The best seawatch in years

 The most extraordinary seawatch in many years took place on Deelick (Brandon) Point on 24th August. The initial scan from the Brandon Point car park quickly saw a distant Sooty Shearwater, then a Great Shearwater sail by. I grabbed the 'scope from the car and Eric Dempsey and I then enjoyed distant views of it for a couple of minutes. Not a minute later, and while I scanned the sea for more, the seemingly impossible happened... An adult Black-browed Albatross sailed into the telescope view. We watched, stunned and disbelieving, as the huge bird slowly made its way west, while we swapped 'scope views and comments on what we were witnessing. It finally rounded the headland and out of view, and then it was high fives and air punches! Not ten minutes in, and we had an albatross in the bag.

The decision whether or not to hike out to Deelick Point had been made for us, so we hastily grabbed all the gear and trudged out to the seawatch spot on Deelick. We settled in, determined to give it a good go. At first it seemed there was not much in the way of passage, just a few Manx and occasional Gannet and Fulmar, but after scanning an empty ocean for a few minutes, the next bird was a Cory's Shearwater. Another long gap with just a few Manx, and then a Great Shearwater passed. This was certainly quality over quantity.

The view from the seawatch spot on Deelick Point, 2km west of Brandon Point. I'm glad to report, the small stone shelter I build here in 2004 is still standing, virtually unchanged, despite continuous lashing by the elements (Michael O'Clery).

 Around 11, a flock of 3 Sabine's Gulls went by, and a few skuas started to appear. Again, passage overall was very light, but there was serious quality in the few birds on show. The only petrel of the afternoon put in an appearance and, sure enough, it was a Wilson's! Sure, what else would it be on a day like this! For a while, Long-tailed Skuas outnumbered Pomarine and Arctic, and we hadn't yet seen a Bonxie. Sooty Shearwaters were being outnumbered by Great and Cory's Shearwaters. At one point, after another lull, three skuas went by in a loose flock at close range - a juvenile Pomarine, a juvenile Arctic and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua!

And at 3pm to 3:30pm, the flood gates opened. Up to then, we had seen maybe 15 Cory's Shearwaters, within 15 minutes we had doubled that tally, then a loose flock of 8 soared by and suddenly it was hard to keep count. An hour later and we were passing the 300 mark, and they just kept coming. Finally, at 6:30pm, we had to quit, exhausted after 8 hours of intense seawatching, and the Cory's were now passing at a rate of about 600 per hour. But still, we had to go, tired, hungry and with a strong desire for some celebratory pints.

Cory's Shearwater, Deelick Point, 25th August 2022 (Michael O'Clery).

Cory's Shearwater, Deelick Point, 25th August 2022 (Michael O'Clery).

Totals for the day were: Black-browed Albatross 1; Cory's Shearwater c.2,500; Great Shearwater 32; Sooty Shearwater 28; Wilson's Petrel 1; Long-tailed Skua 9;  Pomarine Skua 5; Arctic Skua 11; Bonxie 3; Sabine's Gull 6; Little Gull 1.