Thursday 31 October 2013

Seatrack Update: early November survey

The final Seatrack survey of the year takes place this weekend Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd November with a start time of 08:25am. Priority will be given to the Saturday so as to compliment other seawatching surveys being undertaken by FAME partners from headlands along the West coast of Europe also on that date.

A strong low pressure system moving through over the next few days is likely to create some good seawatching conditions on the West coast on Saturday, dissipating through Sunday.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

The series of fast tracking low pressure systems which moved East across the Atlantic last week brought with them a wide array of seabird species which were recorded along the West & South coasts showing that a few surprises can still be in store even at the end of the migration season. 30 Sooty Shearwaters, 19 Pomarine Skuas & 2 Grey Phalaropes were some of the highlights among a heavy passage of Gannets & Kittiwakes at The Bridges of Ross on 27th Oct (Aidan G. Kelly et al.) with the first reported Little Auk of the season & 7 Leach's Petrels nearby on Loop Head the next day (Shane Farrell). A Great Shearwater at sea, South of Ballycotton from the R.V. Celtic Explorer on 24th Oct was another notable record (Stephen McAvoy).


Great Skua, Celtic Sea, 12th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh
Kittiwake, Celtic Sea, 15th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh
Rough weather has caused a number of juvenile Storm Petrels to crash land on boats offshore, like this one which came aboard the R.V. Celtic Explorer (released successfully), Celtic Sea, 11th Oct 2013 © Gary Robinson

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Seatrack Update: late October survey

The second last Seatrack survey of the year takes place this weekend Sat 19th/Sun 20th Oct with a start time of 09:00am. Weather looks set to be best along the South coast with moderate to strong Southerly winds on Saturday turning South-west for Sunday.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Reports coming through from the herring fleet & observations from on board the R.V. Celtic Explorer over the past week have identified aggregations of sprat & herring already building along the South coast, between Schull & Cork Harbour and again from Mine Head to Tramore. As such, some impressive feeding activity should hopefully be encountered from South coast watch points  this weekend and likely to involve GannetsKittiwakesLesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Skuas & late shearwaters along with a chance of Minke WhaleFin WhaleCommon Dolphin & perhaps even a Humpback or two...

Sites in the North West should be on the look out for divers, Whooper Swans & Barnacle Geese with widespread sightings of these species noted in the past week as the first wave of migrants arrived for the winter.


Bonxie & Gannets, Celtic Sea, 12th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh
Sooty Shearwaters, south of Mizen Head, Co. Cork, 10th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh
Humpback Whale, Glandore Bay, Co. Cork, 10th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh
Fin Whales, Glandore Bay, Co. Cork, 10th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Thursday 3 October 2013

Seatrack Update: early October survey

The sixth Seatrack survey of the year takes place this coming weekend Sat 5th/Sun 6th October with a start time of 08:35am. Priority will be given to the Saturday so as to compliment other seawatching surveys being undertaken by FAME partners from headlands along the West coast of Europe also on that date.

Weather looks set to be best in the South West this weekend, particularly on Saturday with SW bearing winds forecast.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Moderate to strong SE winds with heavy rain over the past few days has created some ideal seawatching conditions along the East coast. Triple figure counts of Manx Shearwaters have been recorded from Dalkey (Dublin), Six Mile Point (Wicklow) & Greenore Point (Wexford) with some local highlights including a Sooty Shearwater off Dalkey (Stephen McAvoy) & 2 Balearic Shearwaters off Greenore Point (Killian Mullarney) both on 1st October and a Sabine's Gull feeding with rafting Kittiwakes off Kilcoole on 2nd October (Niall T. Keogh). Large numbers of auks, particularly Razorbills, have also been noted.

Razorbills in flight © Chris Proctor