Seatrack: final survey of 2014

The final Seatrack survey weekend of the season takes place this Sat 1st/Sun 2nd November with a start time of 08:25am (preference given to Sat 1st if possible so as to link in with other coastal seabird surveys being conducted by BirdLife Europe partners in France, Spain and Portugal).

Yet another Atlantic low pressure system will produce winds veering from Southwest to West over the weekend, hopefully conjuring up some good seawatching for observers on the Celtic Sea coast as well as along the Atlantic seaboard.

Some rather excellent late autumn seawatching continued over the past week or so with four species of shearwater seen from coastal headlands and islands in Co. Cork where small numbers of Balearic, Great and Manx Shearwaters were found among triple figure counts of Sooty Shearwaters. Strong Westerly winds coupled with an aggregation of Sprat saw a hive of feeding seabird activity in Galway Bay where impressive numbers of Kittiwakes, Gannets and skuas (particularly Arctic and Pomarine) were noted along with sightings of Leach's Storm-petrel and Little Gull. For an excellent series of pics from Galway Bay see the following blog posts by Dermot Breen and Cathal Forkan.

With the forecast for decent seawatching conditions this weekend, perhaps some Little Auks may be on the cards, particularly for those in the West and Northwest? Seawatchers should also keep an eye out for migrating divers and wildfowl with counts of Great Northern Diver, Barnacle Goose, Greenland White-fronted Goose and Whooper Swan making it into recent sightings reports.

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 Shearwater from the R.V. Celtic Explorer, south of Roche's Point Co. Cork, 23rd October 2014 © Niall T. Keogh

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

Seatrack: early October update

The fifth Seatrack survey weekend of the season takes place this Sat 4th/Sun 5th October with a start time of 08:30am (preference given to Sat 4th if possible so as to link in with other coastal seabird surveys being conducted by BirdLife Europe partners in France, Spain and Portugal). 

The current forecast for the weekend looks quite promising with a low pressure system originating off the southern end Greenland and stretching across the mid-Atlantic set to create moderate Westerly winds along the Atlantic seaboard on Saturday with increasing Southwest winds benefiting Southern watchpoints on Sunday.

Pomarine Skuas will hopefully be the order of the day for many Seatrackers on this next survey. When favourable seawatching conditions coincide with their late Autumn migration period it can be a real treat! An increase in the number of migrating Gannets, Kittiwakes and auks should also be apparent.

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

Pomarine Skua © Jason McGuirk

Seatrack: early-September update

The third Seatrack survey weekend of the season takes place this Sat 6th/Sun 7th September with a start time of 07:45am (preference given to Sat 6th if possible so as to link in with other coastal seabird surveys being conducted by BirdLife Europe partners in France, Spain and Portugal). 

The forecast for the weekend is set to be calm with light East to Northeast winds across much of the country. True passage may be slow but we will be interested to know of any feeding flocks present inshore during the calm weather so please do keep an eye out for any 'milling' seabirds. Observers surveying in the East may be affected by strong morning sunshine so an alternative evening watch with a start time of 16:05pm is suggested if necessary.

Reports of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater have been widespread so far this season but in typically low numbers with 1-3 birds at a time seen during seawatches from coastal headlands across eight different counties between Donegal and Wexford.

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

A new seabird blog featuring news updates and posts from BirdLife Europe partners in Ireland, UK, France, Spain and Portugal can be found here, or follow on Twitter by searching and posting using the hashtag #saveseabirds 

Balearic Shearwater off Baltimore, Co. Cork, 24th August 2014 © Robert Vaughan

Seatrack: mid-August update

The second Seatrack survey weekend of the season takes place this Sat 16th/Sun 17th August with a start time of 07:10am. Current weather forecasts give the best conditions along the Atlantic seaboard with moderate West to Northwest winds hopefully producing some decent seawatching between Mayo & Donegal, particularly on Saturday morning.

This past week saw lots of media attention focusing on the arrival of the weather system affectionately known as 'ex-Bertha'. This post-tropical cyclone was followed up by a Northwesterly low pressure system, producing some nice seawatching at headlands along the West coast from Galley Head to Malin. Flavour of the month so far has been Cory's Shearwater which has graced the notebooks of many a seawatcher, albeit in small numbers. Along with these have been the first Sabine's Gulls & Grey Phalaropes of the season, small numbers of skuas and Balearic, Sooty & Great Shearwaters.

At the rarer end of the scale, singles of Wilson's Petrel were noted from The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare on 8th & 12th August. Furthermore, there's been a superb early run of Fea's-type Petrel records as follows:

• 30th July: one from a pelagic 8 miles off Galley Head, Co. Cork (Paul Connaughton)
• 3rd August: one past Malin Head, Co. Donegal (Rónán McLaughlin)
• 10th August: one past Kilcummin Head, Co. Mayo (Brad Robson) with what was presumably the same bird seen passing Annagh Head, Co. Mayo (Dave Suddaby) no less than 3 hours & 9 minutes later!
• 13th August: one past Kilcummin Head, Co. Mayo (Derek Charles & M. Ullman)

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 month then please get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Arctic Skua © Gerry O'Neill

A special mention must go out to Liam Lysaght of the National Biodiversity Data Centre who is currently in the midst of his 'Wild Ireland Tour', an epic cycle around the coast of Ireland visiting some top wildlife destinations and meeting with folk involved in research & conservation along the way. Liam popped into The Bridges of Ross on Monday for a spot of seawatching & I have to say, he was the hardiest man there by the look of his get up! 

Liam seawatching in style!

Seatrack kicks off with some Cory's!

Seatrack volunteers Ralph Sheppard and Chris Ingram made the best of some moderate Northwesterly winds on Tuesday and were duly rewarded during a three hour seawatch at Bloody Foreland, Co. Dongeal where they clocked up 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Cory's Shearwaters, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 1,062 Manx Shearwaters and 4 Great Skuas. Not a bad start to the season at all!

The Cory's were no doubt particularly nice to see from a Northern watch point and great to get some records of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater in from the get go.

Many thanks to both Ralph and Chris for sending in their records to the Seatrack project.

Cory's Shearwater © Killian Mullarney

The forecast for the coming weekend appears rather settled with some light Northwesterlies on the Atlantic seaboard the best of it. Saying that, a Fea's-type Petrel was seen from a pelagic trip 8 miles off Galley Head, Co. Cork on Wednesday so the birds are certainly out there!

The first Seatrack survey of the 2014 season takes place this weekend Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd August with a start time of 06:45am. If you would like to get involved then please get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Seatrack 2014

The Seatrack project aims to assess the status & distribution of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater as well as other migratory seabird species in Irish waters through a series of coordinated volunteer seawatching surveys from headlands right around the coastline between early August & early November.

If you would like to sign up your local headland as a Seatrack survey site or simply wish to send in some opportunistic seawatch records at any stage during the season then feel free to get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie for more information on how to get involved.

There has been some excellent seabird sightings off the Irish coast over the past week which bodes well for the first survey weekend taking place on Saturday 2nd August. Pelagic boat trips off Mayo and Cork have recorded several sought after species such as Wilson's Petrel, Great & Cory's Shearwater, Fin Whale, Atlantic White-sided Dolphin etc.

Great Shearwater © Aidan G. Kelly

Seatrack 2014 Core Survey Dates (priority dates in bold):

August: Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd (start time 06:45am)

September: Sat 6th/Sun 7th (start time 07:45am)

October: Sat 4th/Sun 5th (start time 08:30am)

November: Sat 1st/Sun 2nd (start time 08:25am)

Seatrack 2014 Suggested Supplementary Survey Dates:

August: Sat 16th/Sun 17th (start time 07:10am)

September: Sat 20th/Sun 21st (start time 08:10am)

October: Sat 18th/Sun 19th (start time 09:00am)

Aidan Kelly & Victor Caschera were kind enough to send on some fantastic seabirds images taken during a recent pelagic trip to the continental shelf edge off North West Mayo. They'll hopefully whet the appetite for anyone thinking of doing some Seatrack surveys this Autumn!

 Great Skua © Aidan G. Kelly

Great Skua chasing a Lesser Black-backed Gull © Aidan G. Kelly

Great Shearwater © Aidan G. Kelly

Great Shearwater © Aidan G. Kelly

Puffin © Victor Caschera

Leach's Petrel © Victor Caschera 

European Storm Petrel © Aidan G. Kelly

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin © Aidan G. Kelly

Spring Seabird Talks

Continuing on from a series of seabird talks which ran over the course of the winter, another set of presentations featuring the work being undertaken by BirdWatch Ireland & Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment (FAME) will be given at BirdWatch Ireland local branch indoor meetings throughout March & April.

Each event is free & all are welcome to attend. 

Co. Louth

• "Oceanic Wonders & Migration on the Edge! - seawatching & the Seatrack project" - a talk by Niall Keogh.
• The Spirit Store (upstairs), Dundalk, Monday 3rd March at 7:30pm

Co. Mayo

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• Castlebar, Thursday 6th March (further details will be posted soon).

Co. Donegal

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny, Thursday 13th March at 8:00pm.

Co. Roscommon

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• Hannon's Hotel, Roscommon Town, Thursday 20th March at 8:00pm.

Co. Laois

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• Parish Centre, Portlaoise, Tuesday 25th March at 8:00pm.

Co. Tipperary

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• Cabragh Wetlands, Thurles, Thursday 27th March at 8:00pm.

Co. Cork

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• SMA Hall, Wilton, Cork City, Wednesday 2nd April at 8:00pm.

Co. Dublin

• "Oceanic Wonders & Migration on the Edge! - seawatching & the Seatrack project" - a talk by Niall Keogh.
• Botanic Gardens (main auditorium), Glasnevin, Thursday 17th April at 8:00pm. 

Co. Kerry

• “Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment – safeguarding Irish seabirds in a rapidly changing ocean” - a talk by Dr. Steve Newton.
• The Díseart, Green Street, Dingle, Sunday 27th April at 2:30pm (talk will feature as part of all day festivities to celebrate the launch of the Dingle Peninsula Bird Report 2011-13. See here for more details).

Puffins © Clive Timmons

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

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 Gannets, Kittiwakes, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Skuas & late shearwaters along with a chance of Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Common 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

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

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

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