Minke Whales off the North Cornwall coast. 16th April 2021.

 

I'd been sitting in my hide on the banks of the River Camel since 06:30 this morning photographing Dippers and Grey Wagtails but secretly hoping for an Otter to pop its head out of the water to say "Hello" !

Then I get a message from our What's App birding group telling us of a Minke Whale a few miles down the coast between Perranporth and Porthtowan. Initially I ignored it but then the light got too bright for photographing dippers so I headed home.

After a bite to eat another message came through saying the whales were showing well close to shore so I though I'd give it a go!

A quick call to Steve Rowe who was onsite and I had the whereabouts and parking details so off I went down the A39 & the A30.

As soon as I arrived I spotted Ian Boreham on the headland...or Cetacian as he's known due to his ability to always turn up whales and dolphins whether he's on a boat, cliff or probably even whilst out shopping!

Also met up with Al Scarlett who also specialises in filming marine life and then Mike and Heather Taylor, so I was amongst the experts!

They had distant views of a Minke from their vantage point at Cligga head but I failed miserably to get onto it with my binoculars.

After a few incoming calls it was decided that there was a better chance farther down the coast at St.Agnes Head where other watchers had a Minke in close to shore.So it was a quick drive down to there and unlike Cligga only a short walk from the car!

At St.Agnes we met up with friends Dave and Kate Williams and Pauline McKeogh who were already watching a whale close to shore.

Good also to catch up with Terry and Charlotte down at St.Agnes. 

This time I got onto it with the camera although it was difficult to find in the viewfinder as it surfaced due to having no reference point to guide me . As soon as I saw it with my eye and then got the camera on it the head had already gone back underwater, if it had shown at all.

However I did manage a half a dozen pics that were reasonable record shots of the animal so I was pleased.....and there's always another day!

 

 

Common Dolphins "Bow-riding", North Cornwall 26th July 2018.

Something really special about looking down at a Common Dolphin "bow riding" the boat on our CSGRT marine survey on the North Cornwall coast today.

Harbour porpoise off North Cornish coast 22nd April 2016

We came across a small group of Harbour Porpoise whilst counting seals on yesterday's survey near The Quies off Trevose Head.

Always good to see despite the thick drizzle that hung around for all of the day.

They aren't the most glamorous of the cetaceans and rarely spend much time being visible above water but good to know they're there!

Photos were taken in colour but it was such poor weather they look black & white!

Common Dolphins, North Cornwall 15th June 2015

Spent a great day aboard Atlantic Diver counting breeding seabirds north of the Camel estuary.

Really encouraging numbers of auks ie. razorbills, guillemots and a couple of puffins nesting along our coast.

Picked up a few common dolphins on the way up but came across quite a few on the return that were bow riding the boat.

Always fantastic to see.... and so close to home!

Common Dolphins off the North Cornish coast

Common dolphins

What a fantastic evening I've just had watching Common dolphins off the North Cornish coast thanks to my good friend Will Delacour who's boat we were in, as we left home at Wadebridge at 4 pm just as the tide began to run into the Camel estuary.

We came across gannets plunge diving and manx shearwaters on the surface which heralded a great display from the dolphins as they swam along in front of, and alongside, the boat on numerous occasions.

All I needed to do was hold on tight as it was very choppy and try to get some shots sharp from a salt encrusted 18-70 lens!

Here are a few more........

Common dolphins

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Common dolphins