The 2024 season of ORCA ferry survey has just started. I am now training as a team leader for ORCA and part of the training is to gain additional experience of each of the routes I could be team leading on in the future. My first team leader training was on the Plymouth to Santander route. I met the others, Karen Griffin (team leader), Terry Carne & Magda Debiec, in late afternoon of 24 Mar at the Brittany Ferries terminal at Plymouth. Magda Debiec, Karen Griffin & Terry Carne in Santander We quickly boarded and we were pleased to see that we were going to get the best part of an hou ..read more

It was good to be starting my third season as a volunteer on the DWT Brownsea reserve. As a bonus it was the first warm & sunny day of the spring. On of the visitors spotted my first Common Lizards of the year on one of the paths. There were six half grown individuals along with a full-sized adult. Common Lizards: Shame about the piece of vegetation at the front of its head A close up of the adult Common Lizard ..read more

It was good to be starting my third season as a volunteer on the DWT Brownsea reserve. In an early morning check of the lagoon before the reserve opened up to the public, I ran into this Avocet that was really close to the Tern Hide: previous called the Mac hide after a previous warden. Avocet: One of twenty nine of the reserve on the day. It's easily the best photo I've taken ..read more

It was good to be starting my third season as a volunteer on the DWT Brownsea reserve. As usual, I arrived before the island opened to the public. One of the benefits of the early arrival, is this is a good time to see the island's most popular resident: the Red Squirrels. The first one was running along the boardwalk towards me. This was the opportunity to kneel down & wait for it to get closer. Red Squirrel: Was it going to share its nut with me? Finally, the Red Squirrel saw me and stopped to looked at me. Red Squirrel: I've been clocked Red Squirrel: It got a bit closer & I h ..read more

On 12 Aug 22, a devasting Heath fire started at Studland. Subsequent investigation suggested it was down to a disposable barbeque and campfire. It was a very dry period and there were many warnings up telling people not to start fires of any kind on or near the Heathland. But sadly, there is an irresponsible group within the public, who refuse to follow these warnings or just don't care, as long as they can have their barbeque and drinks as planned. Looking towards Brands Bay from the top of the Heath The fire destroyed about twelve acres of high quality Heathland and clearly burnt very deep ..read more

I was checking the Waders and Wildfowl from the Brands Bay hide, when three Goldcrests appeared on the Gorse within a metre of the front of the hide. I couldn't resist taking some photos. Goldcrest Goldcrest Goldcrest Goldcrest ..read more

It was time to leave Port Stanley. Personally, I would have liked a full day around the area. But the distances meant if we left at lunchtime, we would be able to enjoy two landings on the first day in South Georgia, whereas, a full day in the Falklands, would mean losing a landing in South Georgia. It's always a compromise in planning landings in the Southern Oceans, before the ship has to plan for any adverse weather. Another factor is the landings need to be booked months in advance with the South Georgia authorities to ensure that there wouldn't be two expedition ships looking to land pass ..read more

My cabin mate, Steve Preddy, & I teamed up to search for some Ruddy-headed Geese when we got off the Plancius in Port Stanley. We didn't have any specific sites, but asked as the tourist information & they quickly directed up to an old boy who had lived all of his life on the Falklands and had a beaten up old Land Rover. He had a few ideas for sites we could try & we were quickly heading off towards the airport area. It was good to bump into a couple of Two-banded Plovers and a South American Snipe. Two-banded Plover: This monotypic species occurs in South Chile & Argentina ..read more

I was up early as we were still sailing around the coast North of Port Stanley on our way into the capital of the Falklands. There was a constant movement of Sooty Shearwaters past the Plancius, but few were close. This wasn't unexpected, given about one hundred thousand pairs breed on the nearby Kidney Island. Sooty Shearwater: This Shearwater which is familiar to many British Birders, breeds on the temperate & Subantarctic Islands from South Chile & the Falklands to South Australia & Tasmania, Macquarie & the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands Early morning sailing along th ..read more

The last Blog Post focused on the Black-browed Albatross colony on West Point Island: which contains about two thousand pairs. Additionally, there are around five hundred pairs of Rockhopper Penguins in the colony. Rockhopper Penguin: This is the nominate chrysocome subspecies which occurs on the Cape Horn Archipelago & the Falklands. There is a second subspecies which occurs on the Kerguelen Islands & New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands Rockhopper Penguin: Like the Magellanic Penguins and Gentoo Penguins on Carcass Island, they do a lot of sitting around and waiting when they are i ..read more