total of seven hundred and fifty plus down in the notebook. I bumped into a couple of visiting Birders who were staying in the coastguard cottages. I mentioned to keep an eye out for Merlins as they should be in by now. Three minutes after they drove off, my first Merlin of the Autumn appeared to terrorise the Linnets. I wasn't doing a bad job of predicting what I was likely to see this morning.

Rather than carry on out to the Coastguards and Quarry Ledge, I decided to wander down Pier Bottom Valley. Now I was close to the coast and the Hirundines were, as expected, piling through at around fifty a minute. At the bottom, I decided to have a look at the two small pools of water that were formed behind mud slips. I was keen to see if I could find a way down to them to see what Dragonflies were around the pools. Fresh water is scarce at St Aldhelms and so this is the best location for breeding Dragonflies. I had wanted to check these pools out earlier in the Summer, but there was a female Mallard with her young family on every visit. I decided to leave the pools for the Autumn, as it's the only place the Mallard pair have to breed on the St Aldhelms.

The lower pool: It's narrow and not much more than fifteen metres long with a three to four metre patch of mud at the near end. Getting down to it is very tricky given it's all soft mud that has slipped on multiple occasions

I headed to overlook the lower pool first. I was about eighty metres from the pool and I could see a small brown-backed Bird, with very clean white underparts. It's rare that I can't get a likely name to something I see, but on this occasion, I was struggling. Snow Bunting popped into my head, but that wasn't right. But there again I couldn't come up with anything else better after the first view. I wished I had brought the scope, but then I wouldn't have considered trying to get down to the pools with the scope and tripod.

There was a distant compact brown and white Bird on the lower pool: I couldn't figure it out at first. But there again with only a handful of regular Waders expected at St Aldhelms, a small Wader wasn't the obvious consideration: especially as I couldn't see the bill. Typically, only Oystercatcher, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Snipe can be expected in the year, aside from any seawatching flybys. I suspect Woodcock winter in small numbers, but I'm yet to confirm where they roost during the day

I got a few metres closer and lifted the camera. Zooming the photos through the camera, solved the problem: it looked like a Little Stint. That brought a new thought: what the hell is a Little Stint doing on a three metre patch on mud on a small pool at St Aldhelms. I checked a few more of the first photos and found one where I could see the bill, as well as, the tramlines. No wonder I was initially struggling to put a name to it. I only expect to see two or three species of Waders along the shoreline or in the fields in a typical year. The rest are seen flying over the site or on Spring seawatches. I was pretty sure it was on the patch list. When I checked later, the only record was a single seawatch individual flying East in May 1993. Steve Morrison later confirmed that it was a presumed Little Stint, as he hadn't been able to categorically rule out a Temminck's Stint. However, given the scarcity of Temminck's Stints in Dorset, it was almost certainly a Little Stint.

Little Stint: With only one previous record and rarely seeing more than a handful of Wader species on the ground in a year, it wasn't unreasonable to overlook a small Wader as a possibility

Little Stint: Another photo from the lower pool

I grabbed some more ropy photos due to the range and then found I had a phone signal. I put the news out to Phil Saunders and a few other locals. Sadly, work stopping Phil dashing down and none of the other South Purbeck Birders were able to get down. I looked again and it had disappeared. It had already walked out of view once, before returning. But five minutes later it hadn't reappeared. I was getting cold in the shade of the head and decided to move back up the hill and check the upper pool from another viewpoint, in case it had moved. This is a larger pool with more muddy edges. I could now see both pools and it wasn't on view on either pool.

The upper pool: Obviously, I didn't try to get closer once I saw it was occupied, so I still haven't got down to check the Darters there. After Portland had breeding Red-veined Darters, I did wonder if there could be any on the Pier Bottom pools. I could see a Migrant Hawker patrolling the upper pool and later some Darters. Presumably, they were the regular Common Darters. I will try to check the pools if I can before we get more rain: when it's best to avoid the pools, because of the risks of a landslip

After fifteen minutes, it flew up from the lower pool, circled a few times and landed at the back of the upper pool. I wasn't any closer, but at least I had a reasonable and warmer viewpoint. By this time, I had heard Phil Bentley was at St Aldhelms and he was on his way to join me. I gave him some directions and tried to get some better photos. Unfortunately, it did another disappearing trick while I wasn't watching and it never reappeared. Perhaps it just wandered behind a tussock or into the reed edge and fell asleep. I spent the best part of an hour watching the pools with Phil. Then I had a final look from the top of Emmets Hill on the way back to the car. This provided a different angle onto the pools, but there were still some parts of the pools, I couldn't see.

The Little Stint dropped onto the larger expanse of mud at the back of the larger pool

Little Stint: It was quite obviously a Juv Little Stint with those tramlines and the pectoral patches. In some of the initial photos, the lower legs looked pale, due to drying mud on them

Checking later with Steve Morrison, this is the first record of a confirmed Little Stint for the St Aldhelms/Winspit patch, albeit his May 1993 record of a Stint sp. was most likely the first record. This was certainly not what I had predicted for the day. Isn't patch Birding brilliant on days like this.

2 Feb 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 14 - Rhodes: The City Of The Knights Hospitallers

Our sixth landing on the ORCA Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was Rhodes, which was very justifiably awarded World Heritage City status by UNESCO in 1988. The previous Blog Post focused on the city walls and some of the old city which I exploring during the morning. After lunch on the Spirit of Adventure, Terry, Lexie and I decided to have a second look at the old city. In the morning, I had managed to miss the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights, so that was my main target.

The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights: It's hard to believe I missed such a large building, but it turns out I didn't walk far enough up the hill

We meandered around the streets until we reached the Hospital of the Knights of Saint John, which now houses the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes. I had passed the museum in the morning, but it didn't look open. It was open in the afternoon and it was well worth the time to have a look around inside it.

The Archaeological Museum of Rhodes: This impressive building is now a museum

There is plenty on view in the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes. In reality, if they removed all the exhibits, it would have been worth entering purely for the stunning building. This was originally the Hospital of the Knights of Saint John. Building started in 1440, but it wasn't completed until much later than century.

Above the entrance to the Hospital of the Knights of Saint John

The Knights Hospitallers are a Catholic military order. They were founded as a military force around the 1120s during the Crusaders in the Holy Land and had their headquarters in Acre until 1291. However, the order had already been providing cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem since 1099. After that they were based in Cyprus between 1302 and 1310, Rhodes from 1310 to 1522, Malta from 1530 to 1798 and for the following three years in Saint Petersburg. They were a military religious order under its own papal charter which were charged with the care and defence of the Holy Land.

A close up of the statue above the entrance

The Knights Hospitallers have continued to modern times. Unlike the Knights Templar, which was a French military Catholic order which was also very involved in fighting for the Holy Land, but which fell foul of the Pope Clement in 1307, who ordered the members of the Knights Templar to be disbanded. Many were captured, tortured, before being killed.

Inside the Hospital of the Knights of Saint John

The main courtyard inside the Hospital of the Knights of Saint John

A close up of the lion statue in the last photo

The city of Rhodes fell to the large army of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522. The Sultan deployed four hundred ships and one hundred thousand men to the island. After six months, the island fell, which wasn't surprising given the Knights only had around seven thousand men. The surviving defeated Hospitallers were allowed to withdraw to the Sicily. Rhodes became part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, when the island was captured by the Italian army in the Italo-Turkish War: this was a war which one of the regional conflicts before the start of WW1. It was occupied by the Germans in WW2 and handed to Greece in 1947.

The Knights Hospitallers knew how to build a good set of steps

An ancient amphora dating to around five hundred BC: This was one of many interesting exhibits in the museum

Behind the main Hospital courtyard was a hidden garden on various levels. There were lots of miscellaneous exhibits in this area.

Part of the hidden garden

A mosaic floor

It's a pity the face on this statue has been damaged

An old Dolphin and calf statue

A lion statue: Sadly, there weren't signs on any of these statues to indicate how old they were

An old water fountain

The remains of a vaulted roof

We were halfway up the hill to the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights. We just had to keep walking up the hill.

A local road

Terry and Lexie in front of the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights

It was now mid-afternoon and we had to be onboard by around four. Strictly, that was still a half-hour before last boarding, but as we were part of the entertainment team, we were expected to be back before last boarding. Terry and Lexie decided to have a slow walk back to the ship. But I reckoned I had time to have a quick look inside the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights. After all, I don't know if I will get the chance to revisit Rhodes. It was a bit of a rush around inside, but well worth visiting.

Just outside the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights

The main entrance to the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights

The entrance door

The inner courtyard with another impressive staircase

The main steps in the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights

A great vaulted ceiling within the chapel

There was exceptional stonework within the building

The floors were full of mosaics

This looks like a stylised Dolphin rather than a fish

Another Dolphin mosaic: There were quite a few of these designs, so it looks like the Knights appreciated Dolphins

A more classical mosaic

Unfortunately, it was a quick dash around the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights, but it had been worth the visit. The history continued as I walked down the main road back to the harbour. This was the Street of the Knights of Rhodes and it was one of the main streets for the Knights to live in the days when they were based in Rhodes.

Looking down the Street of the Knights of Rhodes

The Inn of Spain: This provided accommodation for the Knights in the 15th and 16th Centuries. It is now an expensive upmarket hotel with stunning rooms. There are photos on booking.com which gives an idea of what lies behind this door

Another old doorway that would be interesting to be able to see behind

Even the drain pipes from the roof were impressive

A final look up the Street of the Knights of Rhodes: I had walked past the bottom of this street in the morning, without realising what lay at the top

I was back on the ship with enough time to spare before last boarding. This allowed me the chance to get a hot drink before heading up to the top deck as we left this excellent heritage city. There wasn't enough light to allow for any surveying, but it was nice to watch our departure and to chat to some of the passengers to hear what they had seen on Rhodes, that I didn't have time to fit in.

Looking back on the port