28 June 2012: Pelagic off Tanjung Dawai, Kedah

I wasn't expecting much today, and was pleasantly surprised to have my expectations exceeded!

These two Long-tailed Skuas were flushed by the boat before 8 a.m., an unusually early start to proceedings.

A brisk southerly wind built up during the day, and a succession of thundery squalls interrupted the bright sunshine.

This made for interesting lighting and a cool breeze throughout the day - very pleasant.

What a difference a ray makes! Two Bridled Terns taken within three minutes of each other! Bridled were the predominant tern on show today - about 120 or so.

Two juvenile Sooty Terns. The first is still in complete juvenile plumage; the lower two photos show the second bird, already in moult. The patches of white are caused by feather bases being exposed by missing feathers above.

A sight often searched for - the diminutive form of a petrel skimming the waves!

A Swinhoe's Storm-petrel - the first of 3, though technically, the other two were too far away to go down as anything but "dark-rumped storm-petrel - probably Swinhoe's". These are my first in the area, and over a month after I would expect the main passage period to be. Perhaps the southerly winds and fog-like haze of the last few weeks have  held some up.

 

Another surprise - two Short-tailed Shearwaters. It doesn't look as though these two are going to make it to the Bering Sea! Most Short-tailed Shearwaters undergo a full moult in the far north, becoming flightless for a time. I don't know if that is what is happening to the lower bird, it doesn't look too healthy, and may have picked up some feather pollution leading to waterlogging. For a moment as we caught sight of it swimming past, I thought we had found our first auklet!!

 

Haze? What haze? This was the weather by the time we came back in - the wind change and rain have thankfully cleared the air.

24th December 2009: Olhos De Agua, the Algarve, Portugal

A selection of photos from within walking distance of our rented accommodation...






Azure-winged Magpies were numerous and noisy but also exceptionally difficult to get close to. These shots were the best I managed all week.



Partridges in Western Europe don't quite have the same mystique as partridges in Asia, but Red-legged Partridges are nonetheless pretty smart birds.



My only lifer of the trip was the not terribly inspiring Spotless Starling. This was the only view I got of one on the ground.



Mountainous waves and a thick mist of salt-spray meant I had to keep my optics under wraps, but there were a few birds passing - like this flock of Black-headed Gulls...



There were several 'Bonxies' or Great Skuas, all well out to sea.



And a lone Sandwich Tern flew past just offshore.



...as did a Great Cormorant.



One of the resident Yellow-legged Gulls.



A few Ruddy Turnstones provided plenty of photo-opportunities on the beach.



These small reddish bivalves washed up on the tideline seemed to be the prey of choice.



Once one was found it was whisked away to a solitary spot suitably distant from other turnstones.



The shellfish's muscle was no match for the chisel bill of the turnstone, and before long, the succulent-looking white flesh was extracted, shaken and eaten.





Some birds preferred to hunt on the beach, others preferred the rockpools, where they seemed fairly unconcerned by the .regular surges of breaking surf.





Getting flight shots was a challenge as the sun was always on the seaward side, so getting the light behind me meant getting wet feet!