Just got back from County Kerry this morning where I had a few interesting sightings:
- chough every day, including a pair high up on Carrauntoohill on 21st
- a flock of about 20 golden plover near the summit of Carrauntoohill on 21st
- a probable great shearwater from Brandon Head on 22nd
- single great skuas close off Brandon Head on 22nd, 23rd and 25th, maybe the same individual each time
- two sunfish and a about a dozen bottlenose dolphins off Brandon Head on 22nd
- an arctic skua off Slea Head on 24th
- perhaps most interesting of all, huge numbers (est. 200) of whimbrel at Cloghane Bay in the evening of 25th. I had only seen whimbrel in small numbers before and could hardly believe my eyes. Also there seemed to be three grey phalarope among the whimbrel, although the light was poor and I couldn't be 100% certain. Early the next morning there were only about 60 whimbrel left (and no phalarope). I saw some of them fly off to the south, perhaps continuing their migration.
So quite interesting. Dire weather though.
Sounds like a good trip. Did you see any big flocks of choughs. The far SW of Ireland must be a great place for a holiday. I must go there some time!
Allen
[QUOTE=Allen S. Moore;1277544]Sounds like a good trip. Did you see any big flocks of choughs. The far SW of Ireland must be a great place for a holiday. I must go there some time!
Allen[/QUOTE]
Yes, there was a flock of about 40 choughs on the hillside about one mile west of Brandon Head. Otherwise they always seemed to be in pairs.
I think that if the weather was good it could be a great place to go. I would love to have climbed Brandon peak, gone scuba diving, and taken the boat over to Great Blasket Island. But none of these were possible because most of the time it was both wet and windy. Instead I found myself spending a great deal of time sitting in my car on headlands watching fulmars and gannets fly past, hoping for something more interesting, and that got a bit boring. Plus it's expensive there. TBH it was an OK trip, no more. At least the flights were free.