Spoonbill

I took a trip up the Meath - Louth coast this morning stopping off at the usual spots.  At Seabank which lies between the better known locations of Lurgangreen and Annagassan a Shorteared-Owl quartered the salt marsh lifting all the smalls at roost.

A scope of the very distant lowering tide line gave up a very rare find for this part of the country, a Spoonbill.  Most records for Spoonbill in Ireland are from the South and South-West coastline and even these are few and far between.  In fact a quick reference of the Bird Atlas 2007-11 when I arrived home showed up no records for Spoonbill on the East coast of Ireland at all during that particular four year period.  Furthermore Spoonbill were only recorded in eleven 10km squares during the Atlas and all were on the a fore mentioned South to South-West coastal region.

All of that makes this 1st Winter Spoonbill more than just a good bird for the region, it makes it a great bird for the North-East.  Apologies for the quality of the shots but this bird really was a long way out on the mudflats.

Redshank

The Redshank is a very common resident in Ireland.  It can be found along the shoreline and on estuaries throughout the country, its numbers swell in Autumn/Winter with the influx of birds from colder regions. They do breed in Ireland but only in small numbers as most of our visiting birds depart at the start of spring for whence they came.

These shots were taken this morning at Sutton Creek in Dublin.  There were plenty of Redshank around, foraging amongst the seaweed, racing up and down the shore just on the tide line.

Tufted Duck

The Tufted Duck is a widespread common fresh water duck that can be found in ponds and lakes throughout Ireland.  There may be good numbers of them around but that has never stopped them being one of my favourite ducks, they just look amazing when seen up close, well the male does but as with many birds the female is a touch on the brown and dull side.

These ducks are part of the small group that can be found on the ponds at Bushy Park, Dublin.

Conservation terrorism - Ireland 2014

A modern society?  Nah, not when this country is still home to some ignorant, neanderthal, gun wielding, poison laying farmers and land owners who's value's belong in another century and who's moral and ethical compass is well and truly broken.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/whitetailed-eagle-shot-and-starved-to-death-30067176.html

This is not the first and looks like it won't be the last of these magnificent birds to suffer this fate in this the land of a thousand welcomes and all that feckology.  We're fast becoming an embarrassment,  a country of gobshites and morons, the laughing stock of the international conservation community.  But whisper it, because you're not allowed to upset the farming and hunting community in the fair isle of Ireland 2014.

Ring-billed Gull - 1st wi

There was a time not too long ago when the Ring-billed Gull was a scarce Winter visitor to these shores from its home in North America.  Whilst not exactly common, they have become a much more regular sight all along the shores of Ireland throughout Autumn and Winter.

The bird pictured here is a 1st-Winter Ring-billed Gull that was found in the large mixed flock of Gulls at Dublin port last weekend.  Granted the day was all about the Ross's Gull (previous post), however when the Ring-billed was spotted it drew very little reaction from the assembled throng, partly due to the Ross's being the target of the day, and partly due I think to the ever increasing presence of Wintering Ring-billed Gulls in Ireland.  

Ross's Gull at Poolbeg

I made my way back to Poolbeg (Dublin Port) on Sunday afternoon to see if I could catch up with the Ross's Gull that had been in and around the port for a few weeks.  Saturday was a big dip with the Ross's showing up not long after I'd departed, so with the fingers and toes crossed it was to Poolbeg I headed again on Sunday.

The Ross's is a bird from the Arctic Circle and this one was only about the 22nd record ever for Ireland, so it was a bit of a big deal for me, it's not very often the mega birds show up in Dublin, you usually have to travel the length and breadth of the island chasing, so to have such a rarity in your hometown was nice for a change.

Anyway Sunday was windy, cold, damp and occasionally wet, and went from bright sunshine to overcast skies from one minute to the next.  Lots of the guys who dipped on Saturday were back for another play at the waiting game along with a few of the other usual suspects.

The Ross's didn't show 'till about 4.00pm and when it did eventually appear it spent a lot of the time down behind the outlet wall (you can see the barbed wire that sits on the wall in one of the shots) and out of view.  It appeared to be swimming against the tide up the outflow and then riding the current back down, a process it repeated again and again.  The problem here was the the Ross's was hidden from view for much of the time as it stayed down below the wall!

Add caption

On the odd occasion it did show there was a burst of action from the watching group as shutters opened and closed, tripods were adjusted and shouts went out mostly of the "I cant bleedin' see it, someone spot it for me" type.  The locals out walking the South Bull Wall were really curious as to what a group of (mainly) grown men in green anoraks and hats could be getting so exited about.  One lady asked were we looking at someone famous to which the reply came ' yeah, Colin Farell is skinny dipping in there'.

The light was poor at this time and although the bird gave intermittent views for about ninety minutes by the time we packed up and decided to call it a day it was almost dark.  I don't think anyone managed any really great shots, the two I have here are really the best of the bad bunch I managed.

Great Northern Diver

The Great Northern Diver is a common winter visitor to Ireland, it can be found in the seas all around the country. If your luck is in you can get great close up views when they frequent the harbours and ports when the weather turns stormy and the seas get rough.  The country has experienced quite a rough winter with wind speeds of well over 100kph being recorded in recent weeks, it's precisely at these stormy times that I head towards the coast to search for sea birds that have been blown to land or have decided to head for some shelter.

I've had literally dozens of Great Northern Divers in the harbours and ports along the East coast in recent weeks, so many in fact that I'm not even sure at this stage where exactly some of these shots have been taken, Loughshinney, Port Oriel, Balbriggan, Annagassan and so on.  All I can say for sure is that they've all been taken sometime in the last three weeks.

And by the way, the reason I'm posting this early on a Sunday is that the country is in the midst of another Winter storm right now and I'm waiting on it to pass by before I head out for an afternoon at Poolbeg in Dublin Port chasing a very elusive Ross's Gull that has so far caused me nothing but heartache with dip after bloody frustrating dip.  But hey the anticipation and not knowing is more than half the fun, I mean if the bird you were after was always there you wouldn't have the hours and hours of craic standing around and shooting the breeze with your mates now would you!

Adult Glaucous Gull

The fall of Glaucous and Iceland gulls Ireland has been experiencing over the last month or so shows no signs of slowing down.  I was back over in Port Oriel this morning to find four Glaucous, two adults and two first Winters sitting up on the rocks with the mixed gull flock.

One of the adults (the one pictured here) showed no signs of the brownish streaks on its neck and head you'd normally expect to find on a Winter Glaucous, instead its plumage was completely unblemished and a

brilliant Summer white already.

Already has its brilliant white Summer head and neck

There's a total absence of coluration or markings on its tail and upper-tail coverts

Glaucous Gull

The Glaucous Gull is a common Winter visitor to Ireland from its breeding grounds in Iceland and Greenland.  This year there appears to have been a higher number of sightings than most, they have been reported almost daily, along with plenty of  Iceland and some Kumliens Gulls.  The Glaucous Gull in these shots is a 1st Winter, this one was mixing with the mixed flocks in and around Port Oriel in Co. Louth last weekend.

This particular bird is very pale, the brown almost completely washed out of its plumage which happens this time of the year.  A few months ago this bird most likely had a duller, browner appearance.  Yesterday there were two 1st Winters and an adult sighted in Port Oriel, at a guess I'd say one of the 1st Winters was this individual.

This was a big bird for a 1st Winter, and when fully grown an adult Glaucous would almost match a Great Black Backed Gull for size, and the Great Black Backed is our largest gull.

This individual was particularly twitchy, constantly taking flight and moving across the harbour, settling down for a while, before moving back across to its position on the nearside rocks with the other gulls.

Kittiwake

Ireland has been battered in recent weeks by Atlantic storms, today was no different.  I set out on a trip up the Meath/Louth coast taking in all the usual stops, Gormnstown, Ben Head, Port Oriel, Dunnay Point and on up to Anagassen and Lurgangreen.  The winds never died off all day and when it rained it poured, a really wild winters day spent on the East coast.

The harbour at Port Oriel was packed full of all manner of gulls and seabirds, all looking for some shelter from the storm.  A first Winter Kittiwake kept me amused for some time as it flew out of the harbour only to turn some way out and ride the winds back in, a process it repeated again and again.  The Kittiwake is a common enough  resident breeding species for Ireland, it's found on cliffs during the breeding season but during Winter it can be found almost anywhere along the coast and in harbours.

Kittiwake  and Seal

Pacific Diver

News arrived on twitter and on irishbirding.com the weekend before last of a real MEGA bird for these shores, a Pacific Diver had been found and confirmed on Lough Fea in Co. Tyrone of all places.  To put this bird in context, the only other confirmed sightings in Ireland were of a bird which was sighted early in 2010 in Galway, and the same bird is thought to have spent some time further South in Co Clare for the next few months.  The Tyrone bird is the only other confirmed and photographed record for the country and one of less than 20 ever if you include our neighbours in the UK.  All this adds up to a MEGA bird for these shores, and although its only January, the best bird for Ireland in the year so far.

So news filtered in late on Sunday and all thoughts turned to Tuesday and would the bird hang around long enough for me to make the trip as Monday was out due to previous commitments.  As luck would have it the news on Monday was good, the bird was still present and showing well.  Tuesday arrived and brought a downpour with it.  The rain never gave up for the entire 2 hour drive and only got worse the closer to Lough Fea I got.

I arrived early enough and within about 30 seconds I had the bird.  It was hard to miss even in the rain.  It was quite literally the only bird on the entire Lough, not so much as a feather to be seen anywhere else.  Incidentally, Tuesday was about the only day last week where the rain was so heavy and the light so poor, you can see how overcast it was as the shots I got are not the brightest I've ever taken, but hey most importantly I got the bird and that was the whole purpose of the day.

There were about six other birders on the Lough and many more have made the trip since.  The bird was on show again today and it's heading for two weeks since it was first discovered so who knows just how long it'll hang around.  It's really not in its natural environment, so far inland on a fairly small Lough, but the fact its hung around this long suggests it must be happy enough and have plenty to eat.

I stayed 'till about 1300hrs and headed back South, stopping off in at Giles Quay in Louth were I had a small flock of Twite on the beach and a single Red-Throated Diver just off shore.  From there I continued to head South to Clogher Head and into Port Oriel were I got a brief view of a 1st Winter Glaucous Gull that had been sighted there the previous week, all too brief in fact as I didn't have time to get the camera out!!

That was the last stop of the day before I headed for Ashbourne happy that I'd life ticked the first real MEGA of 2014.