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LOUNGE
LIZARD PELAGIC 2
By Andrew Easton
August
21st 1999 and the long awaited day was upon us, our second pelagic out of
Lowestoft, the first had been a year before on August 23rd 1998 on a chartered
fishing boat, but this had not been particularly successful as we didn't go
very far out as the forecast for later in the day was a bit rough. In 1998
we had travelled south down the coast to Minsmere and then back towards Lowestoft;
we as expected had close views of Gannets (Morus bassanus) fishing
and Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) , six Common Scoters (Melanitta
nigra), one Guillemot (Uria aalge) and a handful of Arctic Skuas
(Stercorarius parasiticus) . The highlight was two rather distant Sooty
Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) , but these were not seen by everyone,
including me as as I was struggling to hold up the lid of the bucket masquerading
as a W.C. whilst answering a call of nature. They were right about the weather
worsening as well and the trip was rather shorter than expected. Given that
Lowestoft is the most easterly point in the British Isles the lack of seabird
records is surprising and we were sure that many more must pass here well
out to sea beyond the offshore sandbanks, so not deterred by this lacklustre
result we decided we would try again the following year, but we would definitely
aim to go much farther out to sea.
In 1999 rather than use a fishing boat again we had chartered the Excelsior
a restored fishing smack built here in Lowestoft in 1921, a sail powered vessel
but with an engine as well now, so we expected to be able to travel much farther
out, only a due easterly wind would hold us back. Luckily the weather was
with us.
We set of at about 6 am from Lowestoft harbour, I felt a bit under the weather
before I boarded possibly because I had been volunteered to ladle out the
chum. I missed one of our informal meetings at The George Borrow pub and found
myself well and truly press ganged. Though I must say John Grant looked even
greener round the gills than me.
Fulmar following our boat.
It was
very overcast and there was quite a heavy swell at first as we headed straight
out into the North Sea, bird wise it was a bit quiet at first, just the odd
Fulmar and Gannet passing by. Most of the group decided to sit on the bench
at the stern, especially John who was hanging over the side looking most unwell.
I and a couple of others decided to stand nearer the bow as we neared the
point where the land disappeared below the horizon behind us, and were rewarded
by a few Fulmars getting up from off the sea. I then noticed a very small
dark bird get up off the water ahead of us, and shouted small bird and pointed,
then put my binoculars on it and was stunned to see a European Storm Petrel
(Hydrobates pelagicus) fluttering off over the swell. I then shouted
Petrel, Storm Petrel, this put some life into those at the stern who rushed
forward, but the bird had already been lost in the swell. The other observers
at the bow thought I had said four birds, rather than small bird and managed
to locate a distant flock of four Teal (Anas crecca).
Breakfast was served shortly after, beans on toast served in the galley below,
big mistake on my part, they say when your are feeling seasick never take
your eyes off the horizon. I managed to finish my meal and get back up on
deck without being sick, and soon felt much better, commenting so to Robert
Wincup, again big mistake as I almost immediately rushed to the side of the
boat and attempted to throw up, nothing happened on the first attempt , but
the second and third were much more successful, much to some peoples amusement.
Whether it was a coincidence or not someone had just thrown some chum
over board at the same time and Fulmars and Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla)
were on the scene in seconds scavenging the beans on toast. After this I felt
fine and lunch went down a treat later in the day, unfortunately the same
could not be said for poor old John Grant.
I then took over the chumming with occasional help from Gary Lowe, we were
rewarded with excellent views of Fulmars as they passed almost within touching
distance of the stern. Gannets were watched fishing at close range and a few
Arctic Skuas came to inspect the large gathering of gulls and terns around
us, and two Great Skuas (Catharacta skua) passed close by. We passed
a couple of Guillemots settled on the water one of which was calling, not
something we had heard away from a colony before. The cloud had now cleared
and it was now a glorious sunny day.
The highlight of the day came when a Sooty Shearwater was spotted heading
south behind us, we quickly threw out more chum, it worked better than we
had hoped for, the shearwater turned and headed towards us and kept
getting closer, until it joined the Fulmars and gulls feeding close behind
us. None of us had ever seen a Sooty Shearwater so well or so close, and certainly
had never seen one feeding. It literally flew into the water, flying straight
into the waves and disappearing below the water to retrieve the sinking offal.
It would soon resurface and fight even with the larger gulls for ownership
of the scraps. It fed like this repeatedly and appeared to he leaving at one
stage before it circled back round the boat to feed again, but eventually
it headed off south again on its long journey back to some desolate island
somewhere in the South Atlantic to breed. We were all elated, and I had managed
to snap a few photos of it, the best one is shown here.
Sooty Shearwater alighting behind the Excelsior, with two Fulmars in the foreground.
We had
ended up to the north east off Hopton, and then headed back towards Lowestoft
pausing near the sewage outfall to check out the gulls, one first summer Mediterranean
Gull (Larus melanocephalus) was located here. The only additional species
seen after this was Common Eider (Somateria mollisima) a group of four
were seen inside the harbour itself.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable day proving beyond doubt that there are Storm
Petrels and Shearwaters out there; and the crew couldn't have been more helpful,
we also helped raise and lower the sails, very heavy work. An engine is much
easier.
Excelsior is an historic sail training ship that has been working
in the
North Sea since 1921, available for booking on:
Tel: 01502 585302
Email: excelsior@excelsiortrust.freeserve.co.uk
Webpage : http://marina.fortunecity.com/reach/318/