PELAGIC TRIP - THE GARRISON - PENINNIS HEADLAND
WEATHER: a change for the better, broken sunshine all day, light winds. Top temp 12C
e were at the quayside at 9am ready to board our boat for a 5 hour Pelagic Trip which would take us a few miles out to sea towards the mainland, Phil and Sue remained at the guest house, Sue in particular does not like boat trips of any length of time. They went to Peninnis Head a couple of times during the day, more of that later.
four of my group of six on board the Sapphire' in readiness for the Pelagic
As usual on these Pelagic trips you don't see much until at least an hour into the trip, we have to motor out to the feeding areas of the shearwaters, gannets and doplphins. We saw one or two birds on the rocks around St Marys and St Agnes (where we stopped off to collect four birders who wanted to join the trip).
the two large shearwaters - Great Shearwater bottom right and Cory's Shearwater
Once out at sea the fun started, we began to see singles of Cory's Shearwaters and lots of Gannets. The plan was to search for feeding flocks and head for them, this is exactly what happened, although the first few flocks we approached dispersed as we got there. Nevertheless we persevered and finally had some very close views of dozens of large shearwaters, both Cory's and Great Shearwaters.
more Great Shearwaters
Distant views of Sooty Shearwater was had, but it was only sighted twice during the five hours we were out there. The most regular sighting was that of Common Dolphins! We had a small group of them follwing the boatand performimg some very acrobatic leaps from the water. We also approached large feeding pods of Common Dolphins with dozens of them together, this attracted a lot of birds too.
disembarking the Sapphire after 5 hours at sea!
We had good views of a Great Skua, we also listed Razorbills, Guillemots, Fulmar, Kittiwakes and some of the others saw Manx Shearwaters. At times we saw small rafts of shearwaters sitting on the sea, we got fairly close to those and the photographers filled their boots.
three Cory's Shearwaters
For me the sea conditions were just a little too rough, I couldn't stand up without holding on which meant using binoculars with one hand which wasn't ideal. Other people seemed to cope by standing up using their cameras. It wss an enjoyable experience, the Dolphins in particular performed very well.
a view of St Agnes from the Garrison
After the trip we headed for a cafe for coffeee and cake and then, just three of us, walked around the Garrison looking for a Ring Ouzel reported earlier. We saw many species and perhaps we had a glimpse of the Ouzel but not enough to clinch its ID. We watched a Sparrowhawk chasing pipits, we saw Common Kestrels hovering and l,ots of common species of birds. The sun was shining, the views were terrific and the light was exquisite, a wnderful experience to savour.
a view across to Trsco from the Garrison
Meanwhile, Phil and Sue, who did not take the pelagic trip, went walking along Peninnis Head, they joined other birders watching the recently arrived Short-toed Lark and a Yellow Wagatil in an adjacent field. They also saw a Whooper Swan! This bird was doing the 'rounds', visiting various islands but not settling anywhere in particular and consequently was seen flying over many parts of the islands.
A Short-toed Lark by Phil Naylor
Yellow Wagtail taken by Phil Naylor
a Whooper Swan taken by Phil Naylor over Peninnis
We all met up at 6pm at the Atlantic Hotel for a lovely dinner whilst we exchanged our birding expereinces of the day with one another.