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Shearwaters at Lands End, How far of Coast? (1 Viewer)

D

deshojo

Well-known member
I'm interested in trying to get some photographs of the Balearic, Sooty and Cory's Shearwaters spotted at Porthgwarra and Pendeen, but would like to know if it's worth the effort.

Would they land on the mainland cliffs, or if not how far out to sea are they likely to be?
I Use Canon digital SLR's (5D and 30D) with a 600mm lens and 1.4/2x extenders, but even with that there's little point trying if they are half a mile out to sea, only landing on islands.

Any advice from someone who's seen them there, or knows their general behaviour, would be very welcome.

Cheers,
Matt
 
Unless you get very very lucky it's not worth trying. The birds are usually at least 1 mile away, often further, especially at Porthgwarra. The light is also against you at PG. The best option would be to focus on the rocks off Pendeen and hope something comes inside them, even then it would be nothing but a record shot.

Darrell
 
As Darrell said you'd need to be extremely lucky i've only ever seen them way way out. If its pics you want have you considered a Pelagic?
 
I haven't been but i shouldn't think they're likely to "land" on anything apart from the surface of the sea, and i would imagine the vast majority wouldn't even do that??
 
Thanks guys.
I thought this might be the case, though my knowledge of seabirds is minimal, I suspected they may be a long way out (perhaps because I've never seen them on the coast!).

"If its pics you want have you considered a Pelagic?"
Do you mean a boat trip to see them Paul? If so that may well be a good idea, I'll look into it.
 
wrexile1 said:
Get one off St. Mary's Quay - the Sapphire isn't it?
Click to expand...

or the Kingfisher.

Doing the pelagics off Scillies is probably a good bet, Ive seen some good stuff off them including Sooty Corys and Great Shears - all photo'd. May be a bit tricky with a 600mm lens, unless you can hand hold it!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the further suggestions.
We were thinking of taking a trip across to the Scillies this summer, so maybe we can incorporate one of these pelagics whilst there.

Certainly the 600mm f4 would be out of the question for this (handholding? it weighs 14lbs with the camera so only for about 1 minute!), but thankfully I can happily handhold my 300mm f2.8 all day, even with a 2x extender, so that would be the choice for such a trip.

I have also been considering a trip on the Orca Seafari boat from Falmouth, am I likely to encounter these birds on that trip, or is that too close to the mainland?

Cheers,
Matt
 
deshojo said:
I have also been considering a trip on the Orca Seafari boat from Falmouth, am I likely to encounter these birds on that trip, or is that too close to the mainland?

Cheers,
Matt
Click to expand...

Hi Matt

I went on the Orca Seafari boat from Falmouth last week, and we stuck pretty close to the shore, and certainly didn't see any shearwaters. I did the short (2 hour) trip, and I think the chances of connecting with shearwaters in this time period are pretty low.

However, the captain (assuming you get Keith) is a birder, so it's always worth mentioning your interest to him - if there are no dolphins or basking sharks about, he may wander further offshore to look for Shearwaters for you. The boat covered over 20 miles in the 2 hours I was on it, so it's certainly capable of heading further out, if the captain's up for it.

Adrian
 
GDK said:
or the Kingfisher.

Doing the pelagics off Scillies is probably a good bet, Ive seen some good stuff off them including Sooty Corys and Great Shears - all photo'd. May be a bit tricky with a 600mm lens, unless you can hand hold it!
Click to expand...

Do you have any info. on days/times these run, or contact numbers/details?

Thanks
 
Lawts said:
Do you have any info. on days/times these run, or contact numbers/details?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yeah,

Check out http://www.scillybirding.co.uk/

and click on pelagics. Phone numbers at the top of the page.


Didnt notice in the blurb but in Aug at least they have done day trips on a Sat as well. A long weekend would get you on 2 or possibly 3 trips, if you are lucky.
 
deshojo said:
...thankfully I can happily handhold my 300mm f2.8 all day, even with a 2x extender, so that would be the choice for such a trip.
Click to expand...


Indeed it would, you own a fair bit of kit, Matt!

Cheers
Gareth
 
A week on the bridges of roos, Galley head or Cape clear might be the way to go!

Bridges are a geat site, good light as the sun is behind you in the morning. Distance to the birds depends on the conditions...
 
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