August 29th
This was the last full day as we were arriving back at Falmouth by 7am on the 30th.
On this day we past a couple of fishing boats that should have produced the goods if the right decisions had been made to work them properly. Having said that we did get to see some smart birds but not enough of them.
I know that may sound a bit selfish but anyone that knows what Pelagic birding is all about knows that when you come across a busy ship you work it and bring the birds to you. That way you can study what's around more thoroughly.
One of the boats had more Sooty Shearwaters around it than I have seen in all my time birding put together. There must have been upwards of two hundred, possibly even more. We also saw Cory's Shearwater, Sabine's Gull, Pomarine and Great Skua, Wilson's and Storm Petrel as well as a surprise young Whimbrel that gave us a good look over, albeit distantly. First of all it came up the wake, then over to the starboard side before dropping back and coming up the port side, where I managed a distant shot of it.
We also had a couple of
Common Dolphin that came fairly close to the stern of the ship and I managed a few shots of them.
It's just a shame that all of this took place in Irish Waters. Any way, following are some of the photos from that day.
The first birds photographed were the Fulmars that came relatively close to the ship.
Then the Gannets joined in. First the adults.
Then the Juveniles.
I couldn't have timed this next one better as i captured it just as it was getting rid of lunch.
And also the Lesser Black-backed Gulls (this one seemingly riding in tandem with a Gannet).
Everything else kept their distance so no photos of other birds were captured.
About an hour later the surprise Whimbrel put in an appearance.
It went quiet for a while then around 45 minutes after the Whimbrel a couple of Dolphins gave a few of us a chance to photograph them.
It went very quiet after that until a lone Dolphin suddenly appeared at the stern of the boat. Unfortunately I had somehow knocked my settings button from AV to manual. This threw all my settings out and the resulting photos were over exposed. Following is the best one of the last Dolphin.
That was basically it for the Cruise. The next day saw us disembark at 7am and whilst we were waiting for the coach to take us to our cars one of the other birders spotted a distant Peregrine near the top of a crane. That was a nice end to the trip.
I was going to spend a couple of days in Cornwall, starting at the Lizard. First I dropped Adam off at the station and thirty minutes or so later I was at the Lizard. Unfortunately there was a slight northerly wind and the sea was like a mill pond. I did see a Great Skua but that was all. I went for a walk in very warm, muggy, conditions so only had a Tee-shirt and shorts on for comfort. Thirty minutes into the walk the heavens suddenly opened up, thoroughly soaking me. It stopped not long after but I was now feeling very uncomfortable so went back to the car to dry myself off and put on some dry clothes.
Back at the car I noticed the clouds were very black around me but towards the east they looked like breaking up a bit. I decided to call it a day in Cornwall and head to Prawle Point in Devon for the resident Cirl Bunting. I left around 11am and all was going fine until just short of Bodmin where we all came to a stand. It took almost 20 minutes to reach the A38, where I wanted to get off anyway, but the A30 was closed from that point and everything was being diverted down the way I wanted to go. On top of that I was to realise later why the traffic was backed up right up to the A30. There were major road works at Dobwells, causing massive tailbacks everywhere.
It was just after 17:00 when I eventually got to Prawle Point, some six hours after leaving the Lizard, but would the Cirl Bunting show to at least pacify my frustration. Well for nearly two hours they didn't then thankfully just after 7pm one did. At least that justified being there and thankfully allow the day to end on a high note. I left around 19:30 and eventually got home around 23:30, tired and hungry.
That was the end of a cruise that at times was brilliant and also frustrating. Would I do it again? Yes I think I would but I would hope that the organisers learn from the mistakes made over the last two years, but I won't hold my breath on that last statement.
I hope you liked my version of the cruise together with the photos.
John
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