Stuart's Wildlife Diary: Humpback Whale

Showing posts with label Humpback Whale. Show all posts

Saturday, 5 December 2020

No more Tears, just Tiers - and having a Whale of a Time

Wednesday 2nd December and Lockdown ended to be replaced with Tiers. Devon has been placed in Tier 2 while Cornwall is in Tier 1, the lowest Tier level, and after 4 weeks of going crazy with cabin fever I headed out for a proper birdy day to Penzance, observing all the social distancing in place at the moment (Hands, Face, Space, staying outside, not meeting up with others, etc, etc.).

I started my day with a walk from Penzance out to Sandy Cove at Newlyn, noting a male Black Redstart on a rooftop near the Jubilee Pool and a female type around the buildings at Newlyn Harbour along the way.

At Sandy Cove another female type Black Redstart was feeding amongst the boulders while around the bird feeders Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow and a Coal Tit were seen along with around 10 very large and very bold Brown Rats.

Brown Rat, Sandy Cove

I scanned around inside the tangle of trees and shrubs around the feeders and eventually found a Goldcrest, a Firecrest, a male Blackcap, a collybita Chiffchaff, a presumed Siberian Chiffchaff (tristis) and a Yellow-Browed Warbler along with a skulking Water Rail by the waters edge and a showy Grey Wagtail

The presumed Siberian Chiffchaff was very active but showed very well and was pale and brown looking with greenish tinges to tail and wings and giving a strange call at times. The Yellow-browed Warbler was typically mobile and flitty but did show well at times and was quite a smart looking bird, probably the smartest looking one I've ever seen, and it also called a few times.

Siberian Chiffchaff

Yellow-Browed Warbler

I headed back to Penzance and on a quick look around the fish quay at Newlyn along the way I was pleased to find a 1st winter Iceland Gull amongst the throng of Gulls feeding on fish scraps.

Iceland Gull, Newlyn Harbour

Iceland Gull

I carried on to Penzance in a heavy rain shower and stopped off at the Jubilee Pool briefly for a scan offshore and noted 2 Great Northern Divers and a flock of around 30 Common Scoter but there was no sign of the recently reported Pacific Diver. Along the rocky foreshore a few Ringed Plover were seen with Turnstones and 5 Purple Sandpipers.

Purple Sandpipers, Jubilee Pool

Back in Penzance and it was then time to board The Mermaid for a boat trip out into Mount's Bay and fortunately the rain held off but it was cold and the sea choppy away from the coastline.

Offshore good views were had of Kittiwake, Gannet, Fulmar, Guillemot and Razorbill along with a Great Skua flying past the boat and a 2nd Winter Yellow-legged Gull attracted to the back of the boat with other Gulls including an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. A pod of 3-4 Harbour Porpoise also showed briefly at the surface in the choppy waves.

We headed back towards the coastline where the sea was much calmer in the shelter of the cliffs and very luckily found a Humpback Whale which has been seen recently in the area. It was loafing around very close to shore off the Tater-du Lighthouse at Lamorna Cove, showing well at the surface and occasionally fluking and an amazing creature to watch, my second sighting of one in the UK.

Humpback Whale

We eventually had to tear ourselves away and head back to harbour as the light began to fade and on the way back to Penzance a male Eider, 2 Grey Seals and an adult Yellow-legged Gull roosting amongst the Gulls on St.Clements Island off Mousehole were seen.

An amazing day out indeed and much needed by me for my ongoing sanity in the shit storm that is 2020. And the Yellow-browed Warbler takes my year list to 200 species.

Gulls

Sunday, 26 February 2017

More Devon Birding (and Whaling!) - Warren House and Slapton

Wednesday 22nd February and we headed off to Dartmoor for an overnight stay at the Two Bridges Hotel which was very nice with amazing food and a very restful and relaxed ambience. However the weather was a different matter with heavy fog on the high moor as we drove up to the hotel so there was no walking and birding for me. Storm Doris arrived overnight, Devon was on the edge of the storm so missed the worst of it, but Thursday 23rd was very windy although dry and with sunny spells and so after a very good cooked breakfast at the hotel we headed off to Warren House for a walk. I kept my eyes open for the wintering great grey shrike still being reported in the area but there was no sign of it in the strong winds, even in the more sheltered areas. I did see a green woodpecker which was new for the year with a second bird (or possibly the same mobile bird) seen later and 2 roe deer slinking off amongst the pine trees were a good find but that was about it. I did hear what I think was a flyover crossbill but I didn't see it and couldn't be sure in the wind and the background noise from the swaying pine trees.

Friday 24th February and with a whale having been reported off the beach at Slapton, first reported as a minke whale and then confirmed as a humpback whale, we headed off for a look. As we drove down the hill to the car parking area by the bridge I saw the whale blow and then roll into a dive very close to the beach, a most surreal sight in Devon in February and a new whale species for me!

We parked up and walked down to the beach and watched the whale from the memorial car park moving along the shoreline towards Blackpool Sands - large and dark with a noticeable blow and showing its tail flukes with white undersides at times when it dived. It often spent long periods underwater and trying to guess where it would resurface was fun and frustrating in equal measure. At times it only showed briefly at the surface with just a quick blow before sinking underwater without a roll but it was lovely to watch it amongst the large and appreciative crowd gathered on the beach.

Humpback Whale, Start Bay

Humpback Whale

I had to tear myself away, I could have stayed on the beach watching it all day, and so we walked along the Ley and over to Beesands for lunch. Along the way I had a few scans of The Ley, noting a female goosander, a female goldeneye and a female and 2 male scaup amongst the gadwall, tufted duck, mallard, pochard, coot and wigeon. It was interesting to see the wigeon following the coot and trying to grab at the weed the coot were bringing to the surface, a behaviour I have seen in gadwall but not in wigeon.

I also scanned offshore and a summer plumaged black necked grebe very close to the beach was a very nice sight in the bright sunlight although it spent little time at the surface and there were a few gannets diving for fish very close to the beach too along with an adult kittiwake.

Harbour porpoise were also noticeable offshore, giving their usual blink and you miss it surface rolls, but there must have been at least 10 individuals dotted around the Bay and at times the views were very good, especially from the clifftops between Torcross and Beesands on a flat calm sea.

I also saw my first butterfly of the year, a red admiral flying along the beach at Torcross, and a butterfly also briefly seen along the beach at Beesands was most likely a peacock but I couldn't be sure.

Mute Swan, Slapton Beach

Carrion Crow, Slapton Beach

After lunch at Beesands we walked back towards the car at Slapton bridge. I dropped David off at the Start Bay Inn at Torcross for a pint and headed off along the beach to the memorial car park to rejoin the crowds admiring the whale and again I had some good views before David met me and it was time to go home. An amazing day, quite surreal and reminding me of watching southern right whales just off the beach in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background a few years ago now, an experience I didn't think I would emulate in South Devon.

Humpback Whale