"Magic Pelagic"

Yesterday I travelled to West Bay,Bridport in Dorset with fellow "toggers" Steve Hinton,Richard Smith and Alex Bevan to join a pelagic led by Dr Tom Brereton of Marine Life who monitors the small population  in Lyme Bay of the most southerly colony of White-beaked Dolphins in British waters.
We met up at Llantrisant at 05.00 and with the roads quiet we arrived in West Bay at 07.30 ready for the 08.30 start.

We assembled on the quay and eventually departed at 08.45 steaming out on Huntress II for two solid hours to the dolphins' feeding grounds.
It was generally quiet to start with few birds,but a small flock of 5 Common Scoter flew over and we started to pick up Gannets,Manxies,Kittiwakes and a single Arctic Skua of which I only managed to get a poor record shot.

We got out to the feeding area and started to zig-zag in an attempt to find the dolphins,we struggled and it's surprising how quickly your initial high expectations dwindle away !!
At about 12.45 Alex spotted some tall dorsel fins above the surface of the water which we thought initially belonged to Risso's but on getting closer and with better views were quickly confirmed as those of White-beaked.

I've only seen the species once before on a whale watching trip out of Reykjevic,Iceland with Teresa whilst on holiday so to see them close to home in UK waters was a huge thrill and we watched them for about 45mins taking the opportunity to get some photographs as they came in close to the boat.

They disappeared from view and despite a further search around the "zone" we were unable to reconnect.
We headed back to West Bay mid-afternoon at a leisuerly pace and made diversions to a few trawlers where good numbers of seabirds were congregating in the hope of a free meal.
There were lots of birds sat on the water and we "flushed" a single Sooty Shearwater and I managed to get a "record" shot as it made off from the wake of our boat.

There were also several Great Skuas around bullying the gulls and I managed to get some shots that I was quite pleased with.

We had also hoped to connect with Minke Whale which had been seen on previous trips but we were unlucky this time,there's always next year !!
The weather had improved as the day went on and by the time we arrived back at the quay it was a beautiful warm late summer evening.
Four tired but hugely contented souls piled into the Jeep and with no hold-ups I eventually got home at 9.00pm at the end of a long 17 hour but very satisfying day out and one I would like to repeat next year.

Catchin' up............

Few photos or should I say "images" from the last couple of weekends up at Llangors,fairly quiet and the Common Terns,Little Gull and Spot Fly didn't come close enough to get anything other than "record" shots.
Did manage to get a little closer to the Yellow Wagtails and was lucky to get a couple of reasonable shots as they were quite flighty.

Spotted Flycatchers : Llangasty Church

Had a stroll around the chuchyard at Llangasty yesterday evening and found a couple of juvenile Common Redstarts which after taking cover from a heavy shower I couldn't relocate.
It was very quiet and just as I was about to head back to the caravan I noticed a Spotted Flycatcher and quickly found it to be one of a pair flying back and fore a nest which upon checking held four young which were very near to fledging and will probably be out of the nest within a couple of days.
The parent birds were resonably confiding and I managed a few shots that I was quite pleased with.

"Pass me another Common Blue please"..................

Paid an afternoon visit to the Glanusk Horse Trials on Saturday and after an enjoyable few hours spent a little time trying to photograph a group of Barn Swallows hawking insects over one of the meadows on the way back to the car park,frustratingly difficult but good fun all the same !!
We then called in to Talybont Reservoir on the way back to the caravan where the highlights were a Common Sandpiper flying down the opposite shore and a couple of female Goosanders in flight.
There were several House Martins nesting on the "pumphouse" at the dam end which was another photographic challenge,unfortunately I also witnessed the demise of a youngster as it fell from a nest and despite a valiant attempt succumbed to the cold water.
Had a look around the lake on Sunday morning hoping to get a photo that I was unable to get last week which was a juvenile being fed by a parent bird.
There were loads of Common Blue Damselflies on the wing and they were easy pickings for the Reed Warblers and I managed a few of the shots that I wanted,even managed one of a Common Blue being "ejected" from the other end of one of the birds !!

"A Quiet Time"

Didn't do a lot of birding this weekend as it's that quiet time of year,had a few hours around the fringe of Llangors Lake on Sunday morning where there were several juvenile Reed Warblers in the reed beds and whilst I could see two youngsters perched on a horizontal broken reed stem getting fed by a parent I just couldn't get a clear shot through the tangle of reeds.
A nice surprise though was a party of four Treecreepers (two adults and their two youngsters) moving through trees near the sailing club,managed some nice shots but wasn't quick enough to get one of a parent feeding a youngster.