Strumble Diary 01/09/2026

 Well, the first day of meteorological Autumn today and the weather gods were smiling on us. A SW'ly breeze against the tide brought a slight swell in the tide race with a calm sea otherwise. Reasonably bright at first with cloud building through the morning. The action was slow to start so we amused ourselves with the first of what would end up being nine Sunfish throughout the session, two of which fully breached. An unusual sight given their size and means of propulsion. A Gannet caught and struggled to swallow a Garfish which was fun to watch, and then the action proper started. I spotted a Rissos reasonably close in NW of the lookout which got everybody's attention and set the tone for the rest of the session. Two Rissos to start which stayed around for thirty minutes or so then a few more singles sporadically over the next hour or so. Porpoise started showing off Pencaer point with a group of four moving through shortly after giving good views with the bonus of a marked animal amongst them. All the while the Sunfish kept coming through close in with the tide. A pod of forty or so Commons brought an end to an excellent session. It was what I'd call a creche pod with as many calves as adults. All in all a great session.  

 

Strumble Diary 31/8/26: More Risso's

Wind NW 4-5 sunny intervals 18C Nice pics from Yesterday Ken! Plenty of birders there from early on, and they had already seen two Risso's.+ distant Common Dolphinsbefore we got there. I joined Fran and Arwen who had also had one before i got there. We added at least three more although the heavy tide race was making it difficullt to keep a track of them. A really nice close in Sunfish was the icing on our end of summer cake!

Strumble Diary 30/08/2026

 In answer to Cliff's hopes in the previous post ( "I hope Ken gets some images"). Yes, I Did.

On arrival at the lookout where several birders were in situ, I was soon pointed out several Rissos off to the NW. Not as close as the other day and a different pod, confirmed as the more distant group as sighted by visiting birder on my watch of the 28th. They were a bit hard to spot in the difficult light and the increasing swells of the dropping tide. They were also moving further away with the tide as time went by. By this time Harry had joined me and had sighted a Sunfish some 80mtrs out. This was the start of a Sunfish fest as eventually we totalled five within an hour. As the wind swung around more Southerly things calmed a bit and it was a while before any Porpoise were sighted. Harry had gone by now as had all the birders who were off to Newport as a rare "Bairds Sandpiper" had been seen there. A few Porps were active off the point with several more seen moving up the tide race. The action soon died away so I called it a day at just after 13.00 and made my way home.

Seagulls pecking at parasites on the Sunfish.

 

 

Strumble Diary: My first Risso's of the year!

09.30 11.00 Wind SW 4, light shower, sunny intervals,18c. An early start 09.30 and having just set up my gear behind my car at the carpark, within a minute I had spied; a single porpoise a small pod of 3-5 Common Dolphins, and a glimpse of 2 large fins , that I was pretty sure were Risso's. Harry had just joined me and so i was happy to think he would get them as well but they just dissappeared. Twenty minutes later we were still looking and then another sighting, probably not the same two animals and thankfully Harry was also on them.In the end we had several decent sightings including one very recognisable animal with a pale patch onthe upper leading edge of its fin. Ken arrivedjust as i was packing up so ilive in hope he got some shots!

As good as it gets!

Fran took our Summer interns, Arwen, Dan, Daf and Keira, and her Thursday Photo ID volunteers Dawn and Chris, down to Ramsey Sound(Copper Mine) this afternoon.

The porpoises showed well (minimum 9) and 4 sunfish (Mola mola) also seen well by everyone, a first for Dan! Its the Interns last survey before they head off in their seperate paths, they have been great and deserved a special final survey to remember us at Sea Trust by!

Strumble Diary 28/08/26

Just a short session with Stevo this afternoon on almost low tide. circa 4-6 porpoises showing off the lighthouse.

from John O'Sullivan

Hi Cliff, currently on Bardsey, yesterday in flat calm conditions there were Risso's in numbers. There were a minimum of 12 animals but it seemed likely there were more. They included three mothers with small calves, one was tiny and the mother kept leaving it on the surface when it dived. It looked bizarre lolling about on the surface with its tiny dorsal fin. Regular Commons offshore too and 3 Porpoises. Sadly sightings of Risso's still few and far between, here at Strumble John Haha just seen Kens post below , maybe our Risso's are returning!

Strumble Diary 28/08/2026 (One Watch 3 Different Cetaceans)

 A superb watch this morning. When I arrived 09.30ish Harry + a birder were there and informed me of 9 Rissos sighted, four close in and five further out, earlier. I managed to catch three closer in but didn't see the more distant ones that they had seen. Lovely mother and calf sightings for at least and hour off and on before they moved off. What followed was almost continual sightings of commons and Porpoise feeding very close together at times. Caught two marked and returning Porpoise in the same shot which was a bonus as it doesn't happen that often. Hopefully more Rissos tomorrow.

 

 

Unusual markings on this Rissos calf