Over last year, I surveyed seabirds. It wasn’t a scientific survey; I just took a notebook and logged the birds I saw while I was out sailing... and in the process I learned a lot about the birds I’d just taken for granted.
For starters, there were more species than I’d expected. I couldn’t mistake the chittering tirricks, or Arctic terns, Shetland’s white swallows, but I’d vaguely lumped common guillemots and razorbills together. Anything large and long-necked I’d taken for a scarf (shag), so it was a surprise to see raingeese (red-throated divers) on the voe. Another surprise was that they all had defined territory, not just of species but individuals, as I would get the same numbers day after day. Two pairs of terns chittered around the marina, and a young guillemot bobbed around the boats, rarely going further than the end of the pier.
The raingeese liked narrower water too; I regularly saw two pairs in the inner voe, within a mile of the marina. As the voe widened, there were guillemots and razorbills in sociable clumps of both species. One dozen-strong group reappeared regularly in the same place.
この記事は Practical Boat Owner の February 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Practical Boat Owner の February 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Orca sink yacht in Strait of Gibraltar
Spain's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, has reported that a 15m (49ft) yacht sank in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar following interaction with a pod of orca.
No kill cord or lifejackets were worn during fatal powerboat crash
A kill cord and lifejacket are useless unless worn-that's the warning from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), following its investigation into a powerboat crash that killed a 32-year-old woman and five-year-old girl on 2 October 2022.
Multihull sail work
Brush up on multihull sailing skills before heading off on charter with Gavin Le Sueur's guide to spinnaker handling, tacking and gybing
Five top causes of engine failure and how to prevent them
Jake Kavanagh talks to Sea Start marine engineer Nick Eales about how to avoid the five major causes of an engine breakdown at sea
Sail the Atlantic with strangers
Would you sail across the Atlantic with someone you've just met? Ali Wood meets the cruising crews who've done just that
IZIBoat: simple sailing
Rupert Holmes sails an innovative catamaran design intended to widen participation in sailing among those with little time to get on the water in more conventional craft
30 WAYS TO GET AFLOAT
From tall ships to small dinghies, you needn't own a boat to sail. Ali Wood looks at the options, and how skippers can also find crew
Boats for restoring under £20,000
Duncan Kent picks the best sub-35ft sail and power boats to look for when aiming to undertake a restoration on a budget
Seaworthy dinghies for less than £500
For low cost traditionally-styled GRP trailer-sailers, consider the Foreland and the Otter available at bargain basement prices
Playing with coloured sails
Maintaining an hourglass-shaped balloon and ratcheting up the log numbers