We’re quick approaching a most popular time of mine for going out on boats in the hunt for seabirds. The Gulf of Cadiz, from Cadiz itself, proper alongside the coasts of Huelva and the Algarve to Cape St Vincent in Portugal, is a favorite searching floor of mine and the operators prepared to take you out have been on the rise in recent times. The goal is often to go off to the continental shelf, which will be as much as 20 or extra nautical miles out relying in your place to begin. The concept is that it’s right here that you simply discover the richest provides of meals, generated by upwellings. These journeys typically present chum, not a sexy proposition at better of instances however reaching particular dimensions within the warmth of the summer season solar!
Heading to the shelf appears to be the popular choice as it’s right here that you will see among the key species. Wilson’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma oceanicus appears to be everybody’s goal species. They start to indicate up in August and peak in September as they make their method south to their Antarctic breeding grounds. I’m not satisfied that it’s essential to go that far out for them and sometimes priceless time, with good mild for images, is wasted attending to the shelf. I’ve had many situations the place we’ve chummed nearer to shore and storm petrels have turned up. It simply wants a little bit persistence. I’ve even seen storm petrels within reach of the coast.
The European Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus is the opposite species of storm petrel that’s round in the summertime months and these are birds from native breeding colonies. The shearwaters dominate the scene, particularly Cory’s Calonectris borealis which breed within the space and which might kind massive rafts the place there’s meals. The smaller Scopoli’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea is basically confined to the Mediterranean however I’ve sometimes seen people out right here in the summertime.
The Gulf can also be a serious space for Balearic Shearwaters Puffinus mauretanicus that spend the non-breeding season right here. The pelagics give us nice alternatives to get them at shut quarters. Their shut kinfolk, Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus, are scarcer however do present up. Even tougher to seek out, however sometimes seen, are the Yelkouan Shearwaters Puffinus yelkouan. These birds are largely Mediterranean and have a tendency to maneuver eastwards in the direction of the Black Sea. Some birds breed within the Balearics, the place they hybridize with Balearic Shearwaters, making affirmation of identification on this a part of the world particularly tough.
Two different shearwaters are common in these waters as they head for his or her south Atlantic breeding grounds, such because the islands of the Tristan da Cunha group. These are the Nice Ardenna gravis and the Sooty Shearwaters Ardenna grisea. A visit out onto the Gulf of Cadiz any time quickly has the potential of manufacturing no fewer than seven species of shearwater which isn’t unhealthy for the North Atlantic.
These pelagics additionally coincide with the southbound motion of skuas. Nice Skuas Stercorarius skua dominate in numbers however we should at all times be looking out for South Polar Skuas Stercorarius mccormicki which might be being sighted more and more off the Iberian Atlantic coast.
Pomarine Stercorarius pomarinus and Arctic Skuas Stercorarius parasiticus are additionally current presently as they head for African wintering grounds. Lengthy-tailed Skuas Stercorarius longicaudus are hardest to seek out as they have a tendency to remain far out at sea.
Solely final week I noticed a report of a Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii that was recovered in La Linea, the city adjoining to Gibraltar. It goes to indicate what is feasible in the case of pelagic birds that may wander nice distances. I’ve seen Bulwer’s Petrels in massive numbers off Madeira and the Gulf of Cadiz isn’t actually that far-off for an ocean wanderer.
To this we will add the potential for Pterodroma petrels that are additionally being seen off the Iberian Atlantic coast. To conclude like I began, with storm petrels, the Berlengas, off the mainland coast of Portugal have breeding Madeiran Storm Petrels Hydrobates castro so we can’t discard these both. All-in-all, including these seabirds to the widespread species – Northern Gannets Morus bassanus, Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis, Widespread Terns Sterna hirundo – makes a pelagic journey between now and October a really thrilling prospect.
