Albert the Albatross

 

What is more improbable -

 

a)    England’ football team  beating Germany in the knockout stages of a major competition
 
b)   Seeing an Albatross in England

 

Actually the answer is a) because it has not happened since 1966 rather than b) as Albert the Albatross, as he is affectionally known, has made a number of passing visits to the UK since 1967!

 

On Monday evening reports started to emerge of Albert associating with the Gannet colony at RSPB Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, almost one year after his  last brief visit to the same site. During the intervening period there have been a number of sightings of Albert across Europe, particularly from the Baltic Sea where he appears to have spent much of the last 12 months. In fact there were reports that he had been attacked and killed in the area by two eagles.  Reports of his death were clearly greatly exaggerated!

 

The Black-browed Albatross is circumpolar in the southern oceans but very rarely seen above the equator. If I tell you that the largest breeding population of some 400,000 birds is on the Falkland Islands this will tell you all you need to know about how lost Albert truly is!

 

Although there have been 33 records of Black-browed Albatross in the UK since 1950, it is believed that many of these relate to Albert. Indeed it is eminently possible that the current Albatross is one and the same as the original Albert blow off course by strong winds into the Atlantic in 1967 as this incredible bird has a natural lifespan of more than 70 years!

 

I thought I could not make the trip to see Albert until Thursday but my lunch meeting with my daughter on Wednesday had to be rearranged due to her work commitments so Wednesday became my date with Albert!  I set off bright and early with some trepidation as Albert is not known for hanging around for more than a day or so, indeed his last visit to Bempton in July 2020 lasted barely 24 hours. I broke the 3 hour mainly motorway drive for a coffee and was delighted to learn  that Albert was sitting with the Gannets on a cliff at Bempton! 

 

The car park was very busy when I arrived, clearly Albert's stop on his 2021 European tour was pulling in the crowds, but a friendly volunteer found a space for me to park and I set off on a quick walk to the cliff where Albert was being reported. When I got there a very kind fellow birder allowed me to look through his scope before I had mine set up and there was Albert in all Albatross glory sitting without a feather out of place amongst the Gannets!

 

Rather surprisingly, Albert appeared to be just marginally bigger than the Gannets when he was seated with them on the cliff. When he took to the wing, however, his true splender was spectacularly revealed. He had  remarkable long narrow wings that are said to span an incredible 2.5 meters, similar in length to a mute swan! It is this extraordinary wingspan that gives the Albatross the ability to soar over the waves for extended periods far out to sea with barely a wing flap and hence minimum energy expenditure.

 

During the 3 hours I was there he alternated between sitting with his Gannet mates and flying along the cliff face. At one point a very brave Herring Gull decided to dive bomb him, a true mismatch! 

 

During the brief periods of Albert’s absence I amused myself by taking pictures of the Gannets and Auks.

 

I did wonder what the Gannets though and said to their southern Atlantic interloper when they were huddled together.. 

 

“ Been busy since your visit last year Albert?”

 

“ Just the usual annual tour of Europe mate, the normal boring stuff of fishing and soaring the seas apart from one bust up with a couple of eagle thugs who were lucky to get away with their lives!”

 

As I was leaving Bempton Nick messaged me to ask if I was going to see the Caspian Terns at Southfield reservoir on the way home. To be honest, I had not realised they were so close to my route home so it would have been rude not to  divert the 5 or so miles to see them! The reservoir took quite some finding as the only drivable route to it seemed to be along a farm track. I parked at the end of the track with a few other cars and walked up the bank to the sizable reservoir where a handful of birders were watching the two Caspian Terns fishing. These were the second and third Caspian Terns I have seen in the UK after my first at Frampton RSPB last year. They are the world’s largest Tern with a massive orange bill that is almost always held pointed downwards in flight. They have a somewhat scattered global distribution but in Europe they are mainly found in the Baltic and Black seas. 

 

Caspian Tern

After an hour or so of watching these kings of the Tern world I started to flag and decided it was time to make my way home. What a day, I do so hope Albert pays us another visit in next year!

 

 

Albert  departing for the Baltic with the unfortunately Herring Gull stuck up his rear end!!

 

 

Footnote – my blogs are posted with sometimes rather imaginative spelling and grammar due to my extreme dyslexia!