Galapagos Islands day 4 - Espanola

This was the day I'd been waiting a long time for. One of the ultimate birding highlights, and one I'd never experienced before, was to visit an albatross colony; and on the island of Espanola, this would be possible with between 15,000 and 18,000 pairs of Waved Albatrosses present. In fact, to cut things short, our afternoon stop was focused around viewing these fantastic creatures - courtship displays, take off along the 'runway', eggs and views as they returned from sea. All in lovely light and down to just a couple of metres at times. Birding at its best...

Waved Albatrosses Espanola August 2015

Aside from the albatrosses, it was a fantastic day with the morning spent along the scenic white sand beach at Gardner Bay. There were three new species for the trip here - Large Cactus Finch, the endemic Hood Mockingbird and a couple of American Oystercatchers: -

Large Cactus Finch Espanola August 2015

Hood Mockingbird Espanola August 2015

American Oystercatcher Espanola August 2015

A walk along the beach also provided a relatively sickly young Nazca Booby, some really showy Galapagos Doves as well as equally obliging Galapagos Flycatcher and Warbler Finches.

Nazca Booby Espanola August 2015

Galapagos Dove Espanola August 2015

Warbler Finch Espanola August 2015

Galapagos Flycatcher Espanola August 2015

After a good bit of snorkelling, we all loaded onto the boat and made the short sail to Punta Suarez, also on Espanola. This was the home of the albatrosses, but as we disembarked, it was the usual Marine Iguana assault course. Hundreds of Nazca Boobies and Swallow-tailed Gulls dominated the seabird scene, as did a good few Red-billed Tropicbirds. Thousands of Galapagos Shearwaters buzzed around offshore too, while on land a lost looking Cattle Egret stalked about, a Galapagos Hawk was calmly tending its chick and a fair number of Small Ground Finches buzzed about.

The seabird experience here was brilliant, like the Farne Islands on heat. The albatrosses were as good as I'd expected yet the whole day we were blessed with great weather and it never felt I was rushed about. You often here about people being frog marched around the Galapagos by their guides, from one site to see to the next, but rarely did I feel like this with our guide Juan Tapia.

Galapagos Petrel off Espanola August 2015

Anyway, all good things have to come to an end and in the late afternoon it was time to get back on our boat and head out to sea in the direction of Santa Cruz island. With a couple of hours of light left, it was a good opportunity to do a bit of birding from the boat. And this paid off - twenty or so Waved Albatrosses cutting the waves, four Galapagos Petrels, including a couple nice and close, as well as a single Madeiran Storm-petrel (the only one of the trip), a handful of Wedge-rumped Storm-petrels and lots of Elliot's Storm-petrels and Galapagos Shearwaters.

Sunshine weekend at Dungeness

October the 3rd and 4th. I've seen a few good birds this time of year; but not when you can sit on the beach and bask in the sunshine...

1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull Dungeness 3rd October 2015

High pressure and forgetting what rain looks like were the main reasons for this. Nevertheless, you make of things what you can. And so after an open morning at school yesterday, I managed to get to Dungeness early afternoon and join Mick S and Richard S. Deckchairs at the ready, we sat out in the sunshine and enjoyed a few bits - namely a showy 1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull and a handful of rings (including Great Black-backed Gulls from Norway and Guernsey).

Great Black-backed Gull (JP281) Dungenes 3rd October 2015 - born in Vest-Agder, Norway in 2011, and seen again there this summer. It has been a regular at Dungeness each winter since 2012.

And today the weather was as equally nice, if not a bit brighter and with less wind. John A and I arrived at Dungeness mid morning, and flogged Dengemarsh first - quite a few Wheatears as well as a load of Meadow Pipits and Swallows passing through. A walk around near the observatory produced a good number of Goldcrests while the real highlight of the day was a 'continental' Coal Tit, part of the influx this week (which included one with a Belgian ring). Stonechats were pretty active, and there were also a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Otherwise, quiet but nice to be out in what could be one of the last warm, sunny days of the year.

'continental' Coal Tit Dungeness 4th October 2015 - cold grey upperparts and relatively concolourous flanks and underparts

And then it was on predictably to the gulls. I only stuck it out a couple of hours, but in that time a 2nd-winter Yellow-legged Gull turned up in the melee briefly. But unlike last weekend, no Caspian Gulls seemed to be about.

2nd-winter Yellow-legged Gull Dungeness 4th October 2015

On the way back to the car, five Wheatears seemed intent on enjoying the late afternoon rays by the fishing boats; potentially the last that they'll get here in Britain as they seemed intent on sniffing out La Manche...

Northern Wheatear Dungeness 4th October 2015

I'd be hopeful there may be more October quality for next weekend, but let's wait and see.

Galapagos Islands day 3 - San Cristobal

I started so I should finish. So back to the Galapagos diary, and day 3. At first light, we found ourselves anchored in the picturesque bay of Cerro Brujo on San Cristobal. There was the first bit of rain of the trip here, nothing major but enough to mean the ISO had to be increased a bit. First birds when we got ashore were some inquisitive and endemic Chatham Mockingbirds: -

Chatham Mockingbird, San Cristobal August 2015

The lagoon behind the beach held a few Black-necked Stilts but little else, while the beach provided three new waders for the trip - one each of Western and Least Sandpipers and two Semipalmated Plovers.

Western Sandpiper, San Cristobal August 2015

Semipalmated Plover, San Cristobal August 2015

For me though, an obliging Lava Gull stole the show - endemic and vulnerable on a conservation level, this was the first time they showed well and satisfied my photographic needs.

Lava Gull, San Cristobal August 2015

There wasn't too much else bird wise, except a handful of Small Ground Finches and Yellow Warblers, though typically Blue-footed Boobies and Brown Pelicans were offshore. 

One of the main reasons for the visit here was to see the San Cristobal Lava Lizard, which we did, alongside large numbers of Marine Iguanas. However, by late morning it was time to head off along the west side and to the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. The journey provided immense views of Galapagos Shearwaters but little else; however, while docked in the harbour, the boat was buzzed by storm-petrels - at least 25 Elliot's but also my first two Wedge-rumped Storm-petrels. Great views too!

Elliot's Storm-petrel, San Cristobal August 2015

The afternoon crater walk in the highlands was curtailed by the weather, although a Warbler Finch singing in the gloom was a new bird. Little else was seen until we headed back to town where, along the harbour, a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron rested alongside a Great Blue Heron. The weather here was much better, and the Yellow Warblers glowed in the evening light while the local Galapagos Sea Lions chilled out on the benches along the marina!

Yellow Warbler, San Cristobal August 2015

Another excellent day full of close up nature, with the knowledge that the next day we'd be sailing to Espanola with the prospect of some albatrosses up close and personal...

The pleasures of Dungeness

Well, that's a pretty enjoyable week. A lot has already been said about Dunge's potential first for Britain - which if not already confirmed on features, should be once the analysis of its excrement comes back. I was speaking to the finder Martin Casemore about the gripping discovery yesterday afternoon, and it was great to hear from the horse's mouth how it all unfolded. I'm just eternally grateful the bird decided to pitch up next to him while he was seawatching - just 50 metres on by the next fishing boat, and it probably would never have happened. Here's a couple of photos of the Acadian Flycatcher from later that afternoon: -

Acadian Flycatcher, 1st-winter, Dungeness, Kent September 2015 - note the stocky, slightly decurved bill, greenish tinge to the upperparts, long wings, pale lower mandible and peaked crown

And so it was Sunday came, and with significantly better weather! Breezy and bright - too much wind for the gulls to be able to land on the exposed beach. And so myself, Mick S and Richard S retreated to 'the puddles' in our cars just behind the beach. As usual, Mick S baited the gulls with some fish scraps and the like and despite there being absolutely nothing in the way of Caspian Gulls at Dungeness since April, two appeared in the bright evening light. I picked up this 2nd-winter bird first: -

2nd-winter Caspian Gull, Dungeness, Kent September 2015

And then Dave W and Mick S located a really showy 1st-winter bird that was aggressive, loud and albatross-like i.e. everything you want in a Casp: -

1st-winter Caspian Gull, Dungeness, Kent September 2015

Though there was a paucity of rings, this 1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull was also present: -

1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull, Dungeness, Kent September 2015

Looking forward to next weekend and probably another fun packed time with the gulls at Dunge. Seems like the lack of rain in the forecast will keep passerines to be found pretty thin on the ground. There's always the hope of a mega displacing me too, though with the Acadian Flycatcher, I'd have shaken on just that at the start of this month.

Showy Pec saves an Achill weekend

Headed out to Achill for another shot at finding something 'out west'. It's standard these days for me to go out at least once an autumn to this gem of an area that's pretty much untouched birder wise. I have come back empty handed, but more often than not found something of a bit of interest.

This weekend, Josh J and I struggled. There'd not been any obvious weather, and the Saturday was spent checking the usual sites for waders, enjoying the scenery and looking for passerines contemplating where the big one would be in the future... Corrymore House is my bet.

Anyway, after a fitful night's sleep, we did a check of Keel golf course before breakfast. Nada. Then headed up to the area around Doogort. We were heading up the track beyond Achill Rovers FC, when Josh spotted a wader flying about - then in no time at all, it did the decent thing and landed on Lough Nambrack and revealed itself as a lovely juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper: -

juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper Achill Island, County Mayo 20th September 2015

This was a brilliant bird, fresh in and totally fearless of us. It walked past us, feeding totally unobtrusively having evidently not got a clue what humans were. We said we'd shake on a showy yank on Achill this weekend, and that's what we got. One day I'm hoping to live the dream on Achill...

Galapagos Islands day 2 - Santa Fe and Islas Plaza

The first dawn on the Galapagos Islands broke, and we were anchored in turquoise water overlooking a white sand beach - full of Galapagos Sea Lions of course. This was Santa Fe, the only place in the world where the Santa Fe Land Iguana - similar to the common or garden Land Iguana, but paler with more obvious dorsal spines. They were still just as confiding though!

Santa Fe Land Iguana

Bird wise, there weren't any real colonies of seabirds but star of the show was a ridiculously confiding Galapagos Hawk. There's showing well and showing very well...

Galapagos Hawk

The landing at Santa Fe was a small circular route, taking us up from the beach and around a rocky yet vegetated landscape. Galapagos Doves flew about, there were several Lava Herons and Galapagos Mockingbirds while Darwin's finch of choice here were Small Ground Finches. A nice Wandering Tattler on the beach was a bit skittish but showed fine in the end.

Galapagos Sea Lion

After a bit of pretty good snorkeling, we headed off early afternoon back west to the east coast of Santa Cruz and Islas Plaza. The journey took no more than a couple of hours, but enough time to see two fantastic Galapagos Petrels - the endemic pterodroma of the islands. And a few frigatebirds decided to land on the boat and suss things out.

Magnificent Frigatebird

Once we'd got our panga onto Islas Plaza, as a gull lover, I was in for a real treat. Perhaps the most beautiful gull in the world - Swallow-tailed Gull - was waiting for me in spades. They were as good as I'd expected, possibly better, and with displaying, juveniles of all ages and birds to within a metre or so the camera was hit hard.

Swallow-tailed Gulls (adults (top two) and juveniles (bottom two)

These quality birds weren't all though - hundreds of Galapagos Shearwaters coming in to land, my first Nazca Boobies, a small colony of Red-billed Tropicbirds, my first Cactus Finches plus some of the already usual suspects - Lava Heron, Blue-footed Boobies, Yellow Warbler and Brown Noddies. I also found a bonus Kelp Gull too, though it didn't linger as it flew over.

Blue-footed Booby

And there were also some pretty showy Land Iguanas too!

Land Iguana

The light again was stunning, and once again it had been a fantastic day. One thing I was happy with was having a 300mm lens; even this was too close at times, but anything bigger than this on the Galapagos and you'd be potentially taking steps back on too many occasions.