A History Of South Polar Skua in Ireland
Loop Head, Co. Clare. 18.08.2006
The first claim I can source relates to a bird seen by Jonathan Williams and John Gregory from Loop Head itself (as opposed the Bridges of Ross, which is located further back along the north coast of the Loop peninsula).
The description by Jonathan is included below.
Catharacta Skua sp
18th August 2006
Loop Head
County Clare
Observers: John Gregory(JG) and Jonathan Williams (JW)
Time: 09:45 to 10.15
Weather: mostly overcast, light behind observers giving good visibility and viewing conditions.
Wind: NE Breeze having dropped from a moderate north-easterly the previous day.
Optics: Swaroski EL 85x42 and 10x42. Kowa TSN4- 30x wide angle and Swaroski AT60 with 30x wide angle
General: Between 6.30 and 8.30 we had been sea-watching with a small group of Irish, Belgian, Dutch, Finnish and English birders at the Bridges of Ross.
Despite a flurry of activity between 7.30 and 8.00 am movement had died away by 8.30 to such a level that we decided to move up to the tip of Loop Head itself and try our luck there.
We had watched here the previous morning and activity seemed to have been prolonged beyond that seen at the Bridges All other birders remained at the Bridges.
We made our way to a small stony ampitheatre at the NW side of the tip of the headland and adjacent to an isolated stack offering refuge to a small breeding colony of Kittiwakes and Fulmars.
There did seem to be more skuas lingering around than at the Bridges of Ross and we assumed that this was due to the presence of this colony.
We had settled by 9,00am and during the next 45 minutes recorded a couple of Balearic Shearwaters, 6 Sooties and a handful of Arctic Skuas and Bonxies.
At around 9.45 JG' s attention was drawn to a very dark looking skua which was chasing a kittiwake perhaps 1500m out to sea. The bird continued to chase the Kittiwake for about 30 seconds in which time JG noted how dark and cold looking the overall plumage of the bird appeared; markedly contrasting with cold steel white blazes on the primaries.
The overall initial impression was that this was a Catharacta skua. The bird was now flying head on and directly towards us having relinquished its pursuit of the kittiwake. It was at this point that JW shouted 'Get on this skua I think that it's a Pom! When JG followed the directions he quickly realized that this was the same bird. It then banked around and JW noted that it was in fact a Catharacta not a Stercorarius. We very quickly agreed that whilst we had seen some dark bonxies in our time this bird looked very different from anything that we had seen before. The cold dark-chocolate brown coloration with hardly any visible markings reminded JG of a purported Brown Skua, Catharacta antarctica lonbergi, which he had seen in care on the Isles of Scilly a few years earlier.
Whilst both of us have extensive experience of sea-watching and the potential pitfalls of skua identification derived over a combined total of 49 years of field birding, our experience of sea-watching outside British and Irish waters is limited.
JG had sea-watched off the NW coast of Morocco, various SE Asian coasts and Peru and had been on the Agulhas pelagic from Cape Town to Antarctica in November 2002. On this trip he observed a number of Sub-antarctic skuas Catharacta Antarctica which were considered to be of the sub-species lonnbergi. The birds were around the penguin colonies on Prince Edward and Marion Islands and were quite distant. JW had sea-watched from Cape May in September but had not recorded any catharacta skuas.
The bird eventually landed close to an adult gannet about 500m offshore and remained for about 20 minutes whilst we desperately scribbled down notes and tried, unsuccessfully, to get some digiscope shots with JG's camera purchased 6 days earlier.
Before getting into a detailed description it is worth noting that this bird was conspicuous by its lack of distinguishing features and contrast, especially when at rest.
The overall plumage tone was cold dark chocolate brown with no warm or rufous tones. From our viewing position and in good light we could see very little contrast in this colour anywhere on the body except for the hindneck (see later). Structurally the bird appeared less robust and chunky` than any Bonxies that we had seen previously. Wings extended beyond the tail at rest.
Detailed description
Head: Bill appeared more slender than Bonxie. The gonys appeared less significant and the base of the bill to the gonys less deep than Bonxie. This may have given the impression of a slightly longer bill to head ratio vs Bonxie which may have been more apparent than real. This coupled with a slightly steeper forehead and a less bull-necked appearance than Bonxie, or indeed Brown Skua, gave the bird a small and rather round headed appearance such that at rest an observer, on head shape alone, could plump for the stercorarius rather than catharacta family. The bill was all dark.
The plumage of the head was perhaps the most apparent feature of the bird at rest. The crown, ear coverts and lores appeared concolorous cold dark brown but the hindneck (extending a small way onto the sides of the neck) and very bottom of the rear crown flecking showed obvious but indistinct flecking of a pale straw/buff colouration. This gave the bird the look of a partial collar but because the ear coverts remained dark this did not make the bird look at all capped as in other skua species.
Despite being able to see the hindneck flecking we did not see (or look for at the time) any pale colouration around the base of the bill. However, given the viewing conditions and length of observation we suspect that this was lacking.
Body: At rest the plumage appeared cold dark-chocolate brown; little or no contrast was observed between mantle feathers, scapulars and coverts. In good light we did observe a few pale straw/buff flecks (same colour as hind neck flecking) to mantle feathers butthese were very limited and difficult to see. Nowhere on the body were there any hints of warm or rufous tones or blotching.
In Flight: We could see little contrast between upperwing coverts and flight feathers (discounting the primary blaze). However the underwing coverts appeared extremely dark, unmarked and contrasted slightly with the slightly paler undersides of the secondaries.
The most striking features in flight were the white primary blazes which were all the more obvious due to the contrast with the overall darkness of the bird.
On the underwing the blaze extended from around a quarter of the length of the primaries on the inner wing to around half the length on around P7/P8 before pinching in' on the outermost primary and appeared more 'solid' and discrete than the upperwing which showed white fringes extending outwards from a thick solid white base to these feathers.
The blaze colour was cold steely white. The blazes were so striking and clean cut that we think it possible that the bird might recently have moulted or be in the final stages of moulting its primaries and that all or most of these feathers at least were fresh.
The tail was typically shorter than stercorarius skuas and looked similar in proportion to Bonxie with extended central tail feathers showing as a distinct but very short protrusion from the other tail feathers. One notable feature seen especially when the bird stalled whilst chasing the kittiwake were apparent white shafts or feather edgings within the tail.
This had the effect of showing equally spaced thin white lines is the basal part of the tail (not extending to the tip). This feature was seen both on the under and upper side of the tail.
Legs: Not seen
After 20 minutes the bird flew around much closer for 2 or 3 minutes and was seen flying, next to an Arctic Skua for a few seconds. More importantly it flew alongside a Bonxie for about 15 seconds. During this short time we noted marked plumage colouration differences. The Bonxie (a moulting adult) showed warmer tones and creamier blazes (which appeared worn).
Structurally the differences were subtle but the Bonxie appeared proportionally longer winged, slightly bigger and generally stouter or more robust.
The bird was also see briefly in the same field of view but at a greater distance to two passing adult Pomarine Skuas ( a spooned bird and a winter plumaged bird) but due to distance little could be gleaned from this comparison.
During the period of observation JW tried to contact birders at the the Bridges of Ross but could get no mobile reception. By the time we got back to the Bridges at around 11.10am all birders had left for the morning.
The news of the bird was released by a couple of UK based information services as a "possible South Polar Skua' based on a phone discussion with a friend who had had recent experience of South Polar Skuas off Cape Hatteras at a similar time of year.
However, it was not until a couple of days later, after looking at articles in ' Birding World and referencing The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife (Shirihai), Skuas and Jaegers (Olsen and Larsen) and The North American Bird Guide (Sibley) that we became very confident that we were recording a dark phase South Polar Skua of indeterminate age and moult status.
The hind neck flecking does appear consistent with an older to adult bird but we cannot find much on moult in the literature and specifically how the neck flecking might look in adult/immature birds during the austral winter.
The second sighting of South Polar Skua in Ireland relates to a far more classic, pale individual found by Owen Foley from Mizen Head, Co. Cork, the account of which is transcribed below.
Mizen Head, Co. Cork 12.10.2012
"Every year for the past five years I, my brother and father have worked the Mizen Head area for migrants, for a period of 1-2 weeks in October. This has often varied in success, with some years having bumper crops of rarities and some, like this year, having very little in terms of migrants.
Having had a couple of very quiet days, with little more than one or two Yellow-browed Warblers lingering on the head, my brother and father were being tempted off to County Kerry, for long staying Buff Bellied Pipit and Surf Scoters.
Not leaving the house quietly, I was awake at 06.30 and had a leisurely breakfast. However, by the time the light came up, I was bored of Sky News and took off for the last garden on the Mizen Road.
It was a bit too cold for much activity in there, so I carried on to the lighthouse car park to see if there was any activity at sea. Seawatching from Mizen in October is not like seawatching elsewhere at this time of year. There are often large numbers of whales and dolphins in the area, and these often bring with them large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters which linger ~ previous autumns having produced flocks of several thousand following Minke Whales.
Looking with binoculars I could easily pick up Sooty Shearwaters moving west, and having found a Fea’s Petrel some days before in similar conditions (which was a tick for my brother), I grabbed my scope and set off for the cliff edge. The elevation was good, as was the light, and birds were moving by quite close. A large feeding flock of Gannets and Kittiwakes were just off shore to my right, with several Sooty Shearwaters milling around in the fray with them. Two Bonxies were causing havoc in the melee, and birds were drifting in from the east to join them. At about 9 a.m, I picked up an extremely pale bird, close in (about ¼ the way out), out to my left. It was instantly recognizable as “not your average skua”, to say the least!
Strikingly ice cold, white-grey on the head, and underparts with a smooth, “smoky” quality, it contrasted strongly with jet black underwings. The upperwings too, were solidly dark on all the coverts, and the darkness of the wings in general, seemed to make the white flash on the primaries all the more brilliant. The tail, rump and mantle were all dark, contrasting with the pale nape. The bill was thick and seemed evenly bulbous, giving the bird an almost comical expression, like the bill did not quite belong. The face was also pretty much evenly pale, lending the bird a further “kind” and open look to it. A hint of a white “blaze” just behind the bill was visible, but in good light, was contrasting little with the rest of the bird’s plumage. This was surely a bird that belonged on Antarctic Ice Floes?
Jizz wise the bird did seem slightly sleeker than Bonxie, however, whether this was an effect caused by the smooth plumage and the way light played on it I cannot say for certain. During the five minutes it was passing, it was on view with a Bonxie sadly for only a brief second (though there had been Bonxies much further out in the background at times), so a prolonged comparison of structure could not be made. However with such a distinct plumage it made little difference to the ID process.
After the bird was lost to view, I blinked for the first time in what felt like an eternity and I rapidly made my way back to the car and poured over the field guides I had to hand to cement my thoughts.
Without a doubt a pale phase South Polar Skua. I managed to text the news out (phone signal is always patchy and random on Mizen) and the news was quickly disseminated on the Cork Twitter feed. With the temperature rising, I resumed birding the various gardens during the day, but to be honest, was not much use...I was looking forward to a beer too much!"
There was a time when pale birds were the subject of dismissive chatter, that perhaps birds of this appearance did not reach Europe, but there have now been several noted in Western Palearctic waters and, if I do say so myself they remain the most desirable individuals to see.
A pale bird from Icelandic waters this year. Delectable!
A pale bird from Spain
At Sea of Cork, 22.06.2019
As became the norm off the Canaries, the 3rd Occurrence was found from a pelagic some 110 nautical miles off Mizen Head, found by Paul Connaughton.
The Bridges of Ross, Co. Clare, 03.08.2024
The 4th Occurrence, found this season by Ger Murray, was the first "mass sighting" (at least by Irish standards) with a "whopping" 8 people having seen it.
Another pale bird (though seemingly dark masked, unlike the Mizen 2012 bird), it adds a sense of security to images that would otherwise perhaps not pass muster if a dark bird was involved. (And indeed, a discussion could be had on just what passes as acceptable imagery for certain species)
Not all will agree that these images are OK.
In my view however, with Ireland's ridiculous excuse for a rarity committee, it really no longer matters, it looks fine for SPS and let's face it...if this was not accepted everyone who saw it would still tick it. 😉
What does not help matters, however, is the photographers particular tendency to over reach and feign expertise/ability where there is none.
Sadly, the bare minimum of scrutiny, which most seem to have failed to apply, shows that there is simply a heavy blur or processing artefact at play.
Whether the photographer is trying to hoodwink people or is simply incompetent is up for debate.
Sadly that particular clique this individual is a member of has form for trying present themselves as knowledgeable/able, often deleting the tweets/evidence when the truth is pointed out.
Nonetheless, one questionable person playing chancer shouldn't affect how this bird is seen in the long run.
So what is the current scenario with South Polar Skua?
It seems clear that a broad window for them to show up exists, with June to October in play.
Unfortunately, many of us will know that the sea conditions off Ireland in September and October don't often allow for pelagics, as one would imagine that we should mirror the Canaries for birds at that time of year.
Hopefully more actual seawatching records become the norm as people expand their search image.
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