SEABIRDS AT SEA: SIGHTINGS FROM BRITISH RESEARCH SHIPS
August 19th-September 6th, 2000
Southampton - Southern Iberian margin
This cruise began at Southampton Oceanography Centre, where a Clouded Yellow and fly-over Little Egret were seen before we even left port! From August 20th-24th we headed south across the Bay of Biscay, following a similar route to the P&O cruise ships which have recently found favour with wildlife watchers. It was easy to see why these trips are so popular, with totals of 500+ Cory's Shearwaters, 6 Great Shearwaters, 3 Little Shearwaters, 1 Pomarine Skua, 1 Arctic Skua, and several European and Wilson's Storm-Petrels seen during our passage. Great Skuas, Gannets, Fulmars and Common Terns were abundant, and a single exhausted Knot and a greenland race Wheatear arrived on board (20th).
Non-bird highlights included a Fin Whale, numerous long-finned Pilot Whales and Common Dolphins, and a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. From August 25th to September 6th we were working about 100 km south of SW Spain. Regular birds included Gannets, Common Terns, Cory's Shearwaters, Wilson's Storm-Petrels and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, mostly moving south. On 27th a small 'fall' included Common Sandpiper, Willow Warbler, Collared Dove, Yellow Wagtail, Turnstone, Swallow and Sand Martin. More like a coastal watch-point than the deck of a small ship! I was reminded that I was 100 km offshore by a superb adult Long-tailed Skua, two adult Pomarine Skuas, an adult Arctic Skua, and a brief Fin Whale. The following day saw a Hoopoe land on deck and two Grey Herons fly over, while another Pomarine Skua was seen over the sea.
From 29th-31st we had to make a port call in Cadiz, and I managed to see Greater Flamingo, Kentish Plover and Monk Parakeet in the port area. From September 1st-5th we were again about 100 km offshore of SW Spain, and passerine migrants continued to arrive on deck. These included two more Hoopoes, Wheatear, Turtle Dove, Willow Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, Turnstone and Whimbrel. Non-bird highlights included a turtle species, several flying fish, two Thresher Sharks, two Fin Whales and a probable Hammerhead Shark.
July 20th-August 10th, 2000
Outer Hebrides, Scotland - SW Ireland - Southampton
This trip was split between two main work areas. The first of these was about 160 km NNW of the Outer Hebrides (July 22nd-31st). Regular birds included Fulmar, Gannet, Kittiwake, Puffin, Great Skua, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Guillemot, Razorbill, European and Leach's Storm-Petrel, Manx Shearwater and Arctic Tern. For several days, a flock of Kittiwakes took up residence on the fore deck of the ship, which became their roost site during the daytime.
At night they would hunt fish fry attracted to the ship's lights, with the birds homing in on the reflective eyes of their prey. This led to a comic moment when one of the crew members threw a glowing cigarette butt over the side. A Kittiwake obviously mistook the glowing light for a fish and dived on it as it hit the water. For a brief moment I was confronted by the surreal sight of a Kittiwake flying no more than five feet away with a glowing cigarette in its beak! More conventional "highlights" included eight Sooty Shearwaters, eight 'blue' Fulmars, and five Pomarine Skuas. On 25th a stiff NE wind produced two very tired Ruff which attempted to land on deck. The 29th was an interesting day, with five Greater Black-backed Gulls passing through, one of which was ringed. There was also a good wader passage at this time, presumably of birds returning south-east from Iceland or Greenland. This included 33 Knot, 21 Redshank and three Turnstones. 
A Sunfish provided additional interest, especially this far north. From August 1st-2nd we were on passage to the second work area, about 110 km SW of SW Ireland. The passage produced another eight Sooty Shearwaters and 500+ Manx Shearwaters. Off SW Ireland we began to pick up more large shearwaters. From 3rd-6th small numbers of Great and Cory's Shearwaters were seen, and on 7th a good passage produced 63 Cory's Shearwaters moving SW in three hours. Fortunately, I found out that one of the kitchen staff liked birds, so I asked him to save all the food scraps and throw them overboard once a day when I was available. This produced spectacular results! One day I saw at least 16 Great Shearwaters on the water, accompanied by a Pomarine Skua, two Arctic Skuas, a Sooty Shearwater, 100+ Fulmars and several Great Skuas and Gannets, all within 100m of the ship.
The food also produced close views of Storm-Petrels; we were regularly besieged by up to 30 European Storm-Petrels and careful scanning revealed a number of Wilson's Storm Petrels. These often came close enough to see the yellow webs on the feet. Up to three could be seen at the same time but I was sure the actual total seen from 6th-8th was approaching ten birds.
Three Sunfish were also seen during this period. Altogether the whole trip produced totals of about 10 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 100+ Leach's Storm-Petrels, 1000+ European Storm-Petrels, 82 Cory's, 39 Great and 20 Sooty Shearwaters. In total about 26 species were seen more than 10 miles from land.
click here for the final part of Russell's 'Seabirds at Sea' paper including an in-the-hand photo of Madeiran Storm-Petrel.
