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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

SCILLY PELAGIC 2008 - Birders Only!! (1 Viewer)

This is from an old notebook - not everything seen but the highlights.

15th August 1999 - a bit choppy

Great Shearwater 70+
Cory's Shearwater 20+
Storm Petrel 100+
Wilson's Petrel 2
Sabines Gull 8+
Bonxie 8

20th August 2000 - dead calm

Manx Shearwater - 6+
Sooty Shearwater 3
Great Shearwater 8+
Sabines Gull 1
Storm Petrel 20+
Wilson's Petrel 3
Grey Phalarope 1
Leatherback Turtle
Sun Fish
Fin Whale
Garden Warbler
Willow Warbler
Meadow Pipit
Arctic Skua 3
Bonxie 10+

12th August 2001 Pretty Calm

Great Shearwater 3
Sooty Shearwater 2
Bonxie 8
Storm Petrel - 00s
Fea's Petrel
Grey Phalarope 1
 
Not going on the Scillonian pelagic, but we are booked on the MV Saphire on the 2nd and 3rd August....this weekend, so hopefully will get some good stuff, Wilson's would be a lifer for me, but we are at sea from St Marys for 12 hours on the saturday, so who knows...maybe even something better!!!

www.freewebs.com/widerscoped
 
Sorry if this seems a bit of a simple question, but how many of these birds seen from these pelagic trips can be counted on your British list?

My understanding was you could count any bird at sea up to half way to the next land mass, or up to 200 miles out, whichever comes first. Is this correct?

So what happens with the 12 hour pelagic. Surely they must be approaching French waters/Biscay area, and then can you count these as British?
 
Dougie Preston said:
Sorry if this seems a bit of a simple question, but how many of these birds seen from these pelagic trips can be counted on your British list?

My understanding was you could count any bird at sea up to half way to the next land mass, or up to 200 miles out, whichever comes first. Is this correct?

So what happens with the 12 hour pelagic. Surely they must be approaching French waters/Biscay area, and then can you count these as British?
Click to expand...

As long as we can see Bishop Rock we still count it on our British lists!
 
Yes, you're right Dougie.

Quote: "The BOURC works closely with the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC). Its function is to collect, investigate and apply uniform standards to claimed records of rare birds in England, Scotland and Wales, and ‘at sea’ within the British Economic Zone, which now extends to 200 nautical miles (370 km)."
 
Anyone going from the northern half of the country/midlands with a space in the car to fill i'm currently trying to find a lift! Obviously pay petrol costs etc, PM me.

D
 
If you're not lucky with the lift Dan it's easily dooable by train to Penzance.
Sorry I can't help myself as I will be on said train. See u on the boat.
Henry.
 
Anyone know if there are still tickets available? Although big shears seem to be at a premium at present, there may be a raft of cory's lurking out there...

Cheers, alan
 
lewis20126 said:
Oh dear, just checked wind guru for sunday, after the force 5-6 on saturday they are predicting 2.5m waves on sunday; could certainly be a bit of a swell. Worth checking later in the week...

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=47874

Hold on tight (to your stomach contents)

a
Click to expand...

Alan
I was quoted 128 tickets left when I phoned up mid morning yesterday. Magic Seaweed's predicting a bit of a swell as well.

Though I've never been seasick, I found the really rough '96 pelagic highly unpleasant as people were chucking up all around me. I think I'll be making a decision nearer the time.

Cheers
Rich
 
Metcheck forecasting winds in excess of 30mph for both Sat and Sunday, SWs. Could be interesting! Pg could be just as good a bet on the day!
 
Anything more than flat calm and i'll be binning it! Did the 2004 trip and was sick for 14hrs! The Scillonian is not a good boat in rough seas. Flat bottomed and corkscrews around in the swell. Pewkfest!:-C
 
Rich Bonser said:
Alan
I was quoted 128 tickets left when I phoned up mid morning yesterday. Magic Seaweed's predicting a bit of a swell as well.

Though I've never been seasick, I found the really rough '96 pelagic highly unpleasant as people were chucking up all around me. I think I'll be making a decision nearer the time.

Cheers
Rich
Click to expand...

Rich - thanks fo the ticket update, yes - will leave a decision to later in the week. Weather looking grim indeed.

a
 
Having never been out on one of these pelagics how rough does it have to be for it to be cancelled. As others have already stated there are some pretty strong winds and also a heavy swell forecast ! i phoned up the company today and the woman on the phone was rather vague tho she said a decision would be made about cancellation on Saturday if the conditions forecast were too bad ?!
 
dbradnum said:
A couple of links for people to keep an eye on over the next few days:

http://magicseaweed.com/UK-Ireland-MSW-Surf-Charts/1/wind/in/

http://magicseaweed.com/UK-Ireland-MSW-Surf-Charts/1/swell/in/

Both of them currently show the SW Approaches getting clobbered on Sunday! I'm thinking cancellation and Porthgwarra might be on the cards at this rate...

Rich: any idea how bad the weather was (in terms of windspeed & swell, rather than litres vomit per person per hour) in 96?
Click to expand...

Can't help with '96, but the 2004 trip hit the remnants of hurricane Alex that had previously battered the eastern US. The boat was on its side going down the face of some of the waves! After about 2-3 hours we sailed out of the bad weather and it wasnt too bad after that. Unfortunately I just could stop being sick. It has to be really bad for them to cancel.
 
dbradnum said:
Rich: any idea how bad the weather was (in terms of windspeed & swell, rather than litres vomit per person per hour) in 96?
Click to expand...

I’ve got a feeling that it was a westerly force 5-7 in 1996. It was certainly rough and the flat bottom of the vessel accentuated the swaying motion, making the majority feel that little bit more queasy and prone to chucking their load. Seem to remember an excellent write-up by LGRE in his Rare Birds magazine claiming a precise percentage in the upper 90s were seasick including himself and Viv Stratton. Suffice to say I don’t think my father has been on a boat since the ordeal.

Highlights of the ’96 trip that I can remember offhand included a couple of Wilson’s Petrels, a brief Cory’s Shearwater, a couple of adult Sabine’s Gulls and a showy Great Shearwater that lingered for a good while…

Seem to remember ’97 was like a millpond (where we saw more species of flycatcher than shearwater – 2 vs 1), can’t remember much about ’98, I think ’99 was rather choppy with some good numbers of both large shearwaters and ’00 there were a few Great Shearwaters and it was pretty calm. Wilson’s Petrel seen on every trip.

As Paul (Conorbirda2) says you’ll be lucky to hear of any cancellation, and if there is it’ll be late doors on the Saturday afternoon (like in 2002 when there was some technical glitch) or on the day itself. Remember, it’s a decent pay day for them so they won’t want to cancel things unless the weather gets really bad.

Let’s see what the score is closer to the time…
Rich
 
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