Category Archives: Scarce & Rare Bird Sightings

Friday 9th October 2026

Friday 9th October 2026

Great Egret at Doonbeg John N Murphy

At the Bridges of Ross today (08:00-18:00) there were four Little Auk (BMcC, KM DD, MG, et al), two Long-tailed Skua (ad + juv), six Sabine’s Gull (2 ad-type + 4 juvs), 60 Leach’s Storm Petrel, 165 Grey Phalarope, five Pomarine Skuas, 52 Great Shearwaters, 194 Sooty Shearwaters, c200 Manx Shearwater, 131 European Storm Petrel,16 Great Skua,11 Arctic Skua, one Little Gull (1cy), c250 Puffin (many adults), two Common Scoters, 54 Arctic Terns (all juveniles), one Sandwich Tern, seven Red-throated Divers, one Great Northern Diver, one Common Snipe (west), one Greenshank and a juvenile Merlin.

Several thousand auks split approx 80:20 Razorbill to Guillemot. Several ‘northern’ Guillemots (nominate aalge) were seen.

BMcCloskey, KMullarney, JNMurphy, DDickson, MGibson

There was one Great Egret still at Doonbeg. (John N Murphy)

A juvenile Black Tern was at Silver Strand, Killard. (JNM)

The Turtle Dove was still at Cregg, Lahinch. (Eanna O Flynn & Cait O Neill)

There were ten Twite and 130 Golden Plover near Goleen. (JNM)

Three Curlew Sandpipers were at Seafield. (JNM)

A seawatch at Black Head (08.05-09.45) produced two Arctic Skuas, five Storm Petrels, two Arctic Terns and one Grey Phalarope. (Paul Troake)

There were 20 Grey Phalaropes at Finvarra Point. (PT)

At Aughinish there were 32 Mediterranean Gulls, one Wheatear, 63 Golden Plover, 8 Pintail and six Sandwich Terns. (JO)

Two Arctic Terns were at Farrihy Bay. (,JNM)

One White-tailed Eagle was at Lough Muckanagh. (Maura Crowe)

Thursday 8th October 2026

At Seafield this afternoon there was one juvenile Little Gull, one Curlew Sandpiper and four Arctic Terns. (Mark Gibson & Doug Dickson)

A flock of 35 Skylarks were the only birds of note at Loop Head (DD & MG)

A female Wheatear, two Shelduck and a Merlin were at the Rine, Ballyvaughan.(Adrian Glasgow)

Wednesday 7th October 2026

A seawatch at Ross Ringing Station between 08.15-10.15 produced 20 Sooty Shearwater, 54 Manx Shearwater, 200 Gannet, one Storm Petrel, 600 Razorbill, 200 Guillemot, one Puffin, 250 Kittiwake, 23 Common Gull, two Black-headed Gull, two Common Scoter, one Red-throated Diver, one Bar-tailed Godwit and nine Grey Phalarope.(John N Murphy)

Another seawatch at the Bridges of Ross between 16.30-18.30 produced one Sooty Shearwater, 24 Manx Shearwater, one juvenile Long-tailed Skua, five Great Skua, seven Arctic Skua, five Arctic Tern and 16 Grey Phalrope. (JNM, Mark Gibson & Doug Dickson)

Also at Loop Head today a Yellow Wagtail was by the pond in Kilbaha along with one Kingfisher (JNM), two Chiffchaff were in the gardens, near the lighthouse there was one immature female Hen Harrier, a Wheatear, one Red-throated Diver and over 300 Golden Plover.

A Great White Egret was at Tarmon Lough on Clare/Galway border.(Gerry Slattery)

There were 122 Golden Plover and two Curlew Sandpiper at Seafield.(Geoff Pearson)

Three Whooper Swan joined the long staying Whooper Swan at Lough Atedaun. Also at Atedaun were one Kingfisher, 42 Black-tailed Godwit, 33 Curlew and 24 Snipe.(James Organ)

At Aughinish Lagoon there four first winter Pintail, five Greenshank, and 48 Redshank.(JO)

Two more first winter Pintail, close to 100 Greylag Geese in the area and 26 Lapwing were at Pooleenacona/Tulla Cross Turlough.(JO)

Tuesday 6th October 2026

Tuesday 6th October 2026

Turtle Dove at Loop Head John N Murphy

The Great Egret, the Pink-footed Goose and two Kingfisher were at Doonbeg.(John N Murphy)

The Turtle Dove is still at Johnny Walsh’s farm, Kilbaha.(JNM) Also at Loop Head were two Hen Harriers (one immature male & one immature female) two Red-throated Divers, three Wheatear, 250 Golden Plover and four Sandwich Terns.

One Wheatear and 300 Golden Plover were at Gooleen. (JNM)

One Curlew Sandpiper was at Kilkee Beach. (JNM)

There were 35 Common Scoter, five Red-throated Diver, 40 Lapwing, 75 Golden Plover and 16 Curlew at Lahinch. (Geoff Pearson)

At Clahane there was one Whimbrel, 67 Golden Plover and two Greenshank. (Jeff Copner)

A Red-throated Diver was at Kilmacreahy.(Cliff Baxter)

Monday 5th October 2026

Monday 5th October 2026

Pink-footed Goose at Doonbeg John N Murphy

A Pink-footed Goose was at Doonbeg Lough and a Pectoral Sandpiper flew out of the Lough towards the Bay.(John N Murphy)

Two Green Sandpiper were at Lough Gash early this morning.(JNM)

There were six Curlew Sandpiper at Seafield.(JNM)

There were four Curlew Sandpiper at Kilkee Beach.(JNM)

A Turtle Dove and three Chiffchaff were at Kilbaha.(JNM)

The Turtle Dove was still at Cregg, Lahinch today. (James Crombie)

A seawatch at the Bridges of Ross produced 40 Sooty Shearwater, 1000 Razorbill, one Long-tailed Skua, three Arctic Skua, one Great Skua, one Puffin, four Storm Petrel, five Sandwich Tern, three Arctic Tern, two Great Shearwater, two Grey Phalrope, 200 Manx Shearwater, 400 Gannet per hour and 13 Kittiwake.(Geoff Pearson)

A male Hen Harrier was at the Kilkee side of Cross village.(GP)

There were 60 Snipe and four Greenshank at Cloghaun Lough, Loop Head. (JNM)

Sunday 4th October 2026

A seawatch at Ross Ringing Station between 11.00-13.00 produced two Brent Geese, 100 Manx Shearwater, two Storm Petrel, three Arctic Skua, 15 Arctic Tern and seven Grey Phalrope and four Red-throated Diver.(John N Murphy)

A female Hen Harrier was hunting the fields near Ross Ringing Station.(JNM)

There were four Curlew Sandpiper at Seafield.(Nuala & Tom Lynch, Charlie Lyons, Sean Whelan)

The Turtle Dove was at Cregg, Lahinch.(SW, CL)

One Grey Phalarope was at Seafield this evening and a Peregrine was at Quilty. (Chris Cullen)

Saturday 3rd October 2026

Saturday 3rd October 2026

Baird’s Sandpiper ©Tom Tarpey

The Baird’s Sandpiper was still at Seafield, Quilty along with four Grey Phalaropes and 12 Curlew Sandpipers. (TT, Stan Nugent, Jeff Copner, James Organ et al)

At Loop Head today there was one Grey Phalarope, two Hen Harriers, two Buzzards, one Peregrine, one female Blackcap, two Willow Warblers, three Chiffchaff, 200 Golden Plover and six Wheatear. (John N Murphy, Chris Cullen, Nuala & Tom Lynch et al)

Friday 2nd October 2026

Friday 2nd October 2026

Baird’s Sandpiper at Seafield John N Murphy

One juvenile Baird’s Sandpiper, six Grey Phalaropes and ten Curlew Sandpipers were at Seafield, Quilty.(John N Murphy)

A Great Egret was back at Doonbeg Bay for a second winter. (JNM)

At Ross Ringing Station this evening (17.15-18.45) there were 12 Sooty Shearwaters, two Bonxies, nine Arctic Skuas, six European Storm Petrels, two juvenile Sabine’s Gulls, seven Arctic Terns, one Red-throated Diver and 11 Grey Phalaropes. (JNM)

At Aughinish Island this afternoon there were 41 European Storm Petrels, three Mediterranean Gulls and three Wheatears. (James Organ & Paul Troake)

A ringtail Hen Harrier was in the vicinity of the graveyard in Templemaley this morning.(Maura Crowe)

Thursday 1st October 2026

Thursday 1st October 2026

Grey Phalarope at Ross Bay, Loop Head John N Murphy

Seawatch at Ross Ringing Station (08.00-09.00) highlights were 50 Cory’s Shearwater, two Great Shearwater, 32 Sooty Shearwater, 300 Manx Shearwater, two Pomarine Skua (one dark morph & one light adult), one juvenile Sabine’s Gull, six Arctic Terns, two male Common Scoter, two Grey Phalaropes, 3,000 Gannets, one Puffin and one Greenshank. (John N Murphy)

The Turtle Dive was still at Lahinch. (James Organ)

There were 12 Grey Phalaropes at Ross Bay, Loop Head.( JNM)

Another three Grey Phalaropes were at Cloghaun Lough.(John Rutherford)

Eight Curlew Sandpipers were at Seafield.(Geoff Pearson)

One Hen Harrier was at the Shannon Airport Lagoon.(Paidi Cullinan)

One Hen Harrier and a Kingfisher were at Lahinch Marsh. (JO)

A male Hen Harrier was at Gortbofarna townland near Mauricesmills. (JO)

Wednesday 30th September 2026

Wednesday 30th September 2026

Grey Phalarope at Cloghaun Lough Loop Head John N Murphy

Two Red-necked Phalaropes were in Kilbaha Harbour today. (Tom Tarpey)

The Ruddy Shelducks were still at Lahinch Marsh and the Turtle Dove at Cregg B&B. (Jeff Copner & Finbar MacGabhann)

Five Buff-breasted Sandpipers, one Ruff and 300 Golden Plover were in the Plover Fields, Loop Head. (John N Murphy & Tom Tarpey)

There were 15 Grey Phalaropes on the sea at Cloghaun Lough. (TT & JNM)

Three Grey Phalaropes and a Jack Snipe were at Ross Bay, Loop Head. (JNM & TT)

One Willow Warbler, two Chiffchaff and a Buzzard were on the Bog Road, Loop Head. (JNM), and one Kingfisher and an immature Hen Harrier were close to Kilbaha Village. (JNM & TT)

One male Hen Harrier was at Tubber with two Ruff and a Whimbrel at Lough Atedaun. (James Organ)

Two Ruff were at Lahinch Marsh. (Geoff Pearson)

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