Seabird Safaris

Between 2000 and 2012 I went on 12 mini-cruises across the Bay of Biscay to Spain to look for cetaceans and seabirds. For the first five years we went from Plymouth to Santander and then the next five years we did Portsmouth to Bilbao on 'The Pride of Bilbao' which was a much better crossing as it was a day longer and there was time in Santurzi to walk around the hills behind town.

When P&O sold its ageing ferry and gave up the route, Brittany Ferries took it over and operated a triangular route to Santander, leaving from Portsmouth and returning to Plymouth or the other way around. It wasn't a very convenient route so after three years on this route we retired from the Biscay crossings.

They had been one of our annual trips that I looked forward to and over the years had seen a lot. Fin Whales were seen on every trip, with one trip totalling 34. We saw two Orca on the very first trip and over the years also saw Sperm Whale, Cuvier's Beaked Whale and Pilot Whales on multiple crossings along with the occasional Minke Whale.

Dolphins were frequently seen with Common, Bottlenose, Striped and Risso's all recorded along with many Harbour Porpoise.

The variety and number of seabirds changed depending on the date of the crossing: we went between late July and early September and found the last week of August to be the most productive. Five species of shearwater were regularly seen: Cory's, Great, Sooty, Balearic and Manx with two Barolo seen on one crossing.

We've also seen three species of Skua: Great on all crossings, many Arctic and a few Poms. European Storm-Petrel was seen on all bar one trip, Sabine's Gull on many trips and the occasional Grey Phalarope along with various other waders, gulls and terns.

Land birds were seen on most crossings, often landing on the ferry. Wheatears were the commonest along with the occasional Reed and Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and Yellow and White Wagtails. One year a flock of Crossbills flew over when we were in the middle of Biscay. As they were heading west, the next landfall was America so I doubt they made it unfortunately. Another time a Short-toed Lark flew over and there was the odd Turtle Dove and even an Osprey.

Once docked in Spain you typically had a few hours for a wander around. There wasn't a lot to see in Santander but there was a small town park which was productive when we arrived early morning but not on recent crossings when the ferry docks in the early afternoon as it's usually very hot and the park is full of people. The first year we found a Wryneck in the park and most years there were Pied Flycatchers.

Bilbao arrivals (actually at Santurzi) were much better as we always arrived early morning and took a cab up to the top of the hill (Serantes), had a walk around for an hour or so and slowly walked back down to the harbour. 

The whole hillside was a migrant trap and we would typically see multiple Red-backed Shrikes, Hoopoes, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Common Redstart and Nightingales. Among the resident birds were Cirl Bunting, Serin, Zitting Cisticola (usually in the fields about halfway down) and various warblers like Melodious and Sardinian.

There's usually a lot of raptors around: Griffon Vultures were seen regularly along with Black Kite, Booted Eagle, Honey Buzzard and one Hen Harrier.

We also tried to identify all the butterflies we could and over the years saw 22 species including Tree Grayling, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Berger's Clouded Yellow and Geranium Bronze.

Return in 2025

After a long gap I'd been wanting to go again and when looking into it this year, discovered that Brittany Ferries had bought another ferry and were offering Seabird Safari Mini-cruises from both Portsmouth and Plymouth, returning to the same dock as departure.

So, on August 6th I met up with my friends John & Janet at Paddington for the train down to Plymouth. We elected for this route as the timings were more convenient for us. The train was packed with teens heading to some festival, each one carrying about five times their own bodyweight on their backs while various items were projecting from all angles.

We soon arrived at Plymouth and not long afterwards boarded the ferry and headed to our cabins to get ready for the crossing. As an organised Sea Safari we met in the bar where we should have had a short introductory lecture but the IT gremlins put paid to that so we all headed up to the top deck instead. The Sea Safaris are run by ORCA and they had a number of guides who patrolled the decks looking for cetaceans and pointing them out. They also were able to commandeer half of the top deck and rope it off for us which kept the deck clear of the other passengers.

As we headed south across the Channel we started seeing Manx Shearwaters and at one point there was a huge stream of maybe 500 birds which also included at least ten Greats among them. The occasional Gannet went past and a sole Kittiwake. 

Manx Shearwaters

The first pod of Common Dolphins were soon seen and there were a few Cory's Shearwaters and one Balearic. As I was scoping a Cory's a European Storm-petrel flew past, the only one I saw all trip.

We went down to the restaurant for dinner early evening then went back up on deck for the last hour and a half of daylight, seeing a Northern Bottlenosed Whale, more Common Dolphins and a group of about ten Harbour Porpoise. More Manx went past along with several Gannets, two Shag and a single Bonxie, the only skua we were to see on the whole trip.

Gannets with a few Manxies

Shags

The next morning I was back on deck for sunrise at 6am. In previous years the approach to Santander was one of the most productive areas as there are deep canyons in the southern part of Biscay but this year we saw very little with just one pod of Common Dolphins and no tubenoses. The only bird of note was a Willow Warbler which remained on board until land was in sight.

Approaching Santander

We docked in Santander just before midday and once through passport control strolled down the marina to the park where we had an ice-cream. It was hot outside and there was very little bird activity apart from Sparrows and Pigeons. We did see a Speckled Wood butterfly of the Spanish race which is quite different to the UK ones as it's mostly orange.

Onboard the ferry in sunny Santander

We boarded the ferry for the return crossing and went straight up on deck, scanning the surroundings for raptors but there were none in sight this time. Heading up into the bay was a repeat of this morning's leg and again was fairly unproductive although we did get our first group of Striped Dolphins. Single Cuvier's Beaked Whale and Fin Whale were both seen by the ORCA spotters but I didn't manage to see them.

Sunset

On the last morning we were back on deck at 6am, not far from the French coast. Shearwaters soon started appearing and several groups of Common Dolphins went past. After breakfast we headed into the channel for the final run up into Plymouth. A group of Blue-finned Tuna were actively feeding and a few more shearwaters were seen along with Fulmar and Kittiwake.

We docked at 11am and got a taxi back to the station for our homeward journey. Although it hadn't been as productive as previous years it was a nice break and one I intend repeating.

Iberian Lynx Quest

January 2023: Lynx Quest (Episode 2)

After failing to see Iberian Lynx on a previous trip six years ago, we elected to give it another go and the four of us booked onto a six day long Naturetrek trip. With an early morning flight from Stansted on a Sunday morning we decided to take the easy option and book a hotel room for Saturday night. We met up at Liverpool St station in the early afternoon for the train. Engineering works on the line meant there was no express train and we had to decant at Bishops Stortford for a short coach transfer to the airport. We had booked into the Radisson Blu hotel as it was just a short walk to the terminal. We had dinner in the hotel and a relaxing evening.

Day 1: Sunday 22nd January

We checked out at 6.30 and headed over to the baggage drop-off desks. Once through security there was time for a sit-down breakfast in one of the restaurants before boarding our RyanAir flight to Seville. We met one of the leaders, Taea, and some of our fellow participants as we were queuing up. We left half an hour late but made up a little time and we landed in bright sunshine at 1pm in slightly warmer temperatures than in the UK. We were met by the main leader, Byron, and all of us piled into two minivans and were soon on our way to the Coto Donana. We stopped off for a late lunch where we had our first views of birds that were going to become regular companions during our trip: Black Redstart and Iberian Magpie.

We carried on to the town of El Rocio where our hotel was. The town was straight out of the Wild West with wide sandy tracks instead of roads and the main means of transportation for locals was the horse and many houses had a stable at the back. Even the bar across the road had a frame for tying up horses.

El Rocio Main Street

Our hotel

The bar by our hotel

Our interest though was avian, as the hotel backed onto a large lagoon and we were soon scoping Flamingos, Spoonbills, Stilts, Ibises and a Swamphen.

Black-winged Stilt

Glossy Ibis

Greater Flamingos with a drake Pintail

After sundown we met up at the hotel bar for drinks and then dinner.

Restaurant & Bar

Day 2: Monday 23rd

After breakfast we were met by one of the local wardens and boarded 4x4 vans for our first attempt to find the Lynx. The favoured area began just outside of town and we drove up and down this stretch several times.

Stone Pines

Although we didn’t see any cats there were plenty of birds around such as Iberian Green Woodpecker, Iberian Grey Shrike, Little Owl and Thekla’s Lark. We went for a walk about and saw Hoopoe, Booted Eagle and Black-winged Kite.

Little Owls

In the afternoon we went to a different area which should normally be a marsh at this time of the year but there hadn’t been much rain this winter. Along the way we stopped for a roosting Barn Owl and then saw hundreds of Cranes flying over.

Common Cranes

White Stork

We went into the visitor centre to scan the lagoon for wetland birds in the hope of Marbled Teal but they weren’t visible. We received word that another group had seen a Lynx but it had gone to ground by the time we arrived.

Day 3: Tuesday 24th

The morning was a rerun of yesterday, driving around but failing to see any Lynx. It’s really a matter of luck as there’s so much cover with limited viewing. We went back to the hotel to pack up and had a last look over at the lagoon before lunch and then a long drive to Andujar. This is up in the mountains and was the same area we had been to before to look for Lynx. At our accommodation, which was a group of self-catering cabins, we had a short wander around the grounds and saw two Hawfinches flying over.

Spotless Starlings

Day 4: Wednesday 25th

As we waited outside the restaurant for the doors to open we were joined by the local cats that were looking for titbits as well as warmth, as the early morning temperature was below freezing. After breakfast we headed into the hills to look for Lynx. This involved a different strategy to earlier in the week. We stood by the roadside and scanned the hillsides looking for movement.

Here be Lynxes...

There were various other groups and individuals up and down the road and we kept an eye on them as well. It also gave us time to look for birds and we soon picked up Griffon and Cinereous Vultures and Spanish Eagle up in the skies plus Rock Bunting, Little Owl and Blue Rock Thrush.

Spanish Eagle

Cinereous Vulture

Rock Bunting

Male Blue Rock Thrush

There were other mammals to see including a little group of Mouflon and two Spanish Ibex including one male with a hefty set of horns. At other times we also saw Wild Boar, Red Deer, Fallow Deer and plenty of Rabbits, the preferred prey for Iberian Lynx.

Mouflon

Spanish Ibex

We walked down the road to a picnic site overlooking a reservoir for lunch where there was also Crested Tit.

Mountain reservoir

The rest of the afternoon was spent along the road until Byron got a message and we all piled into the vans and sped up the road. As we piled out again and joined a large twitch an Iberian Lynx sauntered out from behind a close bush and walked up the hill a little way and then sat directly behind another bush. We could just about see it preening behind the bush but it didn’t want to come out. Eventually a Magpie flew down and landed nearby which made the Lynx emerge from cover. It looked down the hillside at us then slowly made its way up and out of view.

Iberian Lynx

Back on the road, everyone was happy, having now seen this rare and elusive cat. There was a lot of celebrating in the bar later in the evening.

Day 5: Thursday 26th

We started the morning at a different spot, down by a dam to look for Otter in the river.

There were a few different birds around like the flock of Rock Sparrows that flew over. Later, we returned to the same stretch of road as yesterday and began our vigil again. There was a lot of Lynx activity throughout the day with several being seen, although not everyone saw all of them. We all saw distant views of a female with her 18 month old youngster and some of us saw another male running up the hillside.

Black Redstart

Day 6: Friday 27th

Our last day began back at the river but there was still no sign of the Otter, although there were several Firecrests around and a flock of Iberian Magpies raiding the picnic area.

Iberian Magpie

All too soon it was time to head back to our rooms for final packing and then lunch. We drove back to Seville airport for our 17:40 flight back to Stansted and then the train back into London and home.