Bridges of Ross 22nd August 2014

Time: 0640-0940 & 1410-1820

Weather: F1-2 W (am), F3-4 NW (pm), dry & good visibility.

Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Neal Warnock, Des Higgins, Davey Farrer, Peter Gluth, Peter Colston, Sharon Hogan, Andy Marshall et al.

Balearic Shearwater: 1

Sooty Shearwater: 4

Manx Shearwater: 600 (am) & 465 (pm)

Arctic Skua: 3

Great Skua (Bonxie): 3

Arctic Tern: 3

Peregrine: 1 attempting to catch an Oystercatcher

Bottlenose Dolphin: 3 west @ 0830

Common Dolphin: 3 milling/logging @ 1510

Another slow day(!) which allowed for the surrounding gardens & marshes to be given a thorough going over, producing no more than a juv Ruff at Kilcredaun marsh, a Common Sandpiper at Kilbaha pool & a few juv Willow Warblers scattered about the place.

Arctic Skua © Niall Keogh

There will be a BirdWatch Ireland Clare Branch outing to The Bridges of Ross tomorrow to view migrating seabirds plus a chance of other marine wildlife such as Bottlenose Dolphin & Ocean Sunfish.

The meeting point will be at the car park at 09:00am from where it is a short walk on easy terrain the watch point.

The outing is free & all are welcome to attend. It is advised that participants bring along binoculars and/or telescopes with them in order to make the most of it but there will be some telescopes available to look through on the day as provided by event organisers.

We hope to see you there!

Bridges of Ross 21st August 2014

Time: 0630-1030 & 1150-1820

Weather: F3-4 W-NW, intermittent showers & mod-good visibility.

Observers: Niall T. Keogh, Neal Warnock, Des Higgins, Keith Langdon, Simon Mitchell, Reg Land, Will Soar, Davey Farrer, Peter Gluth, Peter Colston et al.

Common Scoter: 7

‘Blue’ Fulmar: 1 intermediate (L)

Sooty Shearwater: 21

Manx Shearwater: c.1,000 in 4 hrs (pm)

European Storm Petrel: 6

Grey Phalarope: 1 juv.

Arctic Skua: 5

Long-tailed Skua: 1 juvenile @ 1615

Great Skua (Bonxie): 11

Sandwich Tern: 4

Arctic Tern: 14

Sabine’s Gull: 1 adult

Choppy seas with a backing wind from the right direction made for a hopeful afternoon watch with a decent run (by recent standards apparently) of 600 Manx in an hour at close quarters during drizzly squalls. All quietened down fairly quickly after that however but not before a juv Long-tail Skua gave an all too quick flyby at super close range to wake us all up! The adult Sabine’s Gull showed well early doors and a few overhead and/or behind the watch point passing Bonxies were good value too.

A slow start but a good day for ‘getting the eye in’!

The first of what will no doubt be many iPhone-scoped seabird pics to feature on the blog over the next 10 days... today's subject, a Bonxie © Niall Keogh

Seatrack: mid-August update

The second Seatrack survey weekend of the season takes place this Sat 16th/Sun 17th August with a start time of 07:10am. Current weather forecasts give the best conditions along the Atlantic seaboard with moderate West to Northwest winds hopefully producing some decent seawatching between Mayo & Donegal, particularly on Saturday morning.

This past week saw lots of media attention focusing on the arrival of the weather system affectionately known as 'ex-Bertha'. This post-tropical cyclone was followed up by a Northwesterly low pressure system, producing some nice seawatching at headlands along the West coast from Galley Head to Malin. Flavour of the month so far has been Cory's Shearwater which has graced the notebooks of many a seawatcher, albeit in small numbers. Along with these have been the first Sabine's Gulls & Grey Phalaropes of the season, small numbers of skuas and Balearic, Sooty & Great Shearwaters.

At the rarer end of the scale, singles of Wilson's Petrel were noted from The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare on 8th & 12th August. Furthermore, there's been a superb early run of Fea's-type Petrel records as follows:

• 30th July: one from a pelagic 8 miles off Galley Head, Co. Cork (Paul Connaughton)
• 3rd August: one past Malin Head, Co. Donegal (Rónán McLaughlin)
• 10th August: one past Kilcummin Head, Co. Mayo (Brad Robson) with what was presumably the same bird seen passing Annagh Head, Co. Mayo (Dave Suddaby) no less than 3 hours & 9 minutes later!
• 13th August: one past Kilcummin Head, Co. Mayo (Derek Charles & M. Ullman)

If you would like to take part in this weekends Seatrack survey or wish to send on any additional seawatching records you've collated so far this month then please get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Arctic Skua © Gerry O'Neill

A special mention must go out to Liam Lysaght of the National Biodiversity Data Centre who is currently in the midst of his 'Wild Ireland Tour', an epic cycle around the coast of Ireland visiting some top wildlife destinations and meeting with folk involved in research & conservation along the way. Liam popped into The Bridges of Ross on Monday for a spot of seawatching & I have to say, he was the hardiest man there by the look of his get up! 

Liam seawatching in style!

Seatrack kicks off with some Cory's!

Seatrack volunteers Ralph Sheppard and Chris Ingram made the best of some moderate Northwesterly winds on Tuesday and were duly rewarded during a three hour seawatch at Bloody Foreland, Co. Dongeal where they clocked up 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Cory's Shearwaters, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 1,062 Manx Shearwaters and 4 Great Skuas. Not a bad start to the season at all!

The Cory's were no doubt particularly nice to see from a Northern watch point and great to get some records of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater in from the get go.

Many thanks to both Ralph and Chris for sending in their records to the Seatrack project.

Cory's Shearwater © Killian Mullarney

The forecast for the coming weekend appears rather settled with some light Northwesterlies on the Atlantic seaboard the best of it. Saying that, a Fea's-type Petrel was seen from a pelagic trip 8 miles off Galley Head, Co. Cork on Wednesday so the birds are certainly out there!

The first Seatrack survey of the 2014 season takes place this weekend Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd August with a start time of 06:45am. If you would like to get involved then please get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie

Seatrack 2014

The Seatrack project aims to assess the status & distribution of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater as well as other migratory seabird species in Irish waters through a series of coordinated volunteer seawatching surveys from headlands right around the coastline between early August & early November.

If you would like to sign up your local headland as a Seatrack survey site or simply wish to send in some opportunistic seawatch records at any stage during the season then feel free to get in touch with Niall Keogh (Seatrack project co-ordinator) at seatrack@birdwatchireland.ie for more information on how to get involved.

There has been some excellent seabird sightings off the Irish coast over the past week which bodes well for the first survey weekend taking place on Saturday 2nd August. Pelagic boat trips off Mayo and Cork have recorded several sought after species such as Wilson's Petrel, Great & Cory's Shearwater, Fin Whale, Atlantic White-sided Dolphin etc.

Great Shearwater © Aidan G. Kelly

Seatrack 2014 Core Survey Dates (priority dates in bold):

August: Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd (start time 06:45am)

September: Sat 6th/Sun 7th (start time 07:45am)

October: Sat 4th/Sun 5th (start time 08:30am)

November: Sat 1st/Sun 2nd (start time 08:25am)

Seatrack 2014 Suggested Supplementary Survey Dates:

August: Sat 16th/Sun 17th (start time 07:10am)

September: Sat 20th/Sun 21st (start time 08:10am)

October: Sat 18th/Sun 19th (start time 09:00am)

Aidan Kelly & Victor Caschera were kind enough to send on some fantastic seabirds images taken during a recent pelagic trip to the continental shelf edge off North West Mayo. They'll hopefully whet the appetite for anyone thinking of doing some Seatrack surveys this Autumn!

 Great Skua © Aidan G. Kelly

Great Skua chasing a Lesser Black-backed Gull © Aidan G. Kelly

Great Shearwater © Aidan G. Kelly

Great Shearwater © Aidan G. Kelly

Puffin © Victor Caschera

Leach's Petrel © Victor Caschera 

European Storm Petrel © Aidan G. Kelly

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin © Aidan G. Kelly

Roof-nesting gulls: a request for records

Regular listeners to the Mooney show on RTÉ Radio 1 will already know all about the the Herring Gull family nesting on the RTÉ studio roof in Donnybrook, south Dublin (link to the Mooney show live camera Herring Gull NestWatch here).

Herring Gulls (with pale blue-grey backs and pink legs) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls (slate grey-black backs and yellow legs) have been nesting on rooftops in coastal towns and in Dublin City Centre for many years, but it seems that the habit is spreading and BirdWatch Ireland wants to track it. 

We are asking you to tell us if you know of any roof-nesting gulls near you. 

We need a postal address (or GPS coordinates), the type of building (office, factory, residence, church, etc.), the species of gull and whether or not you can see a nest and/or chicks. 

Please report your sightings to Dr. Stephen Newton, Senior Seabird Conservation Officer, at snewton@birdwatchireland.ie

Roof nesting Herring Gull (Photo: Darragh Owens)

Update on BirdWatch Ireland's East Coast Tern Colonies - June 2014

BirdWatch Ireland is responsible for the protection, management and monitoring of terns at 5 key east coast colonies. Terns are small, graceful seabirds that make spectacular plunge-dives to catch small fish. Five tern species nest in Ireland:

• Common Tern
• Arctic Tern
• Roseate Tern
• Sandwich Tern
• Little Tern

Roseate Tern, surely one of Ireland's most graceful-looking birds
(Photo: Billy Clarke)

Now, in late June, the first chicks are hatching at most colonies so it is well worth paying a visit to one of them in the coming weeks:

Baltray, Co. Louth: 70-100 pairs of Little Terns

The colony is located at the Haven, on the north side of the mouth of the River Boyne. Drive past the entrance to Baltray Golf Club and proceed down a very poorly surfaced road to a locked gate. Park, cross the stile and walk on the track through the dunes. When you see signs warning signs (electric fences and requests to keep dogs on leashes) try to locate the warden or a volunteer  near the colony and they will give you an update. Read more on the Louth Nature Trust Little Tern Blog.

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Rockabill Island, north Co. Dublin: Roseate, Common and Arctic Terns (probably at least 2,500 pairs)

This is the largest single colony of Roseate Terns in Europe.  You can follow the work of our two resident wardens via their popular "Rockablog". Landing on the island is not allowed during the nesting season, but Skerries Sea Tours run trips out to the island to view the spectacle from the boat at a safe distance.

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Dublin Port: Common (400-500 pairs) and Arctic Terns (50-70 pairs)

This colony is on old ship mooring "dolphins" in the River Liffey.  It is best viewed from the Holyhead (Wales) ferries! Updates about the terns and waders of Dublin Bay are posted on our Dublin Bay Birds Blog.

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Dalkey Island, south Co. Dublin: mostly Arctic Terns (40 pairs) plus one pair of Roseate Terns

Public viewing with the experts from BirdWatch Ireland's South Dublin Branch, every Tuesday evening in July (i.e., 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th) at Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey, from 18:30 to 20:00.  For more details on the Dalkey Tern Project, please see the BirdWatch Ireland South Dublin Branch website.

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Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow: 108 pairs of Little Terns

The colony can be reached by an easy 15 minute walk south along the coast from Kilcoole Railway Station carpark. When you see signs and the blackboard with recent bird news, look out for a warden and they will be happy to show you the birds. Please see the wardens' Kilcoole Little Tern Blog for more information.

Dr. Stephen Newton
Senior Seabird Conservation Officer
BirdWatch Ireland