Monday 16 September 2013

Seatrack Update: early Sept 2013 survey sightings

The fourth Seatrack survey of the year took place on Sat 7th/Sun 8th September. Northerly winds throughout the weekend dissipated passage for the most part but some quality species such as Balearic Shearwater, Long-tailed Skua, Little Gull & Black Tern were still recorded along with excellent sightings of marine 'megafauna'.

The next survey weekend takes place this coming Sat 21st/Sun 22nd September with a start time of 08:10am.

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

Some early September Seatrack sightings reported so far as follows: (E = East, W = West, N = North, S = South & M = Milling)

Saturday 7th September

Black Head, Co. Clare (Paul Troake)
69 W + 8 E + 20 M Manx Shearwater, 1 W + 1 E Great Northern Diver & 5+ M Bottlenose Dolphin.

The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare (Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, John N. Murphy, Keith Bennett et al.)
Full day totals (all birds heading West): 1 Balearic Shearwater, 30 Sooty Shearwater, 1 Storm Petrel, 3 Common Scoter, 12 Great Skua (Bonxie), 7 Arctic Skua, 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skua, 2 juv/1st-winter Little Gull, 2 Sandwich Tern, 7 Arctic Tern, 10+ Bottlenose Dolphin, 3 Harbour Porpoise & 4 Ocean Sunfish.

Dursey Island, Co. Cork (Derek A. Scott & Joanna E. Scott)
1 N Balearic Shearwater, 5 N + 130 M Sooty Shearwater, 2 N + 20 M Manx Shearwater, 2 N Common Scoter, 3 N Great Skua (Bonxie), 3 N Arctic Skua, 1 N Sandwich Tern, 3 N Common Tern, 42 N Arctic Tern, 91 N 'Commic' Tern, 10 N Common Dolphin & 8 M Harbour Porpoise.

Brownstown Head, Co. Waterford (Jonathan Bulfin, Darragh Sinnott & Paul M. Walsh)
30 E Manx Shearwater, 1 M Skua sp. & 1 E Puffin.

Coliemore Harbour, Co. Dublin (Stephen McAvoy)
2 N Manx Shearwater, 16 N Common Scoter, 1 N + 1 S Red-throated Diver, 7 N + 2 S Mediterranean Gull, 1 N + 2 S Black Guillemot, 1 N Puffin & 2 N Harbour Porpoise.
 
Sunday 8th September

The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare (Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Keith Bennett et al.)
Full day totals (all birds heading West):  4 Sooty Shearwater, 1 Great Northern Diver, 15 Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 Pomarine Skua, 16 Arctic Skua, 1 juvenile Long-tailed Skua, 3 Arctic Tern, 20+ Bottlenose Dolphin, 2 Common Dolphin & 1 Common Seal.


Ram Head, Co. Waterford (Andrew Malcolm)
3 Manx Shearwater, 1 Storm Petrel & 1 Common Scoter.

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Kieran Grace)
12 E + 66 W Manx Shearwater, 1 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 W Black Tern, 12 W Sandwich Tern & 300 W 'Commic' Tern.


Juvenile Arctic Skua, The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare, 7th Sept 2013 © John N. Murphy

Monday 9 September 2013

Final seawatch @ Bridges of Ross 9th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-11:00 & 12:45-14:15
Weather: F1 NE initially turning F4 N-NW then NW from 9am. F2-3 N in afternoon. Initially clear with excellent visibility & cool, followed by bands of misty rain & reduced visibility. Dry & sunny in afternoon.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh & Tom Murtagh.
 
Balearic Shearwater: 1
Sooty Shearwater: 441
Manx Shearwater: c.1,100 
Leach's Petrel: 1
Storm Petrel: 7
Common Scoter: 10 (6 West + 4 East)
Great Skua (Bonxie): 22
Arctic Skua: 18
Little Gull: 1 juv/1st-winter
Sandwich Tern: 17
Arctic Tern: 11
Black Tern: 1 
Puffin: 1

Bar-tailed Godwit:1
Knot: 2
Sanderling: 2
Sparrowhawk: 1
Peregrine: juv hunting at sea (petrels beware!)
Chough: 2
Raven: 2 
 
The morning seawatch started off slow, with a calm, grey sea & excellent visibility allowing the few distant shearwaters which were passing to be checked whilst some skuas drifted through high overhead. From 08:45am onwards a band of misty rain approached from the North West with an increase in Sooties noticed running ahead of it & a welcome appearance by a Black Tern. Come 09:10am, the band of rain hit the headland & with it a F4 N-NW which whipped up as if from nowhere! 20 minutes of squall later & the rain cleared to reveal shearwaters piling by! Over 600 Manx & 300 Sooties were logged in the next hour alone along with the Leach's & an increase in skuas. 
 
The first time in the past 3 weeks where it felt like one of those magic moments at The Bridges where it all starts kicking off! But then after an hour or so the passage dried up rather abruptly, as if someone flicked off the seabird switch. A short afternoon seawatch revealed Sooties still drifting by but we had to eventually make tracks for home... Until the next time!




Great pics of two different juvenile Arctic Skuas which passed The Bridges on 7th Sept © John N. Murphy
No better place to be! © Chris Holt

Sunday 8 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 8th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-10:00 & 16:00-19:15
Weather: F3-4 NW (am) & F1-2 SE (pm), bright, dry & excellent visibility.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Keith Bennett, Geoff Hunt & Mike Sheehy. 
 
Sooty Shearwater: 4 
Manx Shearwater: 49 in 3 hrs (am) & 18 in 2 hrs (pm) 
Great Northern Diver: 1 (East) 
Great Skua (Bonxie): 15 
Pomarine Skua: 1  
Arctic Skua: 16 
Long-tailed Skua: 1 juvenile (Niall T. Keogh & Noel Keogh)
Arctic Tern: 3

Bar-tailed Godwit: 2
Whimbrel: 2
Knot: 2
Sparrowhawk: 1
Stonechat: 4
Chough: 2
 
Bottlenose Dolphin: 20+
Common Dolphin: 2
Common Seal: 1

The first hour this morning produced 5 Bonxies, 7 Arctic, 1 Pom & the juv Long-tailed Skua. Presumably all were simply moving past after rising from their roost sites in bays further North along the coast. The juv Long-tail came by with an adult dark phase Arctic. The size difference between the two was striking! Just about managed one Sooty during the afternoon/evening session!

Stonechats are particularly evident on the peninsula at the moment & would appear to have had a very good breeding season by the looks of things. Hard to get a definite overall number of birds present but we have recorded peak counts of 4 at The Bridges, 24(!) at Kilbaha & 11 on Loop Head.

Trudging around Loop Head over the past week finally paid off today with a Lapland Bunting at The Fodry.

Saturday 7 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 7th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-10:30 (Seatrack survey) & 13:00-19:25
Weather: F4-5 N turning NW or N-NW in the afternoon. Cold, good visibility, dry for the most part, some light rain at times.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, John N. Murphy, Keith Bennett, Geoff Hunt, Jeff Pearson et al.

Balearic Shearwater: 1
Sooty Shearwater: 30
Manx Shearwater: 67 in 3.5 hrs (am) & 85 in 2 hrs (pm)
Fulmar: 108 (am)
Storm Petrel: 1
Gannet: 187 (am)
Common Scoter: 3
Great Skua (Bonxie): 12
Arctic Skua: 7
Long-tailed Skua: 2 juveniles (Niall T. Keogh & Noel Keogh) 
Kittiwake: 31 (am)
Little Gull: 2 juv/1st winters
Sandwich Tern: 2
Arctic Tern: 7
Guillemot: 43 (am)
Razorbill: 87 (am)
Auk sp. (Guille/Razor): 57 (am)

Chough: 2
 
Bottlenose Dolphin: 10+
Harbour Porpoise: 3
Ocean Sunfish: 4 

Northerly winds killing off true passage per say as expected but a few quality birds made staring into the wind all worthwhile. The second juv Long-tailed Skua passed by very close to the watchpoint after briefly tussling with an Arctic Tern, showing off its tiny physique. An absolute beaut! Great views of juv Arctic Skuas & some really close Sooties today also. Spent quite a bit of time scrutinising common species (for want of something to do!) and noticed several fresh juvenile Fulmars knocking about.

The 3 Harbour Porpoise were a surprise. In my experience they are rare off The Bridges (in August/September at least), probably due to the presence of a regular group of Bottlenose Dolphins. Today's animals were in a tight-nit group, surfacing actively & at speed as if being chased by something bigger!

Victor Caschera was kind enough to send on a great series of pics which he took from 'The Slab' last week, on 28th August.
 
Juvenile Arctic Skua
Sabine's Gull
Sooty Shearwater
Fulmar
Gannet
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Seawatchers

Friday 6 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 6th Sept 2013

Time: 16:30-18:00
Weather: F4 N, cold, good visibility & sunny.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh & Noel Keogh.
 
Sooty Shearwater: 4
Manx Shearwater: c.500
Teal: 8
Great Skua (Bonxie): 2
Arctic Skua: 2
Sandwich Tern: 2
Arctic Tern: 3 

A 15 minute look from The Bridges in the morning revealed just one Manx! As such the majority of the day was spent stomping around the fields & ditches of Loop Head & checking the gardens in Kilbaha for migrants...again. 2 European Golden Plover & 10 Wheatear the only apparent 'new' birds. A flock of 12 Chough at The Fodry was good to see also. At nearby Rinevella Bay, 2 or 3 juv Curlew Sandpipers were the best amongst a nice flock of waders & gulls.

Thursday 5 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 5th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-10:30 & 15:20-17:20
Weather: F2-3 NW, cold, good visibility, dry for the most part, some light rain in the morning.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Joe Adamson, Glyn Sellors, Chris Holt, Jeff Copner, Brian Finnegan et al.

Balearic Shearwater: 2
Sooty Shearwater: 133
Manx Shearwater: 920 in 3.5 hrs (am) & 34 in 2 hrs (pm)
Storm Petrel: 1
Common Scoter: 3
Great Skua (Bonxie): 5
Pomarine Skua: 1 pale phase
Arctic Skua: 9
Sandwich Tern: 67
Arctic Tern: 16

Whimbrel: 12
Chough: 2
 
Very nice views of the Sooty & Balearic Shearwaters this morning in crisp light & the highest tally of Sandwich Terns so far. A passage of 34 Manx & 4 Sooties in 2 hours during the afternoon was just too much to handle! 

We all had a good check of the gardens at Kilbaha & fields around Loop Head producing the following migrants: 1 Robin, 1 Grey Wagtail & 4 Red Admiral!...

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 4th Sept 2013

Time: 06:40-09:25 & 15:30-18:30
Weather: F2-3 S dry, mild & excellent visibility (am). F3 S dry, sunny & hazy turning F3-4 SW with squalls (pm).
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Joe Adamson, Darach Turley, Glyn Sellors & Chris Holt.

Sooty Shearwater: 117
Manx Shearwater: 265 in 2.5 hrs (am) & 190 in 2.5 hrs (pm)
Storm Petrel: 2
Common Scoter: 9
Great Skua (Bonxie): 8
Pomarine Skua: 3 pale phase
Arctic Skua: 6
Sabine's Gull: 2 adults
Sandwich Tern: 11
Arctic Tern: 9

Whimbrel: 2
Bar-tailed Godwit: 14
Sanderling: 11
Wheatear: 2

Bottlenose Dolphin: 4
Common Dolphin: 15+
Grey Seal: 1
Ocean Sunfish: 2

Weather started to look promising this evening but not much came of it. Hopefully the rain will continue overnight & help the weak NW tomorrow entice some goodies along the coast.

...Wishful thinking!

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 3rd Sept 2013

Time: 06:40-09:25 & 15:30-18:50
Weather: F2 SW (am) & F3 W-SW (pm), dry, good visibility generally (haze in afternoon) & warm.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Stewart Ford, Roy Teale, Joe Adamson, Darach Turley et al. 

Sooty Shearwater: 202
Manx Shearwater: 1,000+ in 2.5 hrs (am) & 225 in 1 hr (pm)
Leach's Petrel: 3
Storm Petrel: 3
Common Scoter: 5
Great Skua (Bonxie): 7
Pomarine Skua: 2 pale phase
Arctic Skua: 10
Sabine's Gull: 1 juv
Sandwich Tern: 10
Arctic Tern: 7

Whimbrel: 4
Chough: 2
Kestrel: 1
 
Seawatching accessories haven't been getting any better around here ever since the Swedish umbrellas. Check out Stewart's chair for instance!...
 

Seatrack Update: August 2013 survey sightings

The second & third Seatrack surveys of the year took place across two weekends in August & produced an excellent haul of seabird sightings thanks to conducive weather patterns coinciding with the peak migration season for shearwaters.

Volunteer surveyors out on headlands from Donegal to Dublin were treated to Fea's-type Petrels, Great, Cory's Balearic & Sooty Shearwaters, Pomarine Skuas, Sabine's Gulls, Roseate Terns & Grey Phalaropes.

The next survey weekend takes place on Sat 7th/Sun 8th September, with priority 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.

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

Some early August Seatrack sightings reported so far as follows: (E = East, W = West, N = North, S = South & M = Milling)

Friday 2nd August

Galley Head, Co. Cork (Colin Barton)
2 W Balearic Shearwater, 1 W Great Shearwater, 4 W + 1 E Sooty Shearwater, 195 W + 411 E Manx Shearwater, 4 W Common Scoter, 2 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 2 W Sandwich Tern & 8 W Puffin.

Saturday 3rd August 

Bloody Foreland, Co. Donegal (Ralph Sheppard & Chris Ingram)
4 S Sooty Shearwater, 698 S Manx Shearwater, 19 S Storm Petrel, 3 S Common Scoter, 1 S Great Skua (Bonxie), 18 S Sandwich Tern, 14 S Arctic Tern, 3 S 'Commic' Tern, 234 S Fulmar, & 654 S Gannet.

Annagh Head, Co. Mayo (Dave Suddaby)
2 Balearic Shearwater, 86 Sooty Shearwater & 3,500 Manx Shearwater. 

Black Head, Co. Clare (Paul Troake)
53 W + 20 E Manx Shearwater, 5 M Great Northern Diver, 2 M Arctic Skua, 11 W Sandwich Tern, 1 W + 1 E Black Guillemot & 1 W Puffin.

Ram Head, Co. Waterford (Andrew Malcolm)
1 W Balearic Shearwater, 61 W + 3 E Manx Shearwater, 57 W Common Scoter & 1 W Great Skua (Bonxie).

Brownstown Head. Co. Waterford (Darragh Sinnott, Paul M. Walsh & Mary A. Duggan)
35 W + 14 E Manx Shearwater, 35 W + 1 E Common Scoter, 1 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 25 W + 2 E Sandwich Tern, 1 E Black Guillemot & 1 Harbour Porpoise.

Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow (Niall T. Keogh)
204 N + 2 S + 1 M Manx Shearwater, 4 N Common Scoter, 1 S Red-throated Diver, 7 S Sandwich Tern, 7 N Roseate Tern & 1 S Tufted Duck.

Wicklow Head, Co. Wicklow (Steve Newton)
129 N + 6 S Manx Shearwater, 19 N + 23 S Common Scoter & 9 N + 2 S Sandwich Tern.

Coliemore Harbour, Co. Dublin (Stephen McAvoy)
21 N + 13 S Manx Shearwater, 19 N Common Scoter, 5 N Mediterranean Gull & 5 N + 1 S Black Guillemot.
 
Sunday 4th August

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Noel Keogh, Brian Porter, Kieran Grace & Simon Collins)
1 E Balearic Shearwater, 1 W Sooty Shearwater, 102 W + 195 E + 145 M Manx Shearwater, 15 W + 23 E Common Scoter, 2 W Arctic Skua, 1 E small Skua sp. & 1 W + 6 E Puffin.

Some late August Seatrack sightings reported so far as follows: (E = East, W = West, N = North, S = South & M = Milling)

Saturday 17th August

Annagh Head, Co. Mayo (Dave Suddaby)
119 Great Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 415 Sooty Shearwater, 15,000 Manx Shearwater, 1 Grey Phalarope, 16 Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 Pomarine Skua & 12 Arctic Skua.

Bridges of Ross (Keith Langdon, Dave Andrews, Simon Woodhouse, Aidan G. Kelly et al.)
Full days totals (all West unless stated otherwise): 2 Fea's-type Petrel, 6 Cory's Shearwater, 614 Great Shearwater, 84 Sooty Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, est. 25,000 W + c200 E Manx Shearwater, 63 Storm Petrel, 1 Common Scoter, 4 Pomarine Skua, 14 Great Skua (Bonxie), 2 Arctic Skua, 9 Sabine's Gull, 10 Arctic Tern, 159 Whimbrel, 5 Ocean Sunfish & 40 Common Dolphin.

Galley Head, Co. Cork (Colin Barton et al.)
3 W Great Shearwater, 5 W Sooty Shearwater, 486 W Manx Shearwater, 10 W Storm Petrel, 11 W Common Scoter, 6 W Great Skua (Bonxie) & 3 W Arctic Tern.

Brownstown Head, Co. Waterford (Darragh Sinnott)
1 W Great Shearwater, 526 W + 2 E Manx Shearwater, 1 W Storm Petrel, 2 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 18 W Sandwich Tern & 1 W Arctic Tern.

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Kieran Grace)
161 W + 98 E Manx Shearwater, 1 W Cory's Shearwater, 8 E Common Scoter.

Coliemore Harbour, Dalkey, Co. Dublin (Brian Porter)
168 N + 3 M Manx Shearwater, 8 N + 5 S + 6 M Sandwich Tern & 2 M Harbour Porpoise.

Sunday 18th August

Bloody Foreland, Co. Donegal (Ralph Sheppard & Chris Ingram)
2 S Cory's Shearwater, 269 S Sooty Shearwater, 744 S Manx Shearwater, 4 S Common Scoter, 5 S Great Skua (Bonxie), 4 S Pomarine Skua, 2 S Arctic Skua & 93 S Whimbrel.

Annagh Head, Co. Mayo (Dave Suddaby)
1 Cory's Shearwater, 132 Great Shearwater, 383 Sooty Shearwater, 12,000 Manx Shearwater, 13 Great Skua (Bonxie) & 9 Arctic Skua.

Black Head, Co. Clare (Paul Troake)
330 W + 77 E + 2 M Manx Shearwater, 1 W Storm Petrel, 1 W + 2 M Arctic Skua, 1 W Little Gull & 67 W Sandwich Tern. 

Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare (Keith Langdon, Dave Andrews, Simon Woodhouse, Aidan G. Kelly et al.)
Full days totals (all West unless stated otherwise): 19 Cory's Shearwater, 85 Great Shearwater, 93 Sooty Shearwater, 4 Balearic Shearwater, 2446 W + c500 M Manx Shearwater, 1 'Blue' Fulmar, 7 Storm Petrel, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Grey Phalarope, 20 Great Skua (Bonxie), 2 Pomarine Skua, 30 Arctic Skua, 11 Sabine's Gull, 20 Arctic Tern, 1 Puffin, 50 Whimbrel, 1 Basking Shark & 10 Ocean Sunfish.

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Noel Keogh & Kieran Grace)
1 W Great Shearwater, 1 W Balearic Shearwater, 261 W Manx Shearwater, 3 W Storm Petrel & 1 W Black Guillemot.


Great Shearwater, at sea off Cape Clear, Co. Cork, 22nd August 2013 © Andrew Malcolm
Cory's Shearwater, at sea off Cape Clear, Co. Cork, 22nd August 2013 © Andrew Malcolm
Sooty Shearwater, West Waterford Pelagic, 9th August 2013 © Andrew Malcolm
Storm Petrel, West Waterford Pelagic, 9th August 2013 © Andrew Malcolm

Monday 2 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 2nd Sept 2013

Time: 06:30-09:30 & 12:40-19:00
Weather: F4 W, dry, good visibility generally (sea mist in morning), overcast & warm.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Dave Cooper, John Cooper, Lee Gregory, Stewart Ford, Roy Teale, Joe Adamson, Darach Turley, John N. Murphy et al. 

Sooty Shearwater: 293
Manx Shearwater: 2,400+ in 3 hrs (pm)
Leach's Petrel: 3
Storm Petrel: 7
Common Scoter: 2
Great Northern Diver: 1 breeding plumage
Great Skua (Bonxie): 18
Pomarine Skua: 16 (15 pale phase & 1 dark phase)
Arctic Skua: 26
Long-tailed Skua: 1 adult (Lee Gregory)
Skua sp: 1 distant pale phase (prob Pom)
Sandwich Tern: 5
Arctic Tern: 12

Whimbrel: 1

Bottlenose Dolphin: 4

Another nice run of Skua passage early morning & later in the evening with Poms being the order of the day. The Great Northern Diver was the first of the season.

Sunday 1 September 2013

Bridges of Ross 1st Sept 2013

Time: 06:30-19:30
Weather: F3-4 W, dry, good visibility, overcast & cold.
Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Dave Cooper, John Cooper, Victor Caschera, Neal Warnock, 'Er' Neill Hunt, 'Mickey Boy' Mike Stocker, John 'Brick' Dempsey, Barry 'Bazzo' McCarthy, Andy Pryce, Des Higgins, Lee Gregory, Stewart Ford, Roy Teale et al. 

Balearic Shearwater: 2
Sooty Shearwater: 214
Manx Shearwater: 2,700+ in 4 hrs (am)
Storm Petrel: 16
Common Scoter: 4
Great Skua (Bonxie): 12
Pomarine Skua: 8 (6 pale phase & 2 dark phase)
Arctic Skua: 18
Long-tailed Skua: 5 adults & 1 juvenile (John Dempsey, Dave Cooper & Noel Keogh)
Skua sp: 1 juvenile (prob Long-tailed but very distant)
Sandwich Tern: 3
Arctic Tern: 55

Whimbrel: 2
Bar-tailed Godwit: 1 
Peregrine: 1 juvenile

Common Dolphin: 1
Ocean Sunfish: 4-6 (one seen breaching)

Wind strength & direction was not exactly 'classic' but certainly favourable and delivered a very nice run of skuas in the evening which was most appreciated. Fantastic views of cracking birds! Fine adult Long-tails with streamers, dark phase Pomarine with ladles (spoons an understatement) hanging out the back of them & a ginger nut biscuit of a juvenile Arctic were the highlights. A passage that John Graff would be delighted with! (in joke for the Oz seawatchers)

Here's some dodgy digi-scoped pics of a Pomarine Skua & a Sooty Shearwater...