First Leach's: Bridges of Ross 21st August 2012

Time: 06:30-10:30 & 12:00-19:50

Weather: F2-3 SW, largely dry, bright & warm but some showers (am). F4-5 W-SW, sunny, warm & hazy but with heavy showers in evening (pm).

Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, Keith Langdon, Mikey Hoit, Dave Farrow, Reg Land, Simon Woodhouse, Dave Andrews, Alan Clewes, Dan Pointon, Brian Porter, Paul Flint, Cory Flint et al.

Balearic Shearwater: 2

Sooty Shearwater: 84

Manx Shearwater: 3,000+

Fulmar: 1,000+

Leach’s Petrel: 1

Storm Petrel: 88

Kittiwake: 54 incl. 18 juvs.

Common Scoter: 6 (4 males & 2 females)

Great Skua (Bonxie): 15

Pomarine Skua: 9 (adult & subadult pale phases)

Arctic Skua: 39

Sandwich Tern: 6

Common Tern: 2 juvs.

Arctic Tern: 19

Razorbill: 90+

Guillemot: 15 

Auk sp: 40+

Puffin: 3

Black Guillemot:  1 juv.

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 1 adult

Common Gull: 1

Teal: 6

Whimbrel: 10

Dunlin: 7

Sanderling: 21

Knot: 2

Merlin: 1

Common Seal: 1 close offshore for much of the day.

Bottlenose Dolphin: 8+ in the evening.

Common Dolphin: 10+ in the morning.
Ocean Sunfish: 1

Another slow morning, livened up by some cracking Pom Skuas. Passage picked up from about 5pm when nice numbers of Manxies, Fulmars & skuas moved through. The first Leach’s Petrel of the season appeared at 19:08 which was most unexpected. I figured it would be a week or so before we would see one. 

F5 Westerlies tomorrow...bring it on! 

Pomarine Skua (video grab) © Niall Keogh

Dan Pointon...nuff said © Niall Keogh

"World of Pain" weather © Niall Keogh

Bridges of Ross 20th August 2012

Time: 06:30-10:30 & 15:00-19:00

Weather: F2-3 SW-S, dry, bright & warm (am). F3-4 SW-S, sunny, warm & hazy (pm).

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

Balearic Shearwater: 2

Sooty Shearwater: 32

Manx Shearwater: 855+

Fulmar: 720+

Storm Petrel: 155

Kittiwake: 97 incl. 32 juvs

Common Scoter: 14 (11 males + 3 females)

Great Skua (Bonxie): 8

Pomarine Skua: 4 pale phase (3 adults & 1 subadult)

Arctic Skua: 35

Sandwich Tern: 3

Arctic Tern: 9

Razorbill: 50

Guillemot: 12

Puffin: 8

Black Guillemot: 1 juv.

Whimbrel:16

Black-tailed Godwit: 9

Dunlin: 27
Sanderling: 5
Ringed Plover: 1
Knot: 2

Chough: 2
Merlin: 1 chasing passerines at the seawatch site.

Common Seal: 1 close offshore for much of the afternoon.

Bottlenose Dolphin: 6+ in the evening.

Common Dolphin: 10+ in the afternoon.
Leatherback Turtle: Three sightings at 06:45, 17:42 & 18:50.

As in previous days, most sightings in the morning & generally quiet in the afternoon but a surprise run of skuas during the evening session included a few combos such as 1 Bonxie, 3 Arctics & 2 Poms (full spoons!) in quick succession. Some superb views of Leatherback Turtles today which may again steal the ‘Bird of the Day’ award...closely followed by a couple of manky immature Glaucous Gulls which spiced up the post-breakfast wander around Kilbaha village!!! Ah no, they're lovely really.

2nd cal-year Glaucous Gull  © Niall Keogh

3rd cal-year Glaucous Gull  © Niall Keogh

The Great Glaucous Gull Twitch of 2012  © Niall Keogh

Heritage Week event @ Bridges of Ross 19th August 2012

Time: 06:30-12:00 & 15:00-18:00

Weather: F1-2 S-SE, dry, bright & warm (am). F2-3 SW-S, sunny, warm & hazy (pm).

Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, Keith Langdon, Mikey Hoit, Dave Farrow, Reg Land, Simon Woodhouse, Dave Andrews, Dan Brown and the BirdWatch Ireland Clare & Limerick Branches.

Balearic Shearwater: 2

Sooty Shearwater: 30

Manx Shearwater: 395+ (06:30-09:55)

Fulmar: 190+ (06:30-09:55)

Storm Petrel: 142

Gannet: 450+ incl. 4 juvs (06:30-09:55)

Kittiwake: 96 incl. 34 juvs (06:30-10:30)

Common Scoter: 7 (6 males + 1 female)

Great Skua (Bonxie): 4

Pomarine Skua: 1 pale phase

Arctic Skua: 12

Black Tern: 1 juv.

Arctic Tern: 12

Razorbill: 38

Guillemot: 4

Puffin: 2

Black Guillemot: 1

Black-headed Gull: 1

Whimbrel: 9

Black-tailed Godwit: 11

Spotted Redshank: 1 flew North at 10:20

Chough: 2

Willow Warbler: a tired migrant juvenile landed on a seawatchers chair!

Bottlenose Dolphin: 8-10 in the morning.

Common Dolphin: 30+ in the morning.

Leatherback Turtle: Two sightings of (different?) individuals showing well, resting at the surface for c.1 minute at 07:33 & 09:50.

About 40 people showed up this morning at 10am for the Heritage Week seawatching event hosted by the BirdWatch Ireland Clare & Limerick Branches but unfortunately by that stage most of the morning passage had died off and any Manxies that did go by were very distant. Saying that, nice views of Gannets & Fulmars along with a few Common Scoter and a surprise flyover Spotted Redshank provided plenty of interest as did some very obliging Bottlenose Dolphins which passed by close inshore on two occasions. 

Some of us skived off up to Loop Head this afternoon for the IWDG Whale Watch event, also part of Heritage Week. Sightings from here included 1 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Sooty Shearwater,  1 Great Skua (Bonxie), 5 Whimbrel, 12-14 Bottlenose Dolphins, 1 Minke Whale, a distant blow from a large whale sp. & an Ocean Sunfish.

So all in all a similar days seawatching to yesterday with the majority of the passage noted in the first few hours followed up by a very dull afternoon. A surprising day total of Storm Petrel but most were mid-distant however.

‘Bird of the Day’ goes to the Leatherback Turtle! 

Bridges of Ross Heritage Week event © Niall Keogh

Leatherback Turtle, Bridges of Ross, 29th August 2010  © Mike Flanagan

Seatrack survey @ Bridges of Ross 18th August 2012

Time: 06:30-10:30 (Seatrack survey) & 15:00-17:45

Weather: F1-2 S-SE, dry, bright & warm (am). F2-3 SW-S, sunny, warm & hazy (pm).

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

Balearic Shearwater: 1 pale bird, West at 09:22

Sooty Shearwater: 16

Manx Shearwater: 470+

Fulmar: 590+

Storm Petrel: 20

Gannet: 825+

Kittiwake: 85 (8 juvs)

Common Scoter: 5 females

Pomarine Skua: 1 subadult

Arctic Skua: 8

Arctic Tern: 7

Sandwich Tern: 5

Razorbill: 54

Guillemot: 2

Puffin: 6

Common Gull: 11

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 2

Whimbrel: 13

Dunlin: 4

Sanderling: 10

Ringed Plover: 6

Black-tailed Godwit: 7

Bar-tailed Godwit:2

Knot: 1

Chough: 2

Wheatear: 1

Kestrel: 1

Bottlenose Dolphin: 5 or 6 in the afternoon.

Common Dolphin: 100+ in the morning & c.30 in the afternoon.

Very slack passage today, with most of the above totals being logged during the mornings Seatrack survey session. Manxies well down compared to yesterday, Fulmars still going strong & a good representation by Gannets (mostly adults, small numbers of 2^nd cal-year birds & a couple of fresh juvs) but this completely died off in the afternoon. Not a single Bonxie seen which is unusual. Small gulls are a rare sight at The Bridges so a decent showing by Common Gulls was certainly noteworthy. Waders tipping by at sea in small numbers throughout the day, none of which could be strung into a Grey Phalarope, no matter how hard we tried!

Passage this afternoon was so slow that Dave decided to spice things up with a spot of Rio 2016 practice!...nil points

Danger Dave © Dan Brown

First Wilson's: Bridges of Ross 17th August 2012

Time: 06:40-10:40 & 15:20-19:20

Weather: F1 S, dry, bright & warm (am). F 2-3 S-SE, bright, warm, some showers & sea mist at times but generally good vis & dry (pm).

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

Balearic Shearwater: 1

Sooty Shearwater: 24

Manx Shearwater: 3,250+

Fulmar: 710+

Wilson’s Petrel: 1 feeding & heading West, from 06:55-07:05 (Niall T. Keogh)

Storm Petrel: 60+

Common Scoter: 1 male

Great Skua (Bonxie): 8

Pomarine Skua: 5 subadults (2^nd-summer types)

Arctic Skua: 14

Black Tern: 1 juv.

Arctic Tern: 3

Sandwich Tern: 10

Razorbill: 25+

Guillemot: 1

Puffin: 5

Whimbrel: 6

Dunlin: 22

Sanderling: 1

Black-tailed Godwit: 5

Chough: 2

Swift: 2

Wheatear: 1

Minke Whale: 1 with feeding Common Dolphins in the evening.

Bottlenose Dolphin: 3 passing east in the morning.

Common Dolphin: up to 100 feeding actively with Gannets am & pm.

Ocean Sunfish: 1

An early morning Wilson’s Petrel proved tricky at first due to less than ideal lighting conditions. Distinctive flight style, feeding behaviour & an obvious lack of white on the underwing initially suggested Wilson’s but it wasn’t until it moved a little further West & got the light on its ‘good’ side that the salient plumage features could be seen to confirm ID. The first sighting of this rare sub-Antarctic breeding species from The Bridges of Ross this season. With any luck there’ll be more to come!

Overall an excellent tally for somewhat ‘poor’ seawatching conditions. Nice species variety, a constant light passage of Manxies & Fulmars and a surprising number of skuas. I’ve certainly had worse seawatches from here before in more promising weather conditions.

A large feeding aggregation of cetaceans & seabirds was also present off Loop Head in the afternoon, consisting of 4+ Minke Whales, 100’s Common Dolphins, c.10 Bottlenose Dolphins, 150-200 Storm Petrels, 500+ Manx Shearwaters, several Sooty Shearwaters, 1 Arctic Skua & 2 Great Skuas (Bonxies).

Soggy seawatchers © Niall Keogh

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