a wader day

A ruff flew over Long Strand this morning and the bar-tailed godwit was seen again in with a flock of curlews near Kilkeran Lake this afternoon. The pied flycatcher remains at Shite Lane. A lesser yellowlegs was found at Clogheen Marsh this evening.

playing away

Another blank on the mig front this morning at Galley, however 2 black-tailed godwits over Long Strand were new for the patch year list (127).  Headed to Cape Clear for the afternoon for cracking views of the eastern olivaceous warbler, plus the juvenile rosy starling and a nice bright yellow browed warbler too - great stuff!

whoop!

A bar-tailed godwit in with curlews at Long Strand this morning was a welcome addition to the patch year list (126).  A new redstart and a chiffchaff were also at Long Strand. The spotted flycatcher was still in Dirk with 3 willow/chiffs there, the pied flycatcher was still at Shite Lane with 3 wheatears elsewhere at Galley.

another year tick

A spotted flycatcher in Dirk Bay this evening was new for the patch year list (125), while a pied flycatcher was at Shite Lane this morning and 2 wheatears elsewhere on Galley.  The juvenile pectoral sandpiper was still on the flooded field behind Red Strand this evening.

pec sand

A cracking juvenile pectoral sandpiper was on the flooded field behind Red Strand this afternoon. Galley was quiet with just 3 soggy wheatears and a few goldcrests.

windy but

One curlew sandpiper was at White's Marsh at high tide this afternoon.  A great shearwater, 5 sooty shearwaters and 3 bonxies were seen off Galley this evening.

more waders

Rosscarbery had 5 ruff in amongst c.30 dunlin this afternoon, while 1 little stint and a few curlew sandpipers were at White's Marsh this evening.

ooo migrants

3 reed warblers were at Galley this morning with 1 wheatear and 5 redpolls over. A wryneck and a pied flycatcher were found this afternoon.  Muckross strand had 4 little stints, 1 spotted redshank and 8 curlew sandpipers this evening.

south west again

A seawatch off Galley late morning produced 1 cory's shearwater, 1 great shearwater, 3 bonxies and 4 balearic shearwaters. A buzzard was seen hunting near Kilkeran Lake, and 1 whinchat was at 'marsh lane'.

same but different

Two yellow wagtails were present at Galley this morning, showing well.  The redstart was also still around, and 2 reed warblers were down 'marsh lane'.  A new pied flycatcher was at shite lane, with a willow warbler also there.  Two siskins over were new for the year (124), and 2 redpolls also flew over.

back to seawatching

A juvenile sabine's gull was seen off Galley this morning.  Also passing were 1 balearic shearwater, 8 sooty shearwaters, 2 bonxies, a large shearwater sp, probably great and good numbers of manx shearwaters.

new in

Yesterday's yellow wagtail and reed warbler were still around today, while a redstart was a welcome addition to the patch year list (123).  One sedge warbler and a couple of wheatears were the only other migrants seen.

a wee fall (& another fea's)

A few arctic skuas and sooty shearwaters were seen off Galley this morning, with good numbers of manx shearwaters.  A yellow wagtail near the lighthouse was a Galley lifer, with 2 pied flycatchers and a reed warbler also new for the year, along with 6 wigeon on Kilkeran Lake (122).  Two whinchats were also new in, with c.10 wheatears and 4 willow warblers also seen.

 

This evening a fea's petrel was seen off Galley, along with 1 sabines's gull, 1 arctic skua and a bonxie.

some stuff in

A whinchat down marsh lane this morning was new for the patch year list (118) but 7 wheatears knocking about were the only other sign of migs at Galley. A pied flycatcher was at Sands Cove.

nae migs

Just 1 wheatear and 3 sanderling this morning around Galley - still, they say the wind is going south easterly till sunday so fingers crossed! A coot on Kilkeran Lake this afternoon was a Galley lifer and year tick (117). This evening, 1 pomarine skua, 3 bonxies, 1 sooty shearwater and 10 storm petrels were seen heading east off Galley.

med gulls

Two first winter mediterranean gulls were at Long Strand this morning.  This evening 1 balearic shearwater, 2 sooty shearwaters, 2 pomarine skuas, 1 bonxie, 1 arctic skua and 20 storm petrels were seen from Galley.

a few more waders

A seawatch off Galley this afternoon produced 5 balearic shearwaters. A ruff at Kilkeran Lake this afternoon was new for the patch year list (116), with a common sandpiper also there.  Another ruff was at Clogheen Marsh, and 5 knot were at Rosscarbery.

windy but no birds

Disappointing at Galley this morning with only 3 common scoters and 2 sooty shearwaters, despite good seawatching conditions.