Strumble diary 8/10/24, report from Frances...

 I arrived at about 1:30 today. 

There were many common dolphins. These moved 

There were many common dolphins. These moved  westwards, 

before lots of them moved eastwards, further out and accompanied 
by a number of gannets. Some were still around after 3:00, when the tidal 
race had moved close to shore. Four or five common dolphins passed from 
east to west in the race, giving good views, and three Risso's dolphins 
surfaced in the race a couple of times before disappearing. One of the 
Risso's showed itself well by leaping clear of the water a all three 
surfaced simultaneously. I saw at least two porpoise and possibly three or 
four, but I might have seen the same animals twice.

Regards,
Francis Hickenbottom

Thanks for this  Frances, great report especially as the Risso's have been a bit scarce this year! 

allthingsgood,cliff

Strumble Diary 05/10/2024

 I often start my blog entries describing what the weather was like when I arrived and today the sky was so stunning I thought I'd capture it and show you. We are so lucky in Pembs to have such wonderful skies especially during Autumn.

What else was happening? Well, again today there were excellent numbers of Common Dolphin around. Several pods scattered around the view in front of me busily feeding with Gannets in attendance. Mostly distant at first but some coming closer as time went on and the tide dropped away. Maddie called in for a chat before a costal walk and I'm glad she got to see a close pod of Commons off the point. As yesterday the porpoise were later coming in. Not as many as yesterday but giving closer views which is good for ID purposes. My session was from 08.45 until 13.30pm and as yesterday I came away smiling and happy at what I'd seen and captured.

Strumble Diary 04/10/2024

Another dry and bright morning at Strumble today. As I drove along I could see a lot of bird activity out over the sea. When I arrived it was plain to see that there was a big feed going on. Closer inspection with the binos made me aware it was a bait ball feed with many many commons and hundreds of gannets joining the party.  

As time went on more and more dolphins came in from the west and east at great speed eager to join the feast. The feast lasted for three hours+ before it all calmed down way out to the NE. A quiet period followed before the first porpoise sighting. The numbers were good and reminded me of the surveys years ago where we had wave after wave of porps coming up the tide race. I'd estimate twenty or so for the session so very happy coming away today.

Strumble Diary 03/10/2024

 An 8am start on a beautiful sunny morning at Strumble. Shortly after arriving I spotted a pod of fifteen or so commons feeding distantly in what remained of the tide race from the flood tide. From then on it was a case of dolphins visible all accross my view from east to west. This went on for three hours or so untill just after the Thursday survey team arrived with an estimated 60+ in total for that period. Things quietened down then for a while untill we had a late showing of a small number of porpoise off to the west beyond the lighthouse interspersed with more commons passing through.. No Rissos sadly but a busy morning's watch all the same.