I still didn't feel too great on Tuesday 6th August but with mostly sunny skies and an 8am high tide I headed out to Saltram and The Plym for a gentle morning walk, arriving off the bus at Marsh Mills at around 9:45am.
I was pleased to see the Mute Swan pair at Longbridge still with their 2 now much more adult-like cygnets. A female Mandarin was also looking out for 3 well grown ducklings too. An interesting sight here were many tiny Chestnut Leaf Miner Moths buzzing around a Chestnut Tree, not so interesting for the poor tree with much damage to the leaves due to the attentions of the moths caterpillars.
At the gas pipe along The Plym a Kingfisher dashed past silently and there were 5 Greenshank and 3 Common Sandpiper present with 2 Stock Dove, Canada Geese and Black-headed Gulls. Out on the river 2 Cormorant were roosting on the wreck and a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull was floating amongst the Herring Gulls roosting out on the water.
Blaxton Meadow was full of water but there were 2 Oystercatcher, 34 Curlew (including Dartmoor released bird J7), a further 6 Greenshank, a Dunlin and Redshanks around the edges along with 10 Grey Heron and 10 Little Egret. It was good to see the 2 adult Shelducks present too and still with 5 well grown ducklings, whether they will abandon the ducklings to go off and moult soon remains to be seen.
It was quiet around the Park with a Jay, 2 Bullfinch, a Blackcap, a Buzzard, 5 House Martin, Swallows, a Coal Tit and 4 Nuthatch the highlights. Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Whites were flitting about along with Common Darters and Azure Damselfly and a Rabbit and a Grey Squirrel were also noted.
There were actually some moths present in the Marsh Mills underpass for a change - 2 Dingy Footman and a Riband Wave - and I also found a Great Pied Hoverfly on some nearby Buddleia flowers, a nice end to my walk.
We were booked on the Plymouth to Santander ferry for a there and back trip on Wednesday 7th August, I still didn't feel great but with no cancellation refunds or alterations allowed we headed off anyway and I hoped for the best. It was grey, breezy and a bit mizzly but quite humid as we sailed out of Plymouth on the Pont Aven at around 4pm and I headed up on deck to start some seawatching.
An Oystercatcher and 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls were seen on The Breakwater as we sailed by and shortly afterwards a Sandwich Tern flew past heading west. Initially it was very quiet as we sailed into The Channel with the odd Herring Gull and a single Kittiwake seen but then I picked up Manx Shearwaters moving west, a steady stream of a few birds at a time and with a very nice single Balearic Shearwater amongst them. Heading further offshore Cory's Shearwaters began to appear along with Great Shearwaters, all heading west, and 4 Sooty Shearwaters were seen too. The best bird however was a nice Great Skua passing across the front of the ship, a rare sight these days after the ravages of avian flu.
A feeding pod of Common Dolphins was also seen, their prescence being given away by the attentions of Manx Shearwaters swirling above them but with a good range of wildlife sightings under my belt I headed below deck at around 6:30pm to meet up with David for a sit down, something to eat and an early night.
I didn't get going very early the next morning as we crossed the Bay of Biscay and arrived on deck at around 7am to hear that I had just missed 3 very close Fin Whales passing by the ferry - never mind! Later I also missed seeing a pod of Pilot Whales when I went down below for a cup of tea - I must do better with my timings! However I did see what appeared to be a large whale blow, a distant view but probably a Fin Whale. Distant pods of Dolphins were noted too but a group of Common Dolphins passed close along the side of the ferry although they kept themselves just under the surface of the water. A distant Whale was also seen, quite Minke Whale-like but possibly a Beaked Whale.
While the cetacean sightings were not exactly as hoped for there were regular sightings of Cory's and Great Shearwaters to keep me occupied and I had some very good and close views of them passing by the ferry.
We were soon heading in towards Santander and Yellow-legged Gulls began to appear, a group of 5 small Terns were also picked up flying low over the waves and a group of Cory's Shearwaters had a nice Balearic Shearwater amongst them.
We only had a short time in Santander but we enjoyed a nice lunch and had a short walk about before it was time to get back on board to start our voyage back to Plymouth. We left Santander at around 4:30pm and the skies were again grey but it felt warm and the sun did eventually appear as we sailed off into the Bay of Biscay. As we left the port a Mediterranean Gull was seen amongst the Yellow-legged Gulls and 2 Shags were perched up on the rocks, a distant Swift species was seen flying over the city buildings but the best bird was a Black Kite which flew right over the ferry heading east.
Initially things were quiet again as we sailed away from the Spanish coast with just the odd Cory's Shearwater seen passing by the ship but eventually the first cetaceans were seen, a pod of Pilot Whales and I actually managed to see them this time! They were distant and very unshowy at the surface but their fins were very distinctive when seen. Another 3 small Terns were picked up as well and eventually Great Shearwaters began to appear to.
More Dolphin pods began to appear although again they were distant but a small pod of Striped Dolphin were seen passing quite close along the side of the ferry, becoming much more showy as they played in the waves of the ships wake behind the stern.
Broiling feeding frenzies of Tuna were noted and another distant small Whale was picked up, probably another Beaked Whale. A Sunfish leaping out of the water was an odd sight, looking like a silver discus, but with time marching on and the light failing I headed below deck at 8pm to meet up with David for some dinner. We sat right at the front of the boat to eat our meal and watched Cory's Shearwaters swirling around in front of the bow while the sunset became a myriad of colours. Very unexpectedly we also managed to see 2 Cuvier's Beaked Whales very close to the ferry before they passed down the right hand side of the boat, a very nice end to a very tiring but enjoyable day.
No early start the next morning as we sailed across The Channel towards Plymouth and I headed up on deck at around 9:30am for a final watch. My timing was perfect as a broiling mass of birds was seen in the distance and as we approached Cory's, Manx and Great Shearwaters, a Balearic Shearwater, Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls were seen in a feeding frenzy above very splashy Tuna, amongst them was a Minke Whale which I failed to see but it was an amazing sight to watch and all within view of the Devon and Cornwall coast. A few very unobtrusive Common Dolphins were noted too but all too soon we were heading past The Breakwater again and into port to disembark the ferry after a great voyage - the weather was kind, the sea state was gentle, the birds were obliging (the cetaceans not so much) and I felt a little better so all in all another fabulous trip.
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