Seatrack: mid-October update

The second last Seatrack survey weekend of the season takes place this Sat 18th/Sun 19th October with a start time of 09:00am.

Whilst the current weather predictions for the coming weekend are constantly changing, it would appear that the south coast will be the place to be with strong south to southwest winds and rain coming off the back of post-tropical storm Fay and likely to produce a few late autumn goodies. 

This past week has seen some excellent tallies of Balearic Shearwaters in Co. Cork with 30 passing the Old Head of Kinsale plus a separate 15 seen passing Galley Head on 8th October. Seabird rarities typically associated with late August continue to feature with a Barolo Shearwater seen eight miles off Quilty, Co. Clare on 7th Oct and both a Fea's-type Petrel and a Wilson's Storm-petrel seen several miles to the southeast of Galley Head on 10th Oct, all noted from the R.V. Celtic Explorer which is currently running transect lines through the Celtic Sea as part of the annual Celtic Sea Herring Acoustic Survey. In addition, several Great Shearwaters and Pomarine Skuas plus good numbers of European Storm-petrels along with Sabine's Gull, Grey Phalarope etc. have also been seen from the ship in the waters south of Cork/Waterford in recent days. The seabirds are certainly still out there!

If you would like to take part in this weekends Seatrack survey or wish to send on any additional seawatching records you've collated so far this season then please get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Balearic Shearwaters West of Cape Clear, taken from the R.V. Celtic Explorer © Niall T. Keogh

Barolo's Shearwater @ Bridges of Ross 27th August 2012

Time: 06:45-10:30 & 14:00-18:30

Weather: F3-4 SW, overcast & clear to start, later sunny, dry & hazy (am). F3 W-SW, sunny, dry & hazy (pm).

Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, Alan Clewes, Paul Flint, Cory Flint, Neal Warnock, Andy Clifton, Malcolm Goodman, Geoff Clewes, Steve Webb, John N Murphy et al.

Barolo’s Shearwater: 1 West @ 15:45 (Niall T. Keogh, Neal Warnock & John N Murphy)

Balearic Shearwater: 1

Sooty Shearwater: 14

Manx Shearwater: 2,500+ (am)

Fulmar: 250+ (am)

Storm Petrel: 10

Common Scoter: 4 males

Great Skua (Bonxie): 7

Arctic Skua: 6

Sandwich Tern: 5

Arctic Tern: 16

Puffin: 2

Black-tailed Godwit: 1

Common Sandpiper: 2

Common Dolphin: 7+ (incl. a juv) feeding in the morning.

Bottlenose Dolphin: c.12 (incl. a juv) West in the evening.

Minke Whale: 1 breaching on four occasions @ 14:30

Another slow day, save for a large flock of milling Manx Shearwaters way off in the distance, heading East during the morning which gave hope for some nice return passage West in the evening. The expected large numbers of Manxies passing the headland didn't materialise later in the day but quality was most certainly provided by a Barolo's Shearwater which was picked up rather abruptly at 15:45pm, just right of straight out from the watchpoint, in the company of 2-3 Manx Shearwaters at a reasonable range (mid-close) and seen well for c.1 minute or so (time always hard to judge when watching Mega seabirds!) as it flew West. The ID of this bird was apparent almost instantly with the afternoon sun accentuating features such as the white face & whopper white upperwing bar. Overall size, proportions & flight style were all distinctive when compared side by side with Manxies, ruling out any kind of aberrant or 'runt' confusion risk. The bird became more difficult to pick up as it headed West, into poorer light & as a result unfortunately only 3 of us managed to lock on to it. There have only been c.21 accepted records of Barolo's Shearwater in Ireland up until 2010 so this bird was duly celebrated with a steak dinner & a pint!

Bridges of Ross 22nd August 2011

Time: 06:30-19:45

Weather: F1-2 N-NW in the morning turning F1-2 W in the afternoon.

Barolo's Shearwater: 1 at 09:35 (Dan Brown, Tom Lowe, Keith Langdon & Mikey Hoit)

Balearic Shearwater: 8 
Great Shearwater: 7
Sooty Shearwater: c.225

Manx Shearwater: 800+ (07:15-10:15)

Storm Petrel: 5+

Great Skua (Bonxie): 6

Pomarine Skua: 1 pale phase subadult

Arctic Skua: 6

Little Gull: 1 juvenile

Sandwich Tern: 24

Arctic Tern: 11

Puffin: 5

Common Scoter: 8

Whimbrel: 5

Shelduck: 2 (Bridges of Ross Mega!!!)

Common Dolphin: c.10

Bottlenose Dolphin: 10+

Sunfish: 2+

Again today the Barolo's Shear gave most observers the slip with only a lucky few who were sitting down by The Bridge of Ross itself picking up on the bird whilst those in the traditional area ('The Hollow') missed out. Many of the shearwaters today (especially Greats & Sooties) seemed to be coming in well to the left of The Hollow.

Bridges of Ross 21st August 2011

Time: 06:30-19:00

Weather: F2-3 W-NW with light showers in the morning.

Barolo's Shearwater: 1 heading west at 08:45 (Dave Cooper)

Great Shearwater: 38

Sooty Shearwater: 512

Manx Shearwater: c.10,000

Storm Petrel: c.25

Great Skua (Bonxie): 21

Arctic Skua: 23

Long-tailed Skua: 2 adults (Niall T Keogh & Dan Brown)

Sabine's Gull: 8 adults

Mediterranean Gull: 1 3rd cal-year

Sandwich Tern: 11

Arctic Tern: 52

Puffin: c.12

Black Guillemot: 1

Common Scoter: 2

Whimbrel: 48

Common Dolphin: 2

Bottlenose Dolphin: c.6

Unfortunately the Barolo's Shear evaded all but the finder but otherwise it was an excellent day given the strength of the wind. Most likely the strong SW winds from the day before pushed birds in from the Atlantic with today's NW moving them closer to the coast. Some of the Great Shearwaters showed exceptionally well & were in quite good condition with nice fresh plumage. One Great Shear was fairly ragged along the trailing edge of the wing & on the primaries suggesting that is was a bird of a different age (a study on Great Shearwaters killed by long-lining off south west Ireland has suggested that the majority of birds in our waters may be adult males).

The Clare Branch of BirdWatch Ireland were also present this morning for their annual seawatch outing as part of Heritage Week. They were lucky in that a Great Shearwater flew past at very close range soon after they arrived! Furthermore, this morning also coincided with a BirdWatch Ireland Seatrack survey date so there were plenty of Manxies to be counted! Seatrack surveys will continue throughout the course of the autumn from headlands right around the country so watch this space for more updates from the project as the season progresses.