24 Jan 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 5 - A Shore Run In Gibraltar

After three days at sea, we were excited to be visiting Gibraltar: our first shore run on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise. The Spirit of Adventure was docking as it was getting light, so there was no chance for any surveying before we reached Gibraltar. The ship cleared immigration during breakfast and we were told we were free to head ashore for the day, up to 16:30 when we had to be back on the ship.

This was my first time in the British Overseas Territory

Gibraltar has been a British Overseas Territory since 1713. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Relationships between the territory and Spain have often been difficult, but the Gibraltar population have strongly demonstrated their wish to remain a British territory in referendums in 1967 and 2002. Movement across the border has sometimes been suspended by the Spanish. There is plenty of irony that Spain has two small territories, Ceuta and Melilla, that it has retained on the Northern Morocco coast. Currently, there are discussions for Gibraltar to join the Schengen area, albeit those discussions have not achieved an agreement over the past two years.

It was only a short walk from the port, to the edge of the original town walls: Unusually for a British Territory or ex-British colony, the traffic has been driving on the wrong side of the road for near a century now. But it makes sense given the land border with Spain

Chiffchaff: There were a few migrant Chiffchaffs in the trees by the port

Gibraltar is just over three miles long. At the widest it is about a mile and a half, but it is only that wide because the port has been extended out into the surrounding waters. More typically, it is about a mile wide at the Northern end and it rapidly tapers to its narrow Southern tip. The whole territory is dominated by the Rock which is four hundred and twenty-six metres high.

I didn't expect to see a Great White Shark on this visit

The Rock has constrained the town to be largely on the Western side, although there are some coastal houses on the Eastern side of the Rock. The current population is just under forty thousand.

The Grand Casemate Gates

Grand Casement Square lies behind the entrance arches

Some recognisable features from home

An Edward VII post box

A Monument to the Royal Engineers: The Royal Engineers have been associated with Gibraltar since 1704

A memorial to the Royal Regiment of Artillery: The Royal Regiment of Artillery were based at Gibraltar from 1704 to 1990

Part of the main shopping street: There were a lot of duty free shop signs in the street

After a few minutes' walk along the main shopping street, we turned left and started to walk uphill towards the entrance road to the Rock

The houses occupy nearly all of the available space on the hillside

Even the smallest of spaces can be converted into gardens

The path goes past this stunning Octopus artwork

After a ten to fifteen minute walk up the hill, we reached the Moorish Castle and the entrance to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve. The entrance fee is twenty-five Gibraltar pounds, which is set to parity with Sterling. While it isn't a cheap entrance fee, it does include the entrance to the various attractions within the Nature Reserve. Terry & Karen had both visited the area on previous Saga Cruises as part of the ORCA team and they weren't fussed about another visit. As it was the first visit for Lexie and myself, we decided to have a look around. We couldn't cover the whole of the area and there is enough to make another visit worthwhile, if I'm chosen by ORCA to survey this route on a future trip.

The Moorish Castle marks the border between the housing area and the Rock

Looking over the bay towards Spain past the Moorish Castle

Queen Charlotte's Battery: This gun battery dating to 1727 is next to the Moorish Castle

There are a number of roads and walking trails within the Gibraltar Nature Reserve

The road goes up past the WW2 Tunnels Museum. We decided to have a look around the Museum on the return journey. A few minutes later, we reached the Military Heritage Centre a bit higher up the Rock. This had some excellent views over the Northern end of Gibraltar.

Princess Caroline's Battery: This was built in 1732 and named after the daughter of George II. It was modernised in 1905

This old historical cannon dominated the landscape

Looking across the bay to Spain

Looking South, it's possible to see Africa in the distance: The nearest point of Africa is only thirteen miles from the Southern tip of Gibraltar

A historical Naval building

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Lyme Bay was tied up on one of the quays.

RFA Lyme Bay (A3007): A little bit of Dorset in Gibraltar

RFA Lyme Bay (A3007)

The airport is squeezed in a small area of flat land immediately North of the Rock. The road across the runway is open to traffic and pedestrians, when there aren't planes using it. The Spanish border is about a quarter mile to the North of the runway and next to the airport terminal.

The runway with the small airport building in the top right hand side of the photo

The Spanish border is visible at the top of the photo

Pedestrians being held as there was an EasyJet plane getting ready to take off

The runway road reopened once this EasyJet plane had left and a BA flight had arrived

Limited time was a problem during the day and it was time to keep pushing further into the Nature Reserve.

A view of the habitat: Sardinian Warblers were the commonest species in this habitat, but they were typically skulky

It would be interesting to visit in the migration season

Montbretia: There were a few stands of Montbretia in the Nature Reserve

Finally, we encountered a party of the famous Rock Apes or to give them their proper names Barbary Macaques. It is thought they were introduced by the Moors in Medieval times. There was a saying that when the Rock Apes disappear from Gibraltar, then the British would also leave. Churchill was worried enough about their declining numbers during WW2, that he ordered more to be sent to the Territory. The population is now stable with around two hundred and fifty to three hundred individuals.

Barbary Macaque: There were seven Barbary Macaques hanging around their regular area, which is so regular that it is shown on Googlemaps as the Apes Den

Barbary Macaque: Like most of the species of Macaques that I've seen, they have adapted to hanging around public areas and scrounging food off the public, despite the signs asking the public not to feed them

Barbary Macaque: The Gibraltar population is stable, but the wild population in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco is declining

There are historic gun batteries from various eras scattered throughout the Rock

This carved hole is a Healy's Mortar built in 1771: It was designed to be able to throw about one thousand stones, each weighing about a pound, onto attacking forces. It failed when most fell on the fortress rather than the attacking forces

Lexie and I ran into a couple from the ship who were returning from further into the reserve. They mentioned it was worth continuing as there was an excellent cave display at St Michael's Cave, which was another half mile along the road. This was going to eat into the time we had left, but it was time well spent. St Michael's Cave has been in use since Roman times. The British used it to protect the citizens during bombardment by Spanish and French ships during the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779. Eventually, the siege was broken in 1783. In WWII, it was used as an ammunition store and emergency hospital. It is now used as an underground concert hall.

St Michael's Cave

St Michael's Cave: We had only been there for a few minutes when a superb light & music show began

There was a fantastic light and music show in the cave. It was a shame they weren't playing some of Jean Michal Jarre's excellent compositions, given the way Jarre has combined music and light shows in the unique one-off concerts he has put on over the years in some of the world's most iconic locations.

St Michael's Cave: This looks like it would be a superb location for a concert

St Michael's Cave

St Michael's Cave: The lighting was slowly changed in the cave

St Michael's Cave: This was my favourite photo from the cave

Barbary Macaque: These two were hanging around the entrance to St Michael's Cave

It was time to start walking back to the town, albeit we started off on a different path back.

Rooke Battery: This gun emplacement dates to 1906. A lot of the upgrades to the gun emplacements around this era were to protect the Royal Navy harbour, which was extended and improved from 1893 to 1906

The Haynes Gun Battery which dates to 1903

We had seen this suspension bridge on the way to St Michael's Cave, but we managed to miss the track to the bridge. We found the path on the way back.

The Windsor Suspension Bridge was opened in 2016

I had built in a few minutes to have a quick look inside the WW2 Tunnels Museum, which has been created to show off a very small part of the extensive tunnels inside the Rock. The total length of the tunnels is thirty-four miles, which is twice the length of all the roads in the territory. The first tunnels were excavated in the late 1700s as communication passages between artillery positions and to house guns cut into the North Face of the Rock. Over the following years, more tunnels were constructed to allow easier access to remote areas of Gibraltar. Tunnelling continued in the 20th Century when Gibraltar was turned into a massive fortress in WW2. During WW2, Gibraltar was essential to retain, as it controlled access to the Western Mediterranean. Like Malta, had it fallen, then the course of WW2 could have been very different.

A newly painted mural by the entrance to the WW2 Tunnels Museum: "Montis Insignia Calpe" means "The Arms of Mount Calpe" which is the old Roman name for Gibraltar. The motto was adopted by the Suffolk Regiment for its distinguished part in the siege of Gibraltar in 1779-83

The entrance to the WW2 Tunnels Museum

A replica Spitfire in the Museum

This map shows the importance of Gibraltar in WW2

Nightjar sign: Both Nightjar and Red-necked Nightjar occur on the Rock

I wanted to have a quick look at the Moorish Castle. However, there was no access allowed during our visit. There were a few unidentified Terrapins in a pond next to the Castle.

Terrapin sp. in a pond by the Moorish Castle

Terrapin sp.: I've not managed to figure out the species, but they are most likely to be introduced

Terrapin sp.

After an eight mile walk, I was back at the ship.

The Spirit of Adventure

We were keen that the Spirit of Adventure sailed on time at 17:00, as we would have the best part of two hours on the top deck looking for Dolphins. The waters around Gibraltar are excellent places to see Short-beaked Common Dolphins. One of the local boats which takes visitors out to look for Dolphins are so confident that they will be successful, that they do not charge passengers, if they miss them.

Looking back on Gibraltar

It was a glorious late afternoon and lots of passengers joined us in the expectation of seeing some Dolphins. They were not disappointed. In the end, we saw eighty-nine Short-beaked Common Dolphins, ten Striped Dolphins, four Risso's Dolphins and nine unidentified Dolphins in less than two hours. It was the perfect end to a fantastic day.

Sunset over Africa

20 Jan 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Days 1 - 4 - Portsmouth To Gibraltar

At the end of Oct 24, ORCA offered me a Wildlife Guide position on the Saga Legends of the Eastern Mediterranean cruise on the Saga ship, Spirit of Adventure. This is the first Saga cruise to have an ORCA team onboard in 2025. It took all of about thirty seconds to confirm I was available. Within a day, I had heard along the grapevine that the team would be led by Karen Griffin and the Wildlife Officer would be Terry Carne. I have surveyed with both Terry & Karen on the Plymouth to Santander route in Mar 24, as well as, travelled with Terry on my previous ORCA Saga survey to the Caribbean in Jan & Feb 24. There was a late substitute of the fourth team member and Lexie Massie joined us on her first ORCA Saga cruise. Lexie has previously worked as an ORCA Ocean Conservationist on the Newcastle to Amsterdam route. It looked to be a good team on paper and that was borne out in practice. I would like to thank Saga cruises for inviting the ORCA team on board and the ORCA office team for offering me the opportunity to be part of the team.

Roll forward about eleven weeks and we were meeting up at the Portsmouth cruise terminal. Once we were all there, Karen contacted Lucy Babey who popped over from the nearby ORCA office, to bring us the survey equipment. It was good to see and have a chat with Lucy again, before we headed off to check in. We were quickly checked in and boarding the ship. After finding the cabins, it was time for lunch.

The ORCA Team: Karen Griffin, Terry Carne, myself and Lexie Massie. This photo was taken by Lucy Babey from the ORCA team and the copyright remains with Lucy

After a late lunch, we had a quick look around the Spirit of Adventure. She is the sister ship of the Spirit of Discovery, that I was on for the Caribbean Calypso cruise in 2024. Apart from differences in decor, I couldn't see a lot of difference between the two ships. Around mid-afternoon, we had the mandatory safety drill. This was followed by a meeting with the Cruise Director Paul, who manages the entertainment team. The ORCA survey team were part of the entertainment team for the cruise, but fortunately, we weren't expected to sing or dance during the cruise.

Departing from Portsmouth in the early evening: We were moored near the RFA Wave Knight (A389) which is coming to the end of her service life. I didn't get to see our passage out of Portsmouth harbour, as the ship left as we headed off to dinner

It was a pre-dawn breakfast on our first morning at sea. This set the pattern for the next few days, until we were far enough East in the Mediterranean, to get an hour or ninety minutes of surveying in, before we headed off to breakfast. After breakfast, we were on deck to start our surveying for dawn. The ship passed the Brittany Peninsula around 06:00 and the day was spent well outside the Bay of Biscay as we headed South.

Our route and where we were at six each morning

It was good to see a Bottlenose Dolphin and a pod of twelve Short-beaked Common Dolphins, including one calf, on our first morning. We met the first of the passengers on the top deck, many of which were to become regular visitors while we were at sea. Some of the passengers confirmed that they had booked on this specific cruise, as they knew there was an ORCA team onboard. This was encouraging to hear and it was great to know that these passengers really appreciated our presence on the cruise. While it may seem that this is a great holiday for the ORCA team, the reality is very different. We are on the ship to survey for Cetaceans from dawn to dusk, excluding meal breaks, to provide good passenger engagement, to help the passengers get to know more about the Cetaceans, Birds and other Wildlife that we are encountering and hopefully to show the passengers some Whales and Dolphins.

Terry with the slide of the team before the talk started

Paul, the Cruise Director, announcing Terry

The first half of the afternoon was quiet, with no more Cetaceans seen. Mid-afternoon we headed down to the lecture theatre where Terry was giving his first talk to the passengers about the ORCA surveying and how this data is used to improve protection for Cetaceans in the UK, Europe and rest of the world. Additionally, he provided information on the species we were hoping to encounter on the trip. Terry also took this opportunity to introduce the rest of the ORCA team to the passengers.

About sixty passengers had arrived fifteen minutes before the talk started: The final count was one hundred and sixty passengers just as the talk started. To get one in six of the passengers attending the talk was a great start to the trip

Terry was scheduled to give two talks to the passengers, with the second on the final afternoon. Later in the cruise, Karen ran a Wildlife themed quiz and Terry and I ran a Wildlife clinic, where we answered questions on Cetaceans or anything else of interest to the passengers. We were never off duty and if one of us was late for meals or getting on or off the top deck, it was generally because we had bumped into passengers who were interested in what we were seeing. It had been a good first day at sea.

Terry starting to explain about the importance of the work that the ORCA charity does

I like the message in this final slide: "There are no strangers here, just friends who have not yet met"

As our 06:00 alarm woke us on the second morning at sea, we were about twenty-five miles off Cap Finisterre, on the North Spanish coast. Cap Finisterre is about sixty miles South East of La Coruna, which I visited when I was one of the ORCA team on the Saga Caribbean Calypso cruise in Jan- Feb 24. Thanks to the pre-dawn breakfast, we were able to spent the whole day surveying, apart from a break for lunch, as we headed South along the North Spanish and Portuguese coasts. It was one of the most important days of surveying for the entire cruise.

Karen discussing some of the day's sightings with a couple of passengers

Despite the choppy sea state 4 conditions, in the eight hours and one hundred and forty miles of surveying, we recorded: seven Fin Whales, another seven unidentified Whales (mainly blows), twenty-nine Short-beaked Common Dolphins and two more unidentified Dolphins. Most of the unidentified Whale blows were suspected to be Fin Whales. The presence of significant numbers of Fin Whales off this coastline in January hadn't been known before. However, as the seabed is sharply contoured, albeit the shallower areas were already one mile deep, the ORCA head office team weren't surprised when they heard the news. It was great to feel we had discovered some new information about Fin Whales. When we returned North in February, we surveyed the adjacent part of the coastline in Southern Portugal and again we encountered more Fin Whales. Hopefully, future ORCA teams will be able to gather more data on this region on future cruises.

The ORCA noticeboard was a great way to keep the passengers aware of our latest sightings

It was an impressive sunset: I was glad we were heading off survey as the ship passing through this front

We were now getting into the rhythm of being of life at sea on our third morning. Another early alarm call and pre-dawn breakfast as we were passing the Lisbon coast, albeit we were still around twenty-five miles offshore. In the seven and a half hours and one hundred and ten miles of surveying, we recorded three unidentified distant Whales and a single Short-beaked Common Dolphin. Additional excitement came, when Terry shouted for a small Wader flying across the bows: it was a Grey Phalarope, which was a nice bonus sighting. Up to this point, I had only seen a scattering of Gannets, Kittiwakes and a few Yellow-legged Gulls from our time at sea. During the day, I missed a Cory's Shearwater and a Fulmar, which passed by when I was surveying on the other side of the ship.

The ORCA noticeboard at the end of day: Note, the previous day's totals included a couple of unidentified Whales seen by passengers at lunchtime

We went to sleep looking forward to the following day when we would have a run ashore to Gibraltar.

16 Jan 25 - Cornish Deja Vu

In the late 80s and 90s, I was using all my work holiday time for foreign Birding. While this was great, it made it awkward for mid-week twitches. But usually, I could get the odd day off in lieu of pay for the overtime I was normally doing. As my British List grew, there were less occasions when I needed time off mid-week. But I can remember Autumn 99 was more problematical. At the time, I was working on a very demanding banking project for IBM. But on a positive, there was always the request for overtime from the team. That Autumn, the Scillies had an amazing run with a Short-toed Eagle, Siberian Thrush and White's Thrush all present at the same time. I had to go and took a Friday off for a two-day trip. I connected with the first two species, but the White's Thrush didn't show to more than one or two observers while I was on Scillies. By the middle of the next week the White's Thrush had settled into a routine. I was planning on another long weekend for Saturday to Monday, when a Blue Rock Thrush appeared on St Marys. There was even more need for another discussion with the boss for a last-minute day off. Reluctantly, he agreed and I had excellent views of the White's Thrush, but the Blue Rock Thrush didn't stick.

Fortunately, the British twitching quietened down for the next few weeks until the start of Nov, when a Booted Eagle which had been in Ireland that Spring, appeared in the Drift Reservoir area of Cornwall. I decided I wasn't going to wait for the weekend, but that would mean a third day off in lieu of overtime in a month. The boss wasn't impressed with how rare Booted Eagles were, but we compromised that I could go, but he said it would be my last (expletives deleted) day off that year. Fortunately, the rest of the year was quiet. I travelled down with Hants Birder Colin Stephens. We arrived about 08:30 and joined the line of Birders by the car park. The Booted Eagle appeared with Buzzards about an hour later and performed for about twenty minutes. When it disappeared, we drove North of the reservoir and relocated it several times and watched it down to about four hundred metres. By mid-afternoon I was back in Dorset and dropping Colin back at his car. A couple of years' later, the news broke that BOU had decided that the Booted Eagle was going to be placed in Cat D, where it still lingers to this day.

In recent years, there have been rumours that the Irish Rarities Committee is looking to reconsider and accept the Irish record of the Booted Eagle and that might result in more favourable review of its stay in the UK. Over the years, there have been a number of possible, probably and misidentified claims of Booted Eagles in the UK, but none have been substantiated. Rolling forwarding to May 24, a dark phase Booted Eagle was seen and photographed well enough around Cape Cornwall to stand up to scrutiny. But it wasn't pinned down for long enough for more than a few locals to see it. In Oct 24, Cornwall hit the headlines again with a light phase Booted Eagle in the Lands End part of the county, but it was a similar story of a few locals connecting and looking too much of a long shot to make a trip West look worthwhile. A month later, presumably the same dark phase individual popped up on the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border and a few peeps took a punt and connected the next day, when it showed for an hour or two. On all of these occasions, I was waiting and hoping that one of these individuals would be pinned down for long enough for it to be worth making a dash. But that didn't happen and with the rumours that the Drift individual might get re-reviewed, I wasn't in a hurry to dash after a fleeting sighting.

On Sun 12 Jan, news broke of a pale phase Booted Eagle over Pines to the North of Marizion, just outside of Penzance. There was sufficient time that I could get down that day, except I was committed to the monthly WeBS count in Brands Bay. Unusually, I had commitments on both of the following days, so all I could do was look at RBA to see that people were connecting throughout the Monday and on the Tuesday morning. But there were no sightings around the Pines that afternoon. I decided to wait and it wasn't seen the following day, until it flew around the Pines at dusk. Time to set the alarm for an early wake up. I was up at four and after a filling breakfast, I was on the road before five. When I'm travelling down for ORCA surveys, I expect to be on the outskirts of Penzance about three and a quarter hours after I leave. That gets me into Penzance for about half-six, which allows plenty of contingency time for the ferry. But I left later, as I was aiming for arriving about just after seven-thirty. But I hit the West Cornwall rush hour with traffic crawling as I approached the Hayle and for the rest of the journey, on roads that are usually empty a couple of hours earlier.

Eventually, I arrived at the A30 layby near Crowlas where Birders were watching the distant Pines from and I grabbed one of the last parking spots. My concerns were more about parking than if I would see the Booted Eagle, as it was generally being seen several times in a morning from the layby. There had been no sightings that morning for the twenty or so observers. After an hour, there was a shout of a possible sighting, but it was one of several Buzzards that were becoming active. But it convinced me to try another viewpoint one hundred metres East of the layby. Just after ten, RBA said the Booted Eagle had been seen over the Pines from the layby. But it had disappeared from view, by the time we got back there.

When it didn't reappear, I decided to try driving to the Helston road, which was much closer to the Pines to look for a better viewpoint, as I was fed up of looking into the light and haze at one kilometre to the wood. I couldn't find a place I could safely park the car and view from the same spot. Checking the map again, I decided to try a small road heading South of Crowlas to Gwallon. As I passed the layby, the Booted Eagle clearly wasn't on show. Driving to Gwallon at the end of the road, I found a large passing space I could cheekily park the car in. One the first scan with the bins, I picked up the Booted Eagle in flight over the wood. It wasn't much closer than the layby, but there wasn't the light or haze problems.

Booted Eagle: First Winter. It was still the best part of one kilometre from my position at Gwallon

Booted Eagle: First Winter. A harsher crop of the last photo showing the underwing pattern well

I watched it for about ten minutes off and on, during which two locals stopped to see if I had broken down or to chat about the Eagle. But neither asked me to move on, which was good. I couldn't relocate it over the Pines after the second interruption. Eventually I picked it up and it must have flown over the A30, as it was heading North towards the village of Ludgvan.

Booted Eagle: First Winter. Showing the upperwing pattern

I decided to head in that direction. It took about ten minutes to get there, whilst checking various viewpoints. I found a good viewpoint near the church which allowed me to scan South over the area. No joy, so I widened the search and picked it up to my North East heading towards Nanceddan. Another drive where I tried various viewpoints in the hope of closer views. But as I headed North, it sounds like it double-backed on itself as there was one final view from the layby. I had seen it well and got some distant photos. I decided to head for home and get on with some of the other urgent jobs I was neglecting.

Booted Eagle: First Winter. A wing profile photo

Hopefully, the BOU will look more favourably on this individual, as unlike some other leading Twitchers, I can't consider adding the 1999 individual to my list on the hope it gets reviewed and accepted in the future. It has been reviewed and allocated to Cat D and that isn't Tickable, unless the BOU change their decision.

Booted Eagle: First Winter. A final upperwing pattern. Departing when I did was the best idea as it wasn't seen in the afternoon

4 Jan 25 - A Snowy Start To 2025

On the evening before New Years Eve, news broke about a local Snow Bunting on the beach at Hamworthy in Poole: a great local record. The next day it was showing amazingly well to everybody, down to two or three metres from the footpath next to the beach. Lots of local interest, but also worries as some of the dog owners thought it was important for their dogs to run freely on the same patch of beach. Despite its local scarcity, I didn't head over there, as it is outside of the Isle of Purbeck & I still had one more day of searching to try to improve on my disappointing 197 total for the Isle of Purbeck Year List. I didn't see anything else on the final look around Studland on New Years Eve. It's a real shame the Snow Bunting had turned up at Hamworthy, as Studland's beaches are their most preferred locations within Poole Harbour. But that's been typical my 2024 Isle of Purbeck Year list, with goodies frequently turning up & showing well in the parts of Poole Harbour, that are outside of the Isle of Purbeck boundary.

Snow Bunting

I decided to delay my visit to Hamworthy until I was due to head over to Poole on the Saturday. I had an invite from Mark & Mo Constantine to join their private Bird Boat around Poole Harbour. This is a chance to catch up with lots of the local Birders & to have a good look around the Harbour as well. The boat didn't leave till 13:00, so there was time to pop into Hamworthy on the way. I arrived to be greeted with the news it had just flown off thanks to more dogs on the only little bit of beach on the high tide. I suspected it hadn't gone far & within a few minutes it was perching on top of the nearest thing to a Scandinavian crag: a local beach hut roof.

Snow Bunting: Poole's version of a Scandinavian crag

Snow Bunting: This avian supermodel needed a minor touch-up before the next photoshoot

After five minutes of preening to ensure it was ready for the next photoshoot, it few back down to the scrap of beach that wasn't covered in water.

Snow Bunting

Despite being annual as a Vis Mig species, I'm yet to bump into a flyover record. Perhaps it's because they are generally flying West & my South Haven Vis Mig site only works on Northerly winds when species are moving East.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting: It was finding plenty of food on the beach. I can see several of the yellow seeds it was eating on the sand

This is only my fourth Poole Harbour record of Snow Bunting in twenty-eight years of watching the area. I've also seen them on another three occasions in South Purbeck, with two records at Durlston & one near Acton. They aren't a regular species locally, but generally one will turn up every few years. They are always a joy when they stick around.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

25 Dec 24 - Happy Christmas 2024

I've been sorting out the photos from the Antarctica trip in Jan 23 & it's provided me with a nice Christmas photo to wish the followers of this Blog a Happy Christmas.

It's not going be a snowy Christmas in Southern England. So, the next best thing is this gorgeous Snow Petrel, which flew past the Plancius as we headed to Antarctica from South Georgia. The rest of the Antarctica trip Blog Posts will start being published once I've finished publishing the Saga Caribbean Calypso Blog Posts.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2024

Snow Petrel: It's the nearest to a snowy theme for Christmas