less is more

This morning, cory's shearwaters were still passing through not as frequently as yesterday, with 10 in an hour and 20 mins, along with 1 sooty shearwater and 6 puffins. Tonight's seawatch was pretty quiet with only 3 pomarine skuas, a sooty shearwater and 1 arctic skua past Galley.

more cory's

A sunny seawatch this morning produced 2 great shearwaters, 8 cory's shearwaters, 10 sooty shearwaters, 3 bonxies and a few puffins. By the afternoon numbers of cory's shearwaters had reached c.140 per hour, and a 2 hour evening seawatch recorded a further 92 cory's, with 5 great shearwaters, 2 balearic shearwaters, 13 sooty shearwaters, 2 pomarine skuas, 2 storm petrels, 5 arctic skuas and a bonxie.  Day totals for cory's ranged between 750 and 900.

more seawatching

Another low hit the SW of Ireland this morning bringing reasonable numbers of good seabirds in with it. Galley highlights were 7 great shearwaters, 2 cory's shearwaters, 10 balearic shearwaters, 40 sooty shearwaters, 3 pomarine skuas, 8 bonxies, 6 arctic skuas, 30 common scoter and a few puffins.

too sunny

Conditions weren't great for seawatching this morning (too sunny and light winds) but there was still 3 arctic skuas past Galley, along with a common tern and 50 common scoter.

 

A wood sandpiper was at Clogheen Marsh this afternoon.  This evening 2 sooty shearwaters, 3 pomarine skuas and 2 bonxies were seen off Galley, around a large feeding flock of manx shearwaters and gannets.

sunday seawatch

Two cory's shearwaters were seen off Galley this morning, with 2 more this evening, along with a balearic shearwater and 3 bonxies.

satday seawatch

Struggled out of bed this morning for a good session off Galley with 2 great shearwaters, 2 cory's shearwaters, and a balearic shearwater, all new for the patch year list (112).  Also saw 3 arctic skuas, 2 bonxies, 4 sooty shearwaters and a few puffins and storm petrels. Other more dedicated observers saw an additional 2 greats and cory's, 11 balearics, 1 wilson's petrel, 1 arctic skua and 12 sooties. 

more wader action!

Galley doesn't fare too well for waders so 2 lapwings at Long Strand this lunchtime were a good bonus for the patch year list (109). A seawatch this evening produced 5 sooty shearwaters.

summer gulls

A second summer mediterranean gull was at Owenahincha and later Rosscarbery this morning, with a juvenile mediterranean gull and the long-staying 1st summer glaucous gull at Timoleague. An evening seawatch produced 1 balearic shearwater, 25 puffins and a probable immature long-tailed skua.

common sand

A common sandpiper at Long Strand this evening was new for the year (108).

too calm to seawatch

No seawatching action over the last few days due to the very calm weather. White's Marsh had 4 common sandpipers this lunchtime.

ducks and fog

Flat calm and foggy this morning at Galley, however 30 common scoters west were new for the year (107).

more poms

Two more adult pomarine skuas off Galley this evening.  A long-tailed skua was seen off Cape Clear this morning.

waders are a coming!

White's Marsh had 2 common sandpipers this afternoon, while 2 sooty shearwaters were seen off Galley this evening.

A bit calmer

The wind had eased a bit this morning, and despite the sunny conditions 1 common tern, 5 pomarine skuas (4 adults & 1 immature) and 4 adult sabine's gulls all headed west (106 for the year), with 4 sooty shearwaters and a few storm petrels also seen.

 

Another 5 pomarine skuas went through this evening.

Happy Birthday Mum!!

Difficult to connect with birds today, despite good seawatching weather. The second long-tailed skua of the month went through this morning, with an arctic skua and a cory's shearwater through also. The wind had picked up to a gale by the afternoon, resulting in a good passage of manx shearwaters, c. 20 sooty shearwaters (patch year tick - 103), 1 common tern and a juvenile sabine's gull.

 

It was also my mum's birthday - hooray!

no fish, just fog!

Too foggy to seawatch off Galley this morning, and wasn't up to much when it did clear, with 1 arctic skua and a few puffins and storm petrels. Feck all passing in 45 minutes this evening.

 

The only other "news" was 3 stock doves near Shite Lane.

no birds, just fish

A seawatch off Galley this evening in flat calm conditions produced little in the way of birds apart from a few storm petrels and puffins. A basking shark and 3 sunfish were the only highlights.

Skua bonanza!

Considerably more skua movement this morning, with 1 adult long-tailed skua, 7 pomarine skuas, 2 arctic skuas, 3 bonxies, 4 sooty shearwaters and a few storm petrels.