Iceland - Whale watching

On our first morning in Iceland (24th July) we joined a whale watching boat out which was sailing out of Reykjavik for a few hours. The weather was perfect - completely flat water and bright but cloudy. For once we got lucky as it proved there were above average numbers of cetaceans in Faxaflói Bay that day...

 We had been on the water for just half an hour when a pod of 4 White-beaked Dolphins swam past the boat. Our next two cetacean sightings were also of White-beaked Dolpins with another 2 to our west and another very distant pod of 4 to our north.

My Dad then picked up our first Minke Whale of the trip however we kept of sailing as the guides had spotted a Humpback Whale in the distance. At least another two Minkes were seen during our boat trip. We also passed a couple of Harbour Porpoises on our way to the whale. We were treated to some great views of the Humpback Whale at very close quarters and were able to see another three Humpbacks as the boat did a big loop around Faxaflói Bay and a fifth individual was to the west of Reykjavik on the way back. This last whale had very limited amounts of white on its flukes.

At one stage we had two Humpback Whales feeding right alongside each other, one of which was slamming its pectoral flippers into the water to stun fish as well as lunge-feeding. Here's our full totals...

5 Humpback Whales
3 Minke Whales
10 White-beaked Dolphin
2 Harbour Porpoise

Not only this but we also had our first ever 'Blue' Fulmar fly past the boat - photos of this on tomorrow's blog post. It was certainty a very memorable trip and a great start to our Iceland holiday!

Humpback Whales - photos ordered to roughly show from surfacing to a deep dive.

Some photos of unusual Humpback behaviour...

Using its flippers to stun fish

Lunge-feeding - swimming fast towards the surface with its mouth open and breaking the surface to catch fish. Record shot as was very unexpected!

Minke Whale

White-beaked Dolphin record shots

Druridge Seawatching

On the way to the patch this morning we stopped on the River Wansbeck to have another look at the long-staying first-summer Bonaparte's Gull which was once again showing well.

Once we reached Druridge Pools the Budge Fields were once again quiet with 10 Black-tailed Godwits the only birds of note. We then headed to the dunes to do some seawatching. Roseate Tern was soon added to the year list and we picked up a pod of at least 8 Bottlenose Dolphins moving north quite a long way offshore. 5 Manx Shearwater flew north including two of the closest birds we've ever seen. 6 Golden Plover also flew south and 2 more Black-tailed Godwits came 'in off', perhaps a sign that the wader passage is starting to pick up..?

Chevington was also quiet apart from the burn mouth where I picked up 2 unexpected Great Northern Divers on the sea. They were in a winter type plumage so we guess they were non-breeding first-summers. A lone Bar-tailed Godwit flew north over the beach and my dad picked up a pod of 3 Harbour Porpoise off the beach.

We suspect there may be large numbers of fish in the bay with large numbers of terns and gannets seen today especially a long way out and there were more cetaceans than normal!

PWC 2016
Species: 144
Points: 190

Bonaparte's Gull

A Great seawatch!

We arrived at Newbiggin at 11:30, in the hopes of a good seawatch. It started off well with a steady passage of Manx Shearwaters. I was gradually scanning south and then out of nowhere a Great Shearwater flew into view. My Dad was soon onto the bird, which steadily moved north at really close range, closer than all the Manx Shearwaters!

We had fantastic views and it was surely one of my best birding moments! We put the news out soon and were pleased to hear that it was also seen from Snab Point, Beadnell and The Farne Islands as it made its way north.

Totals over the four and a half hours we were there:

1 Great Shearwater

2 Sooty Shearwater - one gave very nice views.

205 Manx Shearwater

2 Great Skua

5 Arctic Skua

7 Teal

9 Common Scoter

2 Red-throated Diver

1 Whimbrel

3 Golden Plover

A Wheatear was also on the cliffs and a Grey Seal and Harbour Porpoise was offshore.

Mull, 27.7 - 3.8.13

Day 1
Our home for the week looks out over the Mull coast, where on day one I managed to see 3 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Otters as well as at least 5 Porpoise and many Black Guillemots. A look at nearby Loch Don later that evening produced 3 Peregrine and a ringtail Hen Harrier. A few butterflies were also seen at various sites on day one including Scotch Argus and Dark Green Fritillary.

Harbour Porpoise

Black Guillemots

Day 2
Another look out my bedroom window in Craignure produced a flyby Black-throated Diver a Raven. We had been told a valley called Glen More was a good place for Golden Eagles and  annd sure enough we found 2 birds. A few Scotch Argus, Highland and Black Darters were also present.

Scotch Argus

Hooded Crow

Day 3
Day three was spent mainly around Loch Na Keal where in the morning we saw a total of 5 White-tailed Eagles as well as 4 from the Eagle boat later. A Dark Green Fritillary was also seen.

White-tailed Eagles

Common Seals

Day 4
Another look for the Golden Eagles produced 3 birds as well as a Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Later in the day a family trip to Ardalanish beach saw 2 juvenile Cuckoos and 2 Whinchat.

Golden Eagle

Cuckoo

Glen More

Day 5
2 ringtail Hen Harriers were seen as we made our way to Iona, where I saw my first Corncrake and a Great Skua. 2 Otters and 2 Whinchat were seen on the way back.

Day 6
Persistent heavy rain resulted in no birds or animal being seen on day six.

Day 7
The final day was mostly spent dragonfly hunting. A Northern Emerald was the highlight and quite a suprise find. At least 5 Common Hawkers were also seen as well as a few Highland Darters. A lot of Scotch Argus were also seen.

Highland Darter

Hooded Crows

Scotch Argus