Balearic Shearwaters off St Ives Island and Newquay in Autumn 2009

These four images were taken last autumn and are posted for comparison to the paler bird in the earlier post (below).  The flight shots were taken off St Ives and the settled bird from a pelagic off Newquay.

Balearic Shearwaters off St Ives Island

This set of images of Balearic Shearwater were taken on Thursday 5th Nov at St Ives in the north westerly gale. In four hours, fifteen were counted - the pictures below show three different individuals which approached reasonably close enough to get the shot. All of them look in perfect condition and quite different to the moulting birds we saw in large numbers this summer. The pose below is a curious one and seems unique to shearwaters. I took a photo of a Sooty Shearwater in August which showed its head and neck in a raised profile, just like the Balearic below.

The protruding legs and dark tail band can be seen well in this shot - not an easy feature to pick out in the telescope in a swirling wind.

The reason for the different colour sea is the changing light conditions from overcast to bright sunshine.

All of the images have been cropped by 25 - 33% . EXIF detail is basically the highest aperture of F/7.1 to give the highest possible shutter speed. Most of the images here are 1/2000s. ISO is set to 800 ISO and exposure -0.3 EV.

St Ives seawatch - Thursday 5th Nov

A strong north westerly forecast showed some promise and duly delivered some pleasing seabirds, all relatively close inshore today. One or two crackers but no fireworks, one might say today.

One of the highlights (above) was a single Pomarine Skua skimming low over the water. The Balearic Shearwater below was one of fifteen seen during the morning.

Common Scoter - several darker males and duller brown females passing the island.

A single first winter Common Tern was the only tern seen today.

The grey rump and fading dark secondary wing bar can be seen on the image below.

Thousands of Kittiwakes were streaming past the island. It was pleasing to see that 50% at least were juveniles, indicating a successful breeding season.

Totals from 7.30am to 11.30am were as follows:

1 Arctic Skua

10 Great Skua

1 Common Tern

1 Grey Phalarope

1 Little Auk

5 Great Northern Diver

1 Black-throated Diver

1000's Kittiwakes, 50% of them juveniles.

15 Balearic Shearwater

3 Manx Shearwater

2 Little Gull (1st years)

2 Mediterranean Gull

St. Ives Island sea watch 17th July

The first north westerly blow of the "autumn" perhaps didn't quite live up to expectations but nevertheless, was an interesting morning. Hundreds of Manx Shearwaters steadily passed the island from 7am and didn't really stop when we departed at noon. Eight Balearic Shearwaters also passed the island with some Gannets, Storm Petrel, Scoters and Guillemots. Sadly no skuas or large shearwaters were seen today.

Above and below are some images of Manx Shearwater, most of which passed within a couple hundred yards of the island. 95% of the worlds' population of Manx breed around the UK and can be seen easily from most Cornish headlands between spring and autumn.

The Manx image below is an odd one and still cannot quite work out what's happened here? Presumably the shutter speed was not quite fast enough?

The image below is a Balearic Shearwater in heavy moult. Balearics are a regular sight in Cornwall in the summer months though their sightings mask their true rarity as a world breeder. No more than 11,000 pairs breed in the Med and these numbers are in decline.

The Balearic below is a particularly dark individual - their variation in colour and extent of shading is quite noticeable.

An unusual shot of both Manx and Balearic together clearly highlighting the differences in colour.

Sub-adult Northern Gannet

Guillemot