2 Apr 20 - Two Additions To The Lockdown Bird List #BWKM0

A good day with a flyover Lesser Black-backed Gull: which aren't seen annually over the house. Nearly all the Gulls over my house are the Herring Gulls or Black-headed Gulls. I'm sure Lesser Black-backed Gulls pass through every now & then, but as they don't hang around, most get missed.

Lesser Black-backed Gull: At sea off Portugal from the Plancius (7 May 18)

In addition, I had heard a Song Thrush singing in the distance. I'm pretty sure I had heard one at the start of the Lockdown, but I erred on the side of caution & waiting for another confirmed record. They are a fairly regular species, but sadly they are uncommon locally & erratically seen or heard. The only time I saw them more regularly was when a pair nested in the Clematis above the back door in the early 2000s. Once the youngsters had hatched the family quickly moved on & the status quo of erratic visits restarted.

Song Thrush: Only heard, but I suspect I will see one before the end of the Lockdown. Old Harry (1 Jun 14)

It was good to get a couple of extra Lockdown garden/house Ticks. Check tomorrow to see the next day's wildlife sighting at when I will be confined at #BWKM0.

9 May 18 - West African Pelagic - Day Nine: Feeding Frenzy In Biscay

After my lazy day the previous day, I was on deck at first light & enjoying the sunrise in the Southern part of the Bay of Biscay. It was flat calm & still conditions: perfect for Cetaceans. I was scanning hard in the outside hope of a Pygmy Sperm Whale or another Dwarf Sperm Whale, given the perfect conditions: but it was too long a shot. Still it was a great few hours on deck enjoying the unusually flat in the Bay of Biscay.

Sunrise over Spanish Biscay

It's fairly rare to see the Bay of Biscay like this

The plan for the day was we would sail North East from the South Western corner of the Bay of Biscay, before turning North. I do not have a copy of the route, but I suspect we were still to the West of the route that the Santander ferries take from the UK. Although the forecast at first light was for still conditions, we knew the seas would be getting significantly choppier during the day, as there was a front forecast for later in the day. Before breakfast, we encountered a Fin Whale & our first pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins.

Fin Whale: Initially, all we saw was a large back

Fin Whale: When it resurfaced, it was possible to see the dorsal fin shape to confirm the identification

Short-beaked Common Dolphin: A small pod put on a close display. It is a pity the early morning light was really harsh

Short-beaked Common Dolphins

By late morning or early afternoon, we had left Spanish waters & entered French waters: another country visited, even if we didn't set foot on land. By this time, the seas were choppier, but it wasn't too bad on deck. We spotted a couple of feeding parties of Short-beaked Common Dolphins during the afternoon & changed course a bit to get closer before stopping. As often happens at Dolphin feeding frenzies in the Bay of Biscay, we first picked the feeding party up by spotting diving Gannets and as we got closer, we found good numbers of Manx Shearwaters, as well as, ones or twos of Sooty Shearwaters, Fulmars, Storm-petrels, Puffins, Arctic Skuas, Lesser Black-backed Terns, Kittiwakes & Arctic Terns.

A Gannet & 2 Manx Shearwaters look on as a Short-beaked Common Dolphin dives underwater

Gannet, Manx Shearwater & Short-beaked Common Dolphin

Short-beaked Common Dolphin

Short-beaked Common Dolphin

Short-beaked Common Dolphin

There were a good selection of Seabirds in the feeding frenzy.

Manx Shearwater

Manx Shearwater

Gannet: Adult. There were at least eighty in the feeding frenzy

Puffin: Immature. This distant immature Puffin was one of two I saw in the Dolphin & Seabird frenzy

Lesser Black-backed Gull: There was a lone in the frenzy

Kittiwake: Adult. My first Kittiwake from the Plancius

Arctic Tern: We had seen them regularly on the Plancius from St Helena onwards. However, this was the first individual I had seen close enough to photograph

7 May 18 - West African Pelagic - Day Seven: Fin Whale Off The Portuguese Coast

First light saw the Plancius a couple of hours away from the Portuguese coast. We closed a bit, but stayed around twenty to thirty miles off the coast as we headed North. This kept us in deep water, but only one to two kilometres deep. The weather was less clement with more overcast conditions & rain showers during the morning. Before breakfast, we were lucky to pick up a Fin Whale, which passed close down the starboard side of the Plancius. It was only the second one I had seen since boarding the Plancius, with the first being on the first day at sea off the Argentinian coast.

Fin Whale: We had already seen it was a large Whale. With this gently sloping dorsal fin, it suggested a Fin Whale

Fin Whale: The ridge around the blow hole is on the right-hand side of the photo

Fin Whale: There is a lot of back behind the blow hole

Fin Whale: With the blow hole dropping below the surface, the dorsal fin finally appearing

Fin Whale: A better view of the dorsal fin

Fin Whale: It soon disappeared below the surface

Fortunately, it quickly resurfaced again. Fin Whales are the second largest Whale, with Northern hemisphere Fin Whales growing to 24 metres & Southern hemisphere individuals growing to 27 metres. Blue Whales are larger still, growing to 27 metres in the Northern hemisphere & 29 metres in the Southern hemisphere. Blue Whales are bulkier than Fin Whales. Fin Whales can weight up to 120 tons, compared to 135 tons for Blue Whales.

Fin Whale: A view of part of the back in front of the dorsal fin as it resurfaced

Fin Whale: A clearer view of the dorsal fin profile

Fin Whale: A final view of part of the back behind the dorsal fin

We were entering into major shipping lanes for the first time since leaving Ushuaia & saw a number of large ships. Another sign that our time on the Plancius was slowly coming to an end.

It was quite a hazy day at times as this distance ship shows

Gannet: I saw around fifteen during the day

Curlew: This Curlew was the the only Curlew I saw from the Plancius

Bonxie: This was one of two Bonxies that I saw during the day

Arctic Skua: This Arctic Skua raced across the bows & quickly headed away

Lesser Black-backed Gull: We saw several parties of Lesser Black-backed Gulls & Yellow-legged Gulls moving North. There were all flying faster than eleven knots as they steadily overtook us before disappearing into the distance

Lesser Black-backed Gull: After overtaking us, this party then settled onto the water

Lesser Black-backed Gull: An individual from an earlier party than overtook us

Lesser Black-backed Gull: These were the first Lesser Black-backed Gulls I had seen since leaving the UK in mid Feb

One of the less predicted species for the day were a couple of Turtle Doves which appeared around the Plancius before breakfast. They were flying around the Plancius & presumably landing. However, given the number of occasions they were seen in flight, the chances are that some of the photographers couldn't leave them along. I am not a fan of chasing after Birds on boats, as they have generally been forced to land as they are needing a break. Being forced to fly again in these circumstances by uncaring photographers is wrong. I grabbed a few photos on one occasion as they flew past the bridge wing.

Turtle Dove: A female Yellow Wagtail & a couple of Reed Warblers were also seen at various times on the Plancius

Collared Dove: The following day, the two Turtles Doves were replaced by two Collared Doves. They stay aboard for most of the day having arrived off the Portuguese & travelling North to off the Spanish coast (8 May 18)

Striped Dolphin: There were several pods of Striped Dolphins & Short-beaked Common Dolphins seen during the day, but none gave particularly good views. Even these three Striped Dolphins which came close were quickly lost

There were a couple of interesting Fish seen during the day. The first was an Atlantic White Marlin which passed closed down the starboard side. The second a distant Basking Shark & our only one of the trip. This meant I had seen both the largest & second largest Cetaceans, Blue Whale & Fin Whale, as well as the largest & second largest Sharks, Whale Shark & Basking Shark, since I boarded the Plancius in Ushuaia. I had only seen Fin Whales before. Unfortunately, the Basking Shark was too far out for any worthwhile photos.

Atlantic White Marlin: This was identified as an Atlantic White Marlin

Although we couldn't see the land, it was obvious that we had come closer to people, given the increase in marine rubbish.

Large polystyrene rubbish: This will be really bad news for wildlife as it continues to breakdown

A carelessly discarded balloon: Bad news for anything that accidentally eats it, especially when it becomes deflated. This was already twenty to thirty miles offshore

Another deathtrap for any Seabird, Cetacean, Seal, large Fish or Turtle that gets caught in this mass of ropes

The wind got up stronger overnight & increased to a twenty to thirty knot headwind. The sea state also became choppy. We were heading up the Northern Portuguese coast and crossing into Spanish seas. It wasn't as pleasant on deck & with little chance of seeing any interesting Cetaceans in the sea conditions, I decided I deserved a long overdue rest day. I did miss the first Long-finned Pilot Whales which appeared briefly, but we saw those better once we entered the Bay of Biscay on 9 May. I had been spending eleven to twelve hours on deck every day for most of the last few weeks. So, it was a treat to have a long lie in, followed by a day of mainly sorting photos from the Observation lounge & catching up on washing some clothes. There were laundry services on the Plancius which I used for some items, but I wasn't prepared to hand over the more precious Rohan clothing (they are easily ruined if ironed in error). I grabbed one of the seats by the window, which still allowed me to keep an eye on what was happening outside. There were good numbers of Gannets & similar Seabirds to the previous day. At one point, a pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins came alongside for some bow-waving. The highlight for me was the Collared Doves & the only species I photographed when I went on deck during the afternoon.

27 July 14 - Digiscoping A Big Flock of Big Egrets

I still had a couple of hours of warm weather left on the Somerset Levels, so the obvious next place was Ashcott Corner. The car park allows you to walk West to the Shapwick Heath national nature reserve or East to the RSPB Ham Walls reserve. This whole area is well worth a visit, especially in the Spring when there are a number of pairs of booming Bitterns to be heard. This has been an area where the habitat has been improved & as a result it has become incredibly good for Birds. I decided to try Ham Walls as I had only been here once before.

Glastonbury Tor: Just to prove I'm still in Somerset (see last post for the reasons for the photo)

After a half mile walk, I reached a viewing position on the left & a series of hides on the right side of the main track which I hadn't visited before. A few typical Waterbirds from the hides, but otherwise fairly quiet. Still it was late afternoon & not the best time for bird activity.

Cormorant

Gadwall

 Coot: Juvenile

Lesser Black-backed Gull: With Mallards

There were also some fairly typical Butterflies & Dragonflies on the wing, although as many were commoner species, I resisted the temptation to get too carried away with photographing them.

Red Admiral

Red-eyed Damselfly: A species I struggle to photograph well due to their insistence of sitting well away from the water's edge

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly: Female. Note, the bomb markings on the abdomen

Carrying on along the main track for another half mile brought me to the second viewing position on the left hand side of the main track. Here there is a large open area of shallow water surrounded by reeds.

The view from the second viewing position

There was more bird activity here, including 5 Grey Herons and 5 white Egrets: 4 big & 1 small. With most of my birding in Poole Harbour, I am very used to seeing Little Egrets as the commonest (& only Egret). I've seen one Great White Egret in the Harbour. But here was a party of 4 Great White Egrets, with a lone Little Egret for size comparison. This area of the Somerset Levels is one of the best places in the UK to see Great White Egrets these days. Once a national rarity, I assume they are now resident here.

Great White Egret: Individual 1 (Always kept to left of lagoon on its own with black legs & orange bill)

Great White Egret: Individuals 2, 3 & 4 with 2 Mute Swans & a scattering of Mallards

Great White Egret: Individual 2 (Black legs & dark tip to bill)

Great White Egret: Individuals 3 & 4 (Note Individual 3 has black breeding season legs, whereas Individual 4 is already going back to orange winter legs)

This was a good excuse to have another go at getting used to digiscoping (using my Leica scope & Iphone). A lot of people have written in other blogs about their digiscoping experiences, but I've not seen anybody using a Leica scope yet. So I'm still learning. One of the things that is really easy to do on the Canon 7D is to change the exposure to under expose large white birds like Egrets & Spoonbills. This is more of a challenge on digiscoping. However, I've just searched on the internet & found it is possible to change the auto exposure light settings. Wish I had looked this up before trying to photograph these Egrets. Still I will know this for next time. When looking at the image you are planning on photographing, tap & hold on the part of the image on the screen you want to correctly set the exposure for, until a message 'AE/AF Lock' appears. At that point, the camera should be compensating the exposure correctly on your chosen subject. A quick tap on the screen will clear this & go back to exposure setting for the overall picture. As I didn't know this then most of my Great White Egrets photos were overexposed. But the following 3 photos of Individual 1 came out OK, using the normal Iphone exposure settings.

Great White Egret: Individual 1 (digiscoping)

Great White Egret: Individual 1 (digiscoping)

Great White Egret: Individual 1 (digiscoping)

Little Egret

Clearly, still got a lot of practice to get some decent results. But to compare it, here is the first Canon 7D photo of Individual 1 blown up. It really isn't as good at the digiscoping photos.

Great White Egret: Canon 7D of Individual 1 - The first picture with a very tight crop & blow up

Also I'm using the Canon editing software, which allows me to adjust the exposure settings for the picture. What it doesn't allow me to do is to select part of the photo e.g. the Great White Egret & selectively change the exposure on that part of the photo. This is a good example of where some additional editing software might help. But I'm trying not to spend even more money on this photography hobby at the moment. So the next stage will be trying to get the exposure correct on the Iphone when digiscoping.