Thanks very much :) Fingers and toes crossed

North Cave
 

I had an enjoyable day at north cave today. Star of the show was the juvenile black tern but also ruff, green and common sandpiper, greenshank, dunlin and golden plover.
In terms of weather the day got better as it went along and so did the light.
Nice bird. For anyone interested there are more shots on the blog.

Anyone know what the whale was? I've seen it called a Fin, a Minke and now a Hump backed in various place!

On another note why do they always try to rescue them? I thought the general opinion was that they come inshore to die, if so shouldn't they be left to do it in peace without hordes of do-gooders harrassing them!

G

Seen at 06:45 yesterday and it's still on Birdguides today. So Trystan may get to see it. If you park in the Keepmoat Stadium car park, the hill is in front of you. Walk up the path that starts to the south side of the hill and takes you up the east side. The path splits in two, one going up the slope, the other down; take the high road and just before you reach the summit, down to your right are half a dozen or more trees with brambles below. That's where it frequents. And it's a cracker. A guy with me yesterday has some record shots that I am awaiting via email.

Re sabs gull at swilly.
 

Yes it was Chris, and only seven members saw it, before it flew off.

The whale was initially identified as (or presumed to be) a Minke Whale. It was later found to be Fin Whale which is superficially similar but much larger. Both species are rorquals with streamlined bodies.

I don’t know where Humpback came from!

Because thats the humane thing to do. Coming inshore to die, really?! Its usually because they have 'got lost' and gone too far and ended up stranded. In some cases they have been saved, it just seems not to be the case in the UK (from those incidents reported in the media anyway, im sure some successful efforts aren't reported).

Any science to back that up?

About as much science as the idea that they come inshore to die!

Andy I'm not sure that's right. I don't claim to be an expert on marine mammals, far from it, I do however spend a lot of time offshore doing surveys and ALL of the marine mammal observers I work with believe that these animals are either ill or on their way out when they come ashore.

G

What I dont understand is why would they "come inshore to die"? Inshore is in effect an alien environment for them, why should it be attractive to them all of a sudden just because we think 'they know they are going to die'? What difference does it make to a dying whale wether it dies onland or in the sea where it is more at home? Are the beaches of the world littered with dead whales, after all thousands must die every year?

Is it just like some mythical "Elephants Graveyard" sort of thing? There's a place where Elephants go to die but nobody has ever found this secret place, most likely because it doesnt actually exist, but plenty of people still believe in it.

Who knows but the ancestors of whales were from the land so perhaps it's just something that is hard wired in their brain?

I suspect that many cetaceans die a long way from shore and their body just drops to the bottom. It is probably true that most solitary whales that wind up on a beach or in unsuitably shallow water are there because they are sick - one thing is for sure that their navigational abillities are generally superb and they are about as well adapted to their environment as any mammal. Groups that come ashore, as seems to happen with pilot whales, are probably following a sick disoriented animal, obeying their social instincts, or being led if the animal in question was a dominant one.
I suspect the outcome of the argument is that most whales that beach are sick, but not all sick whales will beach.

Whether or not it’s worth trying to save a stranded cetacean surely depends of the species in question. Some species inhabit relatively shallow coastal waters and often get in to trouble becoming beached on sandbars etc. Many times such animals can be saved. Minke Whale perhaps falls into this category, along with certain dolphin species.

Other species (e.g. the beaked whales and Fin Whales) thrive in much deeper water and once they become stranded there is little point in trying to save them. More often than not they are in very poor health hence the reason they enter shallow waters in the first place.

I don’t think whales come ashore to die. However, the tide brings dead or dying animals to beaches, sandbanks etc.

QFT :C

wryneck
 

It was spotted this morning at about 9.30 ish. I went back yesterday with camera and never saw it, stayed three hours and left about 4.00pm. Looked on local bird sites later and it was seen again 2 or 3 times between 5.30 and 8.00pm.

Still some good waders at Fairburn; 3 Blackwit, 2 greenshank, 2 green sandpiper, 6 ringed plovers, snipe, best of all 8 ruff next to the road absolutely oblivious to my presence.

Few pics from todays Skua cruise

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...e011edited.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...t027edited.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...r026edited.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...r021edited.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...03edited-1.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...aCruise012.jpg

Nice selection Andy, what were the numbers like?

A few of the Ruff.

See Martin Standley's blog for a brief report - better numbers than last week, but a lot choppier!

Semi-p
 

Anyone know if this was defo. missing on the ponds earlier in the day, or possibly overlooked?

Just trying to establish if it was seen to fly in on the high tide.

Thanks.

There where 2 maybe 3 sootys seen, 1 manx, i think there was maybe 8/9 Bonxies (including a group of 4 ) a few Arctic Skuas, (cant remember how many) 1 Red Throated Diver on the sea, 1 Sabine's was called out, but not all connected with it (including me) , 1 drake Common Scoter on the sea, i saw 4 Common Terns, 2 Diver sp flying high north and a flock of 16 Common Scoter north seen while waiting to board the boat

Magic Seaweed reckons easterlies Friday afternoon and Saturday morning next week. Combined with a bit of rain forecast, could be fairly good on the coast next weekend? (Crossing my fingers because got Spurn trip planned for Saturday!).

Hi Steve,
The Semipalmated was seen late afternoon and into the evening, by most of the Spurn regs, on Saturday, was looked for at first light, Sunday, however was not seen again.

Dave

For anyone interested the Fin Whale has wash up on the beach at Spurn near the lighthouse