Thanks to Neill Hunt who sent me the following and loadsa pix of Yellow Nosed Albatross which he had very close encounters with a pelagics off southern Oz last year.
You may think it's unlikely, but you might as well gen up now, just in case the thing that was released in Somerset takes a tour of duty around the Irish Sea....and comes drifting past you at long range during a seawatch this summer.
More of Neill's great shots of albatrosses and everything else at his new website - the link is on the right hand side of the page, under "Neill Hunt".
Neill writes: "I suppose now that we have a Yellow Nosed Albatross in the Irish Sea (fingers crossed) and a Black Browed up north on Sula Sgeir, we should brush up on our albatross identification, after all you wouldn't want to get your Diomedea, Thalassarche and Pheobetria mixed up would you?
So to help everyone I've sent a selection of Yellow Nosed Albatross shots taken in Australia in August 06, they show both adult and juv birds.
There is also a shot showing a Sub Ad Black Browed with an Ad. Yellow Nosed.
Note the dark tipped bill of sub ad B.Browed (diagnostic), Juv B.Brows show darker 'horn' coloured bill but still has black tip.
Yellow Nosed juv has all dark bill and is also 'clean' breasted. Young BBs show greyish breast band of varying degrees as well, Adult BBs will always show a wholly pinky/yellow bill while Adult YNs have the diagnostic bill pattern.
I suppose you could also mention the difference in underwing pattern. ie, Y N shows much more white with a smaller black border compared to BB which shows the opposite, much less white and thick black borders.
Cheers!
Thanks again Neill.
So, everyone got it? Better to be safe than sorry...
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies....
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Seawatch with Bazzo and Mike Stocker at Formby Point today.
3 Storm Petrels; 25 Manx Shearwater; 2 Kittiwakes; 60 Common Scoter; 2 Whimbrel plus terns.
Big storm tonight, c-waaatch tomorrow pm.
3 Stormies today - Neill got some shots!
Latest from around Haskayne - 2 adult and 2 young Little Owls, plus another adult on Moss Lane; 34 Curlew, Great Altcar; 1 male Tufted Duck; 2 Great Crested Grebe; 11 Pied Wagtail; 12 Mistle Thrush; 94 Mallard; 4 Kestrel; 2 Buzzard.
The heavy rain this June has at least returned some of the old 'meres' on the mosses to their former glory.
Jacks Mere, between Jacksmere Lane and Renacres Lane, behind Scarisbrick is at least half -a -mile across and yesterday (JULY 5) had:-
Blackwit 337 ( mostly full summer plumage, presumably non -breeding Icelanders), Oystercatcher 17, Lapwing 33, Curlew 5, Tufted 3, Shelduck 6, Mallard 5, Coot 3 and hordes of bathing gulls, mostly Black-headed, but also a superb adult Great Black-backed and 20 plus imm/subadult Lesser Blacks and Herrings. See I do notice gulls !!
Worth keeping an eye on for tasty waders if water hangs about into August. Also had Hobby battering Swifts over Shorrock's Hill, when looking for Quail and Turtle Dove down Rosemary Lane, Haskayne...without success.