more seawatching

A two hour watch this morning produced 66 sooty shearwaters, 2 balearic shearwaters, 19 storm petrels, 1 bonxie , 1 arctic skua, 1 puffin and a peregrine.

full fat patch tick!

A call from HH about an osprey at White's Marsh this evening seen heading towards Kilkeran Lake had me out scanning the skies, and persistance paid off as it eventually appeared over the Rathbarry trees and appeared to go down into the pines at Castlefreke, maybe to roost? A full-on Galley patch tick, and only my 2nd irish one (113). A few waders on the lake too, with 4 lapwing, 2 greenshank and 1 common sandpiper this evening.

first cory's for ages

A cory's shearwater was the highlight off Galley this morning, with 3 sooty shearwaters and an arctic skua also moving.

long tail

An adult long-tailed skua hung around off Galley this morning for c. 5 minutes, settling on the water for a while too. Not that I was there, its becoming a bit of a patch bogie! Otherwise the seawatching was quiet today, with 4 balearic shearwaters, 17 sooty shearwaters, 17 storm petrels, 10 puffins and 12 common scoter.

a few waders

Definite signs of wader movement around Galley today, with 1 black tailed godwit (112) in with the curlew flock around the lake, 1 dunlin over the lake and 4 lapwings over. On the passerine front, 2 willow warblers and 2 chiffchaffs were kicking around Shite Lane this morning, in a light south-easterly breeze. The sea was still quiet, with 1 balearic shearwater, 5 sooty shearwaters, 1 bonxie and 10 storm petrels this evening. Two ruff remained around White's Marsh/Muckross, with an adult yellow-legged gull at Ross this morning.