scillypelagics

Blast from the past...

2012-02-17T20:02:00.000Z

Sociable Plover, October 2008

Some record footage of this most unexpected first for Scilly. Filmed here in the standing stones field at Lower Moors and at Telegraph, opposite Porth Low Lane.

Blue-winged Teal...

2012-02-03T16:39:00.000Z

At Lower Moors today

Dump Gulls...

2012-01-27T17:47:00.000Z

Iceland Gulls at the dump

Juvenile (left) and second winter

Above and below: Second winter

Blast from the past...

2012-01-24T17:21:00.000Z

Cream-coloured Courser, October 2004

Addendum to Storm-petrels and Bulwer's Petrel...

2012-01-20T18:12:00.000Z

As mentioned in Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel (p 125) a number of extralimital records of Bulwer's Petrel were under review of the respective national committee. We recently heard from Dick Groenendijk, Chairman of CDNA in the Netherlands, the decision about the famous Westplaat petrel. After lengthy discussions, and consultation with experts, the petrel was finally rejected as Bulwers Petrel and the species is therefore removed from the Dutch Avifaunal list. Photos of the bird in question can be found at:

http://dutchbirding.nl/gallery.php?p=bigpic&gal=9&fid=4192&page=zoek

and

http://dutchbirding.nl/gallery.php?p=bigpic&gal=9&fid=4192&page=zoek

More praise for Multimedia ID Guide...

2012-01-19T18:03:00.000Z

In the latest issue of the journal Seabird, former BBRC member John Martin reviews our Multimedia ID Guide: Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel. As many of you will be aware, John found the fregetta storm-petrel in the Severn Estuary 25 November 2009. To read John's review Click here

To read more comments/reviews Click here

Blast from the past...

2012-01-17T18:39:00.000Z

Ovenbird at Trenoweth, October 2004

Iceland Gulls...

2012-01-08T18:52:00.000Z

Some footage from yesterday

More Glossy Ibis...

2011-12-31T19:44:00.000Z

Showed better today

10 books of the year...

2011-12-30T15:51:00.000Z

Multimedia ID Guide listed in NHBS's '10 books of the year' (see below).

"To celebrate another fantastic year in natural history book publishing we have put together a list of some of our favourite highlights of 2011. These ten books stand out as being uniquely interesting,original and informative, providing new angles on old topics and furthering fields of study into new areas."

One of NHBS's 10 books of 2011

Glossy Ibis...

2011-12-29T20:05:00.000Z

Unblocked!

The last Glossy Ibis in Scilly was way back in May 1996 thus there were many angst ridden hours before this bird gave itself up and finally settled on Shooters Pool in Lower Moors.

Some recent footage of interest...

Wilson's, Common and Jack Snipe feeding together

Wilson's and Common Snipe for comparison

Jack Snipe

Radio interview...

2011-12-22T18:50:00.000Z

Took a break from writing the Pterodroma book to give a 20 minute interview to Radio Scilly about the Bermuda Petrel and our Multimedia ID Guides. You can listen to the interview between 11 & 12 am on December 23rd on 107.9 FM or by tuning in via the internet (Google search for Radio Scilly).

Bob Flood

Short-tailed Albatross...

2011-12-08T14:55:00.000Z

Bermuda Skink...

2011-12-01T18:27:00.000Z

by Bob Flood

While in Bermuda, I was lucky to catch up with the Bermuda Skink on Nonsuch Island. The skink is endemic to Bermuda. It is now virtually extinct on the main island, surviving on off islands with Nonsuch Island vital to its continued existence.

Some recent Scilly footage...

2011-11-29T16:07:00.000Z

Bermuda 22 & 23/11/11

2011-11-24T15:14:00.001Z

by Bob Flood

Three men in a boat - Hadoram Shirihai, Bob Flood and David Wingate

Pelagics out of Bermuda on 22nd and 23rd November were a bit frustrating. On the 22nd we went out 10 miles, much further than trips normally go and so it was experimental, but the results were not great with one or two Bermuda Petrels about 3 pm that gave reasonable views but nothing spectacular. On the 23rd, yesterday, we copied the location and chumming techniques from our most successful trip last week (wind direction identical too), but were unlucky with 3 birds hanging around for about an hour two miles off our drift line. As it became dusky with not enough light for photography, a Bermuda Petrel flew around our boat for several minutes - the views were great, but it was frustrating not to capture some of the event on film. The fact of the matter is that Bermuda Petrel is damned rare and it is very hard to catch up with them, even off the breeding grounds in Bermuda.

I made my final trip to Nonsuch yesterday morning for a last look at the colony and to watch Jeremy check the bands on a few birds as part of his research. A man-eating petrel bit Jeremy on the cheek, causing him much agony and drawing blood, to which I couldn't help laughing out loud - sorry Jeremy. Took more video of the head but it is very difficult because they keep twisting their necks like Wrynecks. Obviously the birds cannot be kept out of the burrows for very long, so I abandoned my effort. I also made a nice video interview with Jeremy and this, with footage of Nonsuch and research at the burrows of the petrels, will be the basis of a mini-documentary on the DVDs in our next guide 'Pterodromas'. David Wingate will recount his involvement in the rediscovery and conservation - the piece will be named 'Saving the Bermuda Petrel'. We hope to do a similar piece with Frank Zino called 'Saving the Zino's Petrel'.

Nonsuch site of colony

Man-eating Cahow under control - check blood on cheek

Bermuda 21 & 22/11/11

2011-11-22T17:12:00.002Z

by Bob Flood

Yesterday 21st November David Wingate and I went seawatching at Cooper's Point, where we saw at least three Bermuda Petrels. On the way to the Point David Showed me the rock where he and Robert Cushman Murphy rediscovered the Bermuda Petrel in 1951. At that time it had been considered extinct since the 1600s. We also saw the few other rocks where Bermuda Petrel breeds.

David Wingate and some rocky islets near Castle Harbour

Many rocky islets are highly vulnerable to hurricane damage

This morning David took me to Nonsuch Island. It was virtually a barren rock until David's
brilliant scheme to turn it into a living museum, by planting native trees, shrubs, grasses etc to create a pre-colonial habitat. This project has taken many years. He hand planted nearly every tree and shrub on the island. Nonsuch is the island to which Jeremy Madeiros translocated Bermuda Petrel chicks each year 2004-2008, with over 20 of the 105 translocated chicks returning prior to 2011. A number of these have paired and laid eggs on Nonsuch, with six chicks fledged, the first to fledge on Nonsuch since about 1620. At the moment they use artificial burrows, but the hope is that they will once again breed in native woodland created on Nonsuch.

Nonsuch Island

We also steamed around the mouth of Castle Harbour looking at the very few rocks/islets where Bermuda Petrel bred, until the translocation program. What a tenuous hold this Pterodroma has, still critically endangered and far from safe from extinction.

Rocky islets in Castle Harbour

Hadoram Shirihai and I planned the Bermuda trip over several months and he arrived yesterday. He turned up for today's pelagic trip somewhat jetlagged. The weather was calm, so we steamed further out than usual, then deployed chum. We were pleased with a reasonable view of Bermuda Petrel. The locals, Andrew Dobson and David, were ecstatic with Cory's (borealis) and Great Shearwaters, and went ballistic when a Leach's Storm-petrel spent about 10 minutes showing off around the boat.

Bob Flood, left, with Andrew Dobson centre and Hadoram Shirihai, right

More trips planned this week.

A Good Day In Scilly...

2011-11-20T20:24:00.000Z

By Ashley Fisher

The day started off well with a trip around the inter island waters aboard the MV Sapphire. Highlights included three Spoonbills, three first-winter drake Eiders and, remarkably, a group of four Black-necked Grebe.

Photograph by Joe Pender

Later, a walk through Lower Moors yielded Yellow-browed and Dusky Warblers and finally, the Wilson's Snipe - having been reported almost daily, I hadn't seen it for five days. When I entered the ISBG hide, it was feeding at point-blank range (see video below).

From Lower Moors, I decided to cut through the new school and check the Dump Clump. Despite spending about forty minutes intermittently 'pishing and squeaking' I had seen little of note. Just as I was exiting the wood, I heard the distinctive 'tack and rattle' of a Red-breasted Flycatcher - the latest, by one day, for Scilly (presumably the same bird that was seen in the Porth Hellick area on the 18th). I managed to get some 'record' video footage - see below:

Bermuda 19/11/11

2011-11-20T11:49:00.003Z

by Bob Flood

Spittal Pond Nature Reserve

Wind is dropping but sea state is very rough, so we may not be able to get to sea again until Monday. Went to Spittal Pond Nature Reserve filling in time. Quiet there, with about 10 Pied-billed Grebes, a group of Blue-winged Teal, American Coot, Catbird and White-eyed Vireo, and among other bits and pieces some herons: Great Blue, Little Blue, Green, and Great White.

Looking out to sea from Spittal Pond

Bermuda 17/11/11

2011-11-18T16:43:00.001Z

by Bob Flood

Stefan (the skipper) and I, with chum and fish oil, departed Grotto Bay jetty at 2 pm. We headed to a location recommended by David Wingate and set a position so that we would drift toward Nonsuch Island as the evening progressed – being nearby at dusk when the Cahows go in to the colonies. The breeze picked up to SSW 18 knots. At 3.30 pm a Cahow flew around the boat for about 45 seconds - lovely. At 4.15 we had a star performance - a Cahow approached from ways downwind, lured in by the chum, and then flew around the boat for at least 2 minutes. About 4.45 pm we had another Cahow around the boat, and a fourth about 10 minutes later. At dusk we headed in at putt-putt speed, and several more Cahows flew near the boat, on their way to the breeding islands. I might post some video of Cahow, if I get some more next week. I want to keep tonight's footage for the Pterodroma Multimedia ID Guide. We also saw Cory's Shearwater tonight, which actually looked good for Scopoli's. Thanks to Triangle Diving and Stefan, recommended by me for pelagic trips out of Bermuda.

Eider...

2011-11-18T16:39:00.000Z

Some footage of the first-winter drake off the quay

September 2011

2011-11-17T19:33:00.000Z

I came across this superb video on You Tube - Scilly at its best!

Black Redstarts...

2011-11-17T19:07:00.001Z

by Ashley Fisher

I thought I'd spend the afternoon checking all the beaches in the hope of finding an Eastern Black Redstart. At the Mermaid Car Park, I got waylaid by this stunning adult winter male gibraltariensis.

Here's some footage of the Eastern Black Redstart (Pheonicurus [o] pheonicuriodes) at Margate, Kent, courtesy of 'megabrock161'

Bermuda 16/11/11

2011-11-16T17:37:00.001Z

by Bob Flood

Superb day and evening on Nonsuch at the Bermuda Petrel colonies. Jeremy Madeiros, the Conservation Officer, is a really nice bloke and was very helpful. Jeremy masterminded the translocation program to Nonsuch from tiny islands in nearby Castle Harbour, islands that are rapidly being destroyed by hurricanes. This plan probably has saved the species. We spent 4 hours checking out 9 burrows. Birds were in 7 burrows, including pairs in 3 of them. I am sure you will understand how spine-chillingly awesome it was to see, film, and handle this critically endangered Pterodroma. Then we did a night watch, with plenty of light we could see up to 5 at a time flying around us. We were sat near the colony and the birds often flew past at head height calling. Even more mind blowing.

Jack Snipe...

2011-11-16T17:34:00.001Z

Two of the 3 birds at Lowers Moors today

Firecrest...

2011-11-15T19:29:00.000Z

Bermuda 15/11/11

2011-11-15T16:19:00.000Z

by Bob Flood

We did well today, with one Bermuda Petrel reasonably close at about 4 pm, but the sun was strong and not good for video. We had one bird around the boat at dusk. Otherwise a quite nice mid distance view of two courting birds and quite a few distant views. We
are going out again on Thursday leaving at 2 pm, hoping for even better views at sea. Tomorrow I am promised a trip to Nonsuch Island to observe the conservation work, managed by Jeremy Madeiros, and to video birds in the hand. Is this Nirvana?

Bermuda 13/11/11

2011-11-14T16:45:00.001Z

by Bob Flood

General birding is pretty good in Bermuda. Haven't ventured far, but highlights so far include: Black and white warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Northern Waterthrush, White-eyed Vireo, Belted Kingfishes, Eastern Bluebird, Great Kiskadee, Green Heron, Cedar Waxwing etc. Champing at the bit to get out to sea for the Cahow!

With the sea state still not suitable for pelagic trips, on Sunday I went to Cooper's Point with David Wingate, Andrew Dobson et al. David is the saviour of the Cahow,pulling them back from the brink of extinction and dedicating his whole life to their preservation. Andrew is author of A Birdwatcher's Guide to Bermuda (which I have found very useful). We saw 5 Cahows wheeling around in the wind north of Cooper's Point. Today, Monday 14th November, we are all set to go to sea. Fingers and everything else crossed!

Mourning Dove...

2011-11-12T20:28:00.000Z

Filmed by Bob Flood in Bermuda toady

Northern Wheatear...

2011-11-12T18:15:00.001Z

Some footage of a late 1W Northern Wheatear at Porthloo

Little Egret...

2011-11-08T18:03:00.000Z

Some footage of a confiding bird at Porth Hellick

Central Asian Lesser Whitethroat...

2011-11-04T21:06:00.001Z

Some footage of the central/east Asian Lesser Whitethroat on St Agnes

Great Reed Warbler...

2011-11-01T20:27:00.003Z

Rather surprisingly, Jim Askins and Jaclyn Pearson trapped an adult Great Reed Warbler at the Ringing Station to the rear of Porth Hellick Pool (aged primarily by the heavily worn plumage - see images below).

Yellow-browed Warbler...

2011-11-01T20:23:00.001Z

Some footage from St Agnes today

More footage of Wilson's Snipe...

2011-10-30T18:34:00.000Z

Puerto Montt storm-petrels

2011-10-30T15:32:00.000Z

More on the Puerto Montt storm-petrels after a recent pelagic with Steve Howell and David Shoch. See Steve's brief note here and some of David's superb photos here.

Research pelagic trips, Spain - Part 2

2011-10-27T19:31:00.001+01:00

Our Pelagics out of L'Estartit were kindly arranged by Ricard Gutierrez and we would like to thank him and all the staff at the Park Natural del Montigri, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter offices for their warmth, generosity and help. Our research project would have been impossible without their help!

From left to right
Alex Lorente - Marine Biologist; Montgri, Medes & Baix Ter Natural Park
Emma Guinart - Environmentalist; Wildlife Service, Government of Catalonia
Ricard Gutierrez - Biologist; Wildlife Service, Government of Catalonia and
Bob Flood

The superb Illes Medes marine reserve, just off the coast of L'Estartit

Thanks to Ricard's knowledge, we had no problem finding Scopoli's Shearwaters. Note the
pristine condition of this juvenile

This adult Scopoli's is clearly in moult. Note the diagnostic underwing pattern including
the single 'thumb print' on the outermost greater primary covert

Highlights of the trip were flocks of Scopoli's that contained both Balearic and Yelkouan
Shearwaters (above), allowing for excellent comparisons

L'Estartit

More footage of White-rumped Sand...

2011-10-25T21:02:00.000+01:00

White-rumped Sandpiper...

2011-10-24T20:07:00.000+01:00

Some record footage of the adult found by Bob early this morning

Pink-footed Goose...

2011-10-23T20:26:00.001+01:00

One of the two birds at Porth Hellick today

FYI best viewed in HD (720p or 1080p)

Some footage of both birds...

Some footage from today...

2011-10-22T22:24:00.002+01:00

Northern Waterthrush at Shooters Pool, Lower Moors

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Olive-backed Pipits, Watermill Lane

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Wilson's Snipe from Hilda Quick hide at Lower Moors

Pterodroma Guide: call for photos...

2011-10-20T19:24:00.000+01:00

Dear All

We need sharp images, close up, atmospheric, in flight, sat on sea, in hand, various poses and postures, dark to light morphs where relevant, upperside and underside, island/colony shots, etc.

Species: Trindade, Kermadec, Atlantic, Great-winged, Bermuda, Black-capped, Soft-plumaged, Cape Verde Fea's, Desertas Fea's, Zino's.

Standardised rates of payment.

Please email Bob Flood Click here

Bluethroat...

2011-10-15T18:35:00.001+01:00

The 1W male Red-spotted Bluethroat found by Bob Flood finally found itself in the the mist nets on 13th.

Upland Sand Images...

2011-10-11T20:37:00.001+01:00

A few photos from today

Pelagic 11/10/11

2011-10-11T20:33:00.002+01:00

A few images from today's pelagic trip...

Great Shearwaters performed very well and we saw at least 4 individuals

Views couldn't have been better...

We saw 2 Blue Fulmars including this relatively pale individual

Note the dusky underwing

Here it can be compared with 2 light morph birds

Totals for the trip:

Great Shearwater 4+

Sooty Shearwater 1

Manx Shearwater 2

European Storm-petrel 10+

Blue Fulmar 2

Bonxie 15+

Common Dolphin 150+

More Upland Sand footage...

2011-10-10T17:59:00.000+01:00

by Bob Flood

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00012
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Upland Sandpiper...

2011-10-10T09:11:00.000+01:00

Some record footage

My Movie

WISN...

2011-10-07T19:05:00.001+01:00

Wilson's Snipe

More recent footage...

2011-10-06T20:50:00.000+01:00

This blog entry of Buff-breasted Sandpipers is for Sav Saville of Wrybill Bird Tours, New Zealand - is this of help Sav?

Buff-breasted

Some recent video footage of Scilly birds...

2011-10-02T21:44:00.000+01:00

Black Kite

Short-eared Owl

Pectoral Sandpiper

Research pelagic trips, Spain - Part 1

2011-10-02T21:35:00.000+01:00

Port de la Selva, Cap de Creus, Gerona, 10th September 2011

View overlooking Port de la Selva on the north side of the Cap de Creus. The cape is the
easternmost point of the Spanish mainland and forms part of the Costa Brava

Port de la Selva - we had our best ever views of Pallid Swift as many hundreds flew at low
level around the harbor and nearby buildings before our departure to sea

The aptly named Imaculata was a superb vessel for viewing seabirds

Alex Olle (pictured here) and a keen team of seabirders threw out the chum

It was not long before we got some close views of Scopoli's Shearwater

Conditions for photo and videography were superb

Views like this enabled us to study the diagnostic underwing pattern in detail

The Spanish birders gave us a fantastic reception and it was great to see participants of all ages

Cap de Creus

Northern Waterthrush...

2011-10-01T19:47:00.000+01:00

The 1W Northern Waterthrush was trapped and ringed by Jim Askins and Jaclyn Pearson this morning (1st Oct) at the ringing station to the rear of Porth Hellick Pool, St Mary's. It was not seen at the Project Pool or Lower Moors yesterday and was possibly thought to have gone...

Northern Waterthrush

More from Spain...Lammergeier

2011-09-30T18:00:00.000+01:00

Our primary reason for visiting Spain was to study, video and photograph Scopoli's and Yelkouan Shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea, but more on that later. We also wanted to see as many of the north eastern Spanish specialties as time would permit. Here's some images and video footage of a magnificent Lammergeier that gave excellent views at the vulture feeding station at Santa Cilia.

Lammergeier

Spain trip

2011-09-29T16:35:00.000+01:00

Some images and video (see below) from the vulture feeding station at Santa Cilia in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees.

Griffon Vulture

New Zealand Sunday Star Times on NZSP

2011-09-26T19:49:00.000+01:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/5675510/The-Jesus-bird-returns

Flesh-footed Shearwater

2011-09-25T20:33:00.000+01:00

Flesh-footed

A long time coming...

2011-09-22T21:35:00.000+01:00

While seabirds have become my passion, I have maintained my lifelong burning desire to find a mega yank passerine. Finally, at the age of 56, I did it - a Baltimore Oriole. Bob.

Black-bellied Storm-petrel off Lanzarote - Second for WP

2011-09-21T17:51:00.000+01:00

On the 10th September a group of Spanish seabirders and good friends of ours experimented with a deep sea pelagic trip off Lanzarote. The reward was instant with a Black-bellied Storm-petrel, the second for the Western Palearctic. The bird was spotted by Daniel Lopez-Velasco and photographed by Miguel Roucu (see below). We were in Spain at the time studying shearwaters of the Mediterranean with Ricard Gutierez and got the news red hot and were completely gripped. Well done to the pioneering Spanish team!

Black-bellied Storm-petrel off Lanzarote by Miguel Roucu

Madeiran Storm-petrel first for Britain - reasons to celebrate?

2011-09-02T20:45:00.001+01:00

by Bob Flood

Which population did this Madeiran originate from? (Photo: Joe Pender)

Other blog sites have announced that the 'Scilly Madeiran' is now on the British list. Taking it that this is true, is it time for Scilly listers to celebrate? Not really, given taxonomic developments that we have summarised in our new Multimedia Identification Guide to Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel. DNA analysis shows that a number of distinct populations breed in the northeast Atlantic. Genetic isolation led to speciation and some authorities already recognise four species in the northeast Atlantic, with BirdLife recognising the population off the Azores as a good species with common name Monteiro's Storm-petrel. Whilst we think that it is too early to accept the four species taxonomy suggested in several publications (since research is still ongoing) we recognise that this taxonomy, or something like it, in the coming years will become accepted.

Is it possible to know which population (and in due course which species) the Scilly Madeiran belongs to? The short answers is, 'no'. Our studies to date show that there are no known reliable field characteristics to separate these cryptic popluations (taxa if you like). Even if field characteristics are worked out, and that is a big if, the level of detail recorded in our notes of the Scilly bird and the sole useful photograph are insufficient for future identification. The Scilly bird was in relatively fresh plumage and so there were no clues to its origin in this regard.

What does this mean for Scilly listers?

For the reasons given above, I took Madeiran off my Scilly list several years ago. It is technically correct to tick this bird now using the taxonomy operated by BOURC, but for those who have ticked Madeiran, you'd best keep a bottle of tipex nearby.

Notes by Tony James

Pelagic 25/08/11

2011-08-26T16:23:00.002+01:00

Typically, after two busy weekends, the pelagics have started to produce...

Cory's Shearwater - of the six seen, two birds showed very well, including this bird at arms-length
off the MV Sapphire's stern

Great Shearwater - we had at least 70 of these. Many came very close...

Manx Shearwater - about 20 were seen, some showed atypically well

Wilson's Storm-petrel (WISP) - three different individuals were noted

WISP - this bird (the same in all images) was moulting the outer tail feathers. Tail moult of
second-years & older usually occurs Sep-Oct; in juveniles Oct-Jan

WISP - note the extensive triangular white thigh patch: it is both wide & deep

WISP - this bird came so close, most of it was outside the image frame!

Pelagic 22/08/11

Oriole Birding Weekend 19th-21st August

2011-08-24T21:19:00.000+01:00

A few images from a fantastic weekend...

Bonxie - one of many that showed well over the weekend

Luckily, this french trawler proved to be a real magnate for tubenoses

Sooty Shearwater

Great Shearwater

At times, this bird was too close to focus on

Eventually we found this Wilson's Storm-petrel behind the trawler

With no chum slick, we no option but to follow this bird...

Birder Special Pelagic Weekend 13th-14th August

2011-08-24T19:48:00.001+01:00

Images from the weekend...

Balearic Shearwater - typically for this species, it performed well in the wake.
Photo by Phil Woollen

Sabine's Gull by Phil Woollen

This PZ trawler proved to be a magnate for seabirds, attracting among
others, Great and Sooty Shearwaters. Photo by Phil Woollen

Sooty Shearwater by Phil Woollen

Great Shearwater - this bird showed very well. Photo by Phil Woollen

DSCN3062
The above footage (taken with a tiny digi-camera) is a of a 150 lb Blue Shark - the heaviest caught off Scilly for over a decade. It wasn't particularly long (just over 8 ft) but it was very chunky with an impressive girth. It proved to be very aggressive, locking its powerful jaws into one of the wooden seat tops.

DSCN3069
On our way back to the quay, we encountered a large pod of Common Dolphin, many of which had fun riding the bow waves created by the hull of the MV Sapphires.

Ringing European Storm-petrel

2011-08-16T18:44:00.000+01:00

Adult European Storm-petrel, Deep Point, St Mary's, Scilly, 30th July 2011

Euro banding

Wilson's Storm-petrel off Scilly and beyond

2011-08-11T12:31:00.000+01:00

What's going on...?

We just received an email from our Spanish seabirding friends that reads as follows:

'This year large numbers of Wilson's Storm-petrel are being observed in the Strait of Gibraltar (around 200), but we don't know if this is a normal situation (and no one has previously realized that the species was so common there) or just a big influx.'

Off Scilly, we have seen just one Wilson's in the last 5 weeks, and none for nearly 3 weeks, and this is peak time (by average statistics)! A reasonable assumption is that Wilson's are farther south this year (at least up 'till now). Might this be connected to an unusual year with the Gulf Stream?

Black-bellied Storm-petrel first for WP

2011-08-09T09:41:00.001+01:00

Last night Madeira Wind Birds (Hugo and Catarina www.madeirawindbirds.com) sent us this photo taken off the back of a camera with a phone, during a pelagic off Madeira. Assuming it is a true representation, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, then it is a Black-bellied Storm-petrel and a first for the Western Palearctic:

The long dark hood of Black-bellied drapes over its entire breast (to the upper belly); on Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’ the hood ends approximately half-way down its breast and is visibly short. On Black-bellied, the base of the hood lies farther down the body than the position at which the dark leading-edge of the wing meets the body; on Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’, the base of the hood is level and aligned with the position at which the dark leading-edge of the wing meets the body. Side-on, Black-bellied has an uneven border where the hood meets the white upper belly and in the center it bulges in toward the belly; Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’ have a straight border where the hood meets the white lower breast. Side-on in Black-bellied, the dark/white border undertail/belly cuts in at an angle toward the belly (it is vertical on Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’). In Atlantic ‘white-bellieds the dark undertail-coverts and dark tail form a dark rear carriage that is isolated from the body by white feathers. Finally, of course, it shows very strong evidence of the diagnostic central black belly stripe.

Congratulations Catarina and Hugo!

ADDITIONAL: A much better photograph is now available on Madeira Wind Birds

For seabirders looking out for Atlantic Petrel…

2011-08-08T16:05:00.000+01:00

Atlantic

We just heard that the probable Atlantic Petrel off Cornwall was a dark bird, but don’t know this first hand? Of the many thousands of Atlantics I have seen in the South Atlantic just one was dusky looking, while the rest were typical. Anyway, since Atlantic Petrel is currently topical the following video and note may interest you.

Included here are three sequences of Atlantic Petrel, from relatively distant to very close. Realistically, there are only two potential confusion Pterodromas in the North Atlantic – Trindade Petrel, and the remote chance of a Kermadec Petrel. We will discuss all three species in depth in our forthcoming multimedia guide to ‘Pterodroma Petrels’ (North Atlantic series) including video footage of all three.

A quick note though. I picked up Trindade Petrels on both of my Atlantic Odysseys (2006, 2010) and these are documented with photographs in two Birding World articles (22: 162-166; 23: 305-306). Of particular interest, it took a little time and fairly close views to convince other seabirders present that the first Trindade Petrel in 2010 was not an Atlantic Petrel (of which we had seen thousands). The Trindade was a pale morph, BUT it had incredibly dark underwings, and the limited white on the underwings could only be seen at relatively close range (see photo). The undertail-coverts also looked dark. I thought I had glimpsed white on the underwings when I first picked it up - on the underwing Atlantic also has hard to see pale bases to primaries; but it was its much slimmer structure and less heavy flight jizz that convinced me it was a Trindade. It flew away and lingered some considerable distance off, before (thankfully) steadily working its way back to the ship, finally revealing its identity to all others present and convincing them it was not an Atlantic Petrel.

Note that the plumage aspect of this pale morph Trindade Petrel is very similar
to that of an Atlantic Petrel, with underwings nearly all dark and dark
undertail-coverts. However, it is slimmer in body than the heavy looking

Atlantic Petrel, with proportionately longer narrower wings, and fairly

long attenuated tail (no hint of a wedge shape in the tail like Atlantic).

Also, it is noticeably smaller when seen side by side with Atlantic Petrel.

Photo: Sharon Hogan

Original Promo Video for Multimedia ID Guide

2011-08-08T14:15:00.000+01:00

Just in case you haven't seen the original promo video for our Multimedia ID Guide to North Atlantic Seabirds: Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel, here it is...

Promo_Storm-petrels_new

Further information and more 'teaser' video clips can be found here

Back Catalogue: Buller's Shearwater

2011-08-06T12:09:00.001+01:00

Buller's

Larger format of all blog footage can be found here

OUT NOW

2011-08-06T11:20:00.000+01:00

Multimedia ID Guide to North Atlantic Seabirds: Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel

Our guide in now available. For further details and to purchase Click here

Pelagic 04/08/11

2011-08-05T16:22:00.000+01:00

Four and half miles south of St Mary's

Five Great Shearwaters showed very well as did a single Balearic Shearwater. Other birds included 20+ European Storm-petrels and a single Great Skua.

Multimedia identification guide available soon

2011-08-03T10:27:00.000+01:00

The new multimedia identification guide is book of the month in the September issue of Birdwatch magazine. The Guide will be available at the Birdfair from two stands: the Birdwatch stand M4/97-100, and our friend and artist John Gale's stand AM/7.

Back Catalogue: Paddyfield Warbler

2011-07-31T17:28:00.003+01:00

The very first time local ringer, Jim Askin, set up his nets (at the rear of Porth Hellick Pool, St Mary's, 9th September 2006) he trapped this adult Paddyfield Warbler Acrocephalus agricola. It was not seen prior to capture and it was not seen after release - one can only wonder at the many interesting and unusual birds that must pass through Scilly undetected...

Paddyfield Warb

Back Catalogue: Marsh Sandpiper

2011-07-30T16:20:00.000+01:00

Second record for Scilly by Bob Flood

Marsh Sand

Beck's Petrel

2011-07-22T16:50:00.000+01:00

by Bob Flood

Most experts agree that Tahiti Petrel and Beck’s Petrel cannot be separated in photographs. There are some clues in video though. Have a look at our Beck’s footage and compare it to the Tahiti footage we put on the blog a few days back. The Beck’s did not come close, but even so a number of differences are apparent. See what you make of it. We will post some thoughts soonish (busy on the launch of our Guide right now).

Beck's

Getting to see Tahiti Petrel on a One-day Pelagic Trip – Southport, Brisbane

2011-07-16T18:52:00.000+01:00

by Bob Flood

Southport is situated on the south coast of Queensland adjacent to the southwest Coral Sea. The waters are dominated by the warm south flowing East Australian Current which runs well to the south eventually breaking eastward as the Tasman Front. In most winters, cold water moves up along the coast from the south, pushing the warm water further offshore. This can lead to an interesting mix of tropical and cold water species. Since 1995, when the pelagic venue was switched from Brisbane to Southport about 70 species of seabirds have been identified; some regularly logged here are rarely seen elsewhere in Australian waters.

The star attraction that made Southport a must for Bryan Thomas and I in November 2003 is the Tahiti Petrel Pterodroma rostrata, which has been seen off this port in every month except July. It was one of our major target birds. We departed port at 07.00 at the start of a c.40 kilometres steam past the continental shelf. Crested Terns Sterna bergii were common in the harbour. Over the next ten kilometres we encountered Short-tailed Puffinus tenuirostris, Wedge-tailed Puffinus pacificus and Flesh-footed Puffinus carneipes Shearwaters, species that were seen throughout the day. Excitement was tangible with just 10 kilometres to go before the continental shelf and, hopefully, Tahiti Petrels. At about this point on the trip, organiser Paul Walbridge of SOSSA (Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association), who proved to be very knowledgeable and extremely helpful, called a Black-winged Petrel Pterodroma nigripennis. Shortly after this he called a Gould’s Petrel Pterodroma leucoptera. Then he called a Mottled Petrel Pterodroma inexpectata. Wow! We had scored with a hatrick of the enigmatic Pterodroma petrels, including the highly prized Mottled. A second Gould’s rounded-off a prolific half-hour.

We reached the turning point at about 11.00 and drifted with chum deployed. Shortly after this I picked-up a large, dark, long-winged Pterodroma petrel and my heart rate increased because, surely, this could be nothing other than a Tahiti Petrel. It banked and revealed a white belly allowing me the privilege of calling the first of eight or so Tahitis that put on an impressive show over the next few hours, although they did not approach very close for photographers. A Black-bellied Storm-petrel Fregetta tropica fed over the chum for about ten minutes and perhaps five Wilson’s Storm-petrels Oceanites oceanicus put in an appearance, however, I remained preoccupied with the Tahiti Petrels. Only a Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni, one of just five Procellaria petrels, drew my attention away from the Tahiti Petrels. Black Petrel is very rare and was a total surprise on the day, with our individual just the second ever reported from Southport. A Bridled Tern Sterna anaethetus also drifted through. We started the steam home at 13.00 and saw plenty more shearwaters to keep us occupied to the end of the trip at around 16.00.

Southport definitely was the surprise package of our venture. There may not have been the quantity of seabirds available at other locations, but the quality of the species seen is in no doubt. We went to Southport only because of the Tahiti Petrels, but discovered on the day that this port promises more Pterodroma petrel species in each season than other ports and a wealth of other seabird species. This is not yet well publicised in the literature and is worth summarising below.

September-November. A few winter birds remain such as Providence Petrel Pterodroma solandri, Fluttering Puffinus gavial and Hutton’s Puffinus huttoni Shearwaters with the occasional ‘Wandering’ Albatross. Summer birds like Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters and Tahiti Petrels start to re-appear. The period is notable for passage birds, particularly Short-tailed Shearwater. Wilson’s and Black-bellied Storm-petrels numbers increase before they head south. In recent years, however, Soft-plumaged Pterodroma mollis, Kermadec Pterodroma neglecta, Mottled, Gould’s and Black-winged Petrels have been logged. December-February. This period is dominated by breeding Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. Tahiti is the commonest Pterodroma petrel. Species often sighted include White-necked Pterodroma cervicalis and Gould’s Petrels and occasionally Lesser Frigatebirds Fregata ariel. Streaked Shearwaters Calonectris leucomelas arrive from Japan. Tropical terns such as Sooty Sterna fuscata and Bridled Terns, and Common Anous stolidus and Black Anous minutus Noddies also feature. March-May. A ‘reverse passage’ period, with March in particular turning-in some freakish results; e.g., March 2002 turned up seven Pterodroma petrels on one day – Tahiti, Great-winged Pterodroma macroptera, White-headed Pterodroma lessonii, Kermadec, White-necked, Black-winged and Gould’s Petrels! Tahiti Petrels start to congregate, White Terns Gygis alba are seen in small numbers and plenty of Wilson’s Storm-petrels move northwards. June-August. With a mix of cold and warm water, this is the period of greatest species diversity for Procellariiformes. Providence Petrels and Black-bellied Storm-petrels arrive, with Kermadec Petrels frequently sighted. Also likely are Northern Macronectes halli and Southern Macronectes giganteus Giant Petrels, Cape Petrel Daption capense, up to four species of ‘mollymawk’ (small Albatross), five species of prion, and Brown Skua Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi (Subantarctic form). Herald Petrel Pterodroma heraldica is occasional. Additional. White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus can turn up at any time of year. Recently, Black Petrel and South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki have been logged in both Spring and Autumn.

A Southport pelagic trip is highly recommended and would complement an itinerary from Brisbane that in any case is a must for birders visiting Australia.

I include footage from the Brisbane trip, but it was taken on an old-style camcorder. To whet your appetite further, I have also included some of my footage from an expedition cruise in the Western Pacific in 2008.

Tahiti_Brisbane_video
Tahiti_WPO2008_video

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Paul Walbridge for assisting with background information.

Check out our new multimedia ID guide to North Atlantic Storm-petrels Click here

Preview of Storm-petrel ID Guide

2011-07-08T18:25:00.000+01:00

Sample pages from our multimedia ID guide and comments by reviewers Steve N. G. Howell, Killian Mullarney, Magnus Robb and Hadoram Shirihai can be found via the link below:

http://www.scillypelagics.com/Multimedia_ID_Guide_SP_BUPE.html

August pelagic weekend - places still available

2011-07-08T13:56:00.000+01:00

There are a limited number of places available for the 13th & 14th August 2011

To book click on link below:

http://www.scillypelagics.com/bsp.html

Here's a short video from last years weekend filmed by the team at Birdguides

Back Catalogue: Polynesian Storm-petrel

2011-07-04T18:38:00.001+01:00

The first record for Australia by Bob Flood

During the Western Pacific Odyssey 2008 on April 7th over Norfolk Ridge, en route from Norfolk Island to New Caledonia, I located a Polynesian Storm-petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa from the stern of MV Professor Khromov. There was a force 4-5 wind and the sea was choppy with a two metre swell. The bird passed port side of the stern approximately 80 metres off drifting towards the wake, but was soon lost to sight. A handful of birders witnessed this sighting.

I radioed out the news and very quickly all other birders on board gathered on or above the stern. We were dripping cod liver oil. Evidently when the bird crossed the wake it caught a whiff of the odour and headed back towards the stern. After several minutes a shout came from an upper-deck that the storm-petrel was heading back. It advanced to about 80 metres and showed for about six minutes enabling reasonable photographs and video to be secured and excellent views for all. A few Grey-faced Petrels Pterodroma gouldi and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus pacificus were present at the time.

The relatively huge size of this storm-petrel was self-evident as it effortlessly glided back and forward across the wake, jizz reminiscent of a Wood Swallow Artamus, foraging by rising over crests and swooping into troughs where it was seen to collect oil droplets. The storm-petrel hardly ever flapped its wings, but gently twisted them and its tail in effortless turning manoeuvres. The head looked relatively small on a thick neck and against a stocky body. The bill was relatively long and slim. The caudal projection was long, comprising rump, a long forked tail, and toes projecting well beyond the tail tip. The wings were long and broad with the hand especially long and somewhat attenuated with fairly blunt tips. The wings were held outstretched with the leading edge moderately angular and the trailing edge mildly angular.

This was a pale phase individual, dark grey-brown overall with white throat, breast, belly, thin rump band, and broad white secondary underwing-covert panels becoming dusky on the primary underwing-coverts making the underwing of the hand overall dark. The dark breast band extended onto the underwing to form a thick dark leading edge to the hand mirroring a thick dark trailing edge formed by dark secondaries. The undertail-coverts were dark. Flight feathers were darkest being black-brown. Narrow indistinct upperwing greater covert bars were visible in the field at close range. The flight feathers were visibly worn with notches and abrasion evident in photographs.

This individual is the first ever Polynesian Storm-petrel to be recorded within Australian waters and was accepted by their rare bird committee.

Polynesian_video

Multimedia ID Guide to North Atlantic Seabirds: Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel

2011-07-04T18:16:00.000+01:00

Manuscript goes to press...

After many many months of hard work, our 212 page multimedia ID guide has gone to the printers (normally a 4 to 5 week turnaround). The 2 DVDs will be off to the replicators shortly (normally a 2 week turnaround). We will be taking advance orders soon. Watch this space...

Pelagic 30/06/11

2011-07-01T17:58:00.002+01:00

Six miles south of St Mary's...

Another quiet pelagic trip (no doubt due to 4 trawlers in the vicinity) - birding highlights were two Sooty Shearwaters, 10+ European Storm-petrels and a single Bonxie.

Two Blue Sharks were tagged and released, one of which, took a liking to a participants pair of jeans by adding a series of 'designer' holes...

MV Sapphire skipper Joe Pender deploys his underwater camera. It might look like a 'Heath Robinson' type of contraption, but it certainly produces fine images (see below)

Positioning the camera just prior to the shark coming inboard produces the best results

Look at this stunning image of a Blue Shark! It was taken using the above technique on the 27/06/11 by Joe Pender. We might all take the mickey out of Joe's propensity for gadgets, but it can pay dividends, as here

Pelagic 27/06/11

2011-06-28T18:44:00.001+01:00

Six miles south of St Mary's...

Last evenings pelagic was fairly quiet (largely due to 2 French trawlers attracting all the birds), though we did eventually see a single Wilson's Storm-petrel.

When this Wilson's appeared, the light for photography was rather poor

This 3rd-cal. yr Northen Gannet was one of several that came in close to inspect the chum

Atlantic Northern Fulmars always show well

Will we ever see a Pacific Northern Fulmar on one of our pelagic trips? It's on our radar

A Blue Shark poses for the camera - that's Joe's underwater camera at the end of the pole, left

This is the same shark as pictured above. It has been tagged (below dorsal fin) and is about to be released. Thanks to the efforts of Paul Whittaker (above) and MV Sapphire skipper Joe Pender, over 200 Blue Sharks have been tagged in Scilly

Blog stagnation...

2011-06-26T19:35:00.002+01:00

Project update

As you may have noticed, there's been very little activity on our blog of late. This is entirely due to work on our forthcoming Multimedia ID Guide to North Atlantic Seabirds: Storm-petrels & Bulwer's Petrel. We are very much in the final stages of the project and anticipate that the manuscript will be with the printers early next week (typically a 4-5 week turnaround).

To add a little more detail - the book is over 200 pages long and contains a wealth of original and in-depth ID material, has over 130 colour photographs (majority previously unpublished), over 40 stunning illustrations by Ian Lewington, large format, full-colour range maps (based on the latest research) and, most importantly, 2 DVDs, each with over 60 minutes of footage and informative narration.

The species covered are: White-faced Storm-petrel, Wilson's Storm-petrel, European Storm-petrel, Black-bellied Storm-petrel, 'white-bellied' storm-petrels, Band-rumped Storm-petrel, Leach's Storm-petrel, Swinhoe's Storm-petrel, Matsudaira's Storm-petrel and Bulwer's Petrel.

We will, of course, provide more detailed information (including sample pages from the book and clips from both DVDs) nearer publication, when we will also reveal endorsements for the guide written by (in alphabetical order) -

Steve N. G. Howell (Author & Senior Field Leader, WINGS Birdwatching Tours Worldwide)

Killian Mullarney (Artist, author of the Collins Bird Guide)

Magnus Robb (Author, Petrels Night and Day)

Hadoram Shirihai (Tubenoses Project & Extreme Gadfly Petrel Expeditions)

Bryan's Shearwater...

2011-06-16T20:47:00.000+01:00

The mystery Midway Shearwater now has a name.

Details published in The Condor.

A NEW SPECIES OF SHEARWATER (PUFFINUS) RECORDED FROM MIDWAY ATOLL, NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Peter Pyle, Andreanna J. Welch and Robert C Fleischer

Check out the following links

http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1525/cond.2011.100117

https://sites.google.com/site/andreannajwelch/research

Blue Shark Video

2011-06-15T19:52:00.000+01:00

This is a short video of Blue Sharks under water before being tagged and released.

Pelagic 13/06/11

2011-06-15T19:43:00.001+01:00

Wilson's Storm Petrel, six miles SE of St Mary's (Photo: Joe Pender)

Wilson's foraging; note yellow webbing between toes (Photo: Joe Pender)

Minke Whale showed well (Photo: Joe Pender)

Pelagic 06/06/11

2011-06-15T19:42:00.000+01:00

Wilson's Storm Petrel, six miles SE of St Mary's (Photo: Joe Pender)

Caught on camera...

2011-06-15T17:04:00.000+01:00

In crowd by Ashley Fisher

Scilly birder, John Purkiss, brought this photograph from The Guardian (Wednesday 8 June) to my attention.

Birders watching White-throated Robin in Doctor's Garden - that's me, fourth from right

Search for the Fiji Petrel

2011-06-11T17:08:00.000+01:00

Fiji Petrel is known from one specimen collected in 1855 on Gau Island, Fiji. It was not seen again for 130 years.

Since 1984 there have been a handful of reports of grounded birds drawn to the lights in the village on Gau.

Until 2009, there had been no confirmed at-sea sightings. See video below.

It had to happen one day...

2011-06-08T21:07:00.000+01:00

White-throated Robin twitch by Ashley Fisher

Through pure luck, I happened to be visiting my mother in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, when my RBA pager mega alerted: Cleveland WHITE-THROATED ROBIN Hartlepool Headland... I could scarcely believe my eyes. I had longed to see this species in the UK for such a long time that I'd almost given up hope! Now there was one within an easy two hour drive... How fortuitous to be away from Scilly!

I needed to get there, and get there quick. There was one major problem, however - my car was stuck in Penzance, Cornwall, with 'technical' problems! Mmmm, what to do? I wasted much time trying to scrounge a lift; so much so that it became obvious I wouldn't make it until the morrow. Oh, the agony!

In the end I managed to persuaded mother that a long run in her car (a lovely little VW Polo TDI) would do it good. A quick pow-wow with the insurance company and the twitch was most definitely on!

I pointed the car in the direction of Cleveland and in a little over two hours, I was driving along Marine Drive, Hartlepool, not knowing exactly where to go. Suddenly, I came across Brett Richards and got the good news - access had been granted to the Doctor's Garden and the bird was showing well. All I needed to do was park-up and walk around the corner!

Some of the birders in the Doctors Garden (Photo: John Dempsey)

As soon as I entered the garden, it was obvious that the bird was in view. I peered between the heads of the assembled throng and there it was... one of the best birds I've seen for quite sometime! It was rather like an oversized female Red-flanked Bluetail, but with noticeably longer 'cocked' tail, longer legs and longer heavier bill. The upperparts were largely brownish-grey, as was the the head and the breast; the chin and throat were off-white, forming a fairly narrow, but distinct, throat patch. The flanks were an orangey colour. The tail, apart from being noticeably long, was contrastingly blackish. Through the telescope, the primaries and primary coverts looked quite heavily worn - suggesting a first-summer female (the remiges belonging to juvenile plumage).

White-throated Robin, first-summer female, Hartlepool (Photo: John Dempsey)

I'm sure all the birders who saw the bird today (07/06/11) will extend their thanks to Dr. Michael Reece for generously allowing access to the garden. The bird showed extremely well on the lawn and surrounding walls; favouring an area beneath a large tree in the far corner and an adjacent flower bed.

Check out this in-hand video by Paul Hindess

With this being the first ever twitchable White-throated Robin, viewing conditions yesterday were rather chaotic! A passing 'white-van-man' needed little persuasion to put up several sets of ladders enabling the assembled masses to peer over the wall - for a small fee! See video below.

Of interest to Seabirders...

2011-05-22T15:07:00.000+01:00

Driven by the Petrels

Hadoram Shirihai and Vincent Bretagnolle have been conducting research into Magnificent and Vanuatu Petrels on the Banks Islands and surrounding waters as part of continuing work on the Tubenoses Project (Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of the world: a handbook to their taxonomy, identification, ecology and conservation and Field Guide to the Seabirds of the World).

Details and new information on these birds will be published in the ornithological press in due course.

Meanwhile, to get a 'taster' of the remarkable work carried out by this team, check out the video.

You can read about further exploits of the team by clicking here

Red-rumped Swallow...

2011-05-21T21:04:00.000+01:00

A couple of record shots of the Red-rumped Swallows at Porth Hellick pool today.

Red-rumped Swallows are more or less annual in Scilly these days with May being the best month, closely followed by April then October. At least six were recorded in spring 2009, but this is eclipsed by the group of seven birds that occurred on Bryher on October 27, 1987.

Red-rumped Swallow with House Martin, left (Photo: Ashley Fisher)

Typically spent much time hawking insects over the far side of the pool (Photo: Ashley Fisher)

Random images...

2011-05-20T21:51:00.000+01:00

A few test images with a recently acquired 400mm lens - a fortuitous bargain from ebay! Unfortunately today's Red-rumped Swallow was just a little too distant for photography by the time I arrived.

European Herring Gull - second summer argenteus

Rock Pipit - heavily worn breeding adult

Linnet - dapper male

Short-toed Lark

2011-05-15T17:58:00.000+01:00

Another stroll across the airfield today resulted in rather distant views of a single Short-toed Lark. It proved to be rather timid and generally favoured the quieter eastern runway. A Quail was seen briefly in long grass by the wind sock.

Short-toed Larks often prefer feeding along the dividing line between the runway tarmac and
the grassy outer margins, as here

Note how the wings are completely folded between spurts of wing beats

Adult & young Short-toed Larks have a complete 'summer' moult rendering them
impossible to age under field conditions

'Northern' European Golden Plovers?

2011-05-14T17:52:00.000+01:00

Attributable altifrons...

An evening walk across the airfield in search of the 2-3 Short-toed Larks saw me totally distracted by these stunning altifrons-type Golden Plovers.

Note extensive summer plumage with much black on head & underparts of male in foreground

BWPi & Svensson rightly question the subspecifc validity of altifrons due to much variation
throughout breeding range

Peak spring passage in Scilly from third week of April to mid-May

Obviously the validity of altifrons is questionable, nevertheless these birds were striking in appearance and quite different from typical apricaria.

Back Catalogue: Double vision...

2011-05-04T15:32:00.001+01:00

American Buff-bellied Pipit x 2 by Ashley Fisher

Tea time, 25th September 2007, a breathless Paul Buxton burst into the Pilot’s Gig Restaurant, Hugh Town, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly. He’d just found an American Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rebescens in an old bulb field at Carn Friars Farm (then only the 8th record for Britain and still a very rare bird - a further 6 were discovered in Britain by the end 2007). With no mobile reception, he digiscoped the bird, then ran and part-taxied the two miles or so into town to inform the rest of us via Bryan Thomas at the ‘Gig’. There was no doubting Paul or the images he’d taken and everyone duly rushed to the site. The bird showed well but views were curtailed by failing light.

At first light on 27th, Bob and I were again at Carn Friars for second helpings of the Pipit. It was such an interesting bird, that we wanted to study it at our leisure. It was easily located in the original field and we both settled down to watch it – what a contrast from the local Rock and Meadow Pipits! Even though we had both seen rubescens before, it was hard to imagine that this diminutive pipit was once treated as race of Water Pipit A spinoletta. After an hour or so, Bob decided to check out the remainder of Carn Friars - in view of the recent weather, there was a chance something else might be lurking in the vicinity! I elected to stay: I really wanted to augment earlier notes, sketch the bird and, if views allowed, try video it.

A few minutes after Bob left, the pipit flew up high and began calling. For those who know this call, it is highly distinctive. Most field guides liken it to a squeaky Meadow Pipit and I suppose this gives you the gist of it, but to my ears, it has qualities of Grey Wagtail (a thinner, disyllabic tsip-it) and Blue Tit (a trisyllabic ti-si-sip)!

Remarkably, as the bird circled over adjacent fields, another bird replied, calling back to it from somewhere behind me! I had the calls in stereo! As I turned around, there was another pipit approaching and soon, they were both flying around together. The silhouettes were quite unique; vaguely along the lines of Meadow Pipit but decidedly chubbier/pot-bellied with proportionately shorter tails. After about a minute, they both landed in the original field. I couldn’t believe my eyes, two Buff-bellied Pipits together!

I called Bob’s mobile immediately. He dashed back and we watched the birds with an equal measure of shock and incredulity – would anyone believe us? There had never been two Buff-bellieds’ together before... I rang RBA straight away. I wanted others to witness this great spectacle. There was no need to worry though, as we began to calm down, it dawned on us that we ought to capture the moment on video; which we duly did (see below).

After about 30 minutes, the two birds split up and not long after that, ‘my’ bird vanished; eventually to be relocated on Tresco, some four days later. Interestingly and despite separating, both birds departed Scilly on 2nd October...

BBPI_SCY_07
This article is the first in a series featuring video from our extensive back catalogue of footage taken in Scilly over the last ten years.

Back Catalogue: MV Explorer...

2011-05-01T16:07:00.001+01:00

the sinking and the rescue by Bob Flood

The stricken MV Explorer rests on her side prior to sinking

Passengers and crew in readiness to abandon ship

All that remained after the Explorer sunk was some debris and a few lift rafts

Here we are adrift in Antarctica in a tiny life boat

Here I am contemplating the future...

I'd like to say the headlines were sensational but...

I did get elevated to 'Bird Expert!'

Radio Scilly interview - part 1

Radio Scilly interview - part 2

Dotterel

2011-04-30T17:48:00.000+01:00

Stunning!

A female Dotterel graced the fairways of St Mary's Golf Course today - a welcome find for local birder Tony Gilbert. Typically for this species, it was rather approachable and gave excellent views.

Dotterel_SCY_300411

Back Catalogue: White-necked Petrel

2011-04-29T15:59:00.001+01:00

Back to New Zealand... by Bob Flood

Bryan Thomas and I were back in New Zealand in March 2008, five years after the New Zealand Storm-petrel rediscovery. We simply had to charter out Brett Rathe and the MV Assassin for an old times sake pelagic trip into the Hauraki Gulf, to meet up with our old chums the New Zealand Storm-petrel. Apart from the trip down memory lane, I also wanted to watch New Zealand Storm-petrels knowing that they were New Zealand Storm-petrels!

Brett worked his magic and we got our wish with several of the storm-petrels coming to chum. I remember watching these enigmatic little sea sprites thinking how obviously unique they looked. What a contrast to November 2003. Put yourself in our shoes back in 2003 aboard MV Assassin watching unidentified black-and-white storm-petrels. Imagine the mental agony that we experienced in the evening, after checking Bryan’s photos, trying to come to terms with the fact that we had seen about 20 individuals of an extinct species. And this was in the heavily watched and extensively researched Hauraki Gulf! How could these storm-petrels have been missed? Would anyone believe us? What if they were never seen again?

Anyway, we had another great day out with Brett. Steve Howell joined us. I really enjoyed watching the storm-petrels, but a White-necked Petrel probably just about stole the show.

White-necked_Petrel

Back Catalogue: New Zealand Storm-petrel Rediscovery

2011-04-26T15:24:00.001+01:00

My Part in the Rediscovery of the New Zealand Storm-petrel by Bob Flood

New Zealand Storm-petrel, Hauraki Gulf, NZL, 04/02/08 (Brent Stephenson)

It was early November 2003. Bryan Thomas and I made a toast to Australasian seabirds as our Jumbo revved its engines and accelerated down the runway at London Heathrow airport. We lifted into the air, at which point Bryan said, “You never know, we might see that New Zealand Storm-petrel.”

I was full of thoughts about the feast of albatrosses, Pterodromas, Procellarias, shearwaters, prions, and storm-petrels on the hit list for our Australia and New Zealand pelagic extravaganza, though I remember thinking, “Eh, Bryan must have had one too many.”

The story was that some guy Brent Stephenson and his pal Sav Saville of Wrybill Tours ran a pelagic trip earlier in the year from Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand, and took a record shot of a storm-petrel. It had been suggested that it might be the New Zealand Storm-petrel. There were many opinions and few really thought that it could be the New Zealand Storm-petrel. I reckoned we had more chance of winning the lottery than finding this needle in the haystack. And in any case, New Zealand Storm-petrel was extinct, right?!

For three weeks we zigzagged over Australia and New Zealand. Our trip was nearing its end. We had a great day out into the Hauraki Gulf piggy-backing the charter of Chris Collinson and Tony Marr on the 16th November. The skipper of MV Assassin Brett Rathe agreed to take Bryan and I back into the Gulf next day to drift and chum for White-faced Storm-petrels. We requested an assortment of chum ingredients and Brett duly obliged. (Brett is a star and THE charter to take into the Gulf for seabirding; email boatnfish@xtra.co.nz and say I recommended you.)

We left harbour at 07.30 and steamed to two kilometres north of Little Barrier Island, arriving at about 09.00 and started drifting and chumming. We waited with anticipation. After 20 minutes a storm-petrel arrived from down-wind, as we expected, but, it was a medium sized black-and-white storm-petrel, which we did not expect. Our instant reaction was that it must be a Black-bellied Storm-petrel, but we had minimal experience at that time of Fregetta storm-petrels.

It appeared big-headed and had a very obvious toe projection. It was brownish-black with a white ‘rump patch’, folding over to the underside and merging with a white belly. It had large white underwing-covert panels. We saw dark markings on the belly, but they were difficult to place given the viewing conditions (choppy). This bird certainly did not fit White-bellied Storm-petrel given dark on the belly and a long toe projection (amongst other things).

The storm-petrel fed at about 30 metres off the boat whilst continuing on to the oily slick forming up-wind and directly into the sunlight, where it was impossible to study. Over the following hour-and-a-half more of these black-and-white storm-petrels arrived from down-wind, heading straight for the slick. I videod a number of them as they approached.

Brett chopped-up pilchards and threw them down-wind creating a food source away from the sunlight that encouraged the storm-petrels to feed, albeit for short periods, in improved light for Bryan’s photography. But they mainly remained on the slick where 10 were counted at one time. Perhaps 20 (or more) of these black-and-white storm-petrels visited the slick. This was incredible because we had been told that black-and-white storm-petrels were rare in the Gulf. Clearly, something was not right.

NZSP_blog_1
We then changed location and drifted from 13.00-16.00 about two kilometres off Needles Point at the north end of Great Barrier Island. We saw many White-faced (awesome), but none of the black-and-white storm-petrels.

After a fantastic day watching storm-petrels and many other seabirds, we decided to head home and in the end were relieved to get ashore after a lumpy day out and a bumpy steam back to Sandspit.

We returned to our Shanty in the middle of nowhere. It was at a beautiful location on the waterside. We were cut-off from the outside world with no form of communication.

Bryan downloaded his digital images, whilst I read up on storm-petrels trying to get to grips with the black-and-white storm-petrels that we had seen. Several times Bryan called to me from another room asking why the storm-petrels were streaked on the belly and lacked a central black stripe. I eventually went to look at the images, bearing in mind that field guides warn that the black central stripe is a variable feature of Black-bellied and can be absent.

I was stunned by the images on his laptop screen. A pattern emerged from the underside shots of a number of different individuals. The breast-band was not clear-cut, but there were black-brown ‘bleeding’ projections onto a white belly. The white flanks and belly were streaked black-brown to varying degrees and, especially obvious on more heavily streaked birds, formed lines from the edges of the breast to the undertail coverts (via the thighs). The central belly was unmarked white on all of them. This was totally different from anything we expected for Black-bellied. And the wing structure did not look as we expected. And the toe projection was longer than we expected. And …

A realisation began to dawn and we became aware that these must be New Zealand Storm-petrels. It was hard to believe, but it seemed that Bryan’s quip on take-off had turned into reality. Our conversation bounced back and forward. Surely not? But they must be. But they can’t be! But they are! Oh my god, they are New Zealand Storm-petrels! Are we certain?

It was surreal.

We were sat on dynamite with no way of communicating with the outside world.

As far as we could remember, our birds showed the same characteristics described by Brent Stephenson and Sav Saville. Until their sighting the New Zealand Storm-petrel was presumed extinct and known only from three skins collected in the 1800s. Dare we conclude that we had seen at least 10 and probably around 20 of them? Hold on, we thought, we had better get to read Brent and Sav’s Birding World article again and soon.

The next day we had dinner at Te Kaura Lodge where Kiwi Wildlife Tours was based and Chris Gaskin kindly downloaded a web version of the article on the New Zealand Storm-petrel. The front-page photograph of Brent and Sav’s storm-petrel looked just like our ones. The photographs of the three museum skins collected in the 1800s reflected the pattern emerging on the underside images of our storm-petrels. There was only one reasonable conclusion. Gulp. It had to be that the New Zealand Storm-petrel was not extinct!

Brent's photograph from Birding World article

Two of the original three skins collected in 1800s

We spilled the beans to Chris and to Karen Baird. The response was muted, perhaps being one of shock?

Then we hastily departed for Sydney with a flight early next morning. As soon as we arrived in Oz we emailed Brent and Sav. Their response was excited and colourful to say the least. We had numerous such exchanges by email over the next few weeks.

This was and remains the most exciting thing ever to happen to me in pelagic birding.

Brent organised a follow up trip in January 2004 with TV cameras and several well-known Australasian seabirders on board. We waited by the phone/computer for news. It was a painful wait. Then came the call. The New Zealand Storm-petrels had performed very well.

What a relief, since there were doubters, and it had even been suggested by a well known Kiwi that Bryan and I had concocted the whole story and made up photos by putting Wilson’s photos through Adobe Photoshop.

So, Bryan and I were the first people to discover and to positively identify a population of New Zealand Storm-petrels. What a fantastic thing to happen to two fanatical seabirders!

Since those momentous months, Brent has become a good friend of mine. We keep in regular touch by email. He came to stay with me in Scilly and joined our Birder Special pelagic trips. Next month, Brent and I are meeting up in Madeira for a number of Zino’s pelagic trips. More on that in late May…

And what next? Well, in the words of my mate Bryan Thomas, “You never know!”

Bibliography

Flood, R.L. 2003. The New Zealand storm petrel is not extinct. Birding World 16: 479-483.

Flood, R.L., Saville, S., Southey, I., Stephenson, B.M., & Thomas, B. 2004. Digital resurrection of the New Zealand Storm-petrel. Southern Bird 17: 6.

Saville, S., Stephenson, B., & Southey, I. 2003. A possible sighting of an ‘extinct’ bird – the New Zealand Storm-petrel. Birding World 16: 173-75.

Stephenson, B.M., Flood, R.L., Thomas, B., and Saville, S. Rediscovery of the New Zealand Storm-petrel (Pealeornis maoriana Matthews 1932): two sightings that revised our knowledge of storm-petrels. Notornis 55: 77-83.