I made my second trip of the autumn to Tory yesterday.With 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers in Western Scotland and a few Pectoral Sandpipers and Buff breasted Sandpipers in Ireland, I was mildly optimistic about my prospects of finding an american shorebird.
The weather looked good with a few days of strong westerlies prior to my visit. Under similar conditions last september I had a very successful day.
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| Strong westerlies just north of Ireland |
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| Maybe in hindsight 200 miles too far north..... |
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| Locally, north westerlies with the possibility of good seabird movement on the ferry to Tory |
The crossing over was rough and the ferry had been restricted the day previously. I was disappointed with the numbers of birds and trying to take a photograph proved to be a nightmare.
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| Juvenile Gannet |
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| Great Skua |
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Despite some great views these were the best shots I could manage. The highlighs were 3 Great Skuas, 5 Sooty Shearwaters and 4 Manx Shearwaters.
On arrival the waders in the harbour gave good views but numbers were low and there was nothing unusual amoung them.
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| Juvenile Ringed Plover |
There were a few dapper juvenile Ringed Plovers feeding on the sand, including this bird showing palmations between the middle and outer toe.
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| West Town |
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| Presumed Willow Warbler. Now a Chiffchaff! |
First stop West Town to look for migrants. I managed two Willow Warblers (now one Willow Warbler, one Chiffchaff) including this bird with one tail feather and apparently growing some new primaries. The wet face looked initially looked like a dark mask. My pulse quickened considerably......
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| One of the road leading from west town. |
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Having checked the west and satisfied myself that no Common Yellowthroats or Hooded Warblers were lurking there, I checked some of the hillsides.
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| Painted Lady |
I found a migrant butterfly which renewed my optimism. Near the lake I flushed a bird of prey from open ground.
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| Lanner type hybrid falcon? No-a normal Merlin! |
The bird had a leather strap attached to its foot and was clearly an escaped falconers bird. The second in a month after a Gyr falcon hybrid on Tory in August.
(On second thoughts as was pointed out to me its more likely to be a wild Merlin with prey in its talon and it has picked up some grass stalks along with its prey.)
There were plenty of migrant Wheatears and White Wagtails about.
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| Wheatear |
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| White Wagtail |
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| White Wagtail |
Myxmatosis has had a big effect on the rabbit population down the west end of the island. Lots of dead bodies littered the roads. I found a few poor souls wandering around suffering.
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| Rabbit suffering from myxmatosis |
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I was running short of time and Anton kindly offered me a lift to the east end. It was very quiet, but on a better note his brothers small oat field held 21 of the 25 Tree Sparrows counted on the island. Its got to produce a rare bunting this autumn!
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| Anton Meenan |
