Curiosity

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Common Dolphins are incredibly inquisitive creatures.

We were out between Mull and the Cairns of Coll last week on the birding tour of Mull. We had already seen one or two large rafts of Manx Shearwaters and a small northbound party of Pomarine Skuas when the distant splashes of a school of dolphins were seen.

The skipper played it cool and rather than up the revs and encourage the dolphins to join us bow riding he maintained revs and relied upon their natural curiosity to approach us. His judgement was spot on. We ended up amid around 150 Common Dolphins. Fantastic.

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Safe Haven

Maybe it was the slow encroachment of our boat, maybe it was the sharp eyed guests on it with me or more likely a combination of the two but we had some close sightings on our tour down the waterways of the Norfolk Broads at the weekend. From the Common Terns that accompanied us across the broads to stalking Grey Herons and food passing Marsh Harriers the wildlife was unhindered and relaxed. There’s nothing like seeing something well.

The Great crested Grebe we saw carrying young upon its back is something you don’t see too often and something you rarely see close enough to photograph.