It was a beautiful sunny day as we all boarded the Condor Liberation on its regular service to Guernsey with only a light wind and calm sea promising an easy passage across the Channel. After watching the safety video and hearing the MARINElife announcement, I was joined on the viewing deck by many people with several asking about what we might see.
As we slipped the dock and gently sailed out past Brownsea Island a myriad of birds were seen resting at high tide in the Brownsea Island lagoon. There were a group of 20 Little Egrets with four Great White Egrets amongst them at the north end, a flock of c.30 Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Great Black-backed Gulls and and 20+ Cormorants all resting on the bank or in the shallows. Four graceful Avocets were feeding in the lagoon, swishing their heads and long curved bills from side to side.
Passing the south end of Brownsea Island a Common Seal slipped off its usual sandbank and watched us from the sea nearby. Leaving the harbour, the wind picked up a little but despite much searching in the calm seas no porpoise or dolphin were seen but several Shags resting on the channel marker buoys offered close viewing.
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The crossing was calm but apart form a few adult and immature Herring Gulls there was little bird activity and gradually folk left the viewing deck to seek the comfort of the passenger lounge. Several interested people engaged in conversation and were keen to hear about MARINElife, including one man who was enroute to Guernsey to explore conservation work on some of the smaller Channel Islands hosting populations of Puffins and Guillemots.
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As we approached Alderney, I was re-joined on deck by many people to watch the Gannets fly by from their colony on Ortac Rock. It was good to be able to share the news that the colony was recovering well after being hit by bird flu in the last couple of years. After that, all eyes were deployed to look for Risso’s Dolphins between Herm and Guernsey which had been sighted by the MARINElife survey team a few days before, but they were not to be seen today.
We reached dock on time and disembarked to a sunny warm day in St Peter Port and the conditions called for a pleasant swim in Havelet bay where several Black-headed Gulls and two Mediterranean Gulls rested on the rocks nearby. It’s always a portent of the seasons to come when all are in their winter plumage already!
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The return journey started at 18:00, still in sunny conditions but by now a stiff north-easterly wind had sprung up, which combined with the forty-knot speed of the Condor Liberation, made viewing conditions challenging and cleared most people from the viewing deck leaving just a few of us to look for wildlife.
Several groups of shearwaters were seen riding the waves, but exact identification was not possible due to the conditions and difficulty holding binoculars still in the wind – although they were most likely Manx Shearwaters. The Gannets were very active as we passed Ortac rock again with several flying close to the boat.
The highlight from then as we headed north and back to Poole and retreated from the windy deck was a beautiful sunset to the west and the equinoctial super moon rising to the east.
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We arrived back safely at 21:00. Many thanks to Condor Ferries for welcoming us aboard!
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If you like the sound of joining one of our trips to Guernsey from Poole, then you can book online at www.marine-life.org.uk/WLO day trips.
MARINElife/Condor WLO David Jenner
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Weather:
Outward – sunny, wind E, sea state 2
Return – sunny, wind NE, sea state 3
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Summary of Sightings
Marine Mammals
Common Seal 1
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Birds
Little Egret
Great Egret
Avocet
Black-tailed Godwit
Herring Gull
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
Manx Shearwater
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