Cornish Capers (Part 4) - Great Shearwater & return of the tuna mayo roll

Plenty of action behind the boat

Superb flight views

Storm Petrel

Great Shearwater impressing the locals

Great Shearwater 

Great Shearwater 

Great Shearwater

Caught in action by the "Mayor" 

Saturday evening was a night very different to the normal. We had booked an evening on a pelagic sailing from Penzance from 5pm to 9pm. There was only five passengers who braved the experience including the three from my party. The evening didn't start well as we were late starting which frustrated us all. As we set out we past a Mediterranean Gull just outside the harbour and a juvenile Yellow-legged chased the boat as the boat leader started to prepare the chum. 

After a brief introduction we didn't have much more interaction with the boat leader as he seemed to be more interested in obtaining his own photos than guiding which was head scratching when we had paid £35 each. 

We sailed south west but always staying within a couple of miles of the shore line. A couple of Balearic & Sooty Shearwaters past us quickly as we kept heading to our intended destination. Once this was achieved the engine was turned off. However instead on the chum going into the water it went all over the deck as it was knocked over by the skipper. Already feeling queasy, I started to feel even worse despite a Great Shearwater landing right by the boat. The "Mayor" was so pleased I had to stop him trying to lean out of the boat to hug the poor bird !

With the chum finally hitting its intended target the boat rocked hard but the smell did pull in the Storm Petrels & Fulmers. The Petrels got within a few feet of the boat giving terrific views. 

Sadly I had more pressing issues as my delicious tuna mayo cob made a rapid reappearance off the back of the boat much to the delight of the birds who thought more chum was on the menu.

I must say the next 90 minutes was unpleasant as we sailed back through a developing weather system of rain, fog and wind! I couldn't have got out the boat any quicker. 

Amazing viewing of the Storm Petrels and Great Shearwater but I'm pretty confident I won't be doing another pelagic for quite some time. My evening tweet about the Shearwater generated an impressive 6,960 impressions to date. 

Cornish Capers (Part 1) - Aims & Porthgwarra seawatching

 Hayle Estuary

Little Egret (Hayle)

 Porthgwarra cafe

 Warwick royalty on duty

Porthgwarra scene of Poldark TV series

 Sea watchers gather on Saturday morning

 Sunrise at Porthgwarra 

 We knew we were in right spot as locals were in position before us on Sunday

 Thick fog on Sunday

Gannet passage

Storm Petrels are a species that have always had a great interest in but with no chance of seeing one locally I took up a generous invitation to head to Cornwall with fellow Warwickshire birders for a two night stay. The long journey always put me off visiting this part of world on regular occasions however as just a passenger we made the journey in around five hours with a couple of stops. Our organiser, better known as the Warwick Mayor, even managed to navigate around the multi-level car park without an accident. 

We stopped in on the Hayle estuary for a short break however there were only the local gulls, Little Egrets, a few geese and a flock of Curlews. Following a quick check-in at the hotel we made the twenty minute drive to Porthgwarra for a session of late afternoon sea-watching to get the eye in.

Porthgwarra is one the leading sites in the UK for sea-watching and has hosted rarities including Red-eyed Vireo, Coreys Shearwater, Yellow-billed Cuckoo & Black-bowed Albatross.  A good passage of Gannets & Manx Shearwater made a superb start with the Gannets flying very close to the cliffs. Then surprisingly a Storm Petrel flew past my scope, then another, I hadn't expected to see these from shore yet we recorded 20 birds. One fed very close below us enabling everyone to get some super scope views. 

After a fantastic evening out with the full party we were back on the cliffs for 6am (complete with fuzzy head) ! The early start paid dividends as sightings included 8 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, endless passage of Gannets & Manx Shearwaters, 22 Storm Petrel, a Great North Diver (flew over head), 6 Oystercatcher, Fulmers, Rock Pipit, a single Swift, 12 Swallows, Kestrel, Linnets and a Garden Warbler which we flushed as we returned to the car.

On Sunday we tried again, firstly at Pendeen, then Porthgwarra however thick fog really hindered the session and whilst we did see some passage the only additional species were a Black-tailed Godwit and a Bronxie.