Bridges of Ross 16th August 2012

Time: 13:15-18:00

Weather: F3 S-SW, dry, bright, warm.

Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, Keith Langdon, Mikey Hoit, Dave Farrow, Reg Land, Simon Woodhouse & Dave Andrews.

Balearic Shearwater: 1

Sooty Shearwater: c.20

Storm Petrel: c.20

Common Scoter: 2 males

Great Skua (Bonxie): 2

Arctic Skua: 3

Black Tern: 1 juv.

Sandwich Tern: 12

Arctic Tern: 1

Puffin: 1

Whimbrel: 10

Common Dolphin: 8-10 (incl. a calf)

Ocean Sunfish: 4

Some milling flocks of Manxies contained several Sooty Shearwaters and there was generally a few Storm Petrels to be seen loafing around in the surf lines off 'The Slab'. A relatively dark & fresh (juv?) Balearic Shearwater passed by at 17:35 quickly followed by a Sooty Shear allowing for a nice comparison. Chalk & cheese.

Sooty Shearwater, Co. Waterford, 2011 © Andrew Malcolm

Seatrack Update: mid August 2012

The second Seatrack survey of 2012 took place during the August Bank Holiday weekend just gone. The transition into seawatching season ‘proper’ could not be more apparent when comparing with the figures from the July survey period. Favourable winds along the South coast produced some impressive numbers of Manx Shearwaters interspersed with nice tallies of Cory’s, Great & Sooty Shearwaters. Other highlights included a smattering of Pomarine Skuas throughout & six species of tern off Carnsore Point. The West & East coasts were generally much quieter in terms of numbers but quality was provided for those who stuck it out with a Gull-billed Tern off Bloody Foreland (only the 2^nd Donegal county record) & a tantalising possible Fea’s-type Petrel off Clogher Head in Co. Louth.

The next Seatrack survey takes place this weekend Sat 18^th & Sun 19^th August (start time of 07:10am). The forecast remains unpredictable but a low pressure is expected to break up along the coast which may favour Southern watchpoints. If you would like to participate then get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie for further details.

Early August Seatrack sightings as follows: (E = East, W = West, N = North, S = South & M = Milling)

Friday 3rd August

Galley Head, Co. Cork (Colin Barton)

310 W Cory’s Shearwater, 32 W Great Shearwater, 61 W Sooty Shearwater, 442 W & 85 E Manx Shearwater, 6 Storm Petrel, 2 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 4 W Pomarine Skua, 24 W Common Scoter & 34 W Puffin.

Helvick Head, Co. Waterford (Michael Cowming Jnr, Michael Cowming Snr, Colum Flynn, Daniel Weldon, Mary A Duggan & Paul M Walsh)

3 W Cory’s Shearwater, 1 W Great Shearwater, 2 W Sooty Shearwater, 40 E & 980 W Manx Shearwater, 105 W Fulmar, 10 W Storm Petrel, 13 W Common Scoter, 2 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 2 E & 3 W Pomarine Skua, 2 W adult Roseate Tern, 8+ W Arctic Tern, 5+ Common Tern, 7+ ‘Commic’ Tern, 35 W Puffin & 3 Harbour Porpoise.

“Preceded by county-record totals of Cory's Shearwater at Ram Head & Helvick Head on the evening of Thursday 2^nd August, details of which can be found here: http://www.waterfordbirds.com/seawatches_2012.html”

Saturday 4th August 2012

Bloody Foreland, Co. Donegal (Ralph Sheppard & Chris Ingram)

118 W & 28 E Manx Shearwater, 6 W & 1 E Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 W Pomarine Skua, 2 W Arctic Skua, 1 E Gull-billed Tern, 1 E Sandwich Tern & 7 E Puffin.

Ram Head, Co. Waterford (Andrew Malcolm & Ann Trimble)

380 E, 540 W & 200 M Manx Shearwater, 2 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 W Pomarine Skua, 13 W Sandwich Tern & 1 E Ocean Sunfish.

Brownstown Head, Co. Waterford (Paul M Walsh)

1 W Great Shearwater, 2 W Sooty Shearwater, 1170 E, 1190 W & 80+ feeding Manx Shearwater, 2 E & 7 W Common Scoter, 1 E Pomarine Skua, 1 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 2 E & 20 W Sandwich Tern & 1 W Puffin.

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Alan Lauder)

5629 E, 63 W & 10 M Manx Shearwater, 3 E & 1 W Storm Petrel, 6 E Common Scoter, 1 E Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 E Arctic Skua, 6 E Little Tern, 2 W Black Tern & 15 E Roseate Tern.

Wicklow Head, Co. Wicklow (Steve Newton)

2 S Balearic Shearwater, 4 S Sooty Shearwater, 430 N & 532 S Manx Shearwater, 3 S Common Scoter, 1 S Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 S Arctic Skua & 15 S Sandwich Tern.

Coliemore Harbour, Dalkey, Co. Dublin (Niall T. Keogh & Brian Porter)

23 N & 432 S Manx Shearwater, 26 S Common Scoter, 1 S Arctic Skua, 3 N, 64 S & 15 M Sandwich Tern, 5 S Common Tern, 1 M Arctic Tern, 19 S ‘Commic’ Tern, 3 S Whimbrel & 3 M Harbour Porpoise.

Clogher Head, Co. Louth (Brendan Sheils)

1 S possible Fea’s-type Petrel  @ 09:30, 1 N & 20 S Manx Shearwater, 2 S Sooty Shearwater, 2 N & 3 S Storm Petrel, 48 S Common Scoter, 1 N & 1 M Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 S adult Long-tailed Skua, 48 S & 100+ M Sandwich Tern, 30 S & 80-120+ M Common Tern, 20+ S & 100+ M ‘Commic’ Tern, 1 S Great-crested Grebe.

Sunday 5^th August

Clogher Head, Co. Louth (Brendan Sheils)

507 N, 12 S & 55 M Manx Shearwater, 2 N Storm Petrel, 9 N & 41 S Common Scoter, 1 S Great Northern Diver, 3 N Pomarine Skua, 1 S Arctic Skua, 1 S Skua sp., 25+ M Sandwich Tern, 25+ M Common Tern, 92 S Arctic Tern & 1 S Puffin.

Ocean Sunfish, Ram Head, Co. Waterford, 4th August 2012 © Andrew Malcolm

Heritage Week Seawatching Event

The annual Heritage Week seawatching event at The Bridges of Ross will be held this Sunday 19th August, meeting at The Bridges of Ross car park, Loop Head, Co. Clare at 10:00am.

This event will be hosted by both the Clare & Limerick Branches of BirdWatch Ireland. It is free of charge & all are welcome to attend. Optics (binoculars or telescopes) & warm, waterproof clothing are advised.

A great opportunity to observe seabird migration in action close to shore with species such as Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Fulmar, Gannet, Great Skua & Arctic Skua all expected as well as a chance of some scarce or rare species.

The seabird event is followed up by the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group whale watch event which will be held nearby at Loop Head at 14:00pm on the same day.

Some pics from the 2011 Heritage Week seawatch event at The Bridges of Ross below...

Group shot © Andrew Power

Shag © Andrew Power

Fulmar © Andrew Power

The Bridges of Ross viewpoint © Andrew Power

Seatrack Update: early August 2012

The first Seatrack survey session of the year took place on Sat 21st/Sun 22nd July. Normally one of the quieter periods during the project, this years July survey saw some nice sightings being logged however. Common Scoters were well represented all around the coast whilst Puffins put in a good showing along the West & South. Elsewhere, highlights were provided by 3 species of Skua from Galley Head, the first good run of Sooty & Manx Shearwaters of the autumn off Annagh Head and an always well received East coast Cory's Shearwater off Wicklow Head. 

The next Seatrack survey takes place this weekend (start time 06:45am), with a priority date set for Saturday 4th August so as to complement seawatching surveys being undertaken by our FAME partners who will also be watching from headlands along the West coast of continental Europe on that date. If you would like to take part in this international seabird census then get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie for details on how to take part.

July Seatrack sightings as follows: (E = East, W = West, N = North, S = South & M = Milling)

Saturday 21st July

Bloody Foreland, Co. Donegal (Ralph Sheppard & Chris Ingram)

145 W + 23 E Manx Shearwater, 6 W + 3 E Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 E Arctic Skua, 116 W + 26 E Puffin & 1 Red-breasted Merganser.

Coliemore Harbour, Dalkey, Co. Dublin (Niall T. Keogh & Brian Porter)

605 N + 2 S Manx Shearwater, 68 N + 19 S + 5 M Common Scoter, 2 N Great Crested Grebe & 4 M Harbour Porpoise. 3 Crossbills also seen in the pines behind the watchpoint!

Sunday 22nd July

Annagh Head, Co. Mayo (Dave Suddaby)

71 Sooty Shearwater, c.7,000 Manx Shearwater, 18 Storm Petrel, 21 Common Scoter, 5 Great Skua (Bonxie) & 1 Arctic Skua.

Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare (Paul Troake)

141 W + 28 E + 30 M Manx Shearwater, 3 W Storm Petrel, 8 W Common Scoter, 43 W Puffin & 2 M Whimbrel.

Galley Head, Co. Cork (Colin Barton)

6 Sooty Shearwater, 864 Manx Shearwater, 1 Storm Petrel, 59 Common Scoter, 6 Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 Pomarine Skua, 1 Arctic Skua, 56 Arctic Tern & 59 Puffin. All birds moving W.

Brownstown Head, Co. Waterford (Paul M. Walsh & Jonathan Bulfin)

41 E + 865 W Manx Shearwater, 41 E + 12 W Common Scoter, 1 E Great Skua (Bonxie), 6 E Arctic Skua, 2 W Skua sp. (Arctic/Pomarine) & 5 W Puffin.

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Kieran Grace)

102 E + 43 W + 50 M Manx Shearwater, 15 E & 18 W Common Scoter & 100+ M 'Commic' Tern.

Wicklow Head, Co. Wicklow (Steve Newton)

1 Cory's Shearwater, 1,068 Manx Shearwater, 41 Common Scoter, 1 Bottlenose Dolphin & 1 Harbour Porpoise.

Black Guillemots at the Coliemore Harbour watchpoint © Niall Keogh

Early morning seawatching at Coliemore Harbour, Dalkey, Co. Dublin © Niall Keogh

Seatrack 2012

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 seawatching surveys from headlands right around the coastline over 8 weekends between late July & early November.


If you would like to sign up your local headland as a Seatrack survey site or simply wish to send in some of your opportunistic seawatch records 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.


This coming weekend sees the first Seatrack survey of the season taking place with the current forecast for relatively calm weather on Saturday followed by moderate to strong South-West winds on Sunday.


Single Cory's Shearwaters have been seen from the The Bridges of Ross (Clare) & Galley Head (Cork) in the past day or so. Certainly a species to be on the look out for this weekend.


On the East coast, 5 Balearic Shearwaters off Mornington (Meath) on Friday followed by a juvenile Black Tern off Clogher Head (Louth) on Sunday suggest that there could be some interesting movements in the Irish Sea also.

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! (From Cork Bird News Twitter feed): 16/7, 15.10: Fea's type petrel at 9.45 this morning going west past Mizen Hd (ADuggan)

Cory's Shearwater © Killian Mullarney

Seatrack 2012 weekend survey dates & times (priority dates in bold):

July: Sat 21st/Sun 22nd (start time 06:25am)

August: Sat 4th/Sun 5th (start time 06:45am)
August: Sat 18th/Sun 19th (start time 07:10am)


September: Sat 1st/Sun 2nd (start time 07:35am)
September: Sat 15th/Sun 16th (start time 08:00am)


October: Sat 6th/Sun 7th (start time 08:35am)
October: Sat 20th/Sun 21st (start time 09:00am)


November: Sat 3rd/Sun 4th (start time 08:30am)

South Dublin Seabird Outings

The South Dublin Branch of BirdWatch Ireland will be hosting a series of seabird events at Dalkey every Tuesday evening in July. These events are free of charge & all are welcome to attend.

Dates: Tuesdays 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th & 31st July.
Time: 18:30pm to 20:00pm
Location: Coliemore Harbour, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
Details: Dalkey seabird viewing evenings with BirdWatch Ireland experts on hand to show visitors the breeding terns & other species of seabird such as auks, gulls & shearwaters. No walking required. These events are in conjunction with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

A pdf copy of the Dalkey Tern Project leaflet can be found on the DLRCoCo. website by following this link.

Arctic Tern © Anthony McGeehan

Feeble beginning to Common Fisheries Policy reform not likely to help fish, fishermen or marine wildlife

The regrettable failure of EU fisheries ministers to adopt a more radical reform of the Common Fisheries Policy will not end overfishing but may scupper chances of achieving sustainable fisheries for the people and wildlife that depend on them, according to BirdWatch Ireland.

Representatives of OCEAN2012 outside the
EU Parliament at the launch of European Fish Weeks

BirdWatch Ireland, Ireland’s largest environmental NGO, was extremely disappointed by the outcome of the EU Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg on Wednesday (June 13th).  Instead of adopting more positive measures to end overfishing by 2015, the Council decided to be less ambitious and agree in principle to ending overfishing, but perhaps not until 2020.  The general approach includes a delay of a proposed discard ban, with one date given for target species and another for discard species, a delay in ending overfishing and a delay in adhering to scientific advice on maximum exploitation rates of already diminishing stocks.

Dr. Sinéad Cummins of BirdWatch Ireland’s Conservation Team said, "Numerous scientific and marine experts have flagged the problems of overfishing at current rates, concluding that by 2048 there will be no more fish to catch in most of the world’s oceans."  She added that, "Fisheries must be regulated properly so that fish are not caught at a faster rate than they can reproduce and so that fishing techniques do not cause significant harm to marine ecosystems."

Alan Lauder, Chief Executive of BirdWatch Ireland, commented, "EU fisheries ministers have so far failed to show courage and break with existing failed policies.  Instead, they have chosen to continue their record of mismanagement by delaying the end of overfishing in the EU, guaranteeing yet further harm both to ecosystems and to those people who depend on sustainable, viable fisheries for their livelihoods."

BirdWatch Ireland, along with the 166 strong European membership of OCEAN2012, is now looking to the European Parliament (and to the Plenary Vote by MEP’s in November) to support a Common Fisheries Policy reform that delivers a healthy marine environment and viable fishery-dependent communities.