Birdingpooleharbourandbeyond

There was a total solar eclipse on 11 Aug 99, which would be visible from Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. As the weather forecast predicted heavy clouds on the day, I couldn't face joining the traffic jams heading West. Dorset was predicted to have 99.5% coverage of the sun, but it would be full coverage a few miles South of the Dorset coastline. My cunning plan was to head to th...

One of the daily tasks for the ORCA team on the Saga Canaries Cruises, is to produce a daily slide for the ship's TV. Usually, these slides are Cetacean-based. However, we sometimes cover some of the other wildlife that we encountered on the cruise. One of the slides I offered to produce was on the Madeira and Canaries Chaffinches.

The sea and the wind had moderated as we approached the Brittany coast on our final morning at sea on the Saga Canaries Cruise. We were pleased to find the top deck was open again. We quickly started surveying. Unfortunately, we didn't see any Cetaceans and the Birds I saw were restricted to one Manx Shearwater, seven Little Gulls and a few Gannets, Kittiwakes and Razorbills. ...

The Spirit of Discovery finally arrived around mid-afternoon on the previous day and we had stayed overnight in Vigo. The plan was for a lunchtime departure which allowed a morning of sightseeing. For me, a second walk around Vigo didn't have the same appeal, as a walk around Santander or La Coruna would have had: they are both more attractive cities. Instead, I booked up for th...

We departed from Madeira, knowing we were having to divert to Vigo, Spain, rather than the planned destination of Lisbon. We spent the first day at sea in six to seven metre swells. The Captain explained the complications that stopped us getting to Lisbon. The port has a depth of not much over six metres at the shallowest point and the Spirit of Discovery had a similar draught. ...