This juvenile Yellow-legged Gull showed at very close range superbly at Morning Point
After a late breakfast, I made the five minute walk to Morning Point. As there are some 100 Herring Gulls parked outside my bedroom window throughout the day, it was no surprise to find a small group on the water at the point. However, As usual, a large number of gulls appear from nowhere when you start throwing bread out. Some of the Herring and a 1st summer Greater black-backed Gull, I recognise from in the garden. My first juvenile Lesser black-backed Gull of the year flew straight through and 3 juvenile Herring Gull settled to my left on the wall I was standing on. A few minutes later I looked to my left to see a cracking juvenile Yellow-legged Gull also on the wall. Where did that come from? It flew below onto some rocks where it continued to show well. It was while I was taking some photos of it on the rocks, that I briefly looked up to see another Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull move straight through. At the same time, Bobby Dawson was watching 3 juvenile YLG on Tresco. However the highlight was a Roseate Tern found by Joe Pender off Green Island also on Tresco.
Comparison with one of the juvenile Herring Gull and the aggressive juvenile Yellow-legged Gull
Another comparison shot with the same two juveniles The YLG is at the front of the two
This is the second juvenile Yellow-legged Gull that I just caught as it flew straight through
Herring Gulls
The Black-headed Gull flying at Morning Point is the very same individual that was only a meter from the bedroom window earlier that morning
Juvenile Herring Gull in garden from a few days ago
And ‘Rosie’ the Starling that first looked like a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling a month or so ago, although still paler, she is now staring to appear like her friends she hangs out with
Also good numbers of Meadow Brown on the Garrison
The Tories rubbing shoulders together with the Russians
This 2nd summer Mediterranean Gull had no problem with me only a few meters from it in my kayak while it was sat on Skirt Island, Tresco
Nothin like the perfect conditions from last week but I had to get back in the water and mid-morning I found myself kayaking my way towards Tresco in a 15 mph NNE. I spent a few hours on the latter island and the highlight was a juvenile Cuckoo. On the South Shore, the Sanderling had increased from 21 last week to 66 but only 10 Turnstone. Also, there were 7 Dunlin 3 Whimbrel, 21 Sandwich Tern and 6 Mediterranean Gull. On the Great pool, there were 1 Green and 2 Common Sandpiper, 13 Greenshank and 4 Redshank and along Pool Road I heard a single Crossbill and also got the first returning 2 Willow Warbler. Like last week, there appears to be less large gulls commuting with Abbey Pool and South Beach. And again, like last week, no juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls.
I just caught this juvenile Cuckoo before it disappeared over the dunes towards Skirt Island.
There were up to 6 Mediterranean Gull feeding on South Beach All photos taken from kayak
Juvenile Stonechat
Near to the green shed along Pool Road, I came across a family of Willow Warbler which included four youngsters and always in the shade
I was soon back in the kayak and as I was in Tresco Channel, I could see a crow flying just over the water towards me coming from Samson. It turned direction heading towards Tresco and I could see that it looked like a Hooded Crow. However, I couldn’t rule out hybrid as I observed it with my naked eye.
After seeing the seals at the west side off Bryher, I decided to head towards Samson for calmer waters as it was getting a little lumpy with the wind increasing slightly. There were just too many folks on Samson and I decided to return to St Mary’s. By now the wind was blowing 20mph NNE and proved to be a pretty choppy crossing. I came into Porthloo and drifted towards 4 Mediterranean Gull and with them was my first juvenile Herring Gull of the year. Nothin else of note and I was back at Sharks Pit by 18.00.
You just have no idea what your goin to come across while out kayaking. I could see a small group of Greater black-backed Gull squabbling over somethin about a half a mile away from me just off Green Island. By the time I had reached the gulls there were only two still present having a tug-a-war with some species of fish. At close range they continued to fight before the smaller of the two let go leaving the larger individual to fly off with it’s prize.
This Kittiwake flew over the kayak while I was returning back to St Mary’s in The Roads
Kayaking in Porthloo Bay and I got some cracking views of 4 Mediterranean Gull
There were up to 30 Black-headed Gull
I also had my first juvenile Herring Gull of the year
I kayaked from st Mary’s to Tresco, Bryher, and Samson and was kinda surprised when I didn’t come across a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull. I had the first juvenile of the year two days ago, 17th, in the harbour before it flew off over town towards Porthcressa
This Green Sandpiper has been at Lower Moors for the last few days
This Swallow was in the garden on a dull foggy day
This young Song Thrush was thinking about coming into the house
What an awesome day I experienced in my kayak. How close do you want to be? With my kayak, I drifted up to this Balearic Shearwater, that was in a raft of 200 Manx Shearwater two miles north of Bryher out at sea, until I was only meters away from it and it was not concerned one bit of how close I was.
The conditions were spot on for kayaking with not a ripple on the water. At 09.00, I was on Tresco but some three hours later all I had seen of note were 19 Sandwich Tern, including 2 juveniles, 21 Sanderling, 32 Turnstone, 3 Whimbrel and 2 Dunlin on the South Beach. On the Great Pool there were 7 Redshank and 6 Greenshank and a single White Wagtail. However, I was kinda of surprised that I didn’t get a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull as it’s now the time that one should turn up.
Up to 19 Sandwich Tern were on Skirt Island where I took these shots using the kayak
Part of the flock of 21 Sanderling roosting also on Skirt Island and as you can see, they are not concerned of my presence only meters away from them while in my kayak
While on Tresco, I was thinking where to row to next and it was Higgo’s call that made my mind up. He told me that he was goin with Jo Pender out to Bishop lighthouse to see Puffins. I haven’t seen a Puffin this year and in two weeks time, they will be all gone! I made my mind up to kayak out towards the Eastern Isles and swing in close to English Point, St Martins and follow the coast line half a mile out until I get to Men-a-Vier. Some five miles later and it was not until I got closer to the latter site , that I had 6 Puffin. Only one showed well before being flushed by a speed boat. Some 150 Manx Shearwater almost took my head off as they flew west at very, very close range.
My first Puffin of the day were six off Men-a-Vier but this individual was the only one that showed off for me.
A flock of 150 Manx Shearwater moved past me and were almost crashing into the kayak. Most of them were way to close to focus on for a photo!
I scanned out to sea with my bins and picked out a raft of 250 Manx Shearwater a mile north of Bryher and as I was half way across,they all got up and flew off west. Much further out I could see another raft of 200 and when I finally reached them, a quick scan through the flock, produced a Balearic Shearwater! Ideal! This is what I was hoping for and they all stayed put on the water as I drifted towards the Balearic until I was only meters away! I left them alone as I could see another 150 nearby but this time just Manx Shearwater although a single Storm Petrel flew east low across the water. By now I was two mile out at sea off the north end of Bryher. I could see good numbers of Manx Shearwater moving west a mile or so further out but I left them to it and started making my ways towards Scilly Rock. As I slowly headed towards the Rock, I observed over 40 Puffin, large numbers of both Razorbill and Guillemot, up to 10 Fulmar, 15 Gannet, 3 Mediterranean Gull, including 2 juveniles and more rafts ofI Manx Shearwater.
This Balearic Shearwater was hanging out with some 250 Manx Shearwater and showed off with crippling views at eye level
As you can see from the above photo, the Manx Shearwater were only meters away from me while I was comfortable in my kayak The rafts added up to over 700 Manx Shearwater in total
There was only a handful of Fulmar
Spot the Manx Shearwater! Both Razorbill and Guillemot were in very good numbers and like everything else, they showed superbly
Spot the Puffin! From Men-a-Vier to Scilly Rock I had a total of 45 Puffin only to discover that Nigel Bray had an amazing 94 birds in the Man-er-vier area!!
I wasn’t expecting to see 3 Mediterranean Gull, including this juvenile, out at sea with the rafts of Manx Shearwater
Also, lots of Herring Gull out at sea
Just west of Bryher, I got a surprise when the Bootle-nosed Dolphin, that was seen over a week ago in St Mary’s Harbour, appeared from nowhere and surfaced meters away from the kayak. As it was always so close, it made it very difficult to get any pics in focus. As I approached the rocks off Bryher I could hear the eerie calls of the Atlantic Grey Seal. Relaxing in the sun I came across small groups and a few sunk in the water to come and have a look at me. High above, a male Peregrine took flight and headed towards Bryher. I continued my journey towards Samson and took my time returning home towards St Mary’s to complete an amazing fourteen mile all round trip.
This Bottle-nosed Dolphin is the individual from five years ago in March when it spent some time in St Mary’s Harbour.
While I was cycling through the Jordon Valley, you couldn’t help but notice that the Israeli Government had full control of the area and the Palestinian people. The date plantations spread out along the valley that I saw were owned by Israeli farmers. The spot in the Jordon River where apparently Jesus was baptized is a good money earner for Israel where folks from all over the world arrive in coach loads every day. I was upset but wasn’t surprised when I cycled to the Dead Sea to find that Israel had also stolen that from the Palestinians. You can’t enter without giving Israel cash and I wasn’t going to do that leaving nowhere for the Palestinians to visit or swim in the Dead Sea. Even the crossing into Jordon from Palestine, close to Jericho, is also controlled by Israel. What I observed throughout the rest of the country during my visits in recent years was that Israel has full control, and even though they are prohibited in entering the cities, in the darkness of the night they enter the cities to arrest a child or adult and take them away and sometimes never to be seen again. If it’s children then they might end up in a cell where they’re tortured and end up in there for the rest of their childhood.
While visiting, I met a lot of good people out there, both Palestinian and Israeli’s and some became friends that I still keep in touch with today. One of my friends had his home demolished last year by the Israeli’s and as a result, his family was made homeless. 300 000 Palestinian homes are going to be stolen as the Israeli Government is in the process of stealing more Palestinian land. The Jordon Valley!
Where have you seen this before? As the actress, Maxine Peak pointed out in one of her tweets, the US cops are taught how to put the knee in the neck so that the person detained cannot breathe, is taught by Israel. Peak was right and so was the Labour MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey who approved the tweet. As a result, Long-Bailey got fired for being anti-Semitic by the leader of the party, Kier Starmer. If that’s anti-Semitic then they don’t know what it means. You tell the truth. silencing the critics of fascism and war profiteers. and they will cripple you.
Below are two articles by first The Times of Israel followed by MintPressNews
Meretz MK, Joint List leader says move would create âapartheidâ; Sanders sends video message; police forcefully detain photojournalist covering event, arrest 4 demonstrators
Thousands of Israelis attend a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, June 6, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday evening to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs pledge to begin annexing parts of the West Bank next month.
Police initially sought to block the rally but backtracked Friday after meeting with organizers, who urged participants to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Dozens of officers were securing the demonstration after police said attendance would be capped at 2,000, though the Haaretz daily put turnout at 6,000 people in what appeared to be the largest protest in the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The demonstration was organized by the left-wing Meretz party and the communist Hadash faction of the majority-Arab Joint List, along with several other left-wing rights groups.
MK Nitzan Horowitz, the head of Meretz, told the crowd that annexation would be a âwar crimeâ and would cost Israel millions as the economy is already reeling due to the pandemic.
âWe cannot replace an occupation of dozens of years with an apartheid that will last forever,â shouted a hoarse Horowitz. âYes to two states for two peoples, no to violence and bloodshed,â he continued. âNo to annexation, yes to peace.âVolume 90%
Horowitz said âannexation is a war crime, a crime against peace, a crime against humanity, a crime that will result in bloodshed.â
He called out Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Economy Minister Amir Peretz, accusing them of âraising their hands and crawling to the other side.â
The three center-left lawmakers had pledged not to sit in a government with Netanyahu, citing the premierâs indictment on graft charges, but after Israelâs third inconclusive election in March agreed to join him in a coalition.
The coalition deal signed between Netanyahuâs Likud party and Gantzâs Blue and White allows the prime minister to begin moving forward with annexation on July 1. The parts of the West Bank that Israel will extend sovereignty over are those earmarked for it under US President Donald Trumpâs peace plan.
âYou have no mandate to approve this apartheid. You have no mandate to bury peace,â Horowitz yelled. The Meretz head claimed Netanyahu was being pushed to carry out the controversial move by the âmessianicâ Trump administration.
âMake some noise so no one thinks that weâre a bunch of nerds,â the emcee shouted at the crowd after Horowitzâs speech.
Completely isolating it from the rest of the world & suffocating the Palestinians even more, just like GAZA. In GAZA their excuse was Hamas, what is their excuse in the West Bank??? This clearly proves that it has nothing to do with Hamas but purely they want the whole of Palestine.
Protesters gather in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Fellow Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg savaged Trumpâs peace plan as âa cursed deal between one man whoâs trying to win an election and another whoâs trying to escape a corruption trial,â referring respectively to the US president and Netanyahu.
âTrump is not a friend of Israel. Bibi [Netanyahu] is not good for Israel,â she said, ironically echoing settler leaders who oppose the US plan due to its backing for a Palestinian state. âThis [peace] deal has nothing to do with what is good for us, Israelis and Palestinians who live here in the Middle East.â
She said the agreement would âofficially make Israel an apartheid state⌠[Enacting] sovereignty [in the West Bank] without [granting] citizenship [to Palestinians] is apartheid,â she asserted.
Protesters gather in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Also addressing the rally was Joint List leader Ayman Odeh, who spoke from quarantine by video link after a member of his party contracted COVID-19. Odeh said all Jews and Arabs who support peace and justice must oppose Netanyahuâs plan to enact Israeli sovereignty over some 30 percent of the West Bank.
âAnnexation is apartheid,â Odeh told the cheering protesters.
Odeh compared the protest against annexation to the Four Mothers protest movement in the late 1990s, which pressed the government to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
Labor MK Merav Michaeli, who opposed her partyâs decision to join the new government, told protesters she came to Rabin Square as a representative of those in her center-left faction who oppose annexation.
Michaeli said the move will damage relations with Jordan, which along with Egypt is the only Arab country to have full ties with Israel, as well as with close trade partners in Europe.
She also bashed Gantz for agreeing to join a government that would carry out such a move.
Vermont senator and former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders addressed the rally in a video message from the US.
âIâm extremely heartened to see so many of you, Arabs and Jews alike, standing up for peace, justice and democracy,â the self-described Democratic socialist said.
He added: âThe plans to annex any parts of the West Bank must be stopped. The occupation must be ended and we must work together for a future of equality and dignity for all people in Israel and Palestine.â
Protesters carry a placard which reads in Hebrew ‘no to annexation’ as they gather in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
A protester carries the Israeli flag during a protest in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Thousands attend a protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on June 6, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash
Also addressing the rally was Joint List leader Ayman Odeh, who spoke from quarantine by video link after a member of his party contracted COVID-19. Odeh said all Jews and Arabs who support peace and justice must oppose Netanyahuâs plan to enact Israeli sovereignty over some 30 percent of the West Bank.
âAnnexation is apartheid,â Odeh told the cheering protesters.
Odeh compared the protest against annexation to the Four Mothers protest movement in the late 1990s, which pressed the government to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
Labor MK Merav Michaeli, who opposed her partyâs decision to join the new government, told protesters she came to Rabin Square as a representative of those in her center-left faction who oppose annexation.
Michaeli said the move will damage relations with Jordan, which along with Egypt is the only Arab country to have full ties with Israel, as well as with close trade partners in Europe.
She also bashed Gantz for agreeing to join a government that would carry out such a move.
Vermont senator and former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders addressed the rally in a video message from the US.
âIâm extremely heartened to see so many of you, Arabs and Jews alike, standing up for peace, justice and democracy,â the self-described Democratic socialist said.
He added: âThe plans to annex any parts of the West Bank must be stopped. The occupation must be ended and we must work together for a future of equality and dignity for all people in Israel and Palestine.â
Some of the protesters waved Israeli, Palestinian and Communist flags, with several dozen holding up pictures of Iyad Halak, a Palestinian man with autism who was shot dead by police last week in Jerusalemâs Old City. Police said they believed Halak had a gun; he was unarmed and holding a cellphone, and apparently did not understand the officersâ orders to stop.
Ripping a page from protests in the US, Peace Now CEO Shaqued Morag told demonstrators to take a knee âin memory of George Floyd. In memory of Iyad Halak. In memory of all the victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.â
After the protest ended, police cleared a group of protesters who illegally blocked Ibn Gabirol street, a main thoroughfare in the city that runs by Rabin
Police said five protesters were detained, including a photographer from the Haaretz daily who was covering the protest.
A reporter at the newspaper tweeted that the photographer identified himself as a journalist, but was forcefully apprehended by
Ahead of the rally, Knesset opposition leader Yair Lapid dismissed Netanyahuâs annexation vow as âspinâ meant to distract the publicâs attention from his ongoing corruption trial and the pandemic-induced economic crisis.
âI think itâs spin by Netanyahu, who is trying to deflect attention from economic meltdown, including the collapse of independent businesses, and his criminal trial,â he told Channel 12 news in an interview.
âI support the Trump plan. I oppose unilateral annexation,â Lapid added.
Saturdayâs rally came amid a wave of regional and international criticism of the planned Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank under the peace plan being advanced by the Trump administration in the US.
Much of the international community has already expressed strong opposition to the move, and the US has also recently intimated that it wants Israel to slow down.
Palestinians are vocal in their opposition to Trumpâs plan, which gives Israel the green light to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, in what is intended to be part of a negotiated process but may go ahead unilaterally.
Thousands of Israelis attend a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, June 6, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Protesters gather in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Protesters gather in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Protesters carry a placard which reads in Hebrew ‘no to annexation’ as they gather in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
A protester carries the Israeli flag during a protest in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on June 6, 2020, to denounce Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Thousands attend a protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on June 6, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash
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