31st July to 4th August 2014 Scillies Pelagics - 4 "Lifers" and more

Thursday 31st July to Monday 4th August 2014
Scilly Isles Pelagic Trips

On Thursday, Paul, Andrew Christine and myself made the long car journey down to Penzance in Cornwall where we met up with Chris and his son Tom.  After an overnight stay, we caught the morning ferry - Scillonian III - to St Mary's in the Scilly Isles where we spent 2 nights at the Country Guesthouse before returning to Penzance on the Sunday for another overnight stay and then made the return journey to Sussex on Monday.
 
The highlight was always going to be the two pelagic trips we made.  They added a whole new dimension to my birdwatching as well as being so informative.  We travelled in a large open-decked boat holding only 20 birders (max) to enable easy movement and sufficient space to watch for the seabirds.  The crew, led by Joe Pender, were all experienced seamen and well versed in this area of ornithology.  Bob Flood has written many books on seabirds and his leadership was inspirational.  

On the first trip the "steam and chum" technique was used.  Right from the start gulls were encouraged (with food) to collect behind the boat and follow us, acting as a visual attractor to skuas and shearwaters.  An oily waste was also used to attract storm petrels.  The technique worked brilliantly.  The gulls arrived in droves and we got smashing views of Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls Fulmars and the odd Kittiwake at the stern.  Gannets were also drawn in.  The "star turns" came in - first the magnificent Great Shearwaters, both of which entertained us for long periods as they joined the gulls and gannets; we managed to get within 10 metres of these amazing birds



Great Shearwater
Sapphire Pelagics



Great Shearwater
Sapphire Pelagics



Great Shearwater
Sapphire Pelagics

 

 

- then the Cory Shearwaters were seen as they came by; again we were able to get excellent views as they flew past our boat.  In total we reckoned on 4 good sightings.
 

Cory's Shearwater
Sapphire Pelagics

Cory's Shearwater
Sapphire Pelagics

 

 

- and finally, as the evening drew on, the European Storm Petrels came in.  

European Storm Petrel
Sapphire Pelagics

Such was the excitement that we forgot the saturated state we were in -our boat sailed out in pouring rain at 5 pm and returned in pouring rain just before 10 pm.



Our second trip, the next day, this time in gorgeous sunshine, used the "drift and chum" technique which was almost the same as the one mentioned above except that the engines were switched off for 2 - 3 hours to allow the oily slick to form and to send scent downwind to draw in the smell-sensitive Wilson's Storm Petrel. 
 



Wilson's Storm Petrel
Sapphire Pelagics

                                                    



The technique worked very well and we were rewarded with good views of the highly prized petrel, only the second sighting of the year.



Wilson's Storm Petrel
Sapphire Pelagics

This was the icing on the cake; we also saw the same species as the day before. 

Shark tagging is an important part of these trips.  Blue Sharks are also attracted by the chum and when caught they are tagged, as part of an initiative by the University of Southampton and then immediately released.  We were lucky to see nearly 10 sharks being tagged.

 

We also saw a couple of pods of dolphins which came right up to the boat, affording us spectacular views.

Common Dolphins
Sapphire Pelagics

Amazingly we saw a Leather-backed Turtle which the crew had never seen in the area before. 

Leather-backed Turtle
Sapphire Pelagics

On the journey down, we stopped off at the Isle of Wight where I had my second chance to see the Bee-eaters.  I only admitted to seeing them the day before after we had made the sighting. 

A couple of hours later, in Devon, we stopped near Topsham where we found the rare Ross's Gull that had been reported several times in the media. 

Ross's Gull
Library picture

On the way home we detoured to Pennington Marshes in Hampshire to "twitch" the Pectoral Sandpiper. 

Pectoral Sandpiper
Library picture

As a sequel to our trip I got a call on Tuesday from Paul about a Long-tailed Skua that had been seen off the sea at Church Norton near Chichester in West Sussex.  So off we went and before long we  and about 60 other twitchers had good views of this bird flying overhead .... 

Long-tailed Skua
Jan Charteris

  and  ....... chasing a Tern  ......




Long-tailed Skua
Jan Charteris

Additions to 2014 UK Bird List:
Ross's Gull   (244)
Great Shearwater   (245)
Cory's Shearwater   (246)
European Storm Petrel   (247)
Wilson's Storm Petrel   (248)
Pectoral Sandpiper   (249)
Long-tailed Skua   (250)


Additions to Life List:
Ross's Gull   (264)
Great Shearwater   (265)
Cory's Shearwater   (266)
European Storm Petrel  (267)
Wilson's Storm Petrel   (268)
Long-tailed Skua     (269)




Amazingly in the space of just over a week I have seen 7 "lifers"!