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.

3 Jul 15 - Turkey - Early Morning At Birecik

We couldn't get a pre-dawn breakfast at the hotel, so Soner & I found something basic at a street stall in Birecik. We had succeeded in seeing Iraq Babbler, Bruce's Scops Owl, Desert Finch and some nice Sparrow species on the previous afternoon. That still left quite a few species I hadn't seen them since the 1986 Turkish trip, that I would have liked to look for on my final morning. The main species were See-see Partridge, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Menetries's Warbler, Kurdish Wheatear and Cinereous Bunting. The first three were possible to see in the Birecik area and Soner had a site for Cinereous Bunting on the route back. Unfortunately, the Kurdish Wheatear would have meant an early start to get to the best site and I wouldn't have had the time to do any more Birding at Birecik and still be back in Adana for the late afternoon check in at the airport. As none of them were Ticks, I decided to try for all, but the Kurdish Wheatear. Our first location was to look for the See-see Partridges by driving the sandy road on the North East side of Birecik towards Birecik Dam, before too many other cars were heading that way. It didn't take long before we bumped into the first of several See-see Partridges.

See-see Partridge: A Male feeding on the road until we stopped, when it legged it and then sat on distant rocks

See-see Partridge: Male

See-see Partridge: Male. This monotypic species occurs from arid South East Turkey & the Middle East to South West Russia & Pakistan

See-see Partridge: Male

See-see Partridge: Male

See-see Partridge: Male

See-see Partridge: Male

See-see Partridge: Pair

See-see Partridge: Pair

It's not surprising that we also saw a Turtle Dove and a few Collared Doves on this drive.

Turtle Dove: This is the nominate turtur subspecies which occurs on the Azores, the Canary Islands & from Europe to West Siberia & Kazakhstan

Turtle Dove: It was good to see this species which is now a notable species to bump into on migration in Dorset

Collared Dove: This is the nominate decaocto subspecies which occurs from Europe to the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka, West China & Korea. They have been introduced in North America, the Caribbean & Mexico

Olive groves between Birecik and Birecik Dam

We carried on North along the sandy road until we reached the Birecik Dam. I was disappointed to find there was little reed edging to the dam, which would limit the expansion of the Iraq Babbler population around Birecik.

A wet corner by the Birecik Dam

Birecik Dam holds water back on the River Euphrates for about fifteen miles

A close inspection of this photo shows this village is abandoned: A couple of the buildings are partly underwater and there are no windows in any of the buildings

Pygmy Cormorant: The monotypic species occurs in inland lakes & rivers of South East Europe to central Asia

Syrian Woodpecker: This monotypic species occurs from South East Europe to Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Transcaucasia & Iran

Swallow: This is the nominate rustica subspecies which occurs from Europe & North Africa to West Asia and winters in Sub-Saharan Africa & South Asia

Red-rumped Swallow: Not a great photo, but it shows their distinctive shape well

Red-rumped Swallow: This is the rufula subspecies which occurs from the Iberian Peninsula to North Africa, Iran, Afghanistan & North West India

Sombre Tit: This is the anatoliae subspecies which occurs from South Greece to Turkey, West Georgia, Armenia, North Iraq & North West Iran

Sombre Tit

Sombre Tit

Sombre Tit

Yellow-vented Bulbul: This monotypic species occurs from coastal South Turkey to the Near East, the Sinai Peninsula & Arabia

Yellow-vented Bulbul: This species was called Yellow-vented Bulbul when I first saw it in 1986 and I've kept with that name, despite Clements & IOC renaming it to White-spectacled Bulbul

Yellow-vented Bulbul: The pale yellow vent is visible, which is a feature which is shared with several other Bulbul species

Black-headed Bunting: Male. This monotypic species occurs from Italy & the Balkans, Greece & Turkey to South East Ukraine, South West Russia & the Caucasus, to North Israel, North Jordan, North West Syria, North Iraq & Iran to India

Yellow-throated Sparrow: This is the transfuga subspecies which occurs from South East Turkey to Iraq, South Iran, South Pakistan & North West India

Turkish Wasp sp.

This attractive large boulder almost looks like an Agama Lizard's head

One closer inspection, the eye is actually a nest: Soner thought this was an Eastern Rock Nuthatch nest. We only saw Eastern Rock Nuthatches in the Birecik area, albeit both are in range according to eBird

A final habitat photo

After a couple of hours on the tracks North of Birecik and Birecik Dam, we headed back into town and found some breakfast near the Bald Ibis captive breeding centre. There was a Roughtail Rock Agama in the cafe's garden.

Roughtail Rock Agama: This is the widespread and common Agama in Turkey

Roughtail Rock Agama: Head and shoulders

After some breakfast in Birecik, we headed off West for an hour to our final Birding site in Turkey to look for Cinereous Buntings.

There were Olive groves in some parts of the journey to Gaziantep

Very uninspiring tower blocks on the edge of Gaziantep

A large mosque on the edge of Gaziantep

A Silk Road Camel Caravan alongside the main road through Gaziantep

A second Silk Road Camel Caravan alongside the main road through Gaziantep: It's a pity there was nowhere to pull off to take some better photos of these statues

We only had another fifteen miles to travel before we reached our final Birding site at Durnalik. I will cover that in the next and final Turkish Blog Post.