Thursday 13 September 2012

Bridges of Ross 13th Sept 2012

Time: 07:00-10:15 & 11:30-19:10
Weather: F3 SW, overcast, clear & mild (am). F4-5 W then F5-6 SW, overcast, clear & mild (pm).
Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Brian Porter, Jason McManus, Gordon McAdam & Conor Foley.

Sooty Shearwater: 262
Manx Shearwater: c.800
Leach’s Petrel: 44
Storm Petrel: 11
Common Scoter: 16
Light-bellied Brent Goose: 242
Red-throated Diver: 2 summer plumage
Great Skua (Bonxie): 69
Pomarine Skua: 5
Arctic Skua: 20
Long-tailed Skua: 2 juvs. (Niall T. Keogh & Brian Porter)
Common Tern: 1 adult & 3 juvs.
Arctic Tern: 86
Sandwich Tern: 23
Black Tern: 1 juv.
Grey Phalarope: 4
Puffin: 10

Whimbrel: 3
Bar-tailed Godwit: 1
Buff-breasted Sandpiper: 1 in off the sea & headed West at 12:30 (Conor Foley)
Peregrine: 1
Chough: 12
Lapland Bunting: 1 male showing well in the horse field.

Leatherback Turtle: 1 surfaced 7 times at 17:58
Otter: 2 juveniles around the mouth of the sea cave.

At last, a decent seawatch! Leach’s, Bonxies, Sooties & Brent all represented well but as yesterday, numbers of Manx, Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes & auks were quite low so often long periods between quality.

The 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas were superb. Picked up at quite a distance but their slim build & dawdling flight style gave them away immediately. One was a dark phase whilst the other was a more classic looking intermediate/pale bird.

Find of the day goes to Conor who latched on to a wader out at sea which was bombing straight in & as it passed overhead we could clearly see it was a Buff-B! New bird?...I reckon so.


Brent migration in action! © Niall Keogh

Great views of a male Lapland Bunting whilst trying to relocate the Buff-B Sand. © Niall Keogh 

Many thanks to Jim Bowman for sending on a few pics from yesterday...

Preening Bonxie close overhead © Jim Bowman
"Where have all the seawatchers gone?" © Jim Bowman

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