Lets not beat around the bush here, this mornings Bird Ringing was absolutely cack. A grand total of two birds were trapped in the nets, a Blackcap and a Wren that Andy somehow managed to lose in the hut! Shortly after 7.00am myself, John and Andy were enjoying tea and biscuits in the hut while Phil had wandered outside and was idly watching the sea. Not long after, Phil shouted us out as he'd spotted something swimming very close in to the shore. The three of us quickly joined him and quickly spotted what he had found, a superb pod of Dolphins! On close inspection we could see that they were Bottle Nosed Dolphins, a species I'd not seen before. This was excellent. The biggest count we managed was five individuals but we were certain there were more. The Dolphins had been displaying for well over 20 minutes when John got a phone call from Paul Hindness who was in the Obs. He was watching another sea mammal to the extreme south of where we were. We all turned around and started to scan. Again it didnt take long before Andy cried 'got it'! He told us the area to look and sure enough we were all watching a superb Humpback Whale breaching and spraying. You could see the spray with the naked eye but it was much better through the bins and scopes! We were all extremely pleased with ourselves and settled back in the hut when Paul rang again. The guys in the Obs had spotted something else. Incredibly they had found a third creature, a fantastic Minke Whale feeding directly out in front of us. So, again, we rushed out and began to scan. And again, it didnt take us long to locate our target. The Whale breached the surface, probably with a mouthful of Mackerel, then disappeared out of sight. Wow. It was quite an awesome sight. We watched it for around fifteen minutes before heading once again to the comfort of the hut. What an incredible morning. Three brand new and exciting creatures in the space of an hour! This is as good as it gets.
Humpback Whale (top), Minke Whale (middle) & Bottle Nosed Dolphin (bottom)
Lets not beat around the bush here, this mornings Bird Ringing was absolutely cack. A grand total of two birds were trapped in the nets, a Blackcap and a Wren that Andy somehow managed to lose in the hut! Shortly after 7.00am myself, John and Andy were enjoying tea and biscuits in the hut while Phil had wandered outside and was idly watching the sea. Not long after, Phil shouted us out as he'd spotted something swimming very close in to the shore. The three of us quickly joined him and quickly spotted what he had found, a superb pod of Dolphins! On close inspection we could see that they were Bottle Nosed Dolphins, a species I'd not seen before. This was excellent. The biggest count we managed was five individuals but we were certain there were more. The Dolphins had been displaying for well over 20 minutes when John got a phone call from Paul Hindness who was in the Obs. He was watching another sea mammal to the extreme south of where we were. We all turned around and started to scan. Again it didnt take long before Andy cried 'got it'! He told us the area to look and sure enough we were all watching a superb Humpback Whale breaching and spraying. You could see the spray with the naked eye but it was much better through the bins and scopes! We were all extremely pleased with ourselves and settled back in the hut when Paul rang again. The guys in the Obs had spotted something else. Incredibly they had found a third creature, a fantastic Minke Whale feeding directly out in front of us. So, again, we rushed out and began to scan. And again, it didnt take us long to locate our target. The Whale breached the surface, probably with a mouthful of Mackerel, then disappeared out of sight. Wow. It was quite an awesome sight. We watched it for around fifteen minutes before heading once again to the comfort of the hut. What an incredible morning. Three brand new and exciting creatures in the space of an hour! This is as good as it gets.
Humpback Whale (top), Minke Whale (middle) & Bottle Nosed Dolphin (bottom)
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