Rochdale Canal at Todmorden

  Whilst I was away in the news came through of a European Shag on the canal in Todmorden. While opportunities to increase my Halifax list are few and far between these days as a consequence of my spending most of my time away, this was a species I really want to see but had to anxiously wait to see if it would linger. There was a few days break in sightings about a week before I returned, before it was relocated further up the canal, before apparently going AWOL again. Fortunately on boxing day it was reported again, and so I headed down on my first morning back to try track down this Halifax rarity. 

  Unfortunately I misread the location of the bird, so I parked at the Haugh Street Bridge then proceeded to walk all the way to lock 21, instead of bridge 21 which was the complete opposite way. Once I realised my error and had walked all the way back to where I started, it became apparent that bridge 21 would mean another hour walk on the canal, but that I had no choice if I actually wanted to see the bird.

  Fortunately as I passed under the Haugh Street Bridge, I spotted the bird sitting on the bank below Lock 16, right next to the footpath! It was completely unconcerned by my presence and I was able to get a fantastic look and photos as it sat there, alert but relaxed as people passed by. To my knowledge this is only the third Halifax Shag in my lifetime, and an excellent species to connect with for the area. 

 

Oceanwide Day 18; Ushuaia

   For the final time we left the Plancius and headed into Ushuaia. It was not a particularly exciting morning, grey and drizzly. We had a flight early afternoon, so first went for a drink at a coffee shop in Ushuaia with a few of the guys from the ship, before they headed off for their respective flights.

  Before we headed to the airport I returned to the lagoon near Ushuaia, hoping that the Red Shovelers that according to eBird data were supposed to be common there might have finally turned up. It took a bit of time, but we eventually walk round far enough and managed to pick out a smart pair of these ducks among the rafts of Yellow-billed Teals and Crested Ducks. It was a relief, and the final tick of our Tierra del Fuego adventure.

  The flight to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia was fairly uneventful, as was the evening we spent in the city. Obviously a disappointing end to our Oceanwide adventure, but it was still a relief to have the option to come to the warm sunny capital rather than Ushuaia! 

-Red Shoveler

Oceanwide Day 17; South Atlantic - South Georgia to Ushuaia

   The morning brought poor weather and more back-and-forth movement up and down the entrance of the Beagle Channel. With the required pilot not reaching us until midday, we had to kill the morning and consequently there was not much to report in terms of sightings. The poor weather did not help on this front, with strong winds and rain keeping us mostly indoors. Just before lunch there were several whale blows not far away from the boat, but we could not manage to see the animals making it very frustrating. 

  Fortunately, the afternoon was much better, with a stunning show from a pod of Peale’s Dolphin just after lunch. They were right in front of the boat and readily going under the prow. On two occasions we got to see an animal completely breach, it was probably the best dolphin encounter of the whole trip. Not long after the dolphins departed, we had a sudden appearance of a Sei Whale about 100 metres off the boat, giving us a clear view of the whole animal. However, the encounter was so quick that I failed to get a photo. 

  The main journey up the Beagle Channel was badly hampered by bad weather and we saw very little. A small group of Magellanic Penguins sat in the water and some Snowy Sheathbills distantly on a rock in the middle of the channel. 

  We finally docked in Ushuaia at 21:30, bringing to an end our enjoyable but also undeniably disappointing cruise around the South Atlantic, minus Antarctica. A few of us headed to the Irish bar in Ushuaia for a few celebratory drinks, and enjoyed an excellent night out. I returned to our lodging on the ship for the final time at 02:30 in the morning, before disembarkation in the morning. 

-Sei Whale

-Peale's Dolphin

Oceanwide Day 16; South Atlantic - South Georgia to Ushuaia

   After two slow days at sea, today finally got interesting. Now within the sheltered waters of the mouth of the Beagle Channel there was good numbers of birds again, albeit mostly common species. Before lunch we had a few more Great Shearwaters, including an individual very close to the boat, and had some head scratching to do with some passing black and white shearwater species. Although we initially thought they were Subantarctic Shearwaters, the more we saw, the more we began to think they were Manx Shearwaters, and that was our final decision. An unexpected surprise was a Least Seedsnipe that flew over the boat, a rarity out in the Atlantic and an excellent record for our trip.

  The highlight of the day also came in the period before lunch. After a few days without cetacean action, it really came back with a bang. We had a group of possibly up to eight, but certainly at least six Hourglass Dolphins playing in front of the boat for around 10 minutes. We rushed down to the bow and were able to watch them swimming right beneath us and surfacing frequently. We have seen Hourglass Dolphin four times on this trip when travelling at full speed, and they showed no interest in the boat. But as we trundled along at 6mph, the boat suddenly became of great interest!

  Because we arrived at the Beagle Channel earlier than expected, we had to spend most of the day going back and forth over about two kilometers, significantly reducing our chances of a new encounter. After lunch there was a lull in activity, so much so that I headed back to do my notes. A classic error, as about half an hour later a pod of dolphins was announced on the tannoy. Fortunately I made it outside in time, to get views of three Dusky Dolphins swimming behind the ship, although not close. 

  In the evening we returned to the deck and enjoyed a very pleasant evening. It started with some distant Peale’s Dolphins leaping into the air, followed by them bow-riding a large tanker ship. From there, we also spotted several distant whale-blows. We enjoyed watching the whale blows, but spotting the animals themselves proved very tricky. In about an hour we spotted the whale itself on just a couple of occasions, always very distant but enough to identify the animals of Sei Whales. 

  After this, we returned inside for dinner, and afterwards we enjoyed a fun karaoke evening with the cruise staff and participants, a fun end to our final full day on the Plancius.

-Hourglass Dolphins

-Hourglass Dolphin

-Dusky Dolphin

-Peale's Dolphin

-Sei Whale

-Manx Shearwater

-Magellanic Diving Petrel

-Great Shearwater

Oceanwide Day 15; South Atlantic - South Georgia to Ushuaia

   Today we continued to make progress on our return to Argentina, and by evening we were within sight of the outermost of the islands of Tierra del Fuego. On the mammal front there was no improvement from the previous day, with a whale blow being the only sighting but sadly no sign of the animal at all.

  Fortunately the birding improved somewhat. Before lunch it continued in much the same vein as the previous day, with very little seen but I persisted regardless. Immediately after lunch things picked up, with a Northern Royal Albatross circling the ship before heading north being the first of the trip. During the afternoon we encountered many Southern Royal Albatross and by the late afternoon I had even managed a new species, with a distant Great Shearwater flying past the ship, albeit rather distantly. Additionally we had a group of 10 Northern Rockhopper Penguins sat on the sea, probably the last time we will encounter the species on the trip.

  By nightfall we were well within sight of our final destination, leaving us with the daunting prospect of needing to complete 3 hours of distance in a day and a half, setting us up for a very slow day in the morning.

-Great Shearwater

-Northern Royal Albatross

-Southern Royal Albatross

-White-chinned Petrel

Oceanwide Day 14; South Atlantic - South Georgia to Ushuaia

   Today really was a slow day as we continued across the ocean towards Ushuaia. Birds were quite slim pickings, with a few Snowy Albatross the only species of note that we really observed. Cetaceans were at even more of a premium, with a single unidentified dolphin fin being the only sighting. For the excitement of entering new waterways on our unexpected return to Ushuaia, it has so far only compounded the rather disappointing end to our adventure. 

-Snowy Albatross

-Sunset

Oceanwide Day 13; South Atlantic - South Georgia to Ushuaia

   It was another day at sea as we dragged our broken ship onwards on its journey back to Argentina. Because of this there was little to break down in turn of events that occurred during the day, but there were a few rewards for the effort we put in on the deck.

  During the morning there was nothing especially different. Two Hourglass Dolphins passed just under the front of the ship, but they never surfaced, we just saw their patterned bodies moving under the waves. The birding was spectacular but only in terms of numbers, with hundreds and hundreds of Slender-billed Prions circling the boat throughout the morning.

  In the afternoon the wind picked up, and the ship started rocking, but there came many more birds in these fresher conditions. It started with the Light-mantled Albatross showing phenomenally around the ship, with occasionally additional Grey-headed Albatrosses and at one point a nice juvenile Snowy Albatross. In one half-hour period, we spotted eight Soft-plumage Petrels passing distantly, which was an exciting addition to our afternoon and to our cruise overall. Sadly none were ever particularly close but we could readily identify them through their contrasting underside.

  As evening rolled around the conditions continued to deteriorate, with the ship rocking significantly throughout the evening. There would be no spectacular late whale encounter today.

-Snowy Albatross

-Soft-plumaged Petrel

-Light-mantled Albatross

-Slender-billed Prion