Another memorable day around Sagres began with a further trip to find seabirds far out at sea. It was a beautiful bright morning and the sea was as calm as the Atlantic can be expected to be with no wind. We had the great company of Brian, Chris and Sue and, with only one other passenger, we almost had the RIB to ourselves. Once out of Sagres harbour we set off at high speed and after twenty minutes or so, we encountered a large school of bottle nosed dolphins. With the RIB at standstill, the dolphins cruised around us. We could see them passing under the craft and sometimes they surfaced next to us - so close the lens wouldn't wind in enough. Many dolphins were seen over a large area, this mother had a calf of only a few weeks old. Surprisingly, the first seabirds other than Gannets we came across, were the European Storm-Petrels. We found them at regular intervals on our route and after checking a working trawler for following seabirds, returned to look at the Petrels. With the barrel of chum duly unloaded, the Storm-Petrels approached us closer. We were distracted from the petrels by a Great Skua flying in, circling us several times and having a really close look. Then it was back to the petrels, hoping for a Wilson's which failed to appear unfortunately. The Storm-Petrels though were now feeding on the oily surface of chum. On the trip, we saw five Balearic Shearwaters but not a single Cory's, even near the Cape. Two Mediterranean Gulls and an Audouin's Gull were seen along with many Gannets. A huge Thank You to 'marilimitado' for this brilliant experience. After leaving the RIB in Sagres, we all made our way up to Cabranosa just in time to witness the arrival of 400 Griffon Vultures. The Griffons were as high as the cumulus clouds when first seen in the distance. Eventually they untangled themselves from their spiralling and continued their flight towards us. It was at this time we learnt from the watchers that a Ruppell's Vulture had been seen among the Griffons. Finding the Ruppell's Vulture in the flock of Griffons may not be easy at this height. But having located it, keeping track of the dark, smaller vulture resulted in positive identification as it flew nearer.
The Ruppell's Vulture between two Griffons. Comments are closed.
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