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Portsmouth-Bilbao ferry, June - any birds (1 Viewer)

Ferry round trips

pandachris said:
I think most birders do the round trip, Steve, with only about 5 hours on dry land. It's usually much cheaper than any other combination of trips. I've a feeling that last time I looked, the single leg foot passenger ticket in either direction was about the same price as the mini-cruise ticket. We're definitely thinking of doing it again next year, but i suspect it will be the round trip again.
Click to expand...

ANd who am I to argue with economics!? I did the Santander-Plymouth ferry from Spain to England with our car when my now 15 year old son was just a wee toddler and one of the things that struck me most was how expensive it was!

Then a few years ago I joined a large group of Spanish birders, leg round-trippers on the Bilbao-Portsmouth ferry. Of course it was much cheaper.

Nevertheless it took us a day's drive each way to and from the ferry, so the round trip was 4 days. What's the difference in price between an on-off round trip and a return? MY way of thinking was if there wasn't that much difference then it could be worth making 5 or 6 days of the trip and going for Lammergeier, Wallcreeper, Sandgrouse and more.

Steve
http://www.BirdingInSpain.com
 
Steve

We've looked into this recently because it's my turn to take the kids somewhere next year and this was one possibility. Still is, I suppose. I imagine that prices vary for lots of reasons and there will probably be special offers and so on, but last time we check, the round trip was about half the price of two one-way tickets - in other words each leg was as expensive as the return - so four two of us and two offspring, including meal vouchers you're talking about £1200, which seems a bit steep. Can't imagine it would make economic sense to take the car across, though I'm sure someone can do the maths. If we decided to go for a longer stay, then we'd hire in Bilbao.
 
pandachris said:
Steve

We've looked into this recently because it's my turn to take the kids somewhere next year and this was one possibility. Still is, I suppose. I imagine that prices vary for lots of reasons and there will probably be special offers and so on, but last time we check, the round trip was about half the price of two one-way tickets - in other words each leg was as expensive as the return - so four two of us and two offspring, including meal vouchers you're talking about £1200, which seems a bit steep. Can't imagine it would make economic sense to take the car across, though I'm sure someone can do the maths. If we decided to go for a longer stay, then we'd hire in Bilbao.
Click to expand...

The following advert was directly beneath your last post:
P&O Ferry to Bilbao Great fares Portsmouth to Bilbao from £72 return inc car
www.POferries.com/Bilbao


OK so it's Portsmouth not Plymouth and there's bound to be some other catch but £72 V £1200 might be worth looking at.
 
Gastronaut said:
The following advert was directly beneath your last post:
Great fares Portsmouth to Bilbao from £72 return inc car
OK so it's Portsmouth not Plymouth and there's bound to be some other catch but £72 V £1200 might be worth looking at.
Click to expand...


..should be in the "misleading ads" thread! Unless I read it wrongly, when you actually look at the prices they start at £290 each way for 2 passengers plus car.
 
Out of bed because of problems at work. I selected a random date in August, one car, 4 adults, 2xstandard 2 berth cabins and got £998. Add £280 for meals to that and you're getting close to my £1200 guess. I could fly the kids to SE Asia for that and have enough left over for three nights in reasonable hotels.

I'm sure that there will be deals that come in cheaper (although £280 for food is about the bottom line for 4 people, unless you're prepared to bring your own, which we're not) but there's not much point doing a bird/whale-watching trip if the seas are huge so August-September are probably the best times.
 
Fantastic trip list for the 6th-8th September crossing, from biscay-dolphin.org.uk ...

Bird Report courtesy of Wouter Courtens and the Belgian Courtens Crew
Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis 48, Cory's Shearwater Puffinus gravis 4, Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis 2, Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus 7, Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus 1, Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus 7, Macaronesion Shearwater Puffinus baroli 1, European Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus 21, Gannet Morus bassanus 1433, Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis 5, Quail Coturnix coturnix 1, Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 2, Turnstone Arenaria interpres 1, Grey Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius 12, Great Skua Stercorarius skua 79, Parasitic (Arctic) Skua Stercorarius parasiticus 2, Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus 1, Skua sp. 4, Sabine's Gull Larus sabini 16, Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis 2, Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea 80, Tern Sp. 186, Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus 1, Sand Martin Riparia riparia 24, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 241, Swallow sp.
 
The following trip was also excellent for seabirds!

8 - 11 September 2009 - Company of Whales and ORCA aboard Pride of Bilbao

70 Sabine's Gulls (all adults), 185 Great Shearwaters, 61 Cory's Shearwaters, 7 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 1 Manx Shearwater, 20 Storm Petrels, 34 Great Skuas, 2 Pomarine Skuas, 3 Arctic Skuas, 1 Common Tern and 1 Mediterranean Gull. Migrants from or on the ship included a female Marsh Harrier, 12 Ringed Plover, 1 Dunlin, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Sand Martins, 4 Turnstones, 8 Oystercatchers, 3 Meadow Pipits, 1 Grey wagtail, 11 Clouded Yellow butterflies and a Hummingbird Hawk Moth.

Also 2 Fin Whales, 2 unidentified large rorquals, 6 Cuvier's Beaked Whales, 7 Pilot Whales, 3 Bottlenose Dolphins, 308 Common Dolphins, 225 Striped Dolphins, 7 Harbour Porpoise, 1 unidentified whale & 52 unidentified dolphins. Also 110 Tuna sp and 10 Ocean Sunfish.

Cheers

Hugh
 
P&O doing their bit to encourage green tourism

Just got this in an e-mail from Julie ...

"P&O minicruises are 2 for 1 in October so I just had a quick look on the site.

If you travel as two passengers without a vehicle it costs £72 in total
If you travel as two passengers with bicycle (came up on the default setting) it's £450!!"

Anybody know a good bike hire company in Bilbao? ;)

Sounds like a pretty good deal for anybody prepared to risk those autumnal gales though, if the last two crossings are anything to go by.
 
11 - 14 September 2009 - Company of Whales and Organisation Cetacea aboard Pride of Bilbao

Mike Weedon and Glenn Overington ended our incredible season on a high with two major highlights: an Orca breached clear of the water three times and they also had excellent views of a Northern Bottle-nosed Whale. Other sightings included 2 Fin Whales, 4 Large Rorquals, 3 Cuvier's Beaked Whales, 1 Minke Whale, 706 Common Dolphins, 264 Striped Dolphins, 15 Bottle-nosed Dolphins, 20 unidentified dolphins, 17 Harbour Porpoise, 5 Ocean Sunfish and several shoals of feeding Tuna.

Seabirds were again excellent with a Little Shearwater, 76 Sabine's Gulls, 220 Great Shearwaters, 60 Cory's Shearwaters, 13 Sooty Shearwaters, 5 Manx Shearwaters, 18 Storm Petrels, 29 Great Skuas, 3 Arctic Skuas and a Sandwich Tern. Migrants recorded on or from the ship included a Kestrel, 1 Grasshopper and 1 Reed Warbler, 2 White Wagtails, Meadow Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher, 60+ Swallows, House Martin, a Dragonfly Sp. and 3 Clouded Yellow Butterflies. Our walk in Spain produced 30 Griffon Vultures, 1 Hoopoe, 1 Red-Rumped Swallow, Red-Backed Shrike, Cetti's Warbler, Blackcap, Wheatear, Whinchat, Common and Black Redstarts and 6 Sardinian Warblers. Other wildlife in Spain included a Long-tailed Blue, Adonis Blue, Clouded Yellow, Meadow Brown, Wall Brown, Speckled Wood butterflies. Rush Veneer and Hummingbird Hawkmoths, 5 Praying Mantis, a Stag Beetle, Wasp Spider, Iberian Wall (2) and Rock (1) Lizards and Autumn Ladies Tresses Orchid.

Sightings maps and pix from our 2009 trips are at:

http://www.companyofwhales.co.uk/html/news/news_fr.htm

Cheers

Hugh
 
Had an excellent trip last month on the Portsmouth-Bilbao route.

A couple of suggestions, first on the financial front: next time I will be buying some of those big flagons or two of drinking water. We were paying something like £1.50 for 500ml. I took a few litres but that soon ran out.

Birding wise, I noticed that some of the Spaniards took some bungee straps along so they could attach their tripods to the railings - a great technique, as it got a bit lumpy at times and the last thing you want to be doing is holding the scope in place and trying to relocate that distant petrel.

Must take my hats off to the ferry company - they did a great job of promoting the cetacean and seabird monitoring to all the passengers. Will certainly be doing this one again.

Good Birding

Andrew
 
Not just the "Spaniards", Andrew. Tying your 'scope to the railings seemed the obvious thing to do. We saw quite a few valuable pieces of optical equipment go flying on our first trip in very calm conditions. Also, and this might be a bit selfish, having a couple of tripods side by side and attached to the boat sort of bagsies your place for you and means you can nip over to the other side when that frisson of excitement gets your attention and have somewhere to come back to.

I thought that the water from the taps was perfectly safe to drink.
 
pandachris said:
Not just the "Spaniards", Andrew. Tying your 'scope to the railings seemed the obvious thing to do. We saw quite a few valuable pieces of optical equipment go flying on our first trip in very calm conditions. Also, and this might be a bit selfish, having a couple of tripods side by side and attached to the boat sort of bagsies your place for you and means you can nip over to the other side when that frisson of excitement gets your attention and have somewhere to come back to.

I thought that the water from the taps was perfectly safe to drink.
Click to expand...

I was pleasantly relieved to find that there were far fewer birders on board than on my previous trip back in 2001 when the route was new and very hyped in the birding press. Plenty of elbow room at the railings,but of course, it made sense to get up early to check for passerines and secure the prime positions (out of the wind etc). Had a few bored members of joe public around cramping me at times but muttering about tertial fringes usually got them moving eventually.

Forgot to mention, some of the dudes were good fun - one posse (who became known as Last of the Summer Whine) scored spectacularly with two juv Gannets pose as Cory's right under our noses (I diplomatically pointed out to his mate their true identity, who's reply was "he's been birding for 40 years you know" complete with withering look) then Bonxie chasing Sabine's Gull (in reality, Arctic Skua chasing Common Tern). As my seawatching guru would say - "these are easy mistakes to make - if you are crap" ;)

Glad to hear you survived the tap water, I must say I'm no fan of warm water except at a higher temperature with some Clipper Organic Earl Grey infused therein and a selection of tasty biscuits to accompany it. Crikey, I sound like a dude, but whatever...

Good Birding

Andrew
 
Hugh Harrop said:
11 - 14 September 2009 - Company of Whales and Organisation Cetacea aboard Pride of Bilbao

Mike Weedon and Glenn Overington ended our incredible season on a high with two major highlights: an Orca breached clear of the water three times and they also had excellent views of a Northern Bottle-nosed Whale. Other sightings included 2 Fin Whales, 4 Large Rorquals, 3 Cuvier's Beaked Whales, 1 Minke Whale, 706 Common Dolphins, 264 Striped Dolphins, 15 Bottle-nosed Dolphins, 20 unidentified dolphins, 17 Harbour Porpoise, 5 Ocean Sunfish and several shoals of feeding Tuna.

Seabirds were again excellent with a Little Shearwater, 76 Sabine's Gulls, 220 Great Shearwaters, 60 Cory's Shearwaters, 13 Sooty Shearwaters, 5 Manx Shearwaters, 18 Storm Petrels, 29 Great Skuas, 3 Arctic Skuas and a Sandwich Tern. Migrants recorded on or from the ship included a Kestrel, 1 Grasshopper and 1 Reed Warbler, 2 White Wagtails, Meadow Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher, 60+ Swallows, House Martin, a Dragonfly Sp. and 3 Clouded Yellow Butterflies. Our walk in Spain produced 30 Griffon Vultures, 1 Hoopoe, 1 Red-Rumped Swallow, Red-Backed Shrike, Cetti's Warbler, Blackcap, Wheatear, Whinchat, Common and Black Redstarts and 6 Sardinian Warblers. Other wildlife in Spain included a Long-tailed Blue, Adonis Blue, Clouded Yellow, Meadow Brown, Wall Brown, Speckled Wood butterflies. Rush Veneer and Hummingbird Hawkmoths, 5 Praying Mantis, a Stag Beetle, Wasp Spider, Iberian Wall (2) and Rock (1) Lizards and Autumn Ladies Tresses Orchid.

Sightings maps and pix from our 2009 trips are at:

http://www.companyofwhales.co.uk/html/news/news_fr.htm

Cheers

Hugh
Click to expand...

Hello Hugh,
I have been watching the news from the Company of Whales this season, having been on one of your trips last year. This year I have been a bit short of cash and couldn't make it. Although you have had some fantastic sightings do you think that the number of the big whales, notably Fin Whales have been somewhat lower this season?
 
Hi Colin

Fin Whale numbers have been dramatically low and this is almost certainly down to a change in sea temperature - which was predicted in a modelling paper we provided sightings / environmental data for. What is also interesting are the Common Dolphin distributions this year - more in deeper water.

Things change from year to year out there but sea temperature change is critical.

Cheers

Hugh
 
Hugh Harrop said:
Hi Colin

Fin Whale numbers have been dramatically low and this is almost certainly down to a change in sea temperature - which was predicted in a modelling paper we provided sightings / environmental data for. What is also interesting are the Common Dolphin distributions this year - more in deeper water.

Things change from year to year out there but sea temperature change is critical.

Cheers

Hugh
Click to expand...

Hugh,
Thanks for the reply and the information. Another one of my haunts is Pembrokeshire. Now, Fin Whales are usually found off the coast of Southern Ireland and I believe that they have been seen there as usual this season but I do know that there have been a few sightings of Fin Whales off the Pembrokeshire coast in the last few weeks which is somewhat unusual. Thanks for the pointer to the sea temperature factor - I will do a bit of digging into this.
 
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