First Grey Phals @ Bridges of Ross 6th Sept 2012

Time: 07:00-16:50

Weather: F3-4 SW, clear, bright, dry & cool (am). F4-5 SW, sunny, dry, hazy & warm (pm).

Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, John ‘Brick’ Dempsey, ‘er’ Neill Hunt, Barry ‘Bazzo’ McCarthy & Paul ‘Tropical’ Thomason.

Balearic Shearwater: 2

Sooty Shearwater: 82

Manx Shearwater: c.400

Fulmar: c.500

Storm Petrel: 2

Common Scoter: 7 males

Red-breasted Merganser: 4

Light-bellied Brent Goose: 10

Red-throated Diver: 2 summer plumage

Grey Phalarope: 4

Great Skua (Bonxie): 12

Pomarine Skua: 2 pale adults

Arctic Skua: 8

Sabine’s Gull: 2 adults & 1 juv.

Kittiwake: 53 incl. 28 juvs.

Common Gull: 4 juv./1st-w

Black Tern: 2

Arctic Tern: 35

Sandwich Tern: 9

Puffin: 1

Whimbrel: 14

Dunlin: 4

Sanderling: 14

Greenshank: 1

Chough: 2

Merlin: 1

Kestrel: 1

Common Dolphin: 2+ in the morning.

Bottlenose Dolphin: 7 in the afternoon.

Slow passage but a nice variety of scarce species today (Pom, Balearic, Sab's, Black Tern etc). The Grey Phalaropes were the long awaited first of the season (first sightings in 2011 were as early as 24th August).

Grey Phalarope © Jerry Cassidy