Friday saw the first West Coast Pelagic of 2024 aboard Helen Claire with Dale Sailing out to Celtic Deep. At our furthest we are about 54km from St Ann’s Head. On our way out we had a little pod of bow-riding Common Dolphinand the strange sight of Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill and Manx Shearwater. Small group of Northern Gannet is to and from Grassholm. There is usually no shearwater raft, and only a single passage European Storm Petrel.
Once in our designated area we cut the engines, and started ‘chumming’. Fulmars began to arrive, starting with one bird and reaching 11. A small flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls congregate, with birds coming and going, and attracting a single adult One girl and 3 Great Black-backed Gulls. We were surprised when we first saw a swiftand then 2 Sand Martins, head to the boat! After 90 minutes of drifting and chumming, we were rewarded with our main target of the trip: a moulting adult Wilson’s Storm Petrel. This bird stayed with us for over an hour, and after 45 minutes we were joined by a second bird, which was clearly different because it was not in moult! 15 minutes later we recorded a third bird (with a moult, but not as heavy as bird 1) and 5 minutes after that, just as we were starting to head home, a 4th bird passed the boat, this was another fresh looking bird. (no moult) but with a less obvious larger covert bar than bird 2. 4 birds is a new daily record for Wales (previous max. was 3 on 25th August 1999 and 19 of August 2022, all in the Celtic Deep).
We have another 6 sold out trips in the diary, hopefully the weather allows most to go and the birds and cetaceans are as good as this trip!
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| Wilson’s Storm Petrel, in moult, showing pale bars on larger coverts and broad wings |
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| Shows a white rump that expands sharply at the sides, and a dark underside |
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| Classic ‘wave-dancing’, with wings held flat and long legs skipping across the surface |
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| Bird #2, broad greater covert bar and in fresh plumage with indistinct pale underwing tip, probably a juvenile |
