Back for more after the school run this am, but very little doing in comparison to last night. Managed to glean half a dozen each of cory's shearwaters and great shearwaters, with 8 sooty shearwaters too. But nothing else really doing.
Headed back up again this evening, as I'd convinced myself that the wind hadn't swung round to the west and was glad I did as a fine balearic shearwater flew by nice and close. Very welcome for the year list (109).
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
a good blow
Finally a whole day of south-westerlies! Very sunny this am so I convinced myself that work was a better plan than burnt-out retinas! By lunchtime I'd heard from PM that there were big shears going by so I had a nervous wait all afternoon, hoping he wasn't going to do another bulwer's on me!
Walking up at half past five for an evening session I met PM heading back to the car but the prospect of me doing a triple fea's on him was too much and he turned round to do another couple of hours.
Its always a good omen when almost the first bird through the scope is a cory's shearwater! They kept coming too, steadily with occasional runs of 5 or 6 birds going through together. Magic! Great shearwaters were going by a bit less often and generally further out, so were harder to pick out in the blustery conditions. Good numbers of both were going by further out but the light and sea conditions meant scanning closer in was the better option.
By the end of the 3 hour watch numbers had crept up to 366 cory's shearwaters and 112 great shearwaters, with 13 sooty shearwaters, an adult (ahem)pomarine long-tailed skua (new for year 108), bonxie, 20 storm petrels and an arctic tern - kwality seawatching!
Walking up at half past five for an evening session I met PM heading back to the car but the prospect of me doing a triple fea's on him was too much and he turned round to do another couple of hours.
Its always a good omen when almost the first bird through the scope is a cory's shearwater! They kept coming too, steadily with occasional runs of 5 or 6 birds going through together. Magic! Great shearwaters were going by a bit less often and generally further out, so were harder to pick out in the blustery conditions. Good numbers of both were going by further out but the light and sea conditions meant scanning closer in was the better option.
By the end of the 3 hour watch numbers had crept up to 366 cory's shearwaters and 112 great shearwaters, with 13 sooty shearwaters, an adult (ahem)
Saturday, August 9, 2014
seawatching at last!
Seawatching season normally starts at the beginning of July. Typically, this is when we'd get the first strong south-westerly blow of the "autumn". Only not this year. There's been very little sign of any south-westerlies to date, and when there has been, I've been busy elsewhere!
So, having been avidly refreshing windfinder all week, and trying to juggle somewhere to stash the kids, I eagerly bounced out of bed at 5.30 this am to check that the wind was the promised South-westerly force 5. First impressions was that it was actually South-easterly force 2, but by now I was awake so I headed up to Galley anyway.
2 hours later, and apart from a showy fin whale, I'd only managed 2 arctic skuas, 2 sooty shearwaters and a common scoter. Pants!
Fast forward 5 hours and things were looking better - the wind had picked up, cloud was beginning to build up so I hoofed back up to Galley to give it another lash. After a couple of minutes, a nice close-in cory's shearwater ambled past - excellent! Soon after, a distant great shearwater tried to sneak west without being noticed. For the next hour or so, big shears slowly sailed by every few minutes - not as dramatic as the big push last year, but really good to get to grips with them again after such a slow start to the seawatching season. Finished up after 3 hours, with the following tally:
cory's shearwater - 38
great shearwater - 20
sooty shearwater - 14
storm petrel - 30
bonxie - 2
puffin - 11
Happy days!
So, having been avidly refreshing windfinder all week, and trying to juggle somewhere to stash the kids, I eagerly bounced out of bed at 5.30 this am to check that the wind was the promised South-westerly force 5. First impressions was that it was actually South-easterly force 2, but by now I was awake so I headed up to Galley anyway.
2 hours later, and apart from a showy fin whale, I'd only managed 2 arctic skuas, 2 sooty shearwaters and a common scoter. Pants!
Fast forward 5 hours and things were looking better - the wind had picked up, cloud was beginning to build up so I hoofed back up to Galley to give it another lash. After a couple of minutes, a nice close-in cory's shearwater ambled past - excellent! Soon after, a distant great shearwater tried to sneak west without being noticed. For the next hour or so, big shears slowly sailed by every few minutes - not as dramatic as the big push last year, but really good to get to grips with them again after such a slow start to the seawatching season. Finished up after 3 hours, with the following tally:
cory's shearwater - 38
great shearwater - 20
sooty shearwater - 14
storm petrel - 30
bonxie - 2
puffin - 11
Happy days!
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Local twitching
With Galley really not being very good lately, despite regular checking for bee-eaters and orioles and the like, its fortunate that some good stuff has been turning up close by.
Out of the blue a couple of nights ago news broke of a fine drake blue-winged teal at the Cul-de-Sac pool, near Clonakilty. Wowzers. An Irish tick no less. And it was too - took me about 10 mins to get there and we had it skulking in the reeds round the back going to roost - Excellent! Nearly got an amazeballs phone-scoped shot of it, but my phone spazzed out at the crucial minute so here's a snap of a coaster that we have in the house that has been goading me for years - on my list at last tho!
And I even managed to pick out the male green-winged teal new in at nearby Clogheen Marsh on the way home, before it got totally dark. Marvellous.
And then more twitchy fun in the form of a black-winged stilt at White's Marsh yesterday (still there today). Which was nice...
Hopefully it'll behave like the last one & relocate to Kilkeran Lake, thus securing me a much needed patch breakback on almost everyone!
Out of the blue a couple of nights ago news broke of a fine drake blue-winged teal at the Cul-de-Sac pool, near Clonakilty. Wowzers. An Irish tick no less. And it was too - took me about 10 mins to get there and we had it skulking in the reeds round the back going to roost - Excellent! Nearly got an amazeballs phone-scoped shot of it, but my phone spazzed out at the crucial minute so here's a snap of a coaster that we have in the house that has been goading me for years - on my list at last tho!
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| OML ya bas! |
And I even managed to pick out the male green-winged teal new in at nearby Clogheen Marsh on the way home, before it got totally dark. Marvellous.
And then more twitchy fun in the form of a black-winged stilt at White's Marsh yesterday (still there today). Which was nice...
Hopefully it'll behave like the last one & relocate to Kilkeran Lake, thus securing me a much needed patch breakback on almost everyone!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
the dipping
Another quiet few days at Galley, with absolutely nothing except a soaking to show for slogging the patch this morning. News of a marsh harrier over the house this evening was a bit galling, but thems the breaks. Had a scour for it from the top of Shite Lane but no further sign. Good few whimbrel moving through just now - the "Maybirds" are early this year!
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| Specially for Jono |
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