Scoter-tastic day

There were four species of Scoter available to see in Kerry today, the male White-winged Scoter seen again off Kilcummin, with three Velvet Scoters there too, along with another five at Inch beach. In addition, a male and female Surf Scoter were also close inshore at Inch beach this morning. Numbers of Common Scoter in Kerry are impressive this winter after a couple of lean winters, with perhaps 1500 now in Brandon Bay, and another 2000 off Inch, unfortunately often very far off Inch. As well as those two main flocks, there are higher than usual numbers accumulating in the Sandy Bay / Rough Point area this winter, with about 300 present today.

Velvet Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Velvet Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Velvet Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Male and female Surf Scoters, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Throughout the eastern end of Dingle Bay today there were thousands of birds, actively feeding on some unseen fish, while a hundred or more Common Dolphins, 3 or more Minke Whales and 30 or so Bottlenose Dolphins (and several trawlers) ploughed through the 'bait balls'. 

Bird totals included 2 Surf Scoter (adult male and female), 5 Velvet Scoter (one adult male, 4 female/immature), along with 1500 Common Scoter, 1 Little Auk, some 3000+ Razorbills and 500 Guillemots. Another extraordinary count was of a minimum of 450 Red-throated Divers, surely one of the largest counts ever made in Ireland? By contrast, there was 'only' 60 Great Northern Divers and strangely, not even a sniff of a Black-throated Diver. They really are rare in Kerry. Some 3000 gulls were chasing the fish right across the bay, mostly Herring and Common Gulls, but nothing rare could be found in amongst those, not even a Mediterranean Gull. Kittiwakes were perhaps noticeable by their absence. 1 Slavonian Grebe and 1 Great Crested Grebe (pretty rare in this part of Kerry) were also off the main beach at Inch.

Red-throated Divers, Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). There were small groups of Red-throated Diver scattered throughout the Bay, and for many kilometres offshore and, every now and then, groups would arrive and plunge straight into a melee of gulls, auks and Gannets, chasing whatever fish shoals were gathering in the bay. Unusual behaviour.

Mixed flock, chasing 'bait balls', Inch, 1st December 2023 (Michael O'Clery). Numerous gulls, Gannet, auks, shags and Cormorants were all piling in as soon as  a 'bait ball' appeared, though these often only lasted a couple of minutes. Birds would then disperse, and the process would be repeated nearby.

Glaucous Gull at Kilcummin

 Possibly the same bird as seen on nearby Lough Gill two days ago. There's a dead Common Dolphin on the beach at Kilcummin, which might well be the object of interest for this big bruiser of a gull.

First-winter Glaucous Gull, Kilcummin, Brandon Bay, 29th November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

First-winter Glaucous Gull, Kilcummin, Brandon Bay, 29th November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

First-winter Glaucous Gull, Kilcummin, Brandon Bay, 29th November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Spoonbill, Long-tailed Duck and Eider

 Although seemingly absent last winter, it seems our longest staying/ returning rarity has made it back once more!

Adult Spoonbill, Cromane, 21st November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Adult Spoonbill, Cromane, 21st November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Long-tailed Duck, Cromane, 21st November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Eider, Scraggane, near Castlegregory, 21st November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Eider, Scraggane, near Castlegregory, 21st November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Eider, Scraggane, near Castlegregory, 21st November 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Sinensis Cormorant at Black Rock

 

Sinensis Cormorant, Black Rock, 2nd November 2023 (David O'Connor).

Sinensis Cormorant, Black Rock, 2nd November 2023 (David O'Connor).

American White-winged Scoter - First Kerry record

 A male American White-winged Scoter in Brandon Bay was finally identified from digiscoped video taken over the past couple of days. Although the video quality is pretty poor, there is enough detail visible to be sure of the identity, and eliminate the similar Stejneger's Scoter. In particular, the head shape, with a blocky, rectangular head, and thick neck (when head was retracted, which was pretty much all the time) far more reminiscent of Surf Scoter than Velvet Scoter at first. The rather angular head looked quite different to the typical more rounded Velvet Scoter 'ski-slope' front head profile. The 'bump' on the forehead was also just discernible on video, and in life.

American White-winged Scoter, Brandon Bay, 25th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

In addition, the white patch behind the eye, in the telescope at least, had the distinctive 'uptick' shape, and in bright sunshine, the whole flank area was obviously a rich, dark chestnut colour, rather than the black of a male Velvet Scoter, or Stejneger's.

American White-winged Scoter, Brandon Bay, 25th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Sheer distance makes this bird a particularly difficult one to see. For anyone hoping to see it, best to avoid days with much swell or wind. The bird has consistently been seen offshore from Kilcummin beach in Brandon Bay - looking out to sea, left of the offshore islands - and from there, there are unfortunately no convenient sand dunes to get a bit of height to scan the sea, just an earth bank which only provides a couple of metres height. On days with swell, the scoter flocks are out of view for much of the time in the wave troughs. To add to the difficulty, there are now about 2000 Common Scoter to sort through (and a female or immature Surf Scoter). Another annoyance is the presence of windsurfers on any days with a good breeze, as their high speed antics can flush the scoter flocks and drive them further out. Nevertheless, as the last few days have shown, on the right day, the bird can be close enough to see reasonably well.

American White-winged Scoter, Brandon Bay, 25th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

It is possible this bird has been present since 11th July, when I first suspected a White-winged Scoter might be with the 200 or so Common Scoter, but sheer distance then precluded any chance of a successful identification. I saw the 'white-winged' Velvet Scoter-type perhaps 6 or 7 times in the following month, but always at ridiculous ranges of 2km or more.

This is the first record for Kerry, and only the second for Ireland.

Many thanks to Eric Dempsey and Killian Mullarney for help with ID and helpful comments on the video clips.

(There is video available of the bird if anyone would like it, but the file size is close to 700Mb, in order to retain the detail from the original digi-scoped clips. If you's like to see it, send me your email to michaeloclery@gmail dot com and I'll send you a WeTransfer download link).

Long-staying American Golden Plover and Spotted Sandpiper

 

Spotted Sandpiper, The Trench, Castlegregory, 25th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Spotted Sandpiper, The Trench, Castlegregory, 25th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

American Golden Plover, Ferriter's Cove, 25th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Black Tern at Ferriter's Cove

 

Black Tern, Ferriter's Cove, 21st October 2023 (Kilian Kelly).

Black Tern, Ferriter's Cove, 21st October 2023 (Kilian Kelly).

Black Tern, Ferriter's Cove, 21st October 2023 (Kilian Kelly).

Sabine's Gull, Arctic Skua, Spotted Sandiper

 An adult Sabine's Gull was feeding close inshore near Rough Point this evening.

Adult Sabine's Gull, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Adult Sabine's Gull, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Adult Sabine's Gull, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Adult Sabine's Gull, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

An Arctic Skua was also seen, heading west at a ferocious pace.

Arctic Skua, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Arctic Skua, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Arctic Skua, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Arctic Skua, Rough Point, 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Meanwhile, the Spotted Sandpiper was still present nearby, at The Trench.

Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', 13th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Better photos of the Spotted Sandpiper

 

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 11th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 11th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 11th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 11th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench'

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 10th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

 "The Trench' is the outlet of Lough Gill, where it meets the sea. The water levels of Lough Gill are controlled by a sluice gate mounted on the bridge there, allowing full outflow of fresh water, but preventing much salt water entering the lake on spring high tides, which is an awful shame. Lough Gills' default state would be a saline lagoon if that weren't the case, and would be way more important as a bird and wildlife habitat. It would drain out to mudflat at times of low rainfall and neap tides, and be filled with salt water on spring tides, knocking back shore vegetation and creating more shoreline habitat once water levels drop again. Waders, wildfowl and herons would love it. They still do, but in a much reduced way.

But anyways, this Spotted Sandpiper was found late this evening just where the lake waters enter the sea. The 9th record for Kerry and about the 58th for Ireland.

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 10th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

 

The above photo shows the restricted white wingbar of Spotted Sandpiper. If it were a Common Sandpiper which, as the name suggests, is much commoner, the white of the wingbar would extend all the way back toward the body. Almost impossible to see in real life, but very possible with a half-good photo of the bird in flight.

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 10th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 10th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).

Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper, 'The Trench', Castlegregory, 10th October 2023 (Michael O'Clery).