Sunday 18 September 2011

Bridges of Ross 18th Sept 2011

Time: 0700-1940
Weather: F5 N-NW clear & bright but with heavy sea spray. F4-5 NW in the evening, clear & bright again with some lovely light conditions.
Observer(s): Niall T. Keogh, Noel Keogh, Brian Porter, Killian Mullarney, Eanna O'Flynn, Owen Foley, Conor Foley, Donal Foley, Shane Farrell, Mark Stewart, Geoff Oliver, Niall Hatch, Stephen McAvoy, Denis O'Sullivan, Richard Bonser, Tom Tarpey, Tony Mee et al.

Sooty Shearwater: 5
Wilson's Petrel: 2 [1 @ 09:05 (EO'Flynn, MStewart & CFoley) & 1 @ 11:20 (TTarpey)]
Leach's Petrel: 1
Storm Petrel: 8
Grey Phalarope: 19
Great Skua (Bonxie): 54
Pomarine Skua: 2
Arctic Skua: 37
Long-tailed Skua: 16 (3 adults & 13 juvs)
Sabine's Gull: c.170 (c.75% juvs)
Little Gull: 2 juv/1st-w
Sandwich Tern: 12
Arctic Tern: c.500
Puffin: 11
Common Scoter: 2
Red-throated Diver: 7
Great Northern Diver: 1

Bottlenose Dolphin: c.6
Sunfish: 1

A relatively quiet day by recent standards! Sea spray was horrendous early on this morning but some excellent views of really close juvenile Long-tailed Skuas more than made up for it. There was a notable increase in the number of juvenile Sabine's Gulls vs. the number of adult birds seen today. Both Wilson's Petrels were seen whilst I was off swanning around the gardens looking for migrants, which turned out to be a worthwhile exercise as I found a nice 1st-winter Common Rosefinch in Kilbaha village (nice to see some passerines for a change!).


Common Rosefinch (Richard Bonser)

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