20/07/206 Manx Shearwaters all over the place!

Wednesday 20 July 2016
Boat Trip around Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire

If you can't see the manx shearwaters from land then you will just have to go and see them out to sea! 

With this as my mantra,  I booked on an evening boat trip on the Dale Princess leaving from Martin's Haven, near Marloes.  The trip would take us round the islands of Skomer and Skokholm to see guillemots,  razorbills, puffins etc before taking us into St Bride's Bay to see the spectacular gathering of manxies just before dusk.  A mouth watering prospect.

Weather conditions were excellent with a good westerly breeze and dry, hot conditions.  Just as I was nearing my hotel in Haverfordwest, after a 5 hour drive, I received a phone call from the company telling me the trip was off due to lack of numbers; only 3 people had booked!  Obviously I was devastated and so disappointed.  The company had no solution other than a refund or a trip later on in the week.

With no plan B, I rang Sue and she quickly put one together for me while I carried on driving.  Within 15 minutes she had booked me on a similar trip' operated by a company called Voyages of Discovery' leaving St Julienne at 6 p.m. but going around Ramsey Island a little further north.  Interestingly, I got one of the last two seats on this their second boat put on because of heavy demand. 

The trip itself was just what the doctor ordered.

• On Ramsey Island we could see fulmars and oystercatchers initially and, as we sailed round to the west side, guillemots and the odd razorbill. 

• At north Bishop we saw 50-100 puffins on the water.

• This was followed by the curtain-raiser as thousands of manx shearwaters glided by us en-route to their nesting grounds on the Pembrokeshire islands after a day or so fishing out at sea.  

• There were several sightings of seals as we passed by the islands.

• Went in search of the black guillemot again after breakfast next day, this time in Fishguard Harbour.  No luck again.

• On the way home, next day, I called in at the London Wetlands Centre for lunch.  There was nothing special to be seen around the site but I did manage to see my first ring-necked parakeet of the year.

All's well that ends well and I achieved all that I set out to do.  

Drifting in a boat with hundreds of manxies whizzing past you has to be right up there with my best birding experiences.  

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List:
Manx shearwater   (226)
Ring-necked parakeet   (227)

• The manx shearwater is the only visiting seabird to this area that migrates to the southern hemisphere for the winter; they over winter off the coast of Argentina. 

• Over half the world’s population of manx shearwaters breed on Skomer, Skokholm and Ramsey. 

• They are burrow nesters and very clumsy on land which makes them very vulnerable to predation. Because of this, one of the pair will stay down the burrow with the chick whilst the other goes out to sea fishing. They leave at dawn and return at dusk, not risking the final flight to their burrows until darkness has fallen to avoid being seen by potential predators. 

• You won’t see a shearwater near land during daylight hours. Sometimes 30,000 birds an hour can be seen off the headlands heading to the islands as darkness falls. 

• They will fly low over the water, wing tips shearing the surface of the waves, harnessing the ground affect for a highly efficient flight. It is from the method of their flight that the name ‘shearwater’ is derived. They can fly up to 50mph with scarcely a wing beat and easily travel millions of miles in the course of their life span.