Bridges of Ross 26th August 2013

Time: 06:30-11:30 & 14:25-19:25

Weather: F1 NE (am) & F2 W (pm), warm, dry & good visibility (some heavy sea mist in late afternoon/early evening). 

Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Dan Pointon, Alan Clewes, Geoff Clewes, Alan Lewis, Dave Cooper, John Cooper, Peter Gluth, Peter Colston, Victor Caschera, Neal Warnock, Malcolm Goodman, Andy Clifton et al. 

Balearic Shearwater: 4

Sooty Shearwater: 602

Manx Shearwater: c.380 West in 2 hrs (am) & c.1,680 West in 4.5 hrs (pm) 

Storm Petrel: 16 

Common Scoter: 7  

Great Skua (Bonxie): 5

Pomarine Skua: 1 pale  

Arctic Skua: 4

Sabine's Gull: 1 adult

Little Gull: 1 juv  

Sandwich Tern: 11  

Arctic Tern: 20

Black Guillemot: 1 juv

Puffin: 1

Bottlenose Dolphin: 8-10

Common Dolphin: 15+

Common (Harbour) Seal: 1

Not bad for a day which started off with low expectations. A desperately slow first couple of hours in the morning was followed up by some excellent Sooty passage from 09:00am onwards with a total of 480 logged by 11:30am. Not many Manxies in association so perhaps it was simply a Sooty feeding flock moving past in search of new foraging areas? 

The combination of a change in wind direction & a spell of heavy sea mist in the late afternoon/early evening brought with it a nice passage of Manxies, a Pom Skua, an adult Sab's Gull (with a juv Little Gull in tow) and 4 Balearic Shearwaters, three of which came by very close to shore & offered excellent views.

Couldn't let this years blog go by without a pic of Dan in full seawatching mode...