Portsmouth - Bilbao weekend 14th September - 17th September 2007
Howard Taffs, Jason Williams, James Payne, Bob Fleetwood & Richard Hunt
Over the weekend the five of us took advantage of the cheap mini-cruise offered by P&O aboard the Pride of Bilbao sailing between Portsmouth and Bilbao. This was a special themed mini-cruise for Dolphin and Whale watching.
The sea conditions on both legs of the trip were excellent with calm sea's and good visibility. Over the weekend we recorded the following;
Whales & Dolphins
Large Rorqual/Fin Whale Balaenoptera physalus c100
Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata 1,
Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus 3,
Cuvier's Beaked Whale Ziphius cavirostris 2,
Long-finned Pilot Whale Globicephala melas c50,
Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis c300,
Striped Dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba c50,
Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus c35,
Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena c15
Bottlenose Dolphins Fin Whale
Bottlenose Dolphins
Other marine creatures
Ocean Sunfish Mola mola 1,
Shark Sp. 1,
Tuna Thunnus sp. boils seen
Birds (highlights)
At sea
Gannets - hundreds!
Great Skua - c40
Sooty Shearwater - c15
Manx Shearwater - 3
Storm Petrel - c60
Sabines Gull - c35
Little Gull - 2
Spotted Flycatcher - 1
Hills above Bilbao
Black Headed Gull, Yellow Legged Gull, Stonechat, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Wren, Chaffinch, Griffon Vulture (8), Buzzard, Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Red-backed Shrike, Raven , Tree Pipit, Black Redstart, Whinchat, Greenfinch, Whitethroat, Sardinian Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, Blackcap, Pied Fly, Goldfinch, Magpie, Dunnock, Collared Dove, Linnet, Yellow Wagtail.
Butterlflies & Moths
Full list to follow - some photo's below
Adonis Blue
Clouded Yellow
Hummingbird Hawkmoth
Long Tailed Blue
Southern Specked Wood
Wall Brown
Useful Links
P&O - www.poferries.com
Biscay Dolphin Research programme - www.biscay-dolphin.org.uk/
All photo's copyright Jason Williams and James Payne