One of the top target
species for birders in the Mediterranean -
Yelkouan Shearwaters, March 2010
The
Mediterranean sea can be very good for
pelalgic birding but in my
experience usually tends to be rather quiet birdwise, becoming more so
the
further east one travels.
Seabirds often seem concentrated nearer the coasts - perhaps due to
shallower water providing more productive feeding. However,
it must be borne in mind that my time on deck has been limited and the
time of year certainly plays a part.
Click above to see eastern med
Click
above to sea Black sea and Mediterranean
Click
above to see Gibraltar Straits
For
birding ashore in the Mediterranean please see the following pages:
My
work in the
Mediterranean has been enriched with finds of ancient
shipwrecks, unsavoury run-ins with the military, downed aircraft and
all manner of other experiences that just cannot be elaborated upon on
a website without getting into all kinds of trouble.
Greek
wreck in
2000m of water in a previously unknown location
Sicily
- Tunisia Late
June -
July 1992 Small
numbers of Cory's Shearwater noted most days and very few other birds
at all. During a break in the work the vessel laid up off Pantelleria -
here the unearthly calls of the Cory's Shearwaters were heard from the
precipitous slopes.
Straights
of Messina
-Early January 1993 Very
little noted at sea at all, small numbers of Mediterranean Gulls
and not a whole lot more. However, some more productive birding was had
ashore on the east side of the straights.
A
typical encounter with Italian hunters was particularly memorable -
lead shot rained down around me as two hunters drove a car across a
field with two dogs running ahead of them - they were shooting at small
passerines of some description.
Cyprus
Mid-late
July 1994 Not a trip to be
remembered for the seabirds with nothing much noted at all. Working
fairly close inshore off Akrotiri. Again, better luck ashore....
Off
Southern Portugal 02-16
September 1996. Although not the
Mediterranean this seems an apt place to mention this
trip
as we were working very close to the "entrance" to the Med. Superb trip!
Plenty to be seen here. Cory's Shearwater
- seen regularly with up to 20 visible at a time Mediterranean
Shearwater - 1-3 from 09 September onwards Northern Gannet -
regular in small numbers (generally < 10 daily) European Storm
Petrel - very regular but not seen in large numbers
(<10
daily) Arctic Skua - 1
logged 02 September Great Skua - 2
noted 09 September Lesser Black
Backed Gull - up to 1000 noted on a number of occasions Black Tern - 1
logged 02 September Migrants included
a fly-by Little Egret, Bluethroat, Reed Warbler and
Turtle Dove onboard; along with a variety of commoner birds. Gibraltar
- Spain - Algeria
24 May - 07 June 2004 Joined the vessel
off Gibraltar to find two Turtle Dove and a Reed
Warbler onboard. Worked between
Almeria (Spain) and Algeria. Typical Mediterranean with
few birds in general, just the occasional Northern Gannet and a few
Cory's Shearwater. However, 8-12 Cory's Shearwater noted both on the
Spanish and Algerian sides with several Mediterranean
Sheatwater and a European Storm Petrel also noted within sight of the
Spanish
coast. Near the coast at Almeria small numbers of Yellow-legged Gull,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black headed Gulls and even a pair of
Audouin's Gulls were seen. Whether the
shearwaters kept near the coast due to the food supply or
because the "sea breezes" associated with the land assisted their
flight is unknown. The most appalling
thing about this trip was that on the Spanish side
of the Mediterranean every square metre of seabed shallower than 600m
had been trawled bare; Almost totally devoid of life the seabed was a
tragic sight to behold. We saw more benthic life in 2000m of
water!
Audouin's Gull,
off Ibiza, February
2005
Two Mediterranean
Gulls with
Black-headed gulls,
off Athens, March 2010
Denia
(Mainland Spain) -
Ibiza - Mallorca, Spring 2005 Hugely productive
at times. This job stretched out from late January to
the end of April and provided by far the best birding I have had
offshore in the Med. And this time I had a camera, although
with
only binoculars to use as a telephoto lens things were not exactly
straightforward. Photographing with a digital camera through binoculars
on a moving boat is no easy affair - and the autofocus is fooled at
least 99 times out of 100..... During February it
was generally quiet birdwise but occasional
concentrations of seabirds, largely gulls with attendant skuas, were
encountered. Feeding flocks were either largely Yellow-legged
Gulls with a few Audoins and Mediterranean gulls mixed in, flocks of
30-40 Kittiwake or single species flocks of Audouin's Gulls (usually
20-30 individuals). The Audouin's Gulls often fed at night and were
easily distinguished by call. Great Skua were regularly seen beating up
on the gulls. Mediterranean
Shearwaters were reasonably regular, sometimes in good numbers, though
invariably distant. Small numbers of Northern Gannets also observed. Whilst sheltering
from some extreme weather off southern Ibiza a Shag
turned up beside the vessel, this species, a very localised species in
the Mediterranean was also noted around the harbour at Palma,
Mallorca. On 14 March, some
30km north of Denia (mainland Spain) two Barn Swallow
turned up during the night. Daylight broke to reveal at least 4 Black
Redstart (including 3 males), my first ever offshore Dartford Warbler,
a Chiff-Chaff and several Robin. Seabirds were represented by
two Mediterranean Shearwater, an
Arctic
Skua, 30+ Audoin's Gulls, a Lesser Black Backed Gull and a Kittiwake. As March
progressed Cory's Shearwater started appearing with up to 75
visible simultaneously; this species often came close to the vessel -
something the Mediterranean Shearwaters never
did.
The largest numbers of Mediterranean Shearwaters were
noted
just offshore in San Antonio Bay, Ibiza. On 15 April, NW of
Ibiza a Great Skua was after somewhat unusual prey -
a Hoopoe - which finally escaped the skua's attentions. At least 60
Cory's, a couple of Mediterranean Shearwater, 40+
Yellow-legged, 30+ Audouin's and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls also
around - about the norm for the trip. Other birds noted
offshore during the trip were an Osprey on the aft
mast on 19 April, 2 Common Swift and a Northern Wheatear.
Eastern
Mediterranean November -
December 2009 to January 2010 Once again
disappointing for seabirds but some migrant passerines and a
Pomarine Skua were seen. For further details see the webside describing
this trip here.
Black
Redstart, Tamar field off Israel, November 2009
Greater Forkbeard and mine
Black
Sea / Eastern Mediterranean - March 2010 A
superb migration experience with a once in a lifetime Yelkouan
Shearwater passage through the sea of Marmora. Link to more details here.
Eastern Med
(Cyrpus - Israel) - January/February 2011 Again
largely unproductive in this area but did connect with some interesting
gulls in Israeli waters - including Pallas's Gull Link
to more details here.
Straits
of Gibraltar -
March/April 2011
A
few
days around Ibiza followed by a few weeks in the Gibraltar Straits
produced plenty of migrants and other sightings of interest.
Link to more details here.here.
TMPC (Sicily - Algeria)
-September 2017
The
Trans Med Pipeline inspection - a job that has turned up throughout my
working life.
Link to more details here.here.
Migrating
Short-toed Eagle, near Sicily, September 2017
Spain
- Mallorca October/November 2020 - Link
Autumn migration and shearwaters in the Med.
Following offshore seabirds has long been used by fishermen to find activity while at sea. Boats with large fuel tanks, like Viking Yachts for sale , are needed as many of these birds fly for miles. This is why many anglers are pro-conservation at microplastics threaten many seabirds existence.