Seatrack Update: early November survey

The final Seatrack survey of the year takes place this weekend Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd November with a start time of 08:25am. Priority will be given to the Saturday so as to compliment other seawatching surveys being undertaken by FAME partners from headlands along the West coast of Europe also on that date.

A strong low pressure system moving through over the next few days is likely to create some good seawatching conditions on the West coast on Saturday, dissipating through Sunday.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

The series of fast tracking low pressure systems which moved East across the Atlantic last week brought with them a wide array of seabird species which were recorded along the West & South coasts showing that a few surprises can still be in store even at the end of the migration season. 30 Sooty Shearwaters, 19 Pomarine Skuas & 2 Grey Phalaropes were some of the highlights among a heavy passage of Gannets & Kittiwakes at The Bridges of Ross on 27th Oct (Aidan G. Kelly et al.) with the first reported Little Auk of the season & 7 Leach's Petrels nearby on Loop Head the next day (Shane Farrell). A Great Shearwater at sea, South of Ballycotton from the R.V. Celtic Explorer on 24th Oct was another notable record (Stephen McAvoy).

Great Skua, Celtic Sea, 12th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Kittiwake, Celtic Sea, 15th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Rough weather has caused a number of juvenile Storm Petrels to crash land on boats offshore, like this one which came aboard the R.V. Celtic Explorer (released successfully), Celtic Sea, 11th Oct 2013 © Gary Robinson

Seatrack Update: late October survey

The second last Seatrack survey of the year takes place this weekend Sat 19th/Sun 20th Oct with a start time of 09:00am. Weather looks set to be best along the South coast with moderate to strong Southerly winds on Saturday turning South-west for Sunday.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Reports coming through from the herring fleet & observations from on board the R.V. Celtic Explorer over the past week have identified aggregations of sprat & herring already building along the South coast, between Schull & Cork Harbour and again from Mine Head to Tramore. As such, some impressive feeding activity should hopefully be encountered from South coast watch points  this weekend and likely to involve Gannets, Kittiwakes, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Skuas & late shearwaters along with a chance of Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Common Dolphin & perhaps even a Humpback or two...

Sites in the North West should be on the look out for divers, Whooper Swans & Barnacle Geese with widespread sightings of these species noted in the past week as the first wave of migrants arrived for the winter.

Bonxie & Gannets, Celtic Sea, 12th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Sooty Shearwaters, south of Mizen Head, Co. Cork, 10th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Humpback Whale, Glandore Bay, Co. Cork, 10th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Fin Whales, Glandore Bay, Co. Cork, 10th Oct 2013 © Niall T. Keogh

Seatrack Update: early October survey

The sixth Seatrack survey of the year takes place this coming weekend Sat 5th/Sun 6th October with a start time of 08:35am. Priority will be given to the Saturday so as to compliment other seawatching surveys being undertaken by FAME partners from headlands along the West coast of Europe also on that date.

Weather looks set to be best in the South West this weekend, particularly on Saturday with SW bearing winds forecast.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Moderate to strong SE winds with heavy rain over the past few days has created some ideal seawatching conditions along the East coast. Triple figure counts of Manx Shearwaters have been recorded from Dalkey (Dublin), Six Mile Point (Wicklow) & Greenore Point (Wexford) with some local highlights including a Sooty Shearwater off Dalkey (Stephen McAvoy) & 2 Balearic Shearwaters off Greenore Point (Killian Mullarney) both on 1st October and a Sabine's Gull feeding with rafting Kittiwakes off Kilcoole on 2nd October (Niall T. Keogh). Large numbers of auks, particularly Razorbills, have also been noted.

Razorbills in flight © Chris Proctor

Seatrack Update: early Sept 2013 survey sightings

The fourth Seatrack survey of the year took place on Sat 7th/Sun 8th September. Northerly winds throughout the weekend dissipated passage for the most part but some quality species such as Balearic Shearwater, Long-tailed Skua, Little Gull & Black Tern were still recorded along with excellent sightings of marine 'megafauna'.

The next survey weekend takes place this coming Sat 21st/Sun 22nd September with a start time of 08:10am.

If you would like to take part in upcoming Seatrack surveys then please get in touch with Niall Keogh at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Some early September Seatrack sightings reported so far as follows: (E = East, W = West, N = North, S = South & M = Milling)

Saturday 7th September

Black Head, Co. Clare (Paul Troake)
69 W + 8 E + 20 M Manx Shearwater, 1 W + 1 E Great Northern Diver & 5+ M Bottlenose Dolphin.

The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare (Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, John N. Murphy, Keith Bennett et al.)

Full day totals (all birds heading West): 1 Balearic Shearwater, 30 Sooty Shearwater, 1 Storm Petrel, 3 Common Scoter, 12 Great Skua (Bonxie), 7 Arctic Skua, 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skua, 2 juv/1st-winter Little Gull, 2 Sandwich Tern, 7 Arctic Tern, 10+ Bottlenose Dolphin, 3 Harbour Porpoise & 4 Ocean Sunfish.

Dursey Island, Co. Cork (Derek A. Scott & Joanna E. Scott)
1 N Balearic Shearwater, 5 N + 130 M Sooty Shearwater, 2 N + 20 M Manx Shearwater, 2 N Common Scoter, 3 N Great Skua (Bonxie), 3 N Arctic Skua, 1 N Sandwich Tern, 3 N Common Tern, 42 N Arctic Tern, 91 N 'Commic' Tern, 10 N Common Dolphin & 8 M Harbour Porpoise.

Brownstown Head, Co. Waterford (Jonathan Bulfin, Darragh Sinnott & Paul M. Walsh)
30 E Manx Shearwater, 1 M Skua sp. & 1 E Puffin.

Coliemore Harbour, Co. Dublin (Stephen McAvoy)

2 N Manx Shearwater, 16 N Common Scoter, 1 N + 1 S Red-throated Diver, 7 N + 2 S Mediterranean Gull, 1 N + 2 S Black Guillemot, 1 N Puffin & 2 N Harbour Porpoise.
 
Sunday 8th September

The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare (Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Keith Bennett et al.)
Full day totals (all birds heading West):  4 Sooty Shearwater, 1 Great Northern Diver, 15 Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 Pomarine Skua, 16 Arctic Skua, 1 juvenile Long-tailed Skua, 3 Arctic Tern, 20+ Bottlenose Dolphin, 2 Common Dolphin & 1 Common Seal.

Ram Head, Co. Waterford (Andrew Malcolm)

3 Manx Shearwater, 1 Storm Petrel & 1 Common Scoter.

Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford (Kieran Grace)
12 E + 66 W Manx Shearwater, 1 W Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 W Black Tern, 12 W Sandwich Tern & 300 W 'Commic' Tern.

Juvenile Arctic Skua, The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare, 7th Sept 2013 © John N. Murphy

Final seawatch @ Bridges of Ross 9th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-11:00 & 12:45-14:15

Weather: F1 NE initially turning F4 N-NW then NW from 9am. F2-3 N in afternoon. Initially clear with excellent visibility & cool, followed by bands of misty rain & reduced visibility. Dry & sunny in afternoon.

Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh & Tom Murtagh.

 

Balearic Shearwater: 1

Sooty Shearwater: 441

Manx Shearwater: c.1,100 

Leach's Petrel: 1

Storm Petrel: 7

Common Scoter: 10 (6 West + 4 East)

Great Skua (Bonxie): 22

Arctic Skua: 18

Little Gull: 1 juv/1st-winter

Sandwich Tern: 17

Arctic Tern: 11

Black Tern: 1 

Puffin: 1

Bar-tailed Godwit:1

Knot: 2

Sanderling: 2

Sparrowhawk: 1

Peregrine: juv hunting at sea (petrels beware!)

Chough: 2

Raven: 2 

 

The morning seawatch started off slow, with a calm, grey sea & excellent visibility allowing the few distant shearwaters which were passing to be checked whilst some skuas drifted through high overhead. From 08:45am onwards a band of misty rain approached from the North West with an increase in Sooties noticed running ahead of it & a welcome appearance by a Black Tern. Come 09:10am, the band of rain hit the headland & with it a F4 N-NW which whipped up as if from nowhere! 20 minutes of squall later & the rain cleared to reveal shearwaters piling by! Over 600 Manx & 300 Sooties were logged in the next hour alone along with the Leach's & an increase in skuas. 

 

The first time in the past 3 weeks where it felt like one of those magic moments at The Bridges where it all starts kicking off! But then after an hour or so the passage dried up rather abruptly, as if someone flicked off the seabird switch. A short afternoon seawatch revealed Sooties still drifting by but we had to eventually make tracks for home... Until the next time!

 

Great pics of two different juvenile Arctic Skuas which passed The Bridges on 7th Sept © John N. Murphy

No better place to be! © Chris Holt

Bridges of Ross 8th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-10:00 & 16:00-19:15

Weather: F3-4 NW (am) & F1-2 SE (pm), bright, dry & excellent visibility.

Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Keith Bennett, Geoff Hunt & Mike Sheehy. 

 

Sooty Shearwater: 4 

Manx Shearwater: 49 in 3 hrs (am) & 18 in 2 hrs (pm) 

Great Northern Diver: 1 (East) 

Great Skua (Bonxie): 15 

Pomarine Skua: 1  

Arctic Skua: 16 

Long-tailed Skua: 1 juvenile (Niall T. Keogh & Noel Keogh)

Arctic Tern: 3

Bar-tailed Godwit: 2

Whimbrel: 2

Knot: 2

Sparrowhawk: 1

Stonechat: 4

Chough: 2

 

Bottlenose Dolphin: 20+

Common Dolphin: 2

Common Seal: 1

The first hour this morning produced 5 Bonxies, 7 Arctic, 1 Pom & the juv Long-tailed Skua. Presumably all were simply moving past after rising from their roost sites in bays further North along the coast. The juv Long-tail came by with an adult dark phase Arctic. The size difference between the two was striking! Just about managed one Sooty during the afternoon/evening session!

Stonechats are particularly evident on the peninsula at the moment & would appear to have had a very good breeding season by the looks of things. Hard to get a definite overall number of birds present but we have recorded peak counts of 4 at The Bridges, 24(!) at Kilbaha & 11 on Loop Head.

Trudging around Loop Head over the past week finally paid off today with a Lapland Bunting at The Fodry.

Bridges of Ross 7th Sept 2013

Time: 07:00-10:30 (Seatrack survey) & 13:00-19:25

Weather: F4-5 N turning NW or N-NW in the afternoon. Cold, good visibility, dry for the most part, some light rain at times.

Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, John N. Murphy, Keith Bennett, Geoff Hunt, Jeff Pearson et al.

Balearic Shearwater: 1

Sooty Shearwater: 30

Manx Shearwater: 67 in 3.5 hrs (am) & 85 in 2 hrs (pm)

Fulmar: 108 (am)

Storm Petrel: 1

Gannet: 187 (am)

Common Scoter: 3

Great Skua (Bonxie): 12

Arctic Skua: 7

Long-tailed Skua: 2 juveniles (Niall T. Keogh & Noel Keogh) 

Kittiwake: 31 (am)

Little Gull: 2 juv/1st winters

Sandwich Tern: 2

Arctic Tern: 7

Guillemot: 43 (am)

Razorbill: 87 (am)

Auk sp. (Guille/Razor): 57 (am)

Chough: 2

 

Bottlenose Dolphin: 10+

Harbour Porpoise: 3

Ocean Sunfish: 4 

Northerly winds killing off true passage per say as expected but a few quality birds made staring into the wind all worthwhile. The second juv Long-tailed Skua passed by very close to the watchpoint after briefly tussling with an Arctic Tern, showing off its tiny physique. An absolute beaut! Great views of juv Arctic Skuas & some really close Sooties today also. Spent quite a bit of time scrutinising common species (for want of something to do!) and noticed several fresh juvenile Fulmars knocking about.

The 3 Harbour Porpoise were a surprise. In my experience they are rare off The Bridges (in August/September at least), probably due to the presence of a regular group of Bottlenose Dolphins. Today's animals were in a tight-nit group, surfacing actively & at speed as if being chased by something bigger!

Victor Caschera was kind enough to send on a great series of pics which he took from 'The Slab' last week, on 28th August.

 

Juvenile Arctic Skua

Sabine's Gull

Sooty Shearwater

Fulmar

Gannet

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Seawatchers