Pelagic from Sagres (1 Viewer)

Pelagic from Sagres - 28th August

I have booked a a 3hr pelagic from Sagres harbour with Mar Ilimitada http://www.marilimitado.com/ and there a few spare places left for anyone down here, resident or visiting. The cost is 45 Euros per person (payable direct to Mar Ilimitado on the day). We meet at their info kiosk in Sagres harbour on Wednesday, 28th August at 08.45hrs and depart at 9am.

This is a very reliable time to see small numbers of Wilson's Storm Petrels (we've managed as many as close to 50 inds in the past though normally see just a few birds). Eur. Storm Petrels should be around too. Apart from large numbers of Cory's and Gannets and some Balearic other birds that are fairly regular are Scopoli's (tough - though close views if we find a raft of Cory's), Sooty and Great Shearwaters, the 3 Skuas and sometimes Long-tailed and Sabine's Gulls. Other species like Grey Phalarope, Audouin's Gull or Manx Shearwater pop up from time to time. We never manage all the species mentioned on one trip but there is usually a surprise or two!

The trip is on a rigid inflatable, which for me is great because I feel a lot less queasy than on a taller vessel and we will be using chum. Common Dolphins are usually seen too as well as a chance of other cetaceans.

Anyone interested please email Mar Ilimitado directly to book and mention that the trip is with me (to avoid confusion) - they speak and write in excellent English. I would appreciate that if anyone takes this up to let me know beforehand.

I will post our sightings here after the trip.

This turned out to be the most comfortable sea trip I have ever been on - the sea was lake like, there was no wind and it was nicely warm. Only 5 people came along so we had 2 or 3 seats each and extra room to swivel around on the very stable rib. We left Sagres harbour due south at a good speed, eager to get some distance between us and the coast. Almost as soon as we entered the ocean a Harbour Porpoise showed very briefly and barely 500m from the coast we were watching our first Balearic and Cory's Shearwaters at close range - just 20 or so of each. Despite trying none of the Cory's raised suspicions of Scopoli's but then we have only found the odd one when large rafts of 100's of Cory's are encountered so today it was always going to be very unlikely. Once we had passed some 2-3 nautical miles Balearics stopped appearing though Cory's were present in small numbers throughout the 3 hour trip. A nice surprise was the close appearance and clear underwater views of a rather large marlin.

We reached approx. 8 nautical miles due south of Sagres and started chumming at 3 spots close to different trawlers where there were some 100's of LBB Gulls and a few YL Gulls (the opposite to the proportions in the harbour). Just before we started with the chum we had seen a brief Great Shearwater and a couple of clear Wilson's Storm Petrels. Within a few minutes a few Wilson's approached though didn't come close for long until our last chumming session when we had 5 birds coming within 5-6 metres, dancing on the water as they do and showing their yellow membranes fantastically.. In all we estimated some 12-15 Wilson's were seen in total. 3 Great Shearwater swam within 4 metres allowing "macro photos", which was a real treat for the 2 folks on board with nice cameras. A few other Greats performed wonderfully flying around the boat allowing superb pictures. It was an absolute delight to see these two visitors from southern oceans in fantastic light and at such close range for a prolonged period. A single Sooty flew past without stopping, as did a single Great Skua. 3 Common Terns and a single Black Tern approached during the chumming too. Northern Gannets were always present but no groups of more than 5 inds and only one or two adults.

Approaching Sagres a few small groups of Balearics flew by us and a couple on the water allowed close scrutiny while as typical too, Cory's increased in the inshore waters.

Although we didn't see quite as many species as normal, the close encounters with Wilson's Storm Petrels and Great Shearwaters in the warm and calm ocean made the experience unforgettable.

When I receive some photos taken I'll post them here