Ireland's mystery shearwater revealed

For a few nights each summer since 2004, an unfamiliar seabird has been heard calling from the rocky slopes of Skellig Michael, a dramatic islet off the coast of Ireland's County Kerry (Google Coordinates 51.7689°, -10.5423°). This June the calls were recorded by a visiting film crew headed by Eamon de Buitlear and identified by Killian Mullarney and Magnus Robb (authors of Petrels Night and Day: A Sound Approach Guide) as a male Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea).

Armed with a tape, Alyn Walsh and Mullarney revisited the site where they successfully caught and ringed the shearwater. The closest known breeding site for Cory’s Shearwater is on the Berlengas Islands, a small archipelago off central Portugal (39.4151°, -9.51258°) some 850 miles south of Skellig Michael. Interestingly, a few pairs of Scopoli's Shearwater nest on the French coast near Bordeaux (Mays, Durand and Gomez 2006 Ornithos 13: 316), a mere 650 miles away.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Skellig Michael (Great and Little Skellig) host large colonies of Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus, European (British) Storm-Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, Northern Gannet Morus bassanus, alcids and Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax.

Will the Skellig Cory's Shearwater return next summer? Will he succeed in luring a mate? Could there be other Cory's or Scopoli's Shearwaters visiting North Atlantic seabird colonies?

See Irish Birding and Birdwatch Magazine for the full story.

Petrels Night and Day: A Sound Approach

Ever wondered what White-faced Storm-Petrels sound like? No, they don't go "boing, boing, boing" as their wave hopping antics would suggest. A spectacular new book by Magnus Robb, Killian Mullarney and others called Petrels Night and Day: A Sound Approach Guide, has the answer and much, much more.

Using two CD's worth of sound recordings, a wonderfully readable text, eighteen full-page color plates and a heep of spectacular photographs, the authors take us on a sweeping tour through the eastern North Atlantic and Mediterranean in search of petrels, shearwaters, fulmar and storm-petrels. The result is a master work that sets a new standard for natural history guides. The material on field identification is absolutely cutting edge, with detailed treatments of several potential new splits. Pelagic birders on both sides of the Atlantic will find this a treasure trove of information and an inspiration.

Checkout the Oceanwanderers Bookshelf for the full review.