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.

8 Apr 20 - Finally Some Butterflies #BWKM0

Normally, I see my first individuals from the study on the flowers in my neighbour's garden when there is a small suntrap. But those flowers went over & their gardener tidied them, before I saw any Butterflies. In some years, I see the first individuals in late Feb or Mar, but typically the first individuals are seen in early Apr. So, this year was fairly normal. From early Apr, I was seeing Butterflies flying past, but not stopping. I failed to confirm their identification, but suspect they were Commas. Finally, on 7 Apr, I saw my first identified Butterflies: Comma & Large White.

Comma: Alner's Gorse (27 Jul 14)

Large White: Swanage (12 Aug 14)

Finally, I had two Butterflies on the #BWKM0 List, but this increased to five by the end of 8 Apr as the temperatures had finally started rising.

Brimstone: A male seen flying past from the study was great as they aren't annual. Fontmell Down (30 Jul 14)

Peacock: A look at the garden at lunchtime produced the first Peacock. St Aldhelms (20 Jul 14)

Holly Blue: There were no surprises when I saw the first Holly Blue as this is one of my commoner species given, I have allowed the amount of Ivy to increase significantly since I moved in. This was photographed in the garden (6 May 15)

Check tomorrow to see what the B in #BWKM0 stands for, in the next day's wildlife sighting when I will be confined at #BWKM0.

14 Jul 18 - A Local Hairstreak

For the last few years I've planned to look for a local speciality: White-letter Hairstreak. Numbers of this easily overlooked Butterfly crashed in the 1970s & early 1980s when Dutch Elm disease swept through the UK & wiped out most of the UK's Elm trees within a decade. I've been aware of a local site for a few years, but I have never managed to find a combination of suitable weather & my availability at weekends within the flying period. My friend who discovered this site has generally only seen them flying high around the Elms & has only seen one low down nectaring, so this has been another factor in the priority to have a look. Having been unable to get out for the last few days to the site, this morning was another hot, still day & so I suggested to mate, Peter Moore that we gave it a look. Peter picked me up late morning & a few minutes later we were leaving the parked car. There was a bit of a hike along footpaths before getting to the actual site. Once there we spread out to check a large patch of Thistles where they had been seen before. No joy in the patch of Thistles I started checking, but a whistle from Peter suggested a more positive outcome where he was. I swiftly walked over, but I didn't really need to hurry as it was still nectaring when we left about an hour later. Given there are well known sites in Dorset, this site will remain as a vague Swanage site, although Peter & I will forward details of the sighting to the county recorder. Having had problems with collectors at Map Butterflies site, then I won't be broadcasting specific, but not well known, sites of other locally rare Butterflies.

White-letter Hairstreak: Initial views

White-letter Hairstreak: Good mystery photo

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak: It spent a fair bit of time upside down to frustrate the photographers. It worked as I went looking for another, but failed to find one

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak: I'm assuming with this body shape that this is a female

There was a good selection of other Butterflies present. In total I saw thirteen species there. A Holly Blue in my garden was a fourteenth species for the day.

Small Copper

Brown Argus

Peacock

Painted Lady: It was good to see such a pristine individual

Silver-washed Fritillary

One of the problems I though of as I was walking to the site was how to identify an Elm tree. Given their relatively scarcity then it was a tree I wasn't familiar with. Fortunately, Peter knew. He said they had a distinctive asynchronous leaf shape.

The distinctive asynchronous Elm Leaf shape

Not bad for an hour of looking for local Butterflies.

22 Dec 16 - Happy Christmas 2016

Just a quick seasonal photo to wish all the readers of the Blog a Happy Christmas & good break leading up to the New Year. In case any of you think a photo of a Peacock Butterfly isn't particularly seasonal, then I took this in the sunshine at Studland's Brands Bay hide on 22 Dec with the iphone camera. Peacocks overwinter as adults & potentially can fly in any of the winter months if the weather is warm enough & there is some sunshine. The first one I saw in 2015 was only a quarter of a mile away at Greenlands Farm on 16 Jan 2015.

Peacock Butterfly: Brands Bay

But being honest, the weather wasn't that typical for the date. As I write this on 23 Dec, it has just started to rain & the wind is getting steadily stronger as Dorset sees the outer edges of Storm Barbara. A more seasonal December day.

24 Oct 15 - Happy Second Birthday

Happy second birthday to the Blog. In keeping with last birthday, here are my favourite Posts from each of the thirteen months/part months over that last year. On the first Birding trip with the camera, two years ago I was lucky to photograph a Pallid Swift at Stanpit & later to see, but not photograph, a Pallas's Warbler at Studland. On the second birthday for the Blog it is perhaps fitting that I should see the other Eastern striped jewel, a Yellow-browed Warbler, feeding in my garden: only my second garden record after one heard last Autumn in a neighbour's garden. It is ironic that this Yellow-browed Warbler disappeared as I grabbed the camera. So I will start the first with the last Post in Oct of the one of the three Yellow-browed Warblers I saw at Studland last year.

Yellow-browed Warbler: Knoll Beach, Studland (31 Oct 14)

November was the most difficult month to select a single Post as I spent the first three weeks in the Pacific visiting Tahiti, Pitcairn, Henderson Island & the other uninhabited islands looking for Tuamotu Sandpipers & other endemic Pacific landbirds as well as a good selection of Seabirds. I still have a backlog of photos to sort through from the final week when I get time. It is very difficult to find a single Post that stands out beyond the others with some many great Birds, Cetaceans & Green Turtles seen, as well as, the visit to Pitcairn island. But I have narrowed it down to two great characters.

The Sweet-toothed (Tuamotu) Sandpiper: Strange to imagine that a Wader will be sipping nectar. Tenararo, French Polynesia (12 Nov 14)

Atoll Fruit-dove: Tenararo, French Polynesia (12 Nov 14)

I didn't get out Birding much in Dec until after Christmas when I started to watch Studland more. The clear Dorset highlight occurred on New Years Eve when I found a male Green-winged Teal at Brands Bay. It, along with an overwintering Great White Egret & an elusive Black Guillemot, were some of the reasons to spur me on to have a go at the Studland/Ballard patch Year List. Frustratingly, it didn't reappear in 2015 despite a lot of seaching on near every day in Jan.

Green-winged Teal: With a male Teal on the left. Brands Bay (31 Dec 14)

With the last minute decision to go for a Studland/Ballard patch Year List then it is not surprising that the year will largely revolve around highlights of the patch. I managed to get out somewhere in the patch on all, but three, days of Jan. As a result, I had stunning start to the Year List with an end of Jan total of 123 BOU species. I also saw my first Butterfly of the year: a Peacock at Greenlands Farm on 16 Jan. My previous best patch Year List was 176 (BOU) in 2009. I set myself an ambitious target of 180 species & after seeing the Peacock, I set a second target of at least one Butterfly seen in each month of the year. Currently, the patch Year List is on 179 with over nine weeks before the end of the year. Additionally, I've seen at least one Butterfly in each month so far. I reckon it will be fairly easy to see a Nov Butterfly, but Dec will be the tricky month.

Peacock: One of the highlights of the Jan Round Up of the Studland/Ballard Year List. Greenlands Farm (16 Jan 15)

One of the unexpected species that I saw in Jan on the patch was a Great Grey Shrike which was found by a local Birder on 24 Jan. I managed to see it that afternoon, but the views & photos weren't great. My third sighting was near Pilots Point after it shifted to the South Haven end of the Studland Peninisula. It was surprisingly approachable on this occasion.

Great Grey Shrike: South Haven (21 Feb 15)

March is always a month when the first of the Spring migrants arrive & so it was great to see a couple of Black Redstarts on Ballard Down on the first weekend. The first migrants are few & far between, but always a sign that Birds are on the move & more will be on their way soon.

Black Redstart: Ballard Down (7 Mar 15)

April started off with more migrants on the patch & then out of the blue, news of the UK's second Great Blue Heron on St Mary's. It soon disappeared, but fortunately, was refound on Bryher. As a result, conditions for set for one of those memorable day trip twitches to Scillies with mates Peter Moore & Richard Webb.

Great Blue Heron: Byrher (18 Apr 15)

In May, I managed to join one of the Christchurch Natterjack Toad night walks. This was the only native Amphibian I had never seen. Fortunately, we we lucky to see four Natterjack Toads, as well as, large numbers of their tadpoles. A great evening out & a very informative leader. I would recommend the trip to anybody else who wanted to try & see this great species at its only Dorset site.

Natterjack Toad: Hengistbury Head (May 15)

By June, the patch had become very quiet as all the migrants were long gone & all the breeding species were well into their breeding seasons. But it was a hectic month for me at home as I had to empty the living room to allow the builder to lay a new floor, sort out damp problems & have some rewiring done while the room was being gutted. As a result, the appearance of a Cretzschmar's Bunting on Bardsey was worrying, but the prompt disappearance was good news, given the amount of emptying work I was doing around the house. I was more dismayed when the the Cretzschmar's Bunting reappeared & seemed to have settled down. The prospect of a long drive to North Wales with the uncertainty of whether I could even get on the boat over was not appealing. Then I heard the Ewan Urquhart was organising a charter over & there was a place on the boat for me, as he had had to defer the sailing due to bad weather. I cleared it with the boss to have a day off at short notice & it was game on for the second memorable twitch of the year. A great day that went perfectly with nice bonuses of a Thrift Clearwing, some playful Bottle-nosed Dolphins, local Seabirds & good companions on the charter.

Cretzschmar's Bunting: The second memorable twitch of the year (18 June 15)

I had a short trip to Turkey planned while some of the work was going on in the living room as the house wasn't going to be habitable during the early part of the work. I've yet to write up most of the trip, but here is something to wet your appetite for when I do.

Bruce's Scops Owl: It took us about ten minutes of looking to see this Birecik speciality. Initially, it was watching us, but then bored with the appearance of another group of photographers, it fell asleep again. This must be the most photographed Bruce's Scops Owl family in the Western Palearctic. One of the highlights of the week's trip (2 July 15)

Having successfully completed a six month contract in London, then I had the funds to allow myself to take the Autumn off & enjoy the Birding. Not surprisingly, this focused mainly on the Studland/Ballard patch. One of the highlights of the month occurred off the patch, when news of a Black Stork seen flying off from Arne, broke late in the afternoon. With little to go on local Birder, Nick Hopper, & I were quickly out looking to see if we could relocate it. After about thirty minutes of looking, I jammed into it as it flew out of the Wareham Channel area towards Middlebere. Less than ten local Birders managed to connect with it that evening, but those who got out early the following morning were able to enjoy it before it headed off West.

Black Stork: Great to finally get this tricky species on the Dorset & Poole Harbour Lists. With a couple of Spoonbills in the Middlebere Channel (8 Aug 15)

Despite some great Birding on the Studland/Ballard patch, it was the Acadian Flycatcher twitch that will stand out for many, including myself, as the clear highlight of Sep. When the news broke it was an Empidonax Flycatcher sp. at Dungeness and it was a bit of a gamble about should I go or wait to see if there was a clearer idea of what species it might be. Had it been East Anglia, I might have waited on news, but Dunge was my old late teens stamping ground whenever there was a school holiday & I was quick to team up with local mate & ex-Kent Birder, Marcus Lawson, to go for it. Marcus did a sterling job of getting us cross country after a few problems with the roads that day, whilst examining the photos on twitter. His feelings of Acadian or Yellow-bellied Flycatcher were encouraging (especially as it wasn't an Alder Flycatcher) & after seeing it, we came home thinking Acadian was the most likely fit. Thanks to Martin Collinson (see 30 Sep 15 tweet), we now know if you have purple DNA/poo you might be an Acadian Flycatcher.

Acadian Flycatcher: A stunning out of the blue record. Dungeness (22 Sep 15)

The highlight of the first three weeks of Oct has to be the Wilson's Warbler twitch. Another memorable island trip & my first visit to the island of Lewis & Harris. I'm sure it won't be my last. There is still more to appear on the follow on return visit to North Uist.

Wilson's Warbler: I'm always happy when I can combine a trip for a good Bird on one of the Hebrides with a few days of general Western Isles Birding. More of the trip to come in the next few Posts. Port Nis, Lewis (15 Oct 15) 

I am pleased to see I passed the 100,000 hits on 11 Oct 15. So a big thank you for all the people following the Blog. I hope you have enjoyed it & the photos so far & will continue to look at & enjoy the Posts going forward.