With our Seabird & Whale season now underway once again, it seemed like a good time to look back at some of the highlights of recent years, starting with those effortlessly iconic ocean wanderers, the shearwaters.
Cory's Shearwater from All My Sons, our YCN boat - more here
I've had more than my share of good luck with them over the seven or eight seasons I've been guiding our pelagic trips, with a full house of the five species we'd hoped to find on my outings. Not only that, but the two rarer species - Cory's and Great - both even had the good grace to circle the boat for our client's viewing pleasure!
Great Shearwater circling the boat - more here
The North Sea is a world away from the Atlantic, of course, and the rarer shearwaters are exactly that here, but increasingly we're seeing congregations of feeding flocks of Manxies and Sootys, with last season (2024) being far and away the best yet.
Amazingly it wasn't unusual to see hundreds of either / both, with (unusually) Manxies present in high numbers well beyond the usual late July and early August peak, and Sooties remarkably constant and abundant.
Sootys around the boat last September - more here
Sooty and Humpback!
Balearics are always an exciting find, and we had a handful last year, including a very dark bird within a close-up flock of feeding Manxies (see above and below)....
... while Manxies are always a pleasure.
This year? We'll see, but I can't wait to get started...
As is usual I'm away for much of the summer but will be back on the boats pretty much as soon as I get back. If you want to book a trip on which I'm guiding, my dates are: 29th Aug (both), 1st Sep (0800hrs), 8th Sep (both), 15th Sep (0730hrs), 19th and 20th Sep (all), 22nd Sep (both).
Go here for the dates.
