Slash's Ship List 2010 (1 Viewer)

[Matelot birder]

Today a few people onboard had said that they had seen birds and one described his sighting as a large brown seagull. I suspected a certain species and was pleased when eventually at 19:50, I saw in the distance a

37 - Cory's Shearwater

soaring above the waves. Tomorrow I will be up early hopeing for
more of the same.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

Today I got up early once again and after a slow trickle eventually I saw over 100 Cory's Shearwater as we drew closer to Sao Miguel, part of the Azores. I also saw two shearwaters that were probably Little Shearwater but they were way off so I cannot be definate.
As we came alongside a single

38 - Whimbrel

flew down the harbour and there were several

39 - Yellow-legged Gull

flying above the ship and on the jetty.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

Once again up with the birds to see what was accompanying the ship as we crossed the North Atlantic.
The odd Cory's Shearwater would keep pace with the ship then suddenly I saw something different.
Two smaller, all dark, pointed winged shearwater type birds, with immediatley gave me an impression of a bat like flight.
I am pretty sure these were

40 - Bulwer's Petrel

More Cory's this evening in quite a heavy swell.
Mark C.

 

[Matelot birder]

This morning whilst having my morning cuppa on the flightdeck, I noticed a group of Shearwaters and was delighted to see a group of 20 or so

41 - Great Shearwater

This is a gorgeous bird and one that I was hoping to see

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

Mark C.

 

[Matelot birder]

I had heard reports of some small black birds flying in front of the ship and had some idea what they might be.
This was confirmed when I spotted a small bird flying adjacent to the ship and in an hour I eventually saw five individuals including this group of three.

42 - Leach's Storm-petrel

Not the best image, note to self, must try harder.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the sun but very quiet on the bird front, in fact in the whole day I only saw two birds, both within a minute of each other. The first was a Storm-petre sp. and the second was a

43 - Sooty Shearwater

which took flight as the ship approached. Unfortunatley no camera at hand.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

A few days have gone past without any sightings as we have been
extremely busy and the weather hasn't been great. A couple of days ago I
did sight a single bird flying away from the ship and camera in hand took
some shots. Once downloaed I was pleased to find that it was a

44 - Brown Booby

which I seperated from Masked by the amount of white on the underwing.


We also had about 15 to 20 dolphins around the ship and these I identified as

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

Finally abroad in Mayport, Florida. The waether is extremely hot and we are in the middle of a large naval base.
I immediately spotted some reed beds and water just a little way from the ship.
I will list the birds seen from the ship, with a little detail on each.

45 - Brown Pelican
Four birds seen flying in the distance

46 - Double-crested Cormorant
Single bird flyting across bay

47 - Laughing Gull
Abundant around portside

48 - American Crow
Few seen around harbour

49 - Fish Crow
Less common than American, few seen

50 - Common Grackle
Couple seen on jetty

51 - Boat-tailed Grackle
Common on jetty

52 - Northern Mockingbird
Couple seen on jetty

Not a fantastic list for such a great state but I did spend a few days away from tthe ship and had some othere species in othre parts of the dockyard. This is after all just a list of species seen from the ship.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

Not seen any birds for a few days now, but today we had a single

53 - Wilson's Storm-petrel

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

A long time has passed since I had a new bird but it is summer in the Northern Hempishpere. Last night whilst transfering stores from ship to ship, I caught sight of a small passerine, afetr a chase, thsi turned out to be a

54 - Brown-headed Cowbird

I think its probably a juvenile or a female. It flew from ship to ship until the dark set in completely.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

I am now back in the Uk but towards the end of the deployment we didnt have any internet connection so i have a few birds to add seen from the ship in the last month or so.

We docked in Fort Lauderdale on the 27th of July and immediatley i noticed that a small tern was present throughout. These turned out to be

55 - Least Tern

Later in the week they were joined by a pair of larger terns, these appeared to be a adult and a young bird, they were

56 - Royal Tern

These were the only birds senn from the ship whilst here.

On the trip back across the Atlantic, I only had one bird. This was a small group of four

57 - Cliff Swallow

They followed us out into the Atlantic and I am afraid probably persihed on the way. They spent at least two whole days with the ship and dwindled from four down to one as we moved East.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

Somehow I had missed off a common enough bird that I see often from the ship.
We were at the ammunition bouy yeasterday and I had quite a few

58 - Oystercatcher

feeding on a patch of mud that completly dissapears at high tide

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo

 

[Matelot birder]

I am off the ship tomorrow for the last time this year.
So the total ends on a poor 58.
Next year I intend to do two lists, my local patch and my deployment to
the Mediterranean.
Who knows what 2011 will bring ?

Happy New Year to you all

Mark C.

Three Amigo's Blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/amigo