Grey Heron

The Grey Heron is a common resident species which can be found throughout Ireland.  It can be found on lakes, rivers, marshes, canals etc, in fact just about anywhere water can be found.

This particular bird was at the ponds in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, a place I've been visiting with great regularity ever since I was a young boy and grew up a short bus ride away.  The gardens are awash with wildlife and are a good place to get some interesting species if you are prepared to put the time in.  Species like Kingfisher, Dipper, Tree Creeper and Waxwing are just a few of the great birds the gardens have given me, along with all the regulars.  I've attached a link to the gardens below.

http://www.botanicgardens.ie/

This Grey Heron was oblivious to me as it went about its business.  The Herons roost in some of the trees in the gardens and also in the trees that run along the Tolka River on the St Marys School side, so there are usually a Heron or two to be had on every visit.

If you find yourself in Dublin with a few hours to spare I'd strongly recommend a trip out to Glasnevin.  A walk around the gardens is a really great way to pass the day away.

Jackdaws in April

I've been lucky enough to have many birds nest and rear young at very close quarters over the years, there are an abundance of places in and around Ashbourne that offer nesting opportunities.  This year I've taken particular notice of a group of about 5 or 6 pairs of Jackdaw who set about nest building and foraging in and around some farm buildings not far from home.

There have always been Jackdaws in this particular area, what drew my attention to them this year was witnessing them actually removing the hair from the backs of a local beef cattle herd and bringing it back to the units  in the adjoining fields.  I witnessed this over a number of days and have attached some photos.

I don't think he'll miss  just a little bit......

Ah here, now your getting greedy!

I took a casual walk around the farm units and the tell tale signs of Jackdaw nest building were to be had everywhere.  On one building there are a number of industrial roller doors and it appeared the Jackdaws were busy preparing nests between the tops of the doors and the flashing on the actual building.  I witnessed a constant movement of Jackdaws in and out with materials over a period of a couple of weeks.

One of the roller doors being used as nest sites

On my last visit I could clearly hear the calls of young Jackdaws from above at least 2 of the roller doors as the adults went about the business of gathering the food the young would need to fledge and leave the nest.  Alas all was not well as beneath one of the doors I found a freshly broken egg on the ground, it was a very mild day and the egg was still wet, it must have fallen only minutes before I arrived.  The good news was that at least one adult was still moving in and out of the gap above the door and when I returned some days later there were the calls of young chicks to be heard.

One less mouth to feed for the parents....

An adult earlier in the month during the building phase

Meadow Pipit

By now most of the migrants have arrived (later than usual) and the countryside is awash with the sights and sounds of Summer.  I was out on Bull Island on Saturday and the place was literally alive with migrants.  There were Chiff Chaffs, Willow Warblers, Reed Bunting, Wheatear, Skylarks and a few Grasshopper Warblers all to be had in the dunes in and around the reed bed just off the Bull Wall.

As high tide approached I left the dunes and headed around by the Sea Scouts to see if anything of interest was amongst the Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank and Dunlin which were being slowly shepherded towards the shingle by the rising tide.  There were no smalls of interest, however there were seven Whimbrel moving along the shore ahead of the tide, I'll post some shots of these later on in the week.

Black-Tailed Godwits

I planned a recent trip to Swords (Broadmeadow Estuary) to arrive an hour before high tide.  Broadmeadow can be a great place to get up close with the birds on the Estuary.  There is so much activity with walkers and runners on the footpath its almost as if the regular birds on the estuary have learned to live with human traffic and are that bit tamer than some birds elsewhere.

Anyway, here are some shots I got of the Black-Tailed Godwits in the run up to high tide.  Most of these birds will be off to their breeding grounds much further north soon enough, you can see the beautiful rusty orange colouring taking hold on some of their coats, a sure sign they wont be here too much longer.

Great Crested Grebe

 This Great Crested Grebe was shot from the wooden bridge on the Bull.  It was on the more sheltered inner side and never moved further than 20 or 30 metres from the bridge.  It was still showing almost 2 hours later when I was on the way back across.  

 

 

Turnstones

A recent trip up the Dublin coast starting in Howth and working up to Gormanstown had plenty of highlights.  These turnstones got the day off to a cracking start.  They were busy about their business on the rocks below the lighthouse in Howth harbour, the group numbered about fifteen.

Down with that sort of thing....

Here are some snaps taken in and around Kilbride/Ratoath, Co.Meath recently.  For a couple of sq. kilometers practically every available post and gate has a sign similar to the ones here.  I presume they are put up by the same individual, as they are mostly written in red (crayon) paint and the spelling and grammar is almost always laughable.  Smile, I do.

Even on private property like this, the sign threatening poison is illegal. 

Well sheep, do you know where your dogs are?

Amazingly no spelling mistakes and the sentence appears to be constructed correctly.



This one appears to be painted on the back of an old tumble dryer

At least think about what you want to say before you put paint to bin lid.