Scillonian III Ferry onboard wildlife interpreters Brian Craven and David Curtis point out the seabirds and other wildlife seen on Friday crossing’s from Penzance to Scilly and back.

Friday 28^th March

“As we departed Penzance Harbour a 1st winter male Surf Scoter and a Great Northern Diver were seen from the ship. From the harbour to Porthgwarra we had good numbers of Guillemots mostly resting on a calm sea, but only 4 Razorbills. A single Puffin flew past. Leaving the Cornish coast, bird numbers reduced. Low numbers of resting Guillemots and Gannets were the most obvious with a sprinkling of Manx Shearwaters and a Red throated Diver flew past.

On the return trip Guillemots had now decided the time had come to fly west and not rest. We flushed a resting party of 14 Manx Shearwaters and saw a few single ones. With dusk and threatening skies as we past the Cornish coast, viewing was more difficult. Past Mousehole's St Clement's Island  species counts were impossible due to the large gull numbers and the poor light. It was learnt later that a juvenile  Kumlein's Gull and a  Glaucous Gull were roosting on the island.  Before arriving at Penzance huge numbers of gulls were in Mounts Bay. 

Species counts totals for both directions up to Mousehole were:-
Surf Scoter      1
Great Northern Diver    4
Guillemot       143
Auk ?sp.           21
Razorbill            4
Manx Shearwaters   20
Puffin               1
Red throated. Diver    1