Donal Hickey: Spotted — Ireland's first south polar skua
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You see them with their mounted cameras and binoculars, sitting quietly on headlands, gazing out to sea and appearing endlessly patient.
Our top, sea-watching sites for the autumn bird passage are busy with birders and we can expect an influx of enthusiasts from Britain during their August bank holiday at the end of the month.
Cape Clear, in West Cork; the Bridges of Ross, County Clare; Kilcummin Head, Mayo, and Brandon Point, in Kerry’s Dingle Peninsula, are among popular haunts of the Irish birding fraternity who are constantly looking out for something unusual.
The sighting of a rare bird always generates excitement, as happened at Bridges of Ross, earlier this month, when a south polar skua was spotted by Gerard Murray and then Brian McCloskey from Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, during a 14-hour watch with several others.
On the day, numerous seabirds were observed, including great skuas, storm petrels, shearwaters and puffins, among others.
The attention of the group was drawn to a bird that seemed like a great skua. McCloskey, in particular, was very intrigued by the bird and began to video it as it flew west.
According to one of those present, Cian Cardiff, they became more excited after viewing the footage and soon reckoned it could the first, land-based sighting in Ireland of a south polar skua.
“An absolutely amazing experience to be a part of and to see this amazing bird on one of the best Irish, sea-watches of all time,’’ he related.
Final confirmation is determined by the Irish Rare Birds Committee, based on video evidence and the evidence of the eight birders present, who are convinced it was a faraway visitor.
The gull-like, south polar skua, which has a brownish-grey body and white streaks on its wings, breeds in the Antarctic and can migrate to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during winter in the southern hemisphere.
When such a bird turns up so far north, the tendency is to see the occurrence as an indicator of warming oceans, but experienced Clare birder Tom Lynch believes this was only an odd sighting and more a rarity/novelty than anything else.
In June 2019, there was a recorded sighting of a south polar skua at sea, 110 nautical miles south of Mizen Head, by Paul Connaughton, of Shearwater Wildlife Tours.
Bird-watching from headlands is weather-dependent. Showery, windy conditions from west to north-west, which we have been experiencing, are usually best, bringing many birds closer to shore and giving better views. On sunny days with little wind, birds remain too far out to sea, say experts.
Last words to Brian McCloskey: “It was a dream end to a dream sea-watch."