Humpback Whales on the Cornish coast 2025

 

Wow! What a day at sea we had today!

It was our regular seal and marine life survey with the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust and it was common knowledge that there had been a few Humpback whales in the area so we ventured out with fingers crossed.

Well we picked up a Humpback about 2 miles offshore from Watergate bay north of Newquay and held off for a while as we captured some photos. 

All of my pictures were taken with a Nikon 500mm lens often from a great distance and at no time were the whales disturbed. Our boat & it's skipper Chris Lowe are WISE accredited and all aboard are very aware of the effects of disturbance.

Later in the day we came across a second whale off Polly Joke / Holywell Bay. This was a smaller individual and it showed its flukes rarely as it was in shallower water than the first one we'd seen.

Later in the day we picked up what is probably the first individual about a mile off of Watergate once again and this time it put on an amazing display of fluking, pectoral fin slapping and then breaching up to a dozen times.

By now the light was dropping fast and the quality of my images started to  worsen but the excitement generated aboard was electric and on arriving back in harbour there were still happy smiles on everyone's faces.

Many thanks to Chris and Annabelle Lowe of Newquay Sea Safari's and Fishing. 

Here are a selection of my photos from today just concentrating on the Humpbacks!

Firstly the Watergate Whale........

A couple of the "Polly Joke" individual.....

 

 

 

 

 

Birds of Prey in India Nov 2024

 

Greater spotted Eagle .... Indian spotted Eagle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having already posted photos of Owls and Vultures I now have a few images of eagles, falcons, hawks, and hobbies to show.

The majority were photographed in at the Bird sanctuary at Bharatpur but some were on the perimeter and others on the Chambal River and at Panna Tiger reserve.

I've tried to get the correct identification for each but am happy to be picked up on any errors. I also know that there are several different common names for many of these birds so I will offer up any alternatives if I am able.

Greater spotted Eagle .... Indian spotted Eagle

 

Changeable or Crested Hawk Eagle

Changeable or Crested Hawk Eagle 

 

Changeable or Crested Hawk Eagle

Bonelli's Eagle

Bonelli's Eagle

 

Black Kite

Osprey

Oriental Honey Buzzard

White-eyed Buzzard

White-eyed Buzzard

 

Hobby

Hobby

Shaheen Falcon (Falco peregrinus peregrinator)

An unflattering view of a Shikra

I'm really unsure of this ID, possibly a Shikra

 As for the last image we initially thought it was a Kestrel as it seemed to be hovering near the vulture cliffs but it has no dark tail band so I can rule out Kestrel. Tail looks very worn so possibly a juvenile Shikra?

Vultures in India Nov 24.

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Continuing my review of the birds I photographed on my recent trip to India I'm now looking at vultures.

We re-visited the foothills at Trilok cliff, Bayana where there is a colony of nesting Long-billed Vultures. We were here before in 2003 but only photographed the birds from ground level, this time we clambered up the slopes so we could get on a similar level to the flying birds. It was quite a climb but I was pleased to have done it and in fact we went back again a second time, a week later in the hope of getting late afternoon light on the birds. The light was great but the birds weren't!

Spotted a vulture from leaving the car but it looked a long way up!

Bit of a scramble

Good excuse to stop

Our guide Harish setting the pace

We met some local kids on the track

At long last level with the vulture nests on the far cliffs

Selfie, Just to prove I was there!

Indian Long-billed Vulture with nest material?

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Indian Long-billed Vulture

 

We also encountered some Egyptian Vultures soaring above us as we climbed and it was a useful comparison of the 2 species.

Egyptian Vulture

 

 

 On our trip to the Chambal River we spotted 3 Egyptian vultures scavenging at the water line and managed to talk our boatman into getting the boat quite close so we could get some photos.

Egyptian Vulture

 

 Another species we got close to was the Red-headed Vulture, this time in at Panna Tiger reserve when our guide took us out to the edge of the plateau in search of vultures. 

Red-headed Vulture

Red-headed Vulture

 

We got lucky with this individual which perched in the sunshine for us as we photographed it from the back of an open top jeep.

Many vultures have died from ingesting veterinary drugs in India and it is now being looked at but may well be too late for some of the species.

Long-billed Vultures