Risso's Dolphins in the Azores

On my five dolphin watching trips from the island of San Miguel in the Azores at least two produced sightings of Risso's Dolphins, including a scattered party of about ten animals. Unlike Common Dolphins, the Risso's are shy and don't usually come close to the boat. They are quite big and lack a prominent beak. Interestingly, they are born black but as they age they become progressively paler turning almost white; they also acquire extensive scarring which is thought to be a result of encounters with other Risso's Dolphins.

Wildlife of the Azores

My week on the island of San Miguel in the Azores was mainly spent on the dolphin watching boats, but I tried to photograph some of the other wildlife when the chance arose. I was surprised that the Azorean Yellow-legged gulls (race atlantis) were not interested in the bread that I tried to tempt them with, they obviously have a better diet than my local gulls. So although this was the most numerous species around the harbour in Ponta Delgada, photographic opportunities for this species were limited. The dolphins were such a draw that I also didn't find time to visit the areas where the endemic Azores Bullfinch could be found; but that's a good excuse for a return trip.

Cory's Shearwaters were seen in good numbers from the

dolphin-watching boats.

Male Canary at Lagoa Furnas.

Clouded Yellow photographed at Lagoa Furnas.

Loggerhead Turtle photographed on a dolphin-watching trip.

It was about the size of a dinner plate, a lot smaller than my

last Loggerhead in Turkey, but fab nevertheless. Note the small

fish taking refuge underneath. This turtle kept its fore flippers on

the back of its shell while close to the boat, then paddled away

strongly once it was at a safe distance; probably a defensive

posture.

Red-veined Darter. This beautiful dragonfly was photographed

on the shore of Lagoa Verde, the "Green Lake" at Sete Cidades.

Madeiran Wall Lizard, naturalised after

involuntary introduction. Lots of these were

seen on volcanic rocks near Sao Roque.

Azorean Yellow-legged Gull moulting into third winter

plumage (I think!) in Ponta Delgada Marina.

Juvenile Azorean Yellow-legged Gulls.

European Robin at Caldeira Velha.

Male Chaffinch of the race moreletti, photographed at Caldeira

Velha.

Azores Common Dolphins

I spent last week on the beautiful (very beautiful!) island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. I took lots of photos on a number of dolphin-watching trips with a company called Futurismo. I can recommend these trips for obtaining fabulous views of a number of dolphin species. I haven't processed any of the hundreds of photos that I took but here is a short video of Common Dolphins. It is a compilation of a few trips on a catamaran and one trip where I got to swim with Common Dolphins! What can I say but sheer magic!

Little Swift

Finally getting round to sorting some of my recent photographs. Mega rarity of the year for the Northwest was this fabulous Little Swift seen in New Brighton, only a few miles from my home. I first saw it on the evening of Friday 22nd of June. It was getting dark when I arrived so I returned the following morning and managed a few shots of this amazing bird.

Snowdon Mountain Race

Last Saturday I ran my first ever fell race when I took part in the International Snowdon Mountain Race. The route starts in Llanberis and follows the Llanberis path all the way to the summit at a height of 1085 metres above sea level, and a distance of about 10 miles. The weather was superb on the day with bright sunshine and a bit of a breeze near the top. Not knowing how my race would go, I started conservatively near the back of the pack of about 600 runners. We left Llanberis and headed up the steep tarmac road and onto the rocky path that leads to the summit. The support from the crowds was excellent, with plenty of vocal encouragement and even a couple ringing cow-bells. The views, when I had a chance to admire the scenery were stunning. I managed to push on past a few runners, but I was reduced to a fast walk during mile 4 up a scree slope. Not long after this the leaders came hurtling down the mountain at an unbelievable pace. I reached the summit  in exactly an hour and eagerly anticipated the run down. A few runners passed me running down the scree slope, but I managed to retake a few places on the rocky paths lower down. By the time I was running down the tarmac road again my quads were really hurting, and my legs felt like jelly on the level road back in the town. I still managed to wave at the large crowds of supporters as I entered the finishing funnel. I finished in 1 hour and 35 minutes in 150th place overall and 6th in the V50 category; I was well pleased. I celebrated that night with the ultimate in recovery drinks - a few pints of Greek Mythos beer; lovely!

Running into Llanberis at the end of the race. Many thanks to

my son Adam for the animation.

Ynys-hir

Ynys-hir is a fabulous RSPB reserve in West Wales that has become famous in recent years after being chosen by the BBC for some of their Springwatch programmes. There is something to see at all times of the year but a Spring visit can be very productive birdwise.
We had planned to go in June so on the 10th of that month we set off for the reserve despite all the dire weather forecasts. Not far from the reserve we had to stop and rethink our plans as the main road was flooded and littered with abandoned vehicles including a breakdown truck. Undeterred we donned our wellies and headed for the Dyfi Osprey Project reserve. After walking and wading for over a mile we were disappointed to find that the reserve was closed, so we picnicked in a nearby field then waded back to the car past even more broken down cars!
We manged to find an alternative route to Ynys-hir via a single-track road over some hilly terrain; and it was well-worth the drive, apart from BBC crew and wardens we had the reserve and its super-abundant birdlife to ourselves. Redstarts, Wood Warblers and Pied Flycatchers were all busily feeding young in nests. Treecreepers, Blackcaps, Nuthatch, Little Egrets and Woodpeckers were all seen well. But the Pied Flycatchers were definitely the highlight, I wish we could have arrived earlier and stayed longer to get some decent photos but that will have to wait until next year, hopefully the weather will be better then as well.

Male Blackcap foraging in an Oak tree.

Flooded fields near Ynis-hir

Me on the flooded road, note broken down truck!

Cemlyn Bay

I visited the beautiful Isle of Anglesey last Wednesday with my friend Jane and despite the almost non-stop rain managed to have a great day's birdwatching. We spent the morning at the RSPB's South Stack reserve where there were still good numbers of auks on the cliffs including some chicks. Harbour Porpoise were showing well off the lighthouse stack with at least three animals feeding. A few Gannets were seen diving for fish and there was a constant stream of Manx Shearwaters flying past. Puffins, Choughs, Ravens and Kittiwakes were all seen well.
A veritable tern festival was had in the afternoon at Cemlyn Bay, where around 2000 pairs of Sandwich Terns have nested this year. According to one of the wardens, unfortunately the earlier nesting Common Terns have not fared so well. Arctic Terns were also seen along with one or two Black Guillemots in the bay. The following photos are all of Sandwich Terns.

Sandwich Tern trying to out-compete Puffins in the carry-a -

sandeel contest!

Sandwich Terns manage to call continuously as they return to

the colony without dropping their fish.

Norfolk

It's been a while since my last post so I've got a lot of catching up to do. At the beginning of June I spent a few days on the North Norfolk coast based at Salthouse. Norfolk is the premier mainland county for birdwatching, but as with recent months the weather was not conducive to birdwatching or photography. Nevertheless I managed to see or hear 94 species of bird and 8 species of mammal; not bad considering the rain (it was the Silver Jubilee weekend for those of you that braved the weather in the early part of June).
Unusually for Norfolk at that time of year rare birds were thin on the ground, the only rarity of note during my stay was an elusive Black-winged Stilt at Cley. Even the Nightjars on Salthouse Heath failed to show on 3 different nights. But I did manage a view of a Cetti's Warbler, a bird definitely more often heard than seen. The one day that the sun shone I drove to Strumpshaw Fen but no Swallowtails or Norfolk Hawkers were on the wing.
I'm sure my next trip to Norfolk will be more productive; it's a fabulous county even in the rain!

This Red-legged Partridge was in the car-park at Cley.

The rain forced this Swift to feed low

over the lake at Holkham Hall.

The rain eventually did stop allowing birds such as this Barn

Owl to hunt.

A beautiful example of mimicry; this Wasp Beetle was

photographed at Strumpshaw Fen RSPB.

Summer-plumaged Sanderling at Titchwell RSPB.

Summer-plumaged Sanderling.

Avocet feeding at Titchwell RSPB.

Avocet, Titchwell.

Breeding-plumaged Little Egret at Cley,

it was being mobbed by a Lapwing.

Juvenile Robin at Titchwell waiting to be

fed by its parent.

A flock of Spoonbills at Cley. They were easier to see than the

Black-winged Stilt.

A female Broad-bodied Chaser basking in some rare sunshine.

I tempted the Jackdaws at Blickling Hall with some fruit cake.

Jackdaw at Blickling Hall.

A soggy Little Egret manages to catch some lunch at Cley.

Rose-coloured Starling

On Sunday the 17th I took my family to Conway RSPB reserve to show them the family of Stoats that had been showing very well on the previous Friday (photos to be published soon). After some good views of the mother bringing food to the kits, I ventured to nearby Rhos-on-sea where an adult male Rose-coloured Starling had been seen. Despite a long wait the bird did not show while I was there.
I returned to the site yesterday (Wednesday), while on my way to Snowdon, and had brief views of the bird perched on the roof of a house but it did not come down to the feeders. I continued on to Snowdon and ran to the summit and back as part of my training for next month's mountain race. I returned to Rhos-on-sea but the bird had still only been seen briefly all afternoon. I was pleased that I had seen the bird earlier, but any return to obtain better photos will have to be postponed until the weather improves again.

Adult Rose-coloured Starling, a gorgeous bird.

Young Stoat licking blood from around his mouth.

South Stack via Snowdon

On the 26th May I decided to have a go at running up Snowdon as I have an entry in the Snowdon Mountain Race at the end of July. The route follows the Llanberis path, which is also known as the tourist route as it is supposedly the easiest way up. It is about 5 miles to the summit from Llanberis.
It was a beautiful, hot May day; hard to believe after all the rain we've been having recently. Never having walked this way to the summit, (or competed in a fell race!) this was more of an exploratory run to see how my legs coped with the terrain. After parking in the town I jogged slowly up the road that leads to the path to the summit. Within a few minutes I was already walking up one of the steepest tarmac roads that I have ever seen. Thankfully, once onto the rocky path I was able to start jogging again. It was a very hot day, but the main obstacle to my progress was the near gale-force wind; I was glad to be wearing my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the dust. I made my way slowly up the slope passing many walkers. The views were fabulous, but I had to walk in many places due to the wind and the steepness of the gradient. I reached the summit in just over an hour. It was impossible to stand on the summit due to the strength of the wind and many walkers were taking shelter in the lee of the summit cairn.
Suppressing my desire to enter the cafe and buy a refreshing coffee, I immediately set off on the return run back down. With gravity aiding a quick decent my lungs could breathe easy again, but I held back from an all-out flight down to try and save my leg muscles. This was a wise decision as by the time I regained the steep tarmac road my thigh muscles were aching with every step. The journey down took 40 mins, and I was glad to reach my car and down a few bottles of water.
Once changed and re-hydrated, I drove over to Anglesey and visited the beautiful RSPB reserve at South Stack. This superb area of heathland and cliffs is home to fabulous seabirds such as Guillemots, Razorbills, a few Puffins and that enigmatic crow the Chough. I spent a lovely afternoon here admiring the wildlife and the scenery, but my leg muscles didn't appreciate the walk down the steep steps to the lighthouse after my exertions in the morning!

Guillemots nesting on the cliff.

The much-photographed South Stack lighthouse.

Chough with larval prey item.