Bottlenose dolphins and shearwaters

As I reported, our ferryboat left Dikili harbour in Turkey on 4 May.

A few miles out to sea, a group of five yellow-legged gulls and two Mediterranean gulls resting on the almost waveless water. It is sunny.

This is a Scopoli’s shearwater (which used to be considered as a subspecies of Cory’s shearwater) video from Italy.

Beautiful Scopoli’s shearwaters flying just above the water; sometimes these birds make a circle in the air.

Two barn swallows flying from Lesbos island to the Turkish continent. Evidently migrating, as migration is the only time when swallows cross seas. Maybe they will decide near Istanbul whether they will go west to Europe, or east to Asia. We see why Lesbos is so important for migratory birds coming back from Africa in spring; Lesbos being the last stop before the west of the Asian continent.

Common bottlenose dolphins swimming in formation; sometimes jumping out of the water.

At 20:05 we can see the lighthouse of Mytilene harbour on Lesbos. A hooded crow sits on top of it.

As we land, swifts are calling.

Bird Migration and Migrations: An Encyclopædic Primer: here.

They were looking for a simple beach vacation. But this week, guests near the North Sea resort town of Knokke-Heist in Belgium have gotten more entertainment than they bargained for. Just a few dozen meters from the shoreline, a single dolphin, thought to be a bottlenose, has been frolicking in the waves and wowing families on the beach this week: here.

Arabian Shearwater, a new wintering seabird taxa for Australia: here.