Falmouth pelagic boat trips 27th & 28th July 2024.

 

Common Dolphin

I've been leading a few pelagic boat trips for Naturetrek Wildlife Holidays in the past few years and these 2 single day trips were packed full of wildlife!

We were aboard the "Spirit of our seas", a brand new catamaran skippered by CK, Captain Keith and out of the Falmouth deep water estuary and into Falmouth Bay. "If it's out there Keith will find it!".

Very knowledgeable crew members were Fen on the Saturday & Alex on the Sunday, Thanks guys!

Spirit of our seas.

On both tours we encountered Harbour Porpoise just close in the bay with Mediterranean Gulls bobbing on the tops of the waves.

Harbour Porpoise

Med Gull

A few Kittiwakes were in the bay with an occasional Razorbill or Guillemot being sighted.

Kittiwake

 

On the Saturday we headed south-west toward the Lizard Point often hugging the shore picking out Grey Seals off of Porthoustock and Coverack, dodging the pinnacle rocks of the infamous Manacles Reef before heading out to the south to pick up the flight path of the pelagic birds between the Dodman point and the lizard.

The skipper was always watching for "mix-ups" or "work-ups" on the horizon where birds were feeding or tuna and dolphins were dashing around creating a white water frenzy.

When he spotted one it was everyone back to their seats and the throttle opened up to get out a few miles and look for wildlife. When nearby he would kill the revs and we would hang off the feeding spectacle and wait for them to come to us or us to drift toward them. That way they don't get spooked and all the clients get to see all that's on offer.

The Atlantic Blue-Fin Tuna are huge fish and they seem to surround their prey in a circle and when you watch them you can see hundreds of small fish (sprats) leaping from the water to escape the predatory fish and gulls.

Atlantic Blue-Fin Tuna

Atlantic Blue-Fin Tuna

Here's a short video clip of the tuna frenzy taken on my phone....

 

Of course where there are small fish there are always lots of seabirds and the sea was buzzing with Gannets, Shearwaters and Gulls.

The Shearwaters consisted of the numerous Manx, along with many Great, Cory's and Sooties.

Here are a few images of them taken over the weekend trips....

 

A composite of diving Gannets.

 

Gannet taking off

Gannet just getting airborne

Adult Gannet

Manx Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Northern Fulmar

Northern Fulmar

Cory's Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

 

Another bird that gave us a run around was an Arctic Skua of which I only got some shots of its rear end as it flew off but luckily one of our group got some better shots to positively ID it.

Arctic Skua

Another cracking bird was this Wilson's Storm Petrel, first identified as a European Stormie, subsequent looking showed it to be a Wilson's.

Wilson's Storm Petrel

Wilson's Storm Petrel

 

 

The fly past of a flock of Common Scoter was another highlight despite being a long way off but easily identifiable.

 

Common Scoter

On both days we caught up with Common Dolphins and often they stayed around the boat for many hours. Here are a few images ....

Common Dolphins

Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

 

Common Dolphins

 

 

 So as you can see an amazing wildlife adventure!

Naturetrek are running a few more pelagics from Falmouth in the coming weeks with availability on some of the trips.

If you're interested then here is the link for information...

Naturetrek Falmouth Pelagic day tours.
 

Nightjars..."you ain't seen me right?" Cornwall July 2024

 Nightjars... What special birds! Masters of camouflage!

For many years I've enjoyed going out to watch & more often hear them in the forests & heathland of mid & north Cornwall.

Until now all of my photographs have been grab shots of them perched at the top of a tree or whizzing past my ear!

 

All that changed this year when I found my first bird at roost on the ground! 

With its eyes closed and just an occasional flicker showing it was still alive I watched it intently thinking 'does he know I'm here' or is he so confident in its ability to stay motionless and its camouflage that it thinks I can't see it.

Or is it genuinely asleep and doesn't know I'm near?

I've now watched a dozen in various places and always given them plenty of space and photographed them with a long 500mm lens, sometimes cropping in strongly on my computer. Often they are surrounded by dead timber and dry grasses so that they blend in perfectly. In fact I will often gaze for many minutes before I notice one lying along a log of the exact same cryptic colouration. 

These birds are not on nests but roosting probably after fledging young, often close to forestry & heath tracks & footpaths. I'm sure they get regularly disturbed by dogs as these areas are popular with dog walkers and I often see dogs rooting through the areas the nightjars inhabit.

I'm confident that I'm not disturbing them as I have found so many in regular areas, often on the same logs or branches.

So here is a selection of recent images....

 

I suspect this is a juvenile

Urban Kittiwakes in Bridlington Yorkshire June 2024.

 

I'm sure the presence of nesting Kittiwakes in a town centre like Bridlington isn't seen as a favourable asset by many people. But for us who had come up to Yorkshire from Cornwall to photograph seabirds it was all part of the wildlife experience. We are used to Herring Gulls nesting in our Cornish towns and are familiar with the downside of their mess, constant noise and the antics they get up to securing food and protecting their young.

I'd come across Kittiwakes nesting on buildings before up in Norway but aren't really aware of them doing so in Cornwall. I've also seen images of them on the Tyne and in the Newcastle area but it was the first time I'd photographed them in a truly urban situation.

Here are a few photos I took one evening around the town .....

In case you're forgetting what Kittiwakes look like when nesting in the truly wild environment here are a few images from both Yorkshire, Northumberland and back home in Cornwall.

Kittiwake on a Bempton ledge

Kittiwake colony on Bawden rocks, St.Agnes Cornwall

Kittiwake colony on Bawden rocks, St.Agnes Cornwall

Kittiwake pair on the Farne islands.

Kittiwake with 2 chicks on Inner Farne