25 Sep 24 - A Bonus ORCA Survey To St Mary's

Having just got back from the ORCA Sea Safari from Plymouth to Santander, I thought that I was done for surveying for ORCA for the month. However, on the 23rd, I saw an email asking for a last minute backfill ORCA Team Leader for the day trip crossing from Penzance to Scillies. I was free that day and generally I need little encouragement to go surveying on that route. The only problem is formally I haven't finished my Team Leader training with ORCA. However, I did lead a survey on the Scillonian back in July and I had been on my second survey of the year on the Scillonian III in mid-Sep. So, I felt confident I could step up to the Team Leader role. Fortunately, Ellie in the ORCA office agreed with that & I was offered the role. Cue emails that evening to the other surveyors, Gemma Rae and Sharon Scurlock, who were on their second and first ORCA surveys, respectively.

The forecast was for a blustery crossing with the prospects of rain as a front was arriving in West Cornwall that morning. However, it should be dry & sunny by the time we reached Hugh Town and the forecast looked better for the way back in the afternoon. During my journey from Dorset that morning, I had driven down through showers, some of which were heavy. It was difficult to figure out how much bad weather lay in our path, but there were still short showers in Penzance. As I walked along the promenade towards our meeting point by the aptly named Dolphin Travern by the quay, it was clear from the flags that there was still a noticeable wind blowing.

Short-beaked Common Dolphin Flag on the Penzance promenade: It was certainly very blustery. This was as near as I got to photographing a Short-beaked Common Dolphin during the day, despite seeing nine individuals in four groups

We sailed on time. I completed the pre-survey briefing just before we were invited onto the bridge and we greeted by the ever friendly Skipper Dave Redgrave and his colleagues. Within a few minutes we started surveying. The surveying takes place from the open bridge wings and so the weather can play a significant impact in the surveying. Obviously, the wind and seas impact the sea state and swell and there was a sea of white caps and a swell of over two metres. More significantly, there was a Force 4-5 SSW wind and that left the port wing very exposed, with a bit of shelter on the starboard wing. This route can be lively at times, given the combination of the Scillonian III's flat-bottomed and the choppy seas off the Cornish coast.

Just checking we were boarding the right ship

After checking Gemma was OK on the more sheltered starboard wing for our first half hour of surveying, I experimented with a few positions on the port bridge wing. I quickly found a position right next to the side of the bridge wing, which was surprisingly more sheltered that being next to the cabin. The only problem was spray was being thrown up & the best you could do was to turn away at the last moment. But I was hit by three waves of spray in the first half hour. Fortunately, the ship changes course after leaving West Cornwall and that problem soon abated. These days, I tend to measure the observing conditions and compare them to the Southern Oceans, but then the Plancius is a bigger and more stable Expedition Ship. While I felt OK, I did worry for my two colleagues who were doing their first crossing on the Scillonian III. Fortunately, they survived OK, but I think they were glad once we reached the lee of the islands.

A distant rainbow: The sea conditions were more challenging than they look in this photo

When we are surveying we typically spend eighty percent of the time scanning with naked eyes for close Dolphins, Porpoises and Seals with the final twenty percent of the time scanning the distant sea with the ORCA bins. While I was scanning with my eyes, I was keeping an eye on close Seabirds. On the crossing over I saw two pods of Short-beaked Common Dolphins, totally five and two individuals, respectively. I also saw twenty-seven Cory's Shearwaters, three Great Shearwaters, over thirty Manx Shearwaters and a close light phase Arctic Skua. I'm sure I missed more Seabirds that I would have seen with greater scanning with the bins, but I was there to survey for Cetaceans and not Seabirds, and any Seabirds on an ORCA survey are a nice bonus.

Cory's Shearwater: I saw twenty-seven on the crossing to St Mary's

An ORCA team photo with Sharon Scurlock (left), Gemma Rae, Skipper Dave Redgrave & myself

It was good to get ashore on St Mary's for about three hours. Time to have a wander down to the Old Town Church area and then loop through Lower Moors. There wasn't a lot being seen on St Mary's, but the interesting species were on other islands with a Western Bonelli's Warbler & Dotterel on Tresco and an Ortolan on St Agnes. So, I guess there weren't a lot of Birders looking on St Mary's.

I wonder if I my household insurance will give me a discount if I get one of these burglar deterrents

The Old & New: The Old Town Church with the heliport in the background

The island's War Memorial: There were nearly twice as many islanders killed in the First World War, compared to the Second World War, despite the longer length of the latter war

The Old Town Church

Old Town Bay looking from the entrance track from the church

Belladonna Lily: The Scillies & the Channel Isles are about the only parts of the UK where these cracking looking flowers grow without needing special care to get them through the winter. They are native to Cape Province in South Africa

I bumped into a Cornish based Birder, Dave, as I reached the Lower Moors hide. He was the RSPB Wildlife Officer for the day on the back deck of the Scillonian, so he had enjoyed a more sheltered position on the starboard side of the ship. I believe the RSPB put local birders on as Wildlife Officers on a weekly basis on the Scillonian for public engagement purposes. Sounds good, but sadly I'm a bit too far away to see if I could get involved in that. Dave had been looking for a Bluethroat which had been seen from the hide on previous days. Neither of us saw it. It was only seen once during the day according to RBA around 18:00. I gave it around twenty minutes before moving on. The Birding was very slow and I ended up photographing Butterflies. However, the first species was the endemic subspecies of Speckled Wood that is restricted to the Scillies.

Speckled Wood: This is the insula subspecies which is restricted to the Scillies. Compared to the tircis subspecies which occurs across the South of England, the ground colour of the Scillies insula subspecies is a deeper yellowish orange & it is more similar to the nominate aegeria subspecies of Southern Europe

Speckled Wood: For comparison, this is the regular tircis subspecies which occurs across the South of England that I recently photographed in my Dorset garden (17 Aug 24)

Peacock: Perhaps this had just emerged, as the last brood tend to go into hibernation as soon as they emerge

Finally, at the far end of Lower Moors, I ran into a party of Chiffchaffs and a Spotted Flycatcher. They were the only migrants Passerines I saw on St Mary's, ignoring Swallows: but early afternoon isn't perhaps the best time of day for Birding. After leaving Lower Moors, I headed back to grab a coffee, meet up with Sharon & Gemma, before we returned to reboard the Scillonian III. The crossing back was good with two more singles of Short-beaked Common Dolphins, as well as, eleven Cory's Shearwaters, three Great Shearwaters, six Sooty Shearwaters and sixteen Balearic Shearwaters. Again, I would have probably seen more Seabirds if I had been scanning more with the bins.

Cory's Shearwater: All the Cory's Shearwaters I saw were definite Cory's Shearwaters, rather than Scopoli's Shearwater candidates

Great Shearwater: I occasionally take Bird photographs on ORCA surveys with the technique to lifting the camera, grabbing a few photos & looking at them about a week later to see if any were OK. The result is I only lose a few seconds of survey time when the camera is in front of my eye. If I've got the camera set up OK, then this technique produces some OK photos, but I can't afford the time to look at the photos, before adjust settings to get some better photos

Despite the challenging conditions on the way over, it had been a thoroughly enjoyable ORCA survey, with some nice, if brief, views of a number of Short-beaked Common Dolphins, as well as, views of a nice selection of Seabirds that flew by as I was surveying for Cetaceans. Plus, it was good to encourage two budding surveyors who I'm sure will both be applying for further surveys in the future.

Humpback Whale Flag: Perhaps I should have photographed this before the ORCA survey, as maybe it would have resulted in us seeing a Humpback Whale. Photographing the Short-beaked Common Dolphin flag appeared to have worked OK

I would like to thank the ORCA team to offering me my first unofficial Team Leader role on this survey and to the Scillonian III's crew for making us welcome. It's a shame that the Fin Whale that Skipper Dave videoed a couple of days before didn't put in a sighting during our ORCA survey.

14 Feb 24 - ORCA Saga Caribbean Calypso Day 28 - A Valentine's Day Bryde

Day five at sea from the Caribbean to Spain on the Saga Caribbean Calypso was uneventful for me. Fortunately, the seas had returned to the normal four metre swells after the rougher seas of the previous late afternoon. It seems a lot of swell, but the Spirit of Discovery wasn't uncomfortable in that swell. But as we headed East, and a bit further North, the daily temperature dropped each day. We were still doing our all day dawn to dusk surveys, with the only breaks being for breakfast and lunch. A few Cory's Shearwaters provided my only Avian interest during the day. Additionally, Charlotte & I saw a lunge feeding Whale pass down the port side: the identification wasn't clinched, but it was probably a Humpback Whale. Unfortunately, the views weren't sufficient to identify it and as nobody managed to get any photos, it had to be logged as an unidentified Whale. That's the problem when the seas have a strong swell, even large Whales at a distance can be lost in the waves. A lone Smurf was the nearest I got to any Flying Fish all day.

This dead Moth sp. was found today on the deck: Presumably it's a Caribbean species

We were back on deck at dawn to start our surveying on day six at sea from the Caribbean to Spain on the Saga Caribbean Calypso. As always we were hoping for some Birds and Cetaceans. The Birds picked up and I saw eleven Cory's Shearwaters. Not many, but better than the half a dozen from the previous day. The Cetacean highlight was a Fin Whale, with a second set of nearby blows.

Cory's Shearwater: The lack of white on P10 makes this a Cory's rather than a Scopoli's

Cory's Shearwater: The same individual

In the afternoon, Terry and I held the first of two Wildlife Clinics in one of the lounges. This was the opportunity for the passengers to come and have a chat about anything on a Cetacean, Bird or other Wildlife theme that they had encountered during the trip. Both sessions were well attended and we managed to identify most of the photos that the passengers brought along. Jan and Charlotte stayed surveying in our absence and they were joined by a new helper, called Big Blue, who was press-ganged into joining the ORCA team on deck. His appearance also attracted a couple of Short-beaked Common Dolphins and two more unidentified Cetaceans, unfortunately, while Terry & I were running the Wildlife Clinic.

Charlotte bought Big Blue in the Caribbean to add to her ever growing menagerie in the cabin

Big Blue getting into the swing of being one of the ORCA team in the Caribbean

Big Blue with Monica, who was another of our regular visitors: He ended up getting a lot of attention, especially from the female passengers when he appeared on deck. His appearances helped to provide a bit more fun on deck when it was quiet

The end of the day noticeboard: It had been a better day that my notes suggested

Day seven at sea from the Caribbean to Spain on the Saga Caribbean Calypso, was similar to the previous day. There was a bit more variety on our last full day at sea, before we reached the Spanish coast and the lovely city of La Coruna. I only saw one Cory's Shearwater all day, but two Gannets and fifty-eight Kittiwakes brought a more European feel to the day. Six distant Terns and twelve medium-sized Waders were interesting signs of migration well out to sea. I didn't see any Cetaceans, but I did have a Shark sp. swim down the starboard side of the ship. Terry & I ran a second Wildlife Clinic in the late afternoon.

Kittiwake: First Winter

Kittiwake: First Winter

The end of the day noticeboard

Day eight at sea from the Caribbean to Spain on the Saga Caribbean Calypso, had a different start as we were relatively close to the Spanish coast & heading for La Coruna on the North West coast. We were hoping for some early morning Dolphins, given we were close in shore. But our main hope was the Bryde's Whale that Charlotte had seen the previous Autumn. She had been in touch with a local Whale-watching company and had heard that it was still around in the bay. As we got closer to La Coruna's bay, we could see lots of Gannets ahead and plunge-diving into the sea. Clearly, there were fish in the area. We picked up a pod of about twenty-five Short-billed Common Dolphins, then Charlotte shouted she had just see a large Whale surface amongst the Dolphins. We needed to get some photos to confirm its identification.

La Coruna Bay

Bryde's Whale: It was still distant, but we could see it was a large Whale

Bryde's Whale: A size comparison with one of the Short-beaked Common Dolphins to its right. It was a large Whale, but it didn't had the length or bulk of a Fin Whale. We needed to get some better photos

Within a couple of minutes, the Bryde's Whale was on view again. They have three prominent ridges on the rostrum, while similar species generally have a single ridge. The head is about twenty-five percent of the body length. The dorsal fin is tall, rises steeply, falcate, generally pointed at the tip and is often notched on the trailing edge. Males can be up to fifteen metres, with females about ten percent longer.

Bryde's Whale: While it is a large Whale, it hasn't got the bulk and length of a Fin Whale

Bryde's Whale: A harsh crop of the last photo. It has a pronounced broad-based dorsal fin with a smooth curve on leading edge, a pointed tip to the dorsal and it just appears to have a notch near the top of the back of the fin

Bryde's Whale: Fin Whales also have this smooth curve on the leading edge of the dorsal fin which rises at a shallower angle. Sei Whales have slender tall dorsal fin, with a distinctive kink halfway along the leading edge

Bryde's Whale: Sadly, the three ridges aren't a lot of use if you can't see the head

The title of this Blog Post suggests a romantic theme. But in reality, Bryde's Whale is named after the 19th Century Norwegian whaler, John Bryde, who was set up the first whaling stations in South Africa His name is pronounced and Bryde’s whale is pronounced as "BROO-dus".

Bryde's Whale: Based upon the dorsal fin shape and size, this looks good for the Bryde's Whale that had been hanging around La Coruna for the previous few months

Bryde's Whale: A harsh crop of the last photo. It has a pronounced dorsal fin with a smooth curve on leading edge, a pointed tip to the dorsal and a clear notch near the top of the back of the fin

La Coruna looked at interesting city with the Tower of Hercules Lighthouse and an interesting surrounding park containing a number of art statues.

The Tower of Hercules Lighthouse: The original Roman Lighthouse dates to the 1st Century. In 1788, the original Roman Lighthouse was protected by a new stone outer tower

The Tower of Hercules Lighthouse

The Spanish version of Stonehenge & Avebury

Horn anybody?

As always, we needed a pilot for the final entry into the port

The harbour wall breakwater: There was a light display on the green semi-circular arch

The Castelo de Santo Anton dates to the 16th Century

We stayed on deck looking to see what Birds we could see as we came into the port. This included fifteen Cormorants, a number of typical Gull species roosting on harbour docks and a Peregrine chasing Feral Pigeons over the town.

Cormorant: This is the continental sinensis subspecies which occurs from North & central Europe to South China. They winter as far South as South East Asia & Indonesia, as well as, being a common wintering species in the UK, alongside our native carbo subspecies

Coming into the cruise ship berth

La Coruna has these interesting glazed window balconies, called galerias: They were designed by naval architects for rainy days. Very soon, it became a popular style for town houses across this corner of Spain

This lovely old building is spoilt by the ugly glass monster next to it

To make up for the failure to get to the Azores, the passengers were going to have a day & a half in La Coruna. I'm sure some took the opportunity for a meal ashore on Valentine's Day.

The view over La Coruna after dark

11 Oct 23 - A Last Minute Visit to St Mary's With ORCA

A week earlier I had responded to a request for a replacement ORCA surveyor on a trip to St Mary's on 11 Oct. It didn't take more than a few seconds before I said I was available. I left early for the early hours' drive to Penzance: as there had been overnight road closure signs for October, when I drove down for the Cornish Northern Harrier. In the end, the road closures were restricted to a closure where I had to exit the A30 & immediately re-join the road. I was in Penzance nice & early for the sailing. As we got closer to the boarding time, the team leader, Phil Taylor & the third surveyor, Mike Taylor (no relation) appeared. it turns out that Mike had trained Phil, who had recently qualified as a team leader. Both lived in Cornwall & were very use to trips on the Scillonian.

We left on time & we quickly started the ORCA survey. The sea wasn't as choppy as I expected, but a stiff SW wind wasn't helping, especially as we were surveying from the outer bridge deck. But we managed to find positions on the outer bridge deck to survey from. The crossing out was good: I saw ten Short-beaked Common Dolphins and another five Dolphins that appeared too briefly to identify. There were still reasonable numbers of large Shearwaters with at least one hundred and fifteen Cory's Shearwaters, ten Great Shearwaters, two Sooty Shearwaters and a few Manx Shearwaters. There were another twenty five large Shearwaters sp. that I didn't spent more than a few seconds looking at, as we were there to survey for Cetaceans, not Seabirds. Other highlights included six Storm-petrels and an Arctic Skua. Fortunately, we encountered a mixed Shearwater flock off the Scillies, when I was the recorder: which allowed me the chance for a bit of photography.

A nice Shearwater montage: Sooty Shearwater, Great Shearwater & Cory's Shearwater

A close up of the Sooty Shearwater

Great Shearwater: I do like Great Shearwaters

Great Shearwater: It's always a treat to see them in UK waters

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater with a trailing Cory's Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater: It's unusual for Cory's Shearwaters to still be in Scillies waters in October

Cory's Shearwater: All the ones I looked at looked to be regular Cory's Shearwaters

We arrived at the Hugh Town quayside on time. This gave me about three hours for Birding on St Mary's. I said goodbye to the others, as we had all planned different activities for our time on St Mary's.

Coming into Hugh Town

I checked RBA on my mobile as we arrived and there were no major rarities on the islands. I decided to head out to check the Old Churchyard, before crossing Lower Moors & having a look at Porthloo Lane. This took in some of my favourite old stamping grounds when I used to stay on St Mary's back in the 80s. The island appeared very quiet and in that walk, I was disappointed to not even see a Warbler or Crest. The highlight was seeing my first White-speck that flew up from the churchyard, before landing again. Unfortunately, it hadn't settled down when it landed & was soon on its way again.

White-speck: I was struggling to figure out what this Moth was & wasn't surprised to find the reason why: is was a Moth Tick

I carried on & bumped into a small crowd by the ex-Old Town cafe. I hadn't bothered to pay any attention to where the scarce species were when I checked RBA, so I wasn't sure what was where on the islands. I asked the first Birder & got told, "It's on the fence". It was & it was a nice Wryneck sat fully in the open, until I raised the camera: at which point it flew into the back gardens of the bungalows. I wasn't going to hang around for longer views, so headed on to check the Lower Moors hide. Sure enough there was a Jack Snipe in front of the hide. No real surprise that one was on view, given this hide must be one of the best places in the country to see a Jack Snipe in the open.

Jack Snipe

Jack Snipe

After getting some photos, I carried on along the Lower Moors path. I wasn't surprised to note that only about five of the fifty plus Birders I saw that day were actually looking. I wonder what would be found if some actually looked, rather than just walking between somebody else's Birds. But that isn't much better than the twenty percent of people Birding on the islands that I remember from the 80s. But too be fair, there were probably more Birders looking elsewhere on the other islands, or they had already checked my route & moved on elsewhere on St Mary's. I bumped into a Spotted Flycatcher which was proof there were a few migrants tucked away on the island. I was running out of time, so I decided to knock the Birding on the head, pick up a coffee for the return journey and meet Phil & Mike on the quayside.

Mike Taylor (left) & Phil Taylor as we were leaving Hugh Town

The wind had eased and the skies were nice & overcast: which were helpful conditions for the survey. I saw another six Short-beaked Common Dolphins, a Risso's Dolphin & 2 Harbour Porpoises on the return trip.

Short-beaked Common Dolphin: The priority on seeing a Cetacean is to alert the recorder, note the angle from the ship's course and how far they are below the horizon on the ORCA binoculars (which have a vertical scale in the right eye-piece)

Short-beaked Common Dolphin: Having passed the details of the species, number of individuals, their initial position, course & behaviour to the recorder, there is rarely time for any photographs. So, it was nice to be able to get a couple of shots of one of the Short-beaked Common Dolphins

Again, there were over a hundred Cory's Shearwaters, along with a handful of Great Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters, Manx Shearwaters, two Storm-petrels and a Bonxie.

Sooty Shearwater: This Sooty Shearwater wasn't impressed that the Scillonian was heading straight for it

Far too quickly, we could see Mousehole and the survey was coming to an end as the light gave out. It had been a long, but enjoyable day. We had been lucky with the weather on the return trip, as the forecast was for rain setting in during the late afternoon. Fortunately, the timing worked out perfectly and the rain didn't set in until I reached the chippy at the Hayle. The rain didn't ease for the rest of the drive back to Dorset. With two sets of road closures and over an hour of diversions, then I ended up getting home a lot later than planned. Still better the diversions were on the return trip, than the drive to Penzance.