Cork Birding

1st-w male Desert Wheatear Bray Head 13th November 2011

2011-11-14T23:53:00.003Z

Common Buzzards in Co. Cork

2011-07-13T12:52:00.008+01:00

The Bird Atlas fieldwork is not yet complete, but, from the preliminary maps already available, it is clear that one big winner since the previous Atlas is Common Buzzard, which has increased in range and population size. For those not familiar with the status in Ireland, the species was driven to extinction some time in the 19th century, recolonising in the middle of the 20th, but, for some time, it was more or less confined to Northern Ireland as a breeding species, due, mainly, to the fact that use of strychnine was legal in the Republic.

Since this was made illegal, in 1991, the situation has improved, and, by the late 90s, the species could be found along much of the east coast (the population in Co. Wicklow, which is believed to have possibly originated from Welsh birds, was established in the late 70s, but, as far as I am aware, they were never common there through the 80s...anyone with more exact data, feel free to comment). This spread caught our attention down here in Co. Cork, but, at that time, we felt that the rate of spread would see breeding birds reach us by around 2020, maybe earlier.

Small numbers of Common Buzzards started to be seen in the county much sooner than that, in 2001, but these always seemed to just disappear come the spring, and proof of breeding eluded us, though it was suspected in 1-2 areas owing to the presence of small groups in winter. Finally, in 2004, two pairs were proven to breed, the first proven breeding in Co. Cork (though it is almost certain that the species bred here centuries ago). Numbers increased over the next few years, but we still felt that they were quite scarce, for the most part.

A national soaring survey was held this spring, in an effort to estimate densities, map the range spread and such. While there had been a few sightings of small groups in spring before, nothing concerted had been attempted before, so a group of us here decided to survey as many known areas (and some where the species was not yet known) as we could, in addition to the allotted 10km squares. What we found was that there were far more Common Buzzards than we had ever believed, though admittedly some soaring birds seen in spring will have been in their 2nd calendar year, and, as such, would not have bred this year. In particular, in some favoured squares, densities are starting to rise, and the species could perhaps best be described as localised, yet common in some areas...in parts of east, south and mid Cork, especially.

In tandem with this soaring survey, it was decided to attempt to trap and ring/tag as many Buzzard chicks as we could manage, so this meant a lot of walking through woodland in an effort to find nests. In many areas, having only seen soaring birds in March, there was little or no indication of where the nest would be, so this work was often quite time-consuming. Where birds had been present for a number of years, there was also the problem of deciding whether a given nest was the current one, or one used in a previous season. Despite the difficulties, and the fact that some nests were just inaccessible, we managed to tag over 20 chicks, with others that were too small to tag just being ringed. All birds tagged in Cork this year have orange tags on their left wing (to denote the year of tagging) and dark blue tags on their right wing (denoting the area): anyone seeing one of these birds should contact either Dr. Allan Mee at allanmee AT goldeneagle.ie or Tony Nagle at tnagle AT eircom.net (replace 'AT' with '@').

I decided, as a sideline, to attempt to document the variation, of lack of it, within the growing Common Buzzard population in the county. For a very variable species, I had gotten the impression that our local birds were pretty uniform on the whole, and, while I wouldn't say that I have anywhere near enough data yet in the form of pics to draw any meaningful conclusions, it would seem that this is so. Regrettably, the most interesting birds I saw this year in terms of plumage variation were mainly 2cy+ birds seen in flight, or, in one instance, a very dark juvenile was at a nest in north Cork, but it and its sibling were deemed old enough to possibly end up jumping were the nest approached, so they were never handled. Interestingly, one of the parents at this nest was also darker than average: I hope to get some flight shots obtained by another birder on site at some stage. The other interesting birds were a bird with a whitish tail base and rustier area towards the tip (almost mirroring a typical pattern seen on adult pale/intermediate Long-legged Buzzard, though with the rusty area less rufous, and with an obvious dark subterminal band as is usual on adult Common Buzzard), and a 2cy bird seen near Cork city which was quite pale below, though not as much so as the really pale birds that turn up in countries like the Netherlands, say, in winter.

So, without further ado, here are some images.

Two images of the same chick, at a north Cork site. This bird was very close to fledging, and its sibling flew away a short distance when the nest was approached, and could not be ringed or tagged.

A complete brood ringed, tagged and ready to be returned to the nest (east Cork).

This lone chick was already quite mature on a date when other nests still had downy chicks...there seems to be a fair bit of variation in this respect. (mid/north Cork)

The first chick ringed in 2011. (east Cork)

Woodchat Shrike Knockadoon Head 8th April 2011

2011-04-09T10:03:00.003+01:00

White-winged ('Stejneger's') Scoter

2011-03-12T13:47:00.002Z

News of a White-winged Scoter in Co. Kerry broke on Wednesday. That was unexpected enough, though not too outlandish...what was bizarre, however, is when it transpired that, rather than being a deglandi, the bird turned out to be a classic adult male stejnegeri...in SW Ireland! Just goes to show that one can never really tell.

Went over there on Wednesday with Paul Moore and had a trip in vain, only for the bird to be seen throughout the day on Thursday. A return visit with Paul yesterday was much more successful, and, though views were moderate to distant for much of our visit, the bird did come in very close for 20 seconds or so at one stage, allowing the bill colour and pattern to be fully appreciated. I failed to get any record shots myself, but Paul Kelly has a series of very informative pics posted online at http://www.irishbirdimages.com/pages/gallery/march2011page2.html.

Female Ring-necked Duck Lee Fields 24th November 2010

2010-11-24T18:38:00.003Z

Hi all,

At the moment, there is a female Ring-necked Duck along the River Lee just upstream from the Lee Fields, showing that even the least fancied of spots can, from time to time, produce quality birds. I've found a singing tristis Chiffchaff in this general area, and there are records of Great White Egret (2000) and Night Heron (1990) also.

The story behind the finding of this bird is somewhat complicated. On Sat 6th November, my brother (a lapsed birder since he was around 14, in 1994) phoned me, saying that he had seen a duck other than the typical Mallards on the Lee, and that he thought it was most likely a female Tufted Duck. It must be borne in mind that he would not have been familiar with the appearance of Ring-necked Duck, had no optics, and was reasonably distant from the bird.

On Tue 16th, I went for a walk with my mother, with no optics, out the Lee Fields, and imagine my surprise when confronted with an obvious female Ring-necked Duck! I then remembered my brother's sighting from 10 days earlier, and, when I showed him my initial record shots (taken with my Samsung NV3 alone), he felt that this was the same bird that he had seen.

A thread started on Birdforum a day or two later, with someone asking if a bird that he had photographed was a female Ring-necked Duck or a hybrid. As I type this (on 24th), he has not posted again on that thread, so it is unclear where he took the shot, or when: I assume that it was this individual, but did he see it before or after I first did, and, if so, did he see it before or after my brother presumably did...?

Anyway, let's not get bogged down in semantics, and enjoy the bird for what it is. I managed to relocate it slightly upstream of its original location today, despite there being no sign when I and others checked for it since last week. It seems a little more wary now, once flushing when two squabbling Mallards frightened it, and once when I was trying to relocate it, breaking cover from behind some trees as I realised that it was there. Interestingly, and probably helped by the close views, I was able to hear the bird call when it took off, a muffled quack (but not like that of a Mallard, say).

To err is human...

2010-10-29T23:10:00.002+01:00

No, not a juicy admission of some personal cock-up (though I have made my fair share, thankfully mostly in private, over the years): rather, it is obvious to anyone who surfs the net, and especially certain websites, that, today, the stakes are rather higher than before. Make a mistake now, and the whole world could know about it a few hours later, if the bird having been claimed was rare enough to attract attention. This is all well and good, news of a corrected misidentification is nothing harmful, but, perhaps, we should all bear our own fallibility in mind when faced with someone else's honest mistake, and treat the news accordingly. 'There but for the grace of God', and all that.
As someone who twitches, I personally would feel a duty to disseminate news of anything that I find (yes, younger readers, I actually have found birds rare enough to generate a twitch, though not for some time now), yet I also recognise the need to be at least somewhat sure of an identification before releasing news. The balancing act is trying to get to a position of comfort quickly enough to spread news promptly, while not rushing the identification process. I would hazard a guess that many (the majority) of errors made by relatively experienced birders are due to such pressures, and, if people wish to be made aware of news promptly, then some leeway and understanding is necessary when 'good' birders mess up: schadenfreude is understandable, particularly if the person making the mistake is someone with whom one doesn't get on, but I would claim that there is no room for triumphalism where bird identification is concerned (this also applies when involved in an ID debate, being proved correct should not be seen as a 'victory' against those proponents of an alternative solution). This applies across the board, lest it be seen that I am taking anyone's side here: if anyone makes an honest mistake, friend or mere acquaintance, especially if they admit their failings, then the slate should be cleaned and no recriminations forthcoming.
String, of course, is another matter entirely, but, even here, one should treat even the stringer with some basic human respect. Sure, it can be frustrating to hear claims of which one is automatically unsure, yet, at the same time, even 'dodgy' observers occasionally find good birds, and we have all been through a phase where imagination and a desire for new birds has overcome common sense and a more rigourous approach to identification. In my own case, this period was mercifully short, but it saw me claim such birds as a juvenile Pacific Golden Plover, a Nightjar over my house, Tree Pipit near Cork city in March, and other such unlikely birds. In most cases, I know that the proposed identification was wrong (the 'Nightjar' didn't even fly like one, or a Nighthawk, and was most likely a late-flying Kestrel), and, anyway, I had my own personal 'night of the long knives' when I was 19 or 20, where all those dodgy birds were removed from my list. It hurt at the time, but it had to be done: all any of us can do is be totally honest with ourselves, and try to be as objective as possible when questioning one's own sightings. I believe that most birders are honest, it's just that we are, no more or less than anyone else, all imperfect, so errors can and do creep in...we must remain vigilant.

News from yesterday

2010-09-26T14:44:00.002+01:00

The same nothing as midweek...but more of it!

Some thoughts on Woodchat Shrikes

2010-09-10T11:04:00.005+01:00

Hi all,
I hope that, on a blog such as this, I may be forgiven for musing slightly on the taxonomic status of Woodchat Shrike forms, given that I am not a taxonomist, have not seen niloticus, and have limited experience of badius. No doubt, so many others could write more authoritatively or more interestingly about these taxa, but allow me the indulgence.
My own interest in the various subspecies of Woodchat Shrike began in June 2002, when, having gone down to Mizen Head and seen the bird found by Dan Ballard, I was one of four observers responsible for figuring out that it was most likely of the form badius, which, at that time, had not been recorded in Ireland. In due course, this was accepted, and there has been a subsequent bird in Co. Wexford in May 2009, which also appears to have been a good badius from the images obtained (regrettably, I never travelled to see this second bird).
So, one might say that I have had a vested interest in the form, especially when it was a bit of a potential 'blocker' (!). As a result, I must say that, given that all age groups are diagnosible in the field, I am somewhat surprised that the taxon has yet to be split from Woodchat anywhere, not even in the Netherlands: here is a bird that can be seperated with confidence from the other Woodchat taxa, which has its own distinct wintering area within the winter range of senator/ rutilans, which must encounter migrant nominate birds in spring and autumn on passage, and yet maintains its integrity as a form.
Against this background, and during the course of discussion on an interesting Woodchat Shrike in Sweden on the Surfbirds forum, the following comments made by Andrea Corso are highly interesting:
'many years ago, I found singing males badius in central Italy, within breeding range of nominate senator, and postulated/speculated that they were breeding sympatrically....this year several birders found some breeding pairs in the same area ...badius were all paired with badius and within same bushes in same 100m of several pairs senator so.... let's study them better'
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but, if this zone of overlap is found to be constant, with both taxa segregating and breeding only with their own type, this would have profound implications for the taxonomic status of badius with respect to the nominate, satisfying the key requirement of the good old BSC, never mind the PSC. It brings to mind the sympatric breeding in mainland Italy of Subalpine (cantillans) and Moltoni's (either moltonii or subalpina, the nomenclature of this taxon is still problematic) Warblers, with the latter taxon also breeding on the Balearics, Corsica and Sardinia (i.e. in the same areas as badius), and Moltoni's has been split by some European taxonomic authorities...

For those who haven't seen it...amazing Spoon-billed Sandpiper footage

2010-08-13T22:54:00.005+01:00

Hi all,
Not mine, regrettably, but courtesy of Swedish birder David Erterius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmEaCj60mF8

Blogging: the new approach

2010-08-12T11:40:00.003+01:00

Hi all,
Well, it's been a long time, mainly due to fears, legitimate or otherwise, that my birding life just wasn't exciting or 'sexy' enough to make what I had to say any more valid than what so many others have said in so much more detail than I ever have done. Something about blogging makes me uneasy, it's like one is clamouring for attention above the background noise of thousands of other blogs, and this doesn't sit easy with my humble side.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised recently, in the text of an unrelated e-mail about Ringed Plovers, to receive a remark about my blog which read as follows: 'By the way, your blog needs a new sign of life, it's been nearly a year now...'
To that person, who knows who he is, I dedicate at least part of this post, for the kick up the posterior that I needed to do something about the situation!
So, of late, I have rediscovered an always stimulating birding blog written by Martin Garner, that often poses as many questions as it supplies answers, yet always in such a way as to attempt to inspire others to help solve the puzzle, or at least to make more use of their own observations. The URL is http://birdingfrontiers.wordpress.com/, I'll be adding it to my own links also.
While I don't know much about the identification of juvenile 'African Cormorants', the Belgian bird, found by Peter Adriaens, on Martin's blog does look amazing, and unlike any juvenile Cormorant that I have ever seen...need to see juvenile sinensis in fresh plumage, however, only seen 2cy birds in late winter/early spring. Certainly don't think I saw any juvenile maroccanus, presume they wouldn't have fledged as early as April anyway, even that far south? Need to do Morocco again...
Chiffchaffs, on the other hand, are something I encounter very regularly, even when doing Atlas-related birding as I have done so often the last few summers, and I must agree: I am hearing the 'swee-oo' call everywhere right now, possibly more so than in recent years. I do recall Bill Oddie musing about this in his column in Birdwatch magazine, perhaps in the mid to late 90s, and I know it was treated in passing by Mark Constantine et al in The Sound Approach to Birding, but, if adults are giving this call as well as juveniles, and Martin's shots clearly show that they are, just what are the implications? Is it just that this call was always in the vocabulary of local collybita, and it is just now, with a long-needed shake-up of how we treat vocalisation in an identification context, that people are taking proper notice? Perhaps, but I still think that such a call from a common and widespread species would have been noted, whatever explanation people gave for it...
Speaking of calls, this year has seen me gain fresh experience with many calls given by species that are rarely heard, or call types that differ from the norm: in particular, and very helpfully for confirming breeding for so many species, I have gained experience of calling juveniles of such species as Sparrowhawk (and how they sound subtly different from those of juvenile Long-eared Owl, not necessarily an academic distinction to have to make, as the owls can start calling before dark sometimes...) and Common Buzzard (which enabled me to prove breeding at a new site one evening without seeing any birds, but hearing at least one juvenile and one adult calling quite late from inside a small copse), and refreshed my aural 'search image' for things like juvenile Greenfinch and Linnet. If the above species don't sound exciting enough for some of you, I was also able to confirm the distinctions, as heard in recordings, between the calls and song of Booted and Sykes's Warblers in central Asia, and to hear the diagnostic 'trrrr' call of Moltoni's Warbler on Sardinia...

Signs of life...

2009-09-27T15:59:00.002+01:00

Just making a post to notify all three of you who check this blog out that I am just resting it, it has not been terminated or anything so final, and I reserve the right to post here as and when I see fit...watch this space?

A big day attempt, and a finds tick

2009-04-29T13:04:00.002+01:00

Well, it continues to be a relatively slow spring, with the recent poor weather not helping, especially as the winds have often been from a northerly direction, as seems so often to be the case in recent years. That said, an attempt at a county day list record on Saturday last (25th), with Paul Moore, Dennis O'Sullivan and Ger Walsh, still managed to produce some decent birds, with the most enjoyable for me being a self-found 2nd cal year Hobby at Pilmore, which was a finds tick. Given the initially distant views, and less than ideal light at times, I must admit that the initial ID was somewhat of a team effort, though the true identification became more apparent as the bird got slightly closer. Regrettably, it never really gave great views, and we eventually lost it as a speck high to the west...where it went next, nobody knows.
Also of note were two (presumably) different Little Terns, with the bird found by Paul at Lough Aderra being at a most surprising location! We could almost have expected Whiskered there before Little, given then recent events in Britain.
Suffice it to say that, given rain until 12.30, and then wind for the rest of the day, coupled with the likelihood that many species genuinely were not available, we decided to pack it in at 7.45pm, on a score of 99 species, due to the fact that the previous year's total of 105 was probably beyond us at that stage. Typically, 4 Grasshopper Warblers were at Knockadoon Head the next day: we had had none.

Spring..all it's cracked up to be?

2009-04-15T11:30:00.003+01:00

Hello again,
It really is most difficult to come up with reasons for updating this blog: as it is, I am only doing so as it has been so long since the last update.
So, yet again, spring seems to be frustrating, at least so far, with most of the best birds in the county (what few rarities that there are) not hanging around for people to see (Honey-buzzard would have been an Irish tick, Gyr would have been a county tick),elusive (that Great White Egret in the Fota area) or distant (though I did catch up with a fine 1st-summer male Subalpine Warbler on Mizen Head on Saturday last...I would show you all my pics of it, but they are a bit too poor even to put on here, to be honest). Also, as per usual in spring, I can't seem to find a rarity for love nor money, though, to be fair, it will probably be May before the odds swing around enough to favour even a slight chance of most of us finding much, Dan Ballard excepted (I don't think that he's had a spring without a few rarities since he moved to Mizen).
As a result, and being the kind of person who overanalyses things at times, I do find myself wondering just what I am doing wrong in spring? Sure, I am not getting out as often as I would like this year, and, even when I do get out, it is often noon or later before I get anywhere, and that would go a long way to explaining my poor return to date this year, but then I remind myself that, in years past, I often got out for 2-3 days a week, and still couldn't find much then. In fact, when one excludes my Alpine Swifts, which were in Cork city, and, as such, pure fluke, I have only found one spring rarity in a 'typical' location, that being a Golden Oriole at Knockadoon on 4th May 2003 (my spring finds are so few that I can even recall the date of that bird!!).
Indeed, it does seem that, even more so than in autumn, it is a small few birders who find almost all of the rarities in spring in Ireland, and, while some of them live at promising locations, others do not, and it really does beggar belief as to why this should be? I mean, I am at least as well able to identify what I see as the next man, but somehow seem to fail persistently when it comes to finding anything.
(I could also point out, of course, that, for a large part of the time every spring, I am taking part in 'worthy' birding such as harrier surveys etc, and now with the Atlas also, which would mean that I was less likely to find stuff than birders who purely go out for their own enjoyment, with no thought for the greater good, but that would be uncharitable of me, so I won't...)
I suppose I could just start heading out more often locally, even if Cork city affords little chance of finding top notch rarities...Red-rumped Swallow is surely possible at the Lough...?

Some food for thought

2009-03-26T13:21:00.003Z

Hi all,
Well, despite not having many birds to write about (though I plan on writing a short bird-related update after this), I have been wrestling with the notion of whether or not I should start posting some personal thoughts and, if I am lucky, insights on here. There is a large part of me that would regard this as somewhat self-indulgent, but, seeing as how even blogging per se could be viewed this way, I shall allow myself, from time to time, to actually make my musings available over the net.
So, yesterday, while in town, I read the latest issue of Birdwatch magazine (there's rarely anything in there to merit buying the thing, especially when I am already subscribed to two journals), and turned keenly to the Punkbirders' column, as I had seen this described as being 'strongly opinionated' (but, then, since when were the Punks afraid to offer an opinion on their own site?). Basically, as I understood it, this piece seemed to suggest that the days of the single-observer rarity being accepted are, if not quite over, then certainly numbered.
Now, I have an odd kind of position where this debate is concerned: since I spent many years without a camera, I did tend to feel somewhat apprehensive about what I too perceived as the relentless rise of the image as king, to the detriment of field notes. However, it is unclear as to how much my thoughts were influenced by my own innate technophobe ways, or (legitimate) fears of becoming almost 'obselete' in my adherence to the old ways.
In early 2007, I finally gave in to the digital revolution, and purchased a reasonably 'inexpensive' compact camera. Just over two years later, I must admit to still not having fully reconciled the sometimes divergent urges to study a given bird closely, and to obtain pics of said bird, and I do tend to wonder if I am taking in as much fine detail as before when trying to snatch a few frantic pics. That said, I must also admit that, if used judiciously and appropriately, a digital camera can be a great extra weapon in the would-be rarity finder/ID enthusiast's arsenal, but, and I may be raging against the incoming tide here, I think there is still a place for field notes also, even if only to fill in the gaps in any photographic evidence.
Sure, I appreciate that field notes, perhaps, are more prone to being subjective than all but the worst quality pics (interpretations of which can vary widely and alarmingly, as can be seen in some mystery bird competitions), and it would take a complete Luddite to deny the value of a series of shots of some bird or other (this was ever the case, however, even back in the days of analogue cameras and Richard Mills popping down to photograph the latest rarity...that 1974 Solitary Sandpiper can obviously be seen not to have been a misidentified Green even to those of us without access to the submitted description), but, sometimes, a given bird can show well, yet not reveal all of its plumage marks in front of the cameras (if an observer, say, is limited to digiscoping, it may not be possible to obtain shots showing the spread wing in flight...see my shots of the 2007 Collared Pratincole, for example, none of which show this, and, were they pics taken by me of a similar self-found bird, I would need recourse to field notes to fully exclude Black-winged or Oriental were I to make a formal submission), and there's also the potential benefits of noting calls (though these are always hard to transcribe, and are perhaps best dealt with by recording them, but that's another can of worms...), possibly significant behaviour etc.
So, by all means let us welcome the opportunity to be able to obtain very useful shots of birds without having to carry around a large amount of extra gear (many do lug this around, and they get damn good shots too, but that option isn't attractive to everyone, be it for financial reasons, a desire to be reasonably unhindered when in the field or such like), but, I would suggest, especially if 2-3 people are present, let's not forget to look closely also, while striving to remain as objective as possible, questioning one's assumptions and playing devil's advocate from time to time: Why isn't this a Herring Gull? Is that call really all that different from 'x'?
For those of us who choose to submit our finds to a committee, I still think that there would be grounds for accepting a really rare bird from a single observer, but possibly not unless the quality of the submission is faultless, pointing out exactly how all the alternatives were ruled out, and the caution that was employed in the field and after the event. As an occasional lone observer myself, I certainly wouldn't let fears of rejection spoil the enjoyment if I found, say, Ireland's first Red-flanked Bluetail and was unable to get shots, but, if I found something like a 1st-w Slaty-backed Gull, I would possibly not feel as confident that it may gain acceptance...
Of course, after all of the above, mistakes will still be made...it's an unavoidable part of the human condition...but I believe that they can be minimised with a little caution and by trying to keep a cool head where possible.
(Bet I mess up really badly in the next month or so now, after sticking my neck on the chopping board here!)

Ten years on...

2009-03-04T10:44:00.003Z

A few recent pics, and news of a county first

2009-02-17T22:33:00.004Z

Ballybrannigan does it again!

2009-02-11T00:30:00.003Z

Some recent gull pics

2009-02-04T16:31:00.005Z

Gull pics from Bantry 6th Jan 2009

2009-01-08T16:46:00.004Z

1st-w male Green-winged Teal Shanagarry 16th November 2008

2008-11-17T15:37:00.003Z

It's all gone quiet over here...

2008-11-08T19:58:00.003Z

...though, oddly, I have had three finds ticks since my last post, having managed a female-type Ring-necked Duck and female-type Goosander at Lough Gill (on a rare out-of-county trip on 27th October), and a flyover Richard's Pipit at Ballycotton on Wednesday last (5th).
In fact, while the American passerine migrants have, as one would expect, probably stopped for the autumn, we've actually had more eastern migrants in Ireland so far this month than during all of last month: not that there's been many, but, as well as that pipit, the last week has seen a late Red-breasted Flycatcher at Galley Head and a brief Little Bunting on Cape Clear. Nowhere near the amazing arrival of Bluetails etc in Britain, sure, but a sign that we may get another good passerine yet this year...?

This is not America...

2008-10-14T19:50:00.002+01:00

1st-w White-throated Sparrow, Cape Clear 12th October 2008

Philadelphia Vireo, Loop Head 13th October 2008

Another ' 80s retro' twitch: Scarlet Tanager at Garinish

2008-10-08T23:56:00.002+01:00

Little Blue Heron

2008-10-06T10:52:00.007+01:00

Belated pics of a finds tick

2008-10-06T10:50:00.002+01:00

Some dirty low-down twitching action...

2008-09-05T16:33:00.007+01:00

I wonder what these people were looking at...?

This, for one... (pic courtesy of Sean Cronin, the advantages of proper equipment)

And this, on the same puddle (pic taken by my trusty Samsung NV3, which then proceeded to die on me
due to the battery not having been charged for a while, meaning that I got no waterthrush pics)

Bridges over troubled waters...

2008-09-01T20:12:00.002+01:00

Hi all,
Well, due in part to the relatively poor seawatching season down here in Cork (except for a chosen few), and in part as I have yet to see F**'s P***** (or F**'s/D******/Z***'s, as we should call them, though I have a few choice names of my own for the species complex), I readily accepted the offer of a few days at the Bridges of Ross from 24th-26th August with Phil Davis and Ger Walsh. If nothing else, there would be the opportunity to see lots of interesting seabirds, wouldn't there...?
As it happened, the first day was relatively quiet, with only a few Arctic Skuas, 2 Balearics etc of note, and nothing much passing most of the time. There was also some excitement, and a share of controversy in some quarters, due to this being claimed by people further along from us...we never saw anything resembling the species, unfortunately.
The next day brought stronger winds and less comfortable conditions, with frequent rain, but, despite this, I prefer to think that the reason that we were joined in our usual spot by some of the 'great and good' of the British scene was down to them hoping that some of our street cred would rub off on them by proximity to us. Of course, this still didn't mean that we saw much, more or less the same species as on 24th and in low numbers for the most part.
Our plan on 26th was to stay until lunchtime unless it picked up, though the fact that, at one stage, it was just the three of us, some Scottish birder called Jason and the (in)famous McKinney who were on site should give some idea of just how exciting it was: would have served the absentees right had we struck it very lucky, but this wasn't to be. News, however, at 11am dictated that we left a little earlier than planned...
TO BE CONTINUED

An unexpected call prompted a diversion to Pilmore...

2008-08-22T15:45:00.003+01:00

Yellow-legged Gull

2008-07-25T15:58:00.002+01:00

Hi all,
An evening visit to Youghal tip on 24th with Graham Clarke yielded the first good bird for ages, in the shape of a 4th cal Yellow-legged Gull (some poor record shots were obtained, the bird being a bit too distant for my photographic set-up), with a 3rd cal Med Gull also being of note here. I had seen 20+ Meds at Whitegate on Sat last (19th), so things are starting to move alright.

A surprise at Mallow

2008-06-17T14:37:00.002+01:00

Hi all,
No pics, but a rather unsuccessful attempt to see a Little Ringed Plover at Mallow Sugar Lagoons yesterday, which was found there the day before, was enlivened no end by a most unexpected Osprey, seen on two occasions within an hour, at really close range the second time. Probably the first one that I've seen in Ireland since 2001, amazingly!
1 Green Sandpiper was the 'best of the rest'.

What I did during my holidays...

2008-05-24T18:01:00.009+01:00

2nd cal Spoonbill Great Island 10th April 2008

2008-04-11T15:48:00.003+01:00

2nd cal year Spoonbill Great Island 10th April 2008. Note such obvious signs of immaturity as the markedly pale (pinkish) bill, lack of any obvious crest (in April) and, just about visible, the extensive dark on some of the outer primaries (with quite a lot on P10). Also, the shaft to the innermost tertial was dark, though I am not aware of the significance or otherwise of this as an ageing feature.

Buff-bellied Pipit Redbarn 27th Feb 2008

2008-02-28T17:40:00.005Z

Buff-bellied Pipit Redbarn 11th Feb 2008

2008-02-13T17:39:00.014Z

Southern France 24th-25th January 2008

2008-01-29T16:08:00.000Z

Gulls galore

2008-01-02T18:29:00.000Z

Adult Yellow-legged Gull, near Blackrock Castle, Cork city 1st Jan 2008. Appeared to be in full breeding condition, with very bright orange-yellow legs and bill and prominent red orbital ring. Not the largest of birds, perhaps a female, but still with subtly different head and bill shape compared to nearby graellsii.

2nd-winter Ring-billed Gull, near the Douglas Estuary, Cork city 1st Jan 2008. Quite a pink-legged bird for 2nd-w: indeed, in some ways, this bird could almost be called as an advanced 1st-w on poor views, but note the iris becoming paler, the 2nd gen primaries, and the complete lack of any juvenile coverts (1st cal Ring-billeds can, and do, moult quite a few juv coverts in the post-juvenile moult, but presumably never all of them!). The tail pattern wasn't seen.

Putative 1st-w Yellow-legged Gull Youghal 1st Dec 2007

2008-01-02T18:13:00.001Z

(Presumed?) 1st-w Yellow-legged Gull, Youghal Tip, 1st December 2007. Note the contrast between the greyish scaps and dark brown coverts, exact tertial pattern (while the tertial pattern of 1st-w Herring, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged is variable, with some overlap, the pattern shown by this bird, with the pale fringe to the outer web only reaching at most half way back, is often shown by Yellow-legged), obvious dark 'mask' around the eye, 'powerful' all-dark bill (with obvious gonydeal angle) etc. Not visible in this pic are the long legs (especially the tibia), spread wing pattern (with a faint pale 'window' compared to most Herrings, but a more obvious one than most Lesser Black-backeds), tail pattern (clear-cut narrow black tail band, appearing to be thicker on the central tail feathers), all pro-YLGU features as well. Oddly, however, the bird appeared to have no 2nd gen coverts, but some YLGU can fail to moult any in in the post-juvenile moult, apparently.

A tale of two pipits

2007-11-20T18:34:00.002Z

Buff-bellied Pipit, Ballycotton strand, 2nd November 2007. A rather more co-operative bird for photography than the two at Lissagriffin. The typically pale lores, rather thin bill, complete pale eye-ring, buffish wash to the underparts etc can all be seen in these images, and compare them with the bird below...

Water Pipit, Ballycotton, 14th November 2007. The first record for the county, though there was an earlier unsubmitted bird from the same location in 1993. For those who question the seperation of winter Water Pipit from paler Rock (most likely to be littoralis?), this bird had all of the classic features: the upperparts were obviously brown-toned, with the rump standing out as the brownest part; the outer tail feathers had white outer webs (though the pale grey on some Rocks can look almost white), the facial pattern and strong bill combine to give, to my eyes, a slightly Redwing-like head, the underparts are very white with only fine flank streaking (indeed, some Waters are more heavily marked than this!).

The return of the angry young(ish) man...run while you still can

2007-10-31T15:16:00.000Z

Hi all,
Well, events recently have conspired to rile me sufficiently to let the veneer of pseudoscientific objectivity slip on here for a one-off 'old skool' badass posting, so where do I start?

1) Arctic Redpolls are, of course, the very spawn of Lucifer, and should be lumped with Redpoll post haste, so that we won't ever have to even contemplate going to some God-awful birdless piece of countryside to dip on the 'species'...heck, there's a very low genetic differentiation between Common and Arctic anyway, and, if we haven't gone along with the (premature?) split of Lesser from Common, then what about a lump?
An obliging bird in Cork, of course, would still be worth seeing from an aesthetic point of view...

2) Some of you may not be aware of this, but, on 'blogspot' blogs at least, it is possible to set up your site in such a way that any comments made have to be approved by the person keeping the blog. As a result, some of you may have missed out on the height of abuse, none of it even witty or insightful, that I was sent by someone who doesn't even know me recently. Just for you, and you know who you are, expect LOTS more posts about 'feather waffle' and such like, and, for your information, I am pretty okay at ID in the field as well for most of the time, possibly better than you, not that I'd make such a judgement based on your blog alone. Please take note of some comments that you or someone else made when you were aggrieved at criticism of the amount of swearing in your blog, where it was pointed out that nobody is making these people read your blog...likewise, if you don't like what's on offer here, that's your tough luck, I'm not writing it for you!

3) A whole autumn gone (more or less) and I found nothing better than a Red-breasted Flycatcher...hopefully there are a few late rares in store to be dug out yet.

Buff-bellied Pipits at Lissagriffin 7th October 2007

2007-10-08T13:07:00.000+01:00

Update on 12th October: above are two images of the initial, darker, bird, taken on 10th October. Note, compared to the bird in the grabs below, the more prominent 'flaring' supercilium behind the eye, slightly heavier malar stripe (though weaker than on most(?) japonicus, heavier flank streaking (again heavier on japonicus as a rule). Located first on 10th on call, the most distinctive vocalisation being a vaguely Grey Wagtail-like 'tsip-ip', obviously different to the typical vocalisations of Meadow, Rock or Water Pipits. Single calls, while perhaps higher-pitched and also maybe 'purer' than the equivalent in Meadow, were far less distinctive, and could be overlooked among a pipit flock...

One of two Buff-bellied Pipits at Lissagriffin on 7th October 2007. Forgive the poor quality, but these images are videograbs taken from 18 seconds worth of footage. In the second pic, note the pale lores, fine bill, weak malar stripe (that's weak in its old sense, not as used by 'da kidz' (c.f. 'lame') ), relatively plain mantle, buffish greater covert wingbar. This individual had more of a buffish wash underneath than the first one, thinner flank streaking, and seemed to be paler above, though, as I only saw the first one through bins in adequate, but dull, light, any comparison of colour tones would be foolhardy, at least until I see some better pics of both birds than are presently available.

A quiet day at Mizen Head 6th October...calm before the storm

2007-10-08T12:54:00.001+01:00

1st-winter Pied Flycatcher, Mizen Head, 6th October 2007. Despite the middle tertial not being properly visible in the pics, can be readily aged on account of the pointed tail feathers (more rounded tips to these in adults). Due to the tail feathers being quite blackish above, I would assume that the bird was most likely to have been a 1st-w male, but, seeing as how Mild (in his seminal 'Birding World' articles in the mid 90s) asserts that many 1st-winter 'black-and-white' flycatchers aren't even safely identifiable to species level, I won't overplay my hand here! Suffice it to say, however, that any such bird seen in Ireland is overwhelmingly likely to be Pied, and the small white patch at the base of the primaries is a pointer towards this species also.

Juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Ballycotton 5th October 2007

2007-10-05T15:35:00.000+01:00

Note the general similarity to a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, though with a far more obvious white supercilium (extending well behind the eye) and, even at this angle, the contrastingly rufous crown can be seen.

On this view, the rufous crown is again obvious, as is the fact that, unlike in Pectoral Sandpiper, the breast is largely unstreaked (with some at the breast sides mainly), the rest being washed with buffish. Not visible in either pic, but there was some fine, but obvious, streaking on the undertail coverts...a good pro-Sharp-tailed feature.

Juvenile Little Stint with 1st cal Dunlin, still largely in juvenile plumage. Note the acquisition of new 2nd generation grey scaps on the Dunlin: unlike that species, juvenile Little Stint doesn't moult on migration, so this bird is still in full juvenile plumage. Head pattern ('split supercilium' etc), structure, bill shape etc all good for Little in this typical bird, one of at least six present.

Female Brown Hairstreak Dromore, Co. Clare 1st Sep 2007

2007-09-02T16:35:00.000+01:00

3rd cal Yellow-legged Gull, Red Strand, 13th August

2007-08-18T16:32:00.001+01:00

Note the blackish spots on some of the fresh 3rd generation tertials: this is unusual in argenteus/ argentatus, but not uncommonly shown by michahellis of this age. Note also the 'mature' impression compared to most 3rd cal argenteus at this time of year, with the bird almost appearing adult-like at a distance, due to the more advanced moult. Leg colour was a pale dull yellowish in life.

Blast from the past: the Lough Beg Spoonbill from June

2007-08-05T19:43:00.000+01:00

Spoonbill, Lough Beg estuary, 22nd June 2007. Probably best left unaged: obviously not a 2nd cal bird, and different to the then recent east coast bird due to having less pale on the bill and no black on the primary tips. Apparently, most 3rd cal have these black tips: probably best to call this as a 'subadult' and leave it at that? Seems not to have been a full adult.

What a prat...

2007-06-06T14:39:00.001+01:00

2007-05-10T17:35:00.000+01:00

Half a 'find', late news, twitching tensions, and a tick...eventually!

2007-04-30T13:45:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
Well, despite it being a quiet spring, there has certainly been some drama of late! Since my last update, and until last Thursday, all I had to report was finding a 1st-summer Ring-billed Gull without any optics (I had no optics, take it as a given that the Ringer didn't, but maybe he (and it was a 'he' on size) had an old pair of Optolyths stashed away at home somewhere), year-ticking Grasshopper Warbler (on song alone, not seen any yet this year) and Swift (had a few last Wednesday, and have had a few on most days since), and completely failing to find anything better than one of the aforementioned 'Groppers' on any headland in four days, despite a mini-fall of quality birds on Cape Clear and a Red-rumped Swallow at Lissagriffin at the same time.
On Thursday, I headed west, and decided to check the estuary at Clonakilty near the famous 'red benches' (guess what? They're red...). Paul Connoughton found an Iceland Gull, and it was also obvious that there were a few Common Sandpipers and Whimbrel...a quick scan, and then...'Is that the Rosscarbery yellowlegs?'. Sure enough, there was an unmistakable Lesser Yellowlegs right in front of me, at a site where there hadn't been one, but, as my initial question implied, it really is most likely that it was (is?) the Rosscarbery bird, which we failed to see later for good measure, so no finds tick for me then! Good practice all the same. A few Sedge Warblers were at Castlefreke, but, as is now usual, a search of a headland was fruitless.
Yesterday morning (Sunday 29th), and yet another headland (the Old Head) was dead, with a single White Wagtail providing the only semblance of excitement, other migrants being limited to singles of Blackcap and Chiffchaff, and also a few locally breeding Swallows...wow! Arrived back in the city early, and took a few pics of the tamest Grey Heron that I have encountered, then wasted a few idle hours before going home for dinner. After a 1st-w American Herring Gull at Youghal, a male Black Redstart at Galley Head was the best bird in a quiet county...or was it??
A shock text at 8pm really took me by surprise, detailing, as it did, the finding of a male Garganey and a WHISKERED TERN in understated tones! Now, in recent years, there had really only been two readily available individuals of this species in Ireland, both in Wexford: the one in 1999, I had no lift down for, and the one in 2005 showed up while I was in Spain, and led to me heading down there on my 30th birthday just to see a Pintail and a Reed Warbler. Obviously, I was keen to see this one, but it would be a race against time, and, as I feared, that particular race was one that we were to lose, with no terns or gulls at all to be seen by the time we arrived at around 8.50pm.
It transpired, incidentally, that the finder had forgotten his mobile phone when he went out, and was thus unable to get the news out until 8pm. This, and the fact that he doesn't twitch, and, as such, is under no obligation to put news out at all, slightly sugared the pill: however, finding out that it had been on show from 2.45 to 6.40 was a bit of a kick in the nuts, even though I am satisfied that he never intended to 'sit' on the record or anything else underhanded, for fear that the 'scene' here descend to the levels displayed on Birdforum lately in relation to the Welsh Blue Rock Thrush (see also any other bird in the UK which isn't put on the pagers at least 45 minutes before it was found).
Such a long stay, I suppose, boded well for it being seen again today, as did the fog, and I arranged to meet Paul Rowe in town. Just before he arrived, we heard that the bird had been seen that instant, so spirits were a bit higher on the way down. No sign when we arrived, which was a bit galling, but we met Mike there (who had had the bird earlier in the morning), and he said it had gone down behind some sedges: sure enough, after a wait that seemed like 20 minutes (but was probably closer to 5), we picked it up in flight, and we were to continue to get good (sometimes very good) flight views on and off until we left at 9am. We even heard it call a few times for good measure, very interesting.
As an aside: back in May 2005, I was in southern Spain, and, while I was away, I missed three potential Irish ticks (Black-winged Stilt, Broad-billed Sandpiper and Whiskered Tern). The first two obliged me last year, and now, with this tern, I have gotten all three back within two years of missing them! Nice when things work out like that!

A good passerine, at last!

2007-04-16T12:41:00.001+01:00

So, it's been a slow spring, and, as a result, expectations to tend to drop somewhat, in spite of one's more optimistic moments. As a result, I planned on taking it easy last Friday, and went into town without so much as bringing my bins. The relaxed attitude even extended to turning my phone off while I read books in Eason's, but, when I turned it back on at almost 2pm, I was a bit taken aback to get a call from Ger Walsh straight away...his opening gambit took me even more by surprise, as he started by assuming that I had heard 'the news': the fact that there was any news was news to me!
I was soon to find out that this news referred to Ciaran Cronin having found a Shore Lark on Cape Clear, and, all of a sudden, my nice easy afternoon went out of the window! A few hasty phone calls failed to secure a lift, so, despite there being a ferry at 5.30pm, it looked as though Ger and I would both have to wait until the following day at least...or did it?
A thought crossed my mind: isn't there a bus to Skibbereen around 2.30? While I tried to figure this out, I went home, so that I could at least get my optics, camera and a more suitable birding coat, and, it transpired, there was indeed a bus, scheduled to leave at 2.45, giving me plenty of time to get to the nearest stop, make the connecting bus to Baltimore, and make the ferry.
This all worked out, thankfully, and Ger was able to get a lift as far as Clonakilty, so I'd have some company in looking for the bird. A few Sandwich Terns from the ferry were a mild distraction, and I was also mildly surprised to find out that Ciaran now works on the ferry as well. His talk of the bird having been flighty initially was a bit worrying, but he did seem to think that it had become more settled in an area of 'turnip fields'.
On arriving on the island, we met Steve Wing (CCBO warden, for those who don't know), and he warned that it seemed to have become a bit more elusive: indeed, when we arrived on site, it wasn't in the first field, though, as luck would have it, it had just been pinned down again 10 minutes earlier by Alan Horan, who gestured to us that he had the bird. A short while later, and so did we...

and some video also

The bird was all the more appreciated due to it being a lifer, and not just an Irish tick: the fact that it was a county first also added spice to the occasion, as did the sheer good looks of the bird! A short attempt for a long-staying Tree Sparrow only yielded a 'drumming' Snipe, so we returned to the Obs, then went to the pub for dinner, a few drinks, and being beaten at pool by Ciaran. Still, an enjoyable night all the same, nice to chill out from time to time!

The following morning, and we managed to get up early enough to reach the lark site in time to let those travelling know whether it was still present or not, which it was. A House Martin by the 'Waist' earlier was a year tick for me, which was a nice bonus. However, despite flogging the bogs and some gardens later, it was obvious that there weren't really a whole lot of other migrants around...not for the want of trying anyway, I can tell you!

2 Iceland Gulls were seen from the return ferry, and we also had the Lesser Yellowlegs at Rosscarbery. I got some pics of this, but they're crap, so I'm not putting any on here (the bird was quite distant when we saw it)! Another Iceland Gull was also here.

Migrants at last!

2007-04-11T18:30:00.000+01:00

Some birds at last, including migrants!

2007-03-30T17:00:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
I really haven't been keeping up the written accounts on here, mainly as I just couldn't be bothered! A few recent birds of note have, however, inspired this small write-up.
Rick Mundy found a 1st-w Little Gull at the Lough on Monday 19th: I failed to see it that evening, but caught up with it on 20th. Noel Linehan saw some Sand Martins at the same site early on 28th, and, starved of any 'real' migrants (there has been a recent noticable increase in Chiffchaffs locally, but, when you see the species in small numbers throughout the winter, it is hard to get too excited by this!), I went out there later that day.
Initially, a complete lack of hirundine action was most worrying, as was the lack of anything else, though, shortly after John Kennedy arrived for a short visit, I picked up two Sand Martins (were there ever such eagerly awaited migrants?), and also the self-same Little Gull, which I got some record shots of through my bins (not having my scope at hand).

Also here was the 1st-w Kittiwake, which seems to have given up the ghost, and resigned itself to scrounging around the Lough for free food hand-outs for the rest of its days (pics to come). A 1st-w type Med Gull and a singing Chiffchaff completed the line-up for the day...nothing earth-shattering, but not a bad day either!

Blackcap

2007-03-18T17:10:00.000Z

Sunday Feb 25th: highlights from Youghal and nearby areas

2007-03-06T14:06:00.000Z

Is this the worst footage obtained of Caspian Gull in Ireland...?

2007-02-27T17:05:00.000Z

Steppenmowe

2007-02-26T13:29:00.000Z

Hi all,

On Friday 23rd Feb, I awoke to news from Derek Charles, telling me that he had found a 1st-w Caspian Gull at Culmore Tip, Derry. While pleased for him, I was frustrated when I bore in mind how far away it was, and how it could have been difficult to secure a lift...as it happened, nobody who I got in touch with was planning on going up.

As a result, I begrudgingly decided, given the lack of lifts even locally, to get the bus to Youghal myself the next day. A phone call from Mick Hartnett changed my plans momentarily, as he was offering a trip to west Cork, though, when I received a text from Noel Linehan late in the evening offering a lift to Youghal, I changed my mind: this was more due to my wanting to set myself a challenge rather than any expectation of finding something....

Encouragingly, we arrived to find good numbers of large gulls, and soon dug out the long-staying 2nd-w Glaucous Gull, 3-4 1st-w Iceland Gulls, an adult Ring-billed Gull and a briefly seen 2nd-w Yellow-legged Gull. I received a shock later, however, when I came across a white-headed large gull, apparently a 1st-w, that gave an instant Caspian/ Yellow-legged impression. Oddly, I then momentarily thought it was only a small (female?) Great Black-backed, and told Noel this, but changed my mind straight away when it passed some Great Black-backeds...it was obviously something much more interesting.

I double-checked that it was a 1st-w, and it was, so a Herring or LBB really shouldn't have been so pale. The greater coverts appeared dark (without obvious barring even on the innermost feathers, as shown by classic 1st-w YLGU), and, when it raised its wings a few times, the axilliaries and underwings looked awfully pale. Nevertheless, after it flew off soon afterwards, I still felt that it may 'just' have been a Yellow-legged, as this was the commonest possible option that I could think of, despite the bird looking so different to any 1st-w YLGUs that I have ever seen....

We split up, with me looking in vain at the actual tip, and, as luck would have it, just as I met up with Noel again, he said that he had an interesting gull, and asked me if it was what I had seen earlier on the mud (he only saw it in flight as such initially): I replied that it was, and, as we watched the bird more and more, we both started to come to the inescapable conclusion that we had actually found Cork's first Caspian Gull.

At this stage, I phoned a few local observers, who I felt may make it there before it was too late, but, regrettably, the bird flew off (and adding Caspian Gull to the Waterford list in the process!) before the first of these had arrived.

Technical stuff, for anyone who may be interested: underwing and axilliaries white, with brown tips to the coverts, but far paler than the underwing of typical Herring/ LBB/ YLGU; legs long, paler pink than on other large gulls of the same age; bill long (but not excessively so), parallel-sided (slight gonydeal angle); head white with streaking more or less limited to the nape, eye small and 'beady'; greater coverts dark, with a hint of pale tips giving a suggestion of a wingbar, median coverts also with pale tips; neck very long when extended...together with the small head and bulky body, it gave an odd impression of an avian version of something like a Llama(!); neat black subterminal band on a white tail, with 2-3 thinner black bands just inside this.

Another day, another year tick

2007-02-15T16:01:00.000Z

Hello again,

Well, as you can see from the video below, my third attempt for the Garganey yesterday was rather more successful! Having taken the whole dip thing much worse than I thought the previous night, I was strongly considering a return trip anyway: when Brian saw it yesterday morning, I became determined to go!

After a long slog from Little Island railway station, there was again no sign, despite it having showed well that morning, but it soon flew in as if from the far bank, giving a single call (the 'rubbing your finger along the teeth of a comb' call given for males in the Collins Guide, the only call that I have heard from the species to date). Views were brief and frustrating for a while, but it obliged a little more later on.

Also here was a most interesting and perplexing challenge to get a pic of: a typically unobtrusive Bullfinch (as is often the case, picked up on call). Shame about the head being hidden!

I later met two of the surviving 'old skool' Cork birders here (Tadhg O'Keeffe and Mick Hartnett), and they gave me a lift to Cobh. No repeat of the Bony's, but I did get a few crafty pics of gulls through my bins, as an experiment. Not too bad either, at least not by my standards!

In all, there were at least 4 adult Ring-billeds (3 at Cuskinny and 2 at Cobh, but one of the latter may well have moved to Cuskinny by the time we got there), which is my highest count of the species on Great Island.

Third time lucky....

2007-02-15T15:30:00.000Z

Blackcap pics from the kitchen window!

2007-02-14T19:00:00.000Z

Some pics of the first Blackcap for my garden this winter: found by my dad on 12th and pics taken by me on 13th. More substantial posting coming soon....

2007-02-12T13:46:00.000Z

Hello again,
Well, you will remember how I somehow managed to go to Rosscarbery and not get the Lesser Yellowlegs? Having heard from Colin that he had it on Friday evening, I was keen to go back down there, and decided to take the opportunity to deliver a pre-purchased Cork Bird Report to its rightful owner also. As we drove down the side of the estuary at Rosscarbery, I actually located the 'legs before we stopped, and, as you can hopefully see from the pics, good views were obtained.

Due to news of a male Garganey on the small pool at the current hotspot of Little Island, I went there on Sunday. No sign, but the female Surf Scoter was still on the sea nearby with Goldeneyes. On then to Cobh, where I decided to look for the Bonaparte's Gull for the umpteenth time (I did see it on 1st Jan, but not for too long). Remarkably, given its absence for 4-5 weeks now, it was right there, one of the first gulls that I saw!

It later flew off towards Cuskinny, so we walked(!) there, and, after seeing the usual Ring-billed and Meds, managed to see it roosting on the grass bank, though it later flew off and we lost it. Back then to Cobh, after failing to see the Dark-bellied Brent again, and I was told that the long-staying Glaucous Gull tends to stay around the back of what used(?) to be Clipper's Restaurant: I was rewarded with exceptional views of this and the usual roosting Meds, and also a second Ring-billed briefly.

No year ticks, just a good honest day out!

2007-02-09T18:17:00.000Z

Hello again,
Given the lack of actual birding for the last week or so, I have had to great incentive to update this blog, but, after an enjoyable day out yesterday, I will make a short posting here.
After waiting for days to try for the Slavonian Grebe found by Paul Rowe at Little Island last Sunday, I finally went there yesterday with 'old school' Cork birder Mick Hartnett. Conditions weren't as good as the last time I was in the area, with a stiff breeze churning up the sea, but I could see the birds without that much difficulty. As I could almost have predicted, there was no sign of the Slav, yet I managed to get poor views of the Surf Scoter: Paul didn't have this when he found the grebe! No pics, but, on my way back, the excellent light led to me experimenting with getting pics of a passerine...this could have been even better had there not been branches in the way!

We then went to a few sites like Rossmore tip (looking straight into the light isn't conducive to accurate gull I.D., though I did have a likely candidate for an adult argentatus that I just couldn't clinch due to light and distance) and Ballintubbrid, where I got a record shot of a Kestrel (more experimentation, though it would suffice if I got a pic as good of, say, a Hobby that I found some time).

Cobh and Cuskinny were largely disappointing, with no Ring-billeds and few Meds, but a close flock of Pale-bellied Brents at the latter (20 birds) contained an adult Dark-bellied Brent.

The highs and lows...or lows and highs...of county year listing: Part II

2007-02-02T15:51:00.000Z

Hello again,
Well, that was it! No more racing off to look at birds that weren't either ticks or convenient. No more hard slog by bus and walking for just one year tick. No more year list.
With this resolution in mind, and given that I don't usually go birding on Mondays due to other committments, what did I do on Monday morning? Why, I walked to the railway station, got a train to Little Island, and walked for half an hour to get to where the Surf Scoter had been seen for two days running, that's what! Not for a year list, mind. No, I just wanted to see this one.
I had no such excuse to explain why I was delighted to see the small flock of Goldeneye on site, though...hmm. After a bit of a wait, the scoter showed at close range, so close that it often went missing behind the trees, unfortunately. A quick call to Brian Lynch suggested that it may be possible to look from closer to the water's edge by going down a track, and, when I did this, I was pleasantly surprised to get great views of the scoter as it sat on the water a short distance away. I even got some pics.

After an hour or so, I rushed back, and still got everything done that I had planned to do that day, so it was a result all round. Again, while not doing a county year list, I decided to get the bus to Youghal on 31st, as a nice way to end the month, and walked to Pilmore to see some nice waders. The fact that there was a stunning Forster's Tern on site was merely a bonus....

Due to news of a Caspian Gull at Culmore Tip, Derry (which may as well be on the moon for how easy and quick it would be to get there...the first potential tick in Ireland for me since OCTOBER and probably unavailable! At the time of writing (almost 4pm on Friday 2nd Feb), the bird hasn't been seen in a search of the area today), I decided to check the dump at Youghal again, though, with the tide in, there were fewer gulls on site than previously. Watching from the 'chip van' lay-by (actually in Co. Waterford, but the gulls were in Cork, so that's OK. Besides, this wasn't a trip for a county year tick for the county year list that I'm not doing, more a desperate case of hoping against hope that I might find a Caspian Gull), the gulls were distant, but I still managed an adult Med Gull, a 1st-w Iceland, and, best of all, a large (male?) Yellow-legged Gull (crap pic following).

So, with the major birds in the county either accounted for or seemingly gone (nobody has seen the White-rumped Sandpiper at Ballycotton for a while, for example, despite it being looked for), I can surely get back to normal uneventful birding this weekend...?

The highs and lows...or lows and highs...of county year listing: Part I

2007-02-02T15:31:00.000Z

Hello again,
Well, despite the title of this post, I am still unsure as to whether or not I want to do a county year list: sure, the desire to add new birds gives me an incentive to get out at this quiet time of year, and I usually (note that word well, it will make sense later!) enjoy myself when I do go out, but the thought of having to get all excited about every fresh scarcity/ rarity fills me with dread, especially if some species like a Woodchat Shrike turns up at an awkward or distant spot like Dursey Island...I have seen quite a few here at this stage, and would almost certainly not travel that far for one, but, on the other hand, it could then prove to be the only one seen here all year!
As a cop-out compromise, which I seem to opt for often, I am not officially keeping a county year list, but I am still going for good birds that it is convenient for me to travel for, so that I can always decide to up the pace later in the year if things look to be going well. With such a meaningless non-committal statement as that, perhaps I should move in to writing political speeches? On second thoughts, my burning sense of honesty would perhaps count against me there....
Anyway, having remembered just how much fun birding alone on public transport can be, I went off with high hopes to Rosscarbery on 26th. The Lesser Yellowlegs had been seen up to the day before, having survived the worst of the cold snap, and would surely oblige. Getting a roadside Dipper on the way down seemed a good omen, were one to believe in such things, and scoring Purple Sandpiper on the first rock that I looked at at Owenahincha seemed to indicate that I was on a roll. The 'legs, however, had stubbornly refused to read the script, and all my flogging of the estuary was rewarded only with a few Med Gulls, and my first Sanderling(!) of the year. The whole dip got to me more than I thought, enough to start me swearing out loud to myself in a pseudo-Tourette's tirade, and the fact that I had to wait for 2 more hours after when I was ready to leave due to a lousy bus service didn't help either!
Saturday was spent in town with no lifts, so of course a Surf Scoter was found at Little Island, and Sunday saw a fruitless attempt for the reported White-billed Diver (actually reported for FRIDAY, but news got out on Saturday, we weren't even sure of exactly where it had been seen etc etc), with a Forster's Tern being found THAT day! Suddenly, I seemed to have acquired a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place at the wrong time, or the wrong place at the right time, or all of the above (yeah, I know that that makes no sense). The year listing would have to go, oh yes, my indecision is final....
(Does our hero succomb to the internal pressures eating him apart, or does he face up to his inner demons, and, by confronting them, realise that they aren't all that frightening? Does he save the universe, get the girl and live to fight another day? Find out next week (well, in a few minutes) in the action-packed Part II)

Gulls galore

2007-01-25T15:51:00.000Z

Hello again,
Just lately, I had been getting quite bored with the lack of decent birding opportunities: the weather had largely been too poor, and, even when it was changeable, no lifts were forthcoming. Therefore, I made up my mind that, if we ever got consistently dry and settled weather again, I would go somewhere further afield, by bus if need be.
After a now typical local jaunt to the Lough with Graham on 23rd, which resulted in me seeing his 1st-w Ring-billed Gull at last, somewhere more exotic was surely in order, so I got the bus to Youghal on 24th, mainly as the gull flock has been quite large by modern standards. Up to 3 adult Yellow-legged Gulls had been seen there, and, with one eye on seeing the species again and the other on my half-hearted 'attempt' at a county year list, that was enough to lure me down, but there was also the prospect of finding something new there.
As I arrived along the sea wall, the tide was obviously just going out, which suited my purposes perfectly. Once it had gone out enough for a gathering of gulls, I quickly noticed what was presumably one of the adult Yellow-legged Gulls already recorded. Also here, and relatively distant as well, was a 1st-w Iceland Gull
As the tide continued to fall, gull numbers built up, and I soon found a new Yellow-legged Gull, a second-winter bird. These are always good value from an identification perspective, as they often tend to bear at least a passing resemblance to some Caspian Gulls (though I have never seen Caspian of that age, and indeed have only ever seen a distant juvenile in Bulgaria in real life), but are usually not too difficult to seperate...hopefully, a Caspian would stand out as being obviously different from Yellow-legged or Herring in any plumage!

It was also obvious that there were, in fact, two 1st-w Iceland Gulls, which conveniently rested near each other on the mud. Back towards the Foxhole/ main road side, there were fewer large gulls, though a distant (probable) 1st-w Glaucous Gull was nice: a 1st-w Med Gull and possible subadult argentatus (not seen for long enough) were the only other interesting birds at that side.
I didn't stop there, though! Finding myself back in Youghal town, I decided to thumb west, and managed to get dropped off on the road overlooking Ballyvergan. A male Pheasant which flew by was, amazingly, a year tick, but the main reason for my visit was to look for Hen Harriers. At least 3 of these were seen, an adult male and 2 juveniles, but there were probably closer to 4-5 birds in the area: I had lots of sightings of ringtails up to 5.30pm, when the failing light and falling temperatures forced me to leave the area. The long-shot of finding a Bittern (there was one there last March, of course) will have to wait until another day!
For those people checking out my blog who don't bird in Cork, here is a snapshot of some of Ballyvergan (Cork's best Marsh Harrier site, with records annually in recent years, mainly in spring/ early summer)...

I'd say that, in spite of an increase in bus fares, the day was worth it!

Happy NEW(?) Year 2007

2007-01-17T18:53:00.000Z

Hi all,
Well, it has certainly been a long time! I've almost had to make myself update this site while I can, before it all gets on top of me: however, fortunately as far as that is concerned, but unfortunately for me, I haven't really been able to do all that much birding of late anyway, due to this weather.
Since I was last on here, I have been toying with the idea of doing some sort of county-based year list, if only to encourage me to get into the field more often. Obviously, given that I don't drive, I'm not entertaining any thoughts of beating Ger Walsh's 224 from last year (Ger doesn't drive either, but had an understanding partner with a car), but I figure that breaking 200 should be quite feasible, given that all three birders who did a serious county year list last year broke 220. However, I am only on around 103 at present, and still haven't seen daft things like Pheasant or Sanderling, not to mention more localised/ scarce birds like Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Purple Sandpiper, Crossbill etc, or lingering rares like the White-rumped Sand. In fact, the only actual rarity that I've seen so far was the adult Bonaparte's Gull at Cobh on 1st Jan.
Visitors to Colin's blog will have seen that my team came second in the Great Island bird race, with 91 species. This was our highest ever position, and hopefully we can capitalise on this in years to come: at least we were far from embarrassed this year, and for that I'm grateful!
I've also splashed out on a digital camera this month, having been one of 3-4 birders in the country without one, so, if I ever get the hang of dodgy-scoping, I might just put some bird pics on here. Until then, I'll have to limit myself to some shots of birding sites and the like.
Well, yesterday (16th), with all that in mind, and the need to keep my birding skills refreshed, I went to the Douglas Estuary, where I got my first year tick in ages in the form of 30 or so Knot, in with larger numbers of Dunlin. Unfortunately, the tide was coming in rapidly at this stage, and it was raining while I was looking at the waders, so I didn't try to get any pics: by the time the rain had stopped, the tide had come in....
Further along, it was obvious that there was no exposed mud whatsoever closer to the mouth of the estuary, thus dashing any faint hopes that I might have had of getting some gulls by Blackrock Castle, but picking out a juvenile Great Northern Diver was unexpected, and a Cork city tick (sort of) for me. Tom Kelly had mentioned something about one near Passage before Christmas, so presumably this was the same bird? Nice to see either way.
I had the idea of sharing the sheer ineptitude of the bird noticeboard along the public walkway with a wider audience: it really has to be seen to be believed!

The full sign below:

Close-up of a 'Greenshank' (or 'Green Shank')

and a 'Wigeon' (at least the depicted species has occurred -once -on the estuary)

Why they don't try to consult someone who actually knows what they are on about before making up such signs I don't know...perhaps they think that that would cost too much?

What's another year...?

2006-12-29T17:56:00.000Z

Hi all,
So, we approach the end of another year, and 2006 will soon drift into the mists of time forever.
I was going to produce a jokey '2006 Birding Awards' bit, spoofing all of those televised awards ceremonies, but find myself in a more serious, melancholy mood, so I won't...I can't fake levity very well, even in print.
Let me instead sincerely hope that 2007 will be as good as this year when it comes to birding, but, speaking personally, I could do with things being a little easier when it comes to the 'non-birding' side to birding...too many heavy things happened this year concerning myself and other birders, some of which some of you will be familiar with.
A new start for a new year? Why not....

Happy Christmas

2006-12-23T17:54:00.000Z

The staff and families of the Cork Birding website would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our loyal readers a happy Christmas, to be spent as they see fit.
What? What do you mean you want more than that? More sincerity? More feeling?
Oh, alright! I would like to wish you all a great Christmas, and I am sure that the break will do you all some good. To those reading this from Ireland, I might meet some of you over the next week or so. To those in the UK, I might meet some of you at some stage, you have been warned....
Keep cool, and I'll probably be back on here before the year is out for one or two last postings for 2006.
H

A missed year tick, and a sign of the times

2006-12-23T17:27:00.000Z

Hi all,
A quick post, as I may not be online for a few days, to say that I headed to east Cork with Andre and Graham today, prompted in part by the finding of a Long-billed Dowitcher at Ballycotton during the week. Well, this bird was nowhere to be seen today, though, seeing as where it had been seen, that was hardly surprising...Andre found one LAST December in more or less the same area, and only Paul Rowe and I saw that otherwise on the same evening.
No sign of the White-rumped Sandpiper either, but that wouldn't have been a year tick. We did see the long-staying Little Stint, which was my first for December, and I had what I presume to have been an argentatus Herring Gull from further along the cline towards argenteus than usual: while it didn't look especially dark above, or large, the amount of white in the primaries was outside of what I'd expect for local birds, with a large white tip to P10 and bigger white primary tips to the other visible folded primaries at rest.
After meeting up with Phil Davis for a chat, we went towards Aghada. On the way, a Common Buzzard flew across over the road...these are still anything but common in the county, with breeding only having started in the last few years. Between Aghada and Rostellan (roughly the area known as Farsid), there was a most unexpected high Cork count of Med Gull, with at least 45 birds...I don't go back as far as when they were IRBC rares, but I do remember seeing 1-2 every winter at most 12 years ago or so! Amazing views, though still too far at times when it came to reading colour rings, of what must be one of the most attractive gull species in the world.
A few more Meds were on Great Island, but the best there was an adult winter Ring-billed Gull in flight near the camber. No sign of the Bonaparte's seen there two weeks ago.

Lest we forget....

2006-12-18T16:56:00.000Z

Hi all,
First off, I ask you all to allow me this small indulgence, not least as I haven't been out birding much lately, and I could do with some resting on laurels that have already been planted....
So, today is the 18th December, which is a date that never really had much significance to me, until the events of 18th December 2003. As so often happens here in Cork, birding had long since gone quiet following what was an exciting autumn, despite a major influx of Pallas's Warblers in November, and I decided to head to east Cork, where I at least knew there to be a female Ring-necked Duck at Ballyhunnock Lake, which is small enough for good views to be likely.
Now, ducks aren't my favourite group, but I had long since given up on the headlands: I find it hard to stop checking for passerines, usually flogging them hard until at least mid November, but things had gone very quiet after the Pallas's excitement, and there was little reason to continue, due to the law of diminishing returns. I was slightly disappointed that, with there being record-breaking numbers of Hume's Warblers in the UK, France and just about everywhere else that autumn, none had been found in Ireland, and we would surely all have to wait even longer for our national first?
Anyway, having gone out of passerine mode, I was mildly enthused by news of an American Robin, Baltimore Oriole and two new Hume's Warblers in the UK earlier that week, so, having seen the duck, I suggested to Iain Hill that we spend some time at Knockadoon Head, more out of curiousity than in any expectation. After all, it would be a way to spend an hour or so, and we may dig out something locally interesting like a wintering Firecrest or even just a Black Redstart.
After a short while, I wondered why I had bothered, as the bushes were almost devoid of birds, but I decided to walk down towards an area known as the 'Holy Ground'. My attention was drawn by an interesting bird seen flying down the track: when something resembling a Phylloscopus warbler was seen flicking around in some ivy bushes, I just had to check it out, but it would surely only be a Chiffchaff...?
A Chiffchaff? With wingbars like that? One good view through bins, and it became clear that it was AT LEAST a Yellow-browed...but wasn't it awfully dull, with no obvious median covert wingbar? I knew how some Yellow-broweds can resemble Hume's, and had yet to hear any calls, but it just looked so right...this seemed like an eternity, and I was so grateful when the bird finally called. Now, I had only a vague idea of what Hume's should sound like, but I knew well what Yellow-broweds call like, and this wasn't one. Amazingly, I had been lucky enough to find an Irish first!
Of course, I'd have been labelled a stringer had the bird then cleared off, at least in some quarters, but, thankfully, it remained for a few more weeks, in which time many birders were able to see and hear it for themselves. For a far better analysis of calls, check out some of the recent postings at http://www.proregulus.blogspot.com.
The moral of this story? Sometimes, it is when things seem TOO quiet that a choice rarity will pop up in front of somebody, and there is ALWAYS a reason for getting out and looking when one can. It's been awfully quiet locally of late, hmm....

The blame game

2006-12-11T15:18:00.000Z

Hello again,
Now, I must begin by stating that I in no way wish to try to deny the existence of climate change, and fully realise that this may be a very big problem indeed (as a born worrier, I sometimes get bogged down in it all and find it hard to think of more trivial matters)...
...BUT am I the only one who gets slightly annoyed when ANYTHING that happens is blamed on global warming? I mean, just in the last few weeks alone, I have seen the increased incidence of Leach's Petrel wrecks, an anecdotal perceived increase in Collared Doves (courtesy of Colon 'give it to 'em straight' MacLaclackloclainn), the occurrence of the murrelet in the UK and all sorts of other things that are hard or impossible to quantify being explained in this way.
I mean, just recently we were being told that the Atlantic depressions were now tracking further north, due to global warming, leading to Iceland being the new Scillies. What's the betting that now, after the Azores did well for two autumns and Ireland did alright, this showing gets explained away due to more vigourous systems now being produced by global warming?
Sure, at least SOME of what's going on, especially when it comes to breeding birds, will be due to climate change, but not all avian vagrancy is directly due to prevailing winds, and I dare say that extreme vagrants like both murrelet species, Elegant Tern and the like don't come all this way on favourable winds. It 'cheapens' the seriousness of climate change to blame it for EVERYTHING, surely? How long until Fergie, Wenger or the so-called 'Special One' use it to excuse their team for an uninspired draw away to Watford...?

December...quiet as usual

2006-12-11T15:05:00.000Z

Hi all,
It's that time of year again, when all the Christmas songs, good and bad (and outright naff), get played ad infinitum on such radio stations as the ever-piss-poor 96FM (home of Neil 'The Ego Has Landed' Prendeville). There is also often a distinct lack of rare action, not helped by the fact that so few birders spend much time in the field, but also due to a genuine lack of birds waiting to be found.
The 3rd was good, though! Denis O'Sullivan found a Leach's Petrel at Aghada that morning, with Paul Moore then having up to 16. I met Andre and Graham in town, and we got decent views of one (and distant views of others) soon after our arrival. Less expected was a peak count of 26 from Cobh, 6 on the channel behind Great Island, 3 in the Passage/ Little Island area and one very confiding bird within the Cork city limits at Tivoli! Not a bad way to get a county tick.
On 5th, I managed to see the 2 juv Shags found at the latter site by Graham on 4th, but these were closer to the docks/ city centre when I got them...just had to make an attempt to get such a 'quality' bird on my Cork city list.
Due to news of two Bean Geese on the Bandon river, I went to that area with Sean Cronin on 9th. On first glance, however, it was obvious that one was a Pink-foot...and that other bird didn't look too hot either, being far more like a juvenile/ 1st-w Greenland White-front...scope views proved this to be the case later. Still, neither species is all that common in the county, with no regular sites for either, and Pink-foot isn't all too common anywhere in Ireland, so no real harm done.

A semi-serious bird-related post...'Pseud's Corner'

2006-11-28T12:33:00.000Z

Hello there,
Well, how have you all been doing since I posted last? Looking forward to Christmas?
Enough small talk! I haven't been getting out much, and I sense that I am not alone in that: the weather doesn't help, and nor does the fact that people in general, myself included, seem to lose interest in a full day in the field from once October ends. I did get out with Brian Lynch on Saturday, and managed a Ruff, 2 different adult winter Ring-billed Gulls (almost certainly last winter's 2nd-winters returning) and plenty of Great Northern Divers around the Timoleague area. Didn't get anywhere on Sunday, or else I might have added Little Auk to my finds list by now.
Anyway, on to the real meat of this posting. Some serious points have been raised on the IBN of late, due to the circumstances surrounding a Lesser Scaup in Dublin, about the ethics of whether to tell or not to tell when one is unsure of a bird. For those who aren't subscribed to the madhouse that is the IBN, the archives can be accessed at https://listserv.heanet.ie/lists/ibn-l.html ...any strange posts on there bearing my name over the years were posted by my evil parallel universe counterpart, honest!
Now, this is something that I have often thought about myself, but I have decided to spare the IBN the full effect of my spurious pseudointellectual analysis...you lot will have to put up with it instead!
The way I see it, finding a difficult bird can sometimes threaten to be a no-win situation. We have all been in that situation...a bird seen briefly/ at distance/ intermittently that looks great for some rarity or other, a bird looking like something common but slightly odd, a bird looking odd but of a species with which we are unfamiliar etc. Now, the next question is often whether or not one should disseminate news immediately...nobody will thank you if you spend 2 hours taking notes, another hour or more at home checking the literature and all that if the bird was a Pallid Swift, for example, but neither will you be thanked by all and sundry if the 'Blyth's Reed Warbler' that they've all dropped everything and travelled for is just a Reed Warbler, either! The dictum 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' would seem to apply when it comes to finds, it seems.
I would argue that it should always be up to the finder(s) of a particular bird whether or not they put the news out, if at all, but I would also urge that, should a birder wish to flag a particular bird as being of interest, there should be NO stigma attached if it turns out to be just a strange Herring Gull/ Aythya hybrid/ escaped exotic bunting/ 'just' a Richard's Pipit etc, so long as the uncertainty was made clear to begin with...after all, if a report is put out in good faith of a 'large pipit, thought possibly to be Blyth's', anyone who travels for it is making their own decision based on the fact that it might not be, and shouldn't be so quick to blame the finder(s) should it not be.
There should also be no stigma attached to birders being unprepared for those once in a lifetime bizarre rares, like the handful who went to see a 'Little Auk' in Devon and failed to identify the bird correctly as a Long-billed Murrelet: plenty of 'hurlers on the ditch' appeared on the Friday that the bird was IDd, I recall, and I can only wonder as to how bad the abuse would have become had it not been conveniently relocated the next day...there would have been bloodshed! Now, it is true to say that I myself thought that it looked good for a murrelet (though I didn't know enough to say which one, other than that it wasn't an Ancient) based on the original pics, but it's one thing looking at shots that have already been questioned while seated at a computer...it's another thing entirely when in the field. I once struggled to confirm what was, in retrospect, a classic juv Semi-P Sandpiper 3 years ago, having spent all day in the field and become quite worn out...had I twitched the same bird, or seen good pics, I'd probably have found it an easy call....
So, let us all go forward, and bird without fear of reprisal or character assassination...yeah, that'll never catch on! Shame, though.

Dipping and diving

2006-11-07T19:30:00.000Z

Three posts in one day: either I have nothing better to do, or I'm keen to keep this thing a bit more up to date, you decide!
October post Hermit was pretty much an anticlimax, with things going quiet on the headlands by the last week, though I did manage to see the Woodchat and the Garden Warbler again at the Old Head on 21st...to date, however, these have been almost the last notable passerine migrants that I've managed, with 2 Black Redstarts on 26th being the last. Now, I can't complain after such a rewarding autumn, but it did seem to die very suddenly and very emphatically.
I tried for the Roaringwater Bay White-billed Diver on two occasions, in late October and early November, to no avail: as I don't need the species for Ireland, I think that I won't be trying a third time. I also failed to see the late Red-breasted Flycatcher on 1st November, due to not having been free to try for it on 31st, when it was last seen. Indeed, it seems that I have gained a knack for dipping on potential year ticks, leaving my year list firmly stuck on 200.
I did catch up with the Rosscarbery AGP finally, and even had good views of it, and also saw the 2 juv White-rumped Sandpipers at Ballycotton and juv Lesser Yellowlegs at Rosscarbery: it seems that waders have been more inclined to linger, or indeed to turn up late (the sandpipers were found in late October and early November respectively). At least this meant that I managed to see some quality birds in the absence of passerine action. A cracking male Merlin near Kilkerran Lake on Sunday last was also nice, as was the Scaup on the lake.
So, I suppose that I will continue my searches for rare wheatears etc, but will probably have to cut down on visits to the headlands for another year, due to the paucity even of regular November migrants such as Blackcap and Chiffchaff, and the surprising scarcity of Black Redstarts all autumn. A pity, it's always sad to let the autumn drift away.
(Of course, having said this there will now be a mass arrival of late migs...I hope so!).

Playing catch-up

2006-11-07T17:47:00.000Z

So, this mysterious 'news from Cape'...what's that all about, then?
(Of course, seeing as how I'm writing this weeks later, and I've been in touch with many of you many times since, there's precious little suspense...'whodunnit' it ain't! I mean, even the title of this posting will even remove more suspense later.)
Well, as you all know now, Ciaran Cronin found a Hermit Thrush by the Post Office on Cape Clear on Thursday 19th October, which must have come as quite a pleasant surprise to him, especially as he hadn't seen one previously. This news, when it arrived via SMS, certainly left me more than a little shaken, as I had history with the species....
Rewind to October 1998. Despite having been birding for quite some time beforehand, 1998 was my 'debut' year when it came to regular systematic twitching, and I saw some great birds such as Red-necked Stint and Bufflehead (well, that one was distant, underwhelming and not on show for that long when I was there, but there hasn't been one since and I have it on my own list, so that makes it a 'great bird'). I was also unable to get time off work (yes, way back then I was actually gainfully employed in a 9 to 5 job (9.30-5.30, but I digress)) for the Sora in Wexford, but, as I didn't travel for it, that didn't hurt too much. No, I had a much worse dip back in that year!
October 1998 was generally very disappointing, with few migrants (common or rare) on the headlands and islands. Indeed, even a low-listing tart such as my 23 year old self was able to spend a week on Cape early in the month with only one tick to show for it (shite views of a Yellow-browed Warbler at the Alder Wood...AND I managed to get much better views of one near Galley on my way home), and little else to look at. As a result, news that Martin and Carol Styles had found Ireland's first Hermit Thrush at Galley Head was met with great excitement by all...except that back then I didn't have 'phone numbers for most birders, and was actually unable to arrange a lift down. Never mind, says I, and I got the first bus to Clonakilty: this didn't leave Cork until 11.20am! When I got to Clon, I got a taxi to Galley, but the bird hadn't been seen for an hour or so, and was never seen again. Ouch!
So, to return to the almost present day of October 2006, you can see why I was so keen to see this one. When I eventually calmed down enough to accept that I'd have to wait until the following day to get to Cape, I did something that I had never done before, and which is a lot harder than I had realised: I arranged a charter for early morning for 5-6 birders. We all met as planned at Baltimore on 20th, and were joined by a lucky Iain Hill, whose wife only turned on her mobile at 6.30am or thereabouts, thus getting my message about a charter, and managed to make the boat with no time to spare.
We further arranged to have Mary Cadogan's taxi meet us at the harbour, and were on site soon enough, having received word from Ger Walsh that the bird hadn't done a bunk overnight, as I had feared due to the cloud-free skies all the way to Baltimore. When we got out of the taxi, we were shocked to see that this bird was quite content only a few feet away from us in a little muddy corner, and, indeed, it came even closer to us on a few occasions. Even if I hadn't had history with the species, this bird would have been sweet indeed, but the 8 years of 'pain' made it even sweeter. The bird continued to show amazingly well to all who arrived later during the day, but eluded the weekend twitchers by leaving/ dying on the Friday night.
Also on the island, we had a Wryneck and Black Redstart at the far eastern end, with another unbelievably confiding bird, this time a Turtle Dove, at Cotter's with singles of Yellow-browed Warbler and Pied Flycatcher. A vintage day on Cape!
When we came off, Paul and I went to Ballymacrown, with Foley going there just before us. He flagged us down, and told us that he had found a juv/ 1st-w shrike that he was sure was a Woodchat. It was, but we were all struck by the passing resemblance to a juvenile Masked Shrike, due to it being a very grey bird. The pale rump patch, exact extent of the primary patch, slight hint of warmth to the nape and structure of the bird all ruled this out, unfortunately!

Delayed information of yet another find...old news now!

2006-11-07T17:25:00.000Z

Hi all,
How was the autumn for you all (as if I didn't already know)? I hope it was good?
Well, you may recall that, when I last updated this thing, I had mentioned how Paul Rowe and I had found a Subalp. Due to the juv/ 1st-w Woodchat Shrike being seen again on Monday 16th by some visiting Dublin birders, I decided to head down for a short visit with Sean Cronin on 17th. No shrike in the favoured area near the gully, so it looked like another dip on what would have been a plumage tick. Sean drew my attention to a bird on a distant ditch, which we both eventually decided was most likely a Stonechat or something, but, when I scanned left, I saw an obvious shrike. This was too distant to ID armed only with bins (my scope was in Sean's car), so we decided to return to the road and walk closer.
Now, when we did reach the relevant ditch, we both spotted a shrike perched facing us, and, understandably, the natural assumption was that this was the Woodchat, or perhaps the Red-backed...so why were the underparts so poorly marked, with an obvious orange-buff wash to the flanks and upper breast, and why was the undertail slightly ginger...?
I then told Sean that I believed the bird very likely to have been an Isabelline, and a quick glimpse of the upperparts when it turned around confirmed this, due to the sandy plain upperparts and contrastingly rufous tail. A first for Cork, just like that! Nice!
While we were waiting for others to arrive, the Issy went missing briefly, and we then saw a shrike further along the ditch: amazingly, this was the Woodchat that had been found the week before, and it was possible later on to see both shrikes in the one binocular view (with difficulty), with the Isabelline favouring the section closest to the road. Some birders actually saw it kill and decapitate a Robin later, which I was sorry to have missed (having gone elsewhere looking for more birds), but I did see it impaling the Robin's headless corpse on thorns later...that's one Robin who learned the hard way that not everything orange-rufous is another Robin's breast, I'd say!
Otherwise, migrants were limited to 2 Wheatears, 1 Garden Warbler, 4+ Blackcaps and a Merlin, and someone had a Black Redstart, but that hardly mattered. All quiet then until I heard the news on the evening of the 19th from Cape, but that's another story.

Oh, Canada!

2006-10-16T15:39:00.000+01:00

Hello again,
It really has been a while since I last bothered to update things on here, mainly because, as Anthony McGeehan once was reputed to have said to Birdwatch magazine (according to one of those times that 'Mrs. McGeehan' wrote his column instead), the birding is too hectic during October to have the time! However, I shall attempt to play catch-up today, as I find myself in front of a computer.
September ended with a few more Whinchats, a Reed Warbler and my only Irish sighting of Garden Warbler so far this year. I welcomed October in by going to see the extremely interesting-looking presumed 'Azorean atlantis' Yellow-legged Gull at Carrahane Strand (a rare out-of-county excursion), and narrowly missed adding AGP to my finds list while there: I had been scouring the flock, but Denis and Ger both happened to simultaneously pick out a well-hidden juvenile AGP at the back of the flock, which later gave excellent views.
The following weekend saw a trip to Cape with a few friends that was more notable for the general craic, the mini-invasion of young women on the island and the bad weather on the Sunday than it was for birds, though I still managed to get good views of a Wryneck. Having returned to Cork city, I got a 'phone call from Seamus Enright at 5pm, to say that Maurice Hanafin had found a CANADA WARBLER! As you can imagine, the shit hit the fan then, not least as it would have been impossible to get there before dark from Cork: like so many others, I would have to wait until the following day and hope that the bird stayed put.
After leaving home at 4.40am (compared to some trips through the night, this was almost a lie-in!), we arrived shortly before 8am, when we heard that the bird had been seen briefly a minute or two before we arrived. While I can sometimes panic a little in such situations, I remained outwardly cool, calm and collected, though I was slightly on edge (in a 'good' way) inside. Now, like anyone else who has twitched their fair share of birds, I sometimes find myself worrying about my motives when doing so: in spite of not listing competitively, am I going for birds merely as ticks? I was pleased to find out that, in this case at least, the answer was no: when I eventually lay eyes on the little beauty at around 8.25am, all I could do was gasp, and say something like 'Oh wow!' under my breath...the aesthetic value of birds still hits me at times!
I won't bore you all with a description: you've either seen the bird (and, if so, just close your eyes and remember) or else been gripped off by all the pics online. My antipathy towards crowds didn't even really surface all day, so good was the bird, despite it being my first ever twitch on a day that the 'vanguard' of British twitching was present. It was a bit strange seeing all the famous faces like Millington, Gantlett (I had no idea that he was so short, and this is coming from someone who sometimes manages 5' 9 1/2" on a good day with a favourable wind), Evans (just the same as he was on that TV show...make of that what you will), Webb, Heard etc, especially when one considers that it was only a Western Pal tick for them all....
The supporting cast was good, but I 'only' managed to see the Red-eyed Vireo myself. After such a hectic weekend, I was planning on spending the day at home on Tuesday, but news of a Blackpoll Warbler on Dursey Island changed my plans yet again! Unfortunately, this bird was by no means as co-operative as the Canada, no doubt mainly due to the strong SE winds (once the winds shift SE, the garden that the bird was frequenting gets seriously windblown). It was seen by Ger Walsh while I was there, but only briefly, and there was no way that we could dig it out. Given the poor forecast for that night, I couldn't see how it would leave, but an extensive search the following morning by Derek Scott failed to produce a sighting.
No birding then until Friday evening, when a frustrating evening at the Old Head saw me dip on the Woodchat Shrike (would have been a plumage tick too!), see the Red-backed Shrike for a few seconds and, worst of all, fail to pin down a likely Barred Warbler that would have been a co-find and thus a finds tick (and a tick for Brian Lynch, who was present).
On Saturday, I headed to Cape (via a quiet Toe Head) with Denis, in order to try to catch up with some of the quality birds on offer on the island. We managed brief flight views of the Baltimore Oriole, which was being quite elusive (thankfully, the views I got of the 2001 bird were very good), and also caught up with 2 Yellow-browed Warblers (a species that I look forward to seeing every year, and usually manage to). Sunday was very windy, and Paul Rowe and I had nothing at an exposed Sandy Cove (east of the Old Head). While driving along the 'coast road' between there and the Old Head, we noticed good numbers of tits and crests in roadside trees, so we decided to stop. Paul found a Spotted Fly in this more sheltered spot, so we spent some time in the area. While looking at the flycatcher later, however, I picked up an interesting-looking Sylvia in the same sycamore, and alerted Paul to its presence. We soon suspected 1st-w Subalpine, and, despite the whole sighting lasting under a minute, the bird was on show and giving good views throughout the period of observation. One feature 'threw' me: it seemed to have a hint of warmth (NOT rufous colouring, however) around the tertials, but a look at my extensive notes on one at Toe Head in 2001 mentioned this as being something that caught my attention then also. The 'ghosted' white submoustachial (purer white than the rest of the throat, despite this whole area merely looking off-white at some angles) was a pretty good feature, with other details also supporting the ID. As always, it is amazing just how much of a privelige it is to be 'granted' a find...we could easily not have stopped where we did, seeing as how the site wasn't really on a headland or anything. We had nothing else of note anywhere in increasingly windy conditions, and I couldn't help but feel bad for Brian when he arrived about 1 1/2 hours after we last had the bird.

Update, another tick and rain on my parade

2006-10-02T15:21:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
A quick update so as not to be accused of falling too far behind: you know how it is, being too busy looking for rares (largely in vain) etc!
After the excellent week on Cape, I went back there from 19th-21st Sep with Dermot Breen and Derek Charles: regrettably, I couldn't help produce the Greenish, the lads had no joy with Wryneck, Derek barely got the starling, the weather was crap etc etc...lads, I hope that ye haven't been put off Cork for life? (I know that Derek at least hasn't, after his most recent successful visit)
I was asked if I was on for a trip to south Wexford with Brian Lynch, young Sean and the truly infamous Foley on the 23rd, due to the presence of some nice birds down that way, and I almost certainly would have had in any case...the finding of a juv/ 1st-w Black-winged Stilt at Tac on the 22nd removed any doubt from my mind! Now, most of you will know the score with that species and myself: I didn't twitch as such back in the early/ mid 90s, and, for many years, the last twitchable stilts in Ireland were two at Clogheen Marsh in 1995. As luck would have it, the next available bird turned up at nearby White's Marsh, but unfortunately I had just that very day flown to Spain for a week's birding (this was excellent, by the way), and the fecking thing was gone before I got back. This spring, two were seen in Co.Kerry, but news only broke after they had gone!
Cut to a rather flooded Tac on 23rd, and a distinct lack of stilt action was immediately obvious, though a juv Garganey and juv Black Tern were seen at the east end. A quick call to BINS gave the answer to that poser...the stilt was at Lady's Island. Off we went, and I managed to pick this eagerly awaited Irish tick up within a few seconds of our arrival on site. AT LAST! Plumage tick also, had only seen spring birds before while abroad.
Having secured the only tick on offer for me, I could now relax a bit, and try to help pin down ticks for the others and maybe even find something. Carnsore failed to yield the probably departed Spotted Sand, but we were rather more successful in getting to grips with the 1st-w type Tawny Pipit at Tac: oddly, considering how obliging it was, I've not seen pics online, and only been sent two videograbs. At least 4 juv Buff-breasts, an amazing 33-34 Yellow Wagtails in one field (amazing, but Ratface mentioned seeing 75 in '76 on Cape!) and lots of Curlew Sands and Little Stints rounded the day off, and we finished up by checking in on the stilt again...it had gone to Cymru the next day! Phew!
Sunday saw an unsuccessful attempt for an Icky at Ballyc, but news from Cape tempted me, despite the ID being that of 'Olivaceous'. I travelled half in hope that it was a misIDd Sykes's, and half in hope of at least seeing such a quality bird again...the latter was what transpired, and I also saw the Rose-coloured Starling again. No tail-dipping, mind, but seems to have been Eastern alright.
I shall post about the events of more recent trips anon....

A quick gripe...birding and the media!

2006-09-30T15:58:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
Just a quick rant about how, yet again, the gutter press seem to be having such a quiet time news-wise (lads, there's loads of stuff happening out there), and have decided to run yet more hyperbole-ridden 'human interest' stories concerning rare birds and those evil twitchers who chase after them. The latest is that, apparently, a Rose-coloured Starling in Norfolk was hounded to death by twitchers. The householder whose garden it frequented, who is an RSPB member, apparently as good as stated that it was kicked from post to pillar by a mob of tick-hungry twitchers who didn't care one bit about the bird's welfare, and, in fact, exhausted it so much that it later died.
Now, there may be some truth in this: after all, this is those nasty Britisher twitchers that we're on about here, those lads who come over here, flatten any decent habitat where they gather, taunt locals with ill-advised jibes like 'Are you a Provo?', and, most heinous of all, fail to spread news of the Cliff Swallow/ Issy Wheatear/ LBJ that they've found while watching the fecking thing.... ;)
Seriously, maybe crowds were a bit of a problem here, but the press tends to run with these things. After all, the species isn't that rare per se in the UK (hell, even my one on Cape wasn't a tick for many over here, where eastern birds tend to be rarer than in the UK), the photo used was of a full adult (the bird in question was a juvenile), and the fact that it was in a weakened state when found with two enormous ticks on its head was never even mentioned....
Previous poor reporting on rare birds includes such classics as reference to the 'Borneo snipe' when discussing the putative (and subsequently rejected) Pintail Snipe at Ballyleary Bog: the species probably does occur in Borneo in winter, I haven't checked, but it breeds west of the fecking Urals! That would sound too tame, however.

Dr. Strange Bird...or 'How I Learned To (Almost) Stop Worrying and Find Rare Birds'

2006-09-18T15:45:00.000+01:00

Hi there,
You will all remember my moaning that, when it came to finding rares, I just hadn't been at the races all year...? Yeah, it was pretty incessant, wasn't it, but then I can be like that at times, I'm afraid! Anyway, things were beginning to get to me a little, so, when a few days with no other responsibilities came up, I decided to head to Cape Clear in the hope of a relaxing break and, if I was lucky, a rare bird or two.
On getting off the ferry on Monday night last (after receiving word both of a fecking Fea's from Galley and a Tree Pipit at Ballycotton, both of which would have been ticks for me), I was greeted by 3 Swifts at the North Harbour (they didn't actually greet me, that would be stupid), the first that I had seen for a month or so. This filled me with hope for the next day... OK, maybe it didn't, but they were appreciated anyway.
The following day, I had the disconcerting experience of hearing the distinctive flight call of a Tree Pipit five times without ever seeing it...ouch! Catching up with 2 Wrynecks eased the pain somewhat, as I hadn't seen one since last year, and they are always amazing to watch. A few Pied and Spotted Flys also, and a Whinchat, but little else.
Come Wednesday, Steve Wing suggested that I do a seawatch from Bullig, and it was only then that I noticed that I had misplaced my waterproof leggings! Still no idea where they have gone! I decided to chance going out without them, and had single Balearic and Sooty Shearwaters for my troubles without a drop of rain. Checked my e-mail briefly after returning, and, having sent a text commenting on some website or other to a few friends, I was galvanised into action by a certain ex-pat Scottish birder wondering what I was doing online and not in the field (thanks for the motivation, mate!). I decided to overcome my natural aversion to slogging all the way up the eastern end of the island that evening, and found it to be dead...until I scanned a small Starling flock and found that it contained a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling! I'll not hear a word said against them (I also like juvvy Rosefinch!), I really appreciated the good fortune of stumbling across one here.
Thursday morning, and I set out towards the bogs, idly lifting my bins to investigate a 'Willow Warbler'...a hint of a wingbar, and then it flew! I had to try to make sure that this wasn't just a trick of the light or something, and distant scope-only views confirmed that the bird had a well-marked greater covert wingbar on both sides...clearly an Arctic/ Greenish, but I really wasn't sure due to the crap views (the legs looked paler than expected for Greenish, but darker than on the one Arctic that I've seen; the supercilium shape was somewhat ambiguous etc). After losing it, I was left with two options: 1) Try to relocate it and clinch it myself either way before putting news out, or 2) Call a few others, so that they can help relocate and nail it. There is also 3) (Act as though nothing happened, and walk away), but that was a non-starter, so I went with option 2.
The bould Cronin spotted it after a while, and he, Steve and I saw it for a minute or so. The two lads, who have more experience of Greenish than me, leaned towards that, and I was still undecided. Nothing again for almost an hour, until Steve heard it calling persistently from within the garden, which led him to ID it as a Greenish: we were all able to confirm this for ourselves as we heard, but didn't see, it there. An hour or two later, I finally managed to get close prolonged views, which also supported identification as a Greenish. At last I could enjoy the find, and soak up the finer details of only my second Greenish anywhere.

Friday morning then, and I was due to leave that evening. The trip had been a great success: as well as the birds, I had enjoyed the peace and quiet of the island, seen my first Speckled Bush Cricket and (probable?) Convolvolus Hawkmoth, and had some good craic (not what some of you might be thinking!), but the only slight disappointment was the heard-only Tripit. As if in answer to some unsaid prayer, a Tree Pipit flew over my head along the Low Road, allowing me to see it: shite views, mind, and it would be hard to rule out an exceptionally early OBP on call alone, but ticked the species at last. Nothing else at the bogs, but, on returning from the lake, I got word from Ciaran that he had found an Ortolan along the Low Road! Had we walked past that earlier? Rushed back over, and managed to jam in on it around 2-3 minutes before it flew, never to be seen again. Further views of the Greenish, and then home.
No birding on Saturday, but I went to Baltimore yesterday (Sunday), where any lingering doubts about whether or not to tick Tree Pipit evaporated when I had one perched on a wooden fence allowing the short hind claw to be seen. I know that this spell won't last forever, and, indeed, I may not find anything better than perhaps a Firecrest for the rest of the year, but I am grateful for my good fortune over the last few days. Starting to be a fairer spread of rarity finds in Cork of late, with Andre having had the Buff-Bs on Dursey etc...here's to a great autumn, it's started well!
Thanks to Mike O'Keeffe for the Greenish Warbler pic, for fear that I be seen as trying to claim credit for his (or anyone else's) handiwork!

What I did in my summer holidays....

2006-09-04T14:47:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
Well, the reason for the heading is that summer is now officially over, and the rarity finding can begin, now that autumn's here! No more gawking off a headland hoping for Macronesian Pterodroma species that, in actual fact, don't exist! No more waiting in vain for some few meagre scraps of comfort! No more school books...oh, that one's an Alice Cooper lyric, and I don't even rate him as a musical 'artist'! September's here!
So, how did I spend the 1st? Gawking off a headland for the whole day, that's how...well, it was practically still August, and Ciaran had some odd yoke off Cape the previous day. I didn't have a similar yoke off Galley, but what we did have was a possible record Irish day count of 25 (yes, not 2-5, but 25!!!) Balearic Shearwaters. Getting all serious for a while, this species is now classified as Critically Endangered, with a whopping 98% decline forecast within just three generations: see http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=30026&m=0 for more details. It seems that, either due to warming sea temperatures here, declining fish stocks in the traditional post-breeding areas, or both, numbers occurring off of Ireland are actually increasing while the species is in steep decline. Hopefully conservation measures will have a positive effect, as they have done with other endangered seabirds, and that we can continue to see them here for many years to come.
We did also have another shearwater quite close in that was either a very pale Balearic or maybe even a Yelkouan Shearwater, but current knowledge on the limits of variation in both species is sketchy at best, and I'll sit on the record until such time as things are clarified. It seemed as pale below (or almost so) as a Manx, but with a dark vent and a more Balearic-like flight.
Not much birding on 2nd, dipped on a very elusive juv Semi-P (Sandpiper, thankfully, and not Plover, which I haven't seen yet) at Ballyc, as did most others. A juv Little Stint was nice, but the best sighting was of a few Short-winged Coneheads (they're crickets), which I had seen one of there last year and failed to find subsequently. This rare (but under-recorded?) species had only been known from 1-2 sites previously.
Flogged west Cork yesterday in preference to trying for what would be my second Greenish Warbler in Co. Waterford (that bird was elusive, so I may well not have seen it anyway), as I was reasonably confident of finding an American wader due to the mini-influx over the last few days. As it happened, the best that I could manage were single juv Ruff at Clogheen and Kilkerran (the latter a gratefully received patch year tick for a certain Mr.Barton) and 5 more Balearic Shears in a strong Manxie passage off of Galley Head.
Things will turn around soon, though: a find is imminent....

Passerine season gets underway...?

2006-08-28T12:17:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
Despite the continuing extensive seawatching being done around the Irish coast, and my own lack of Fea's (one seen every day somewhere in Ireland last Monday- Friday with the exception of Thursday!), I find myself longing for the passerines to start moving through, with the possibility of some choice birds, be they ticks or otherwise.
It is with this in mind that I got news on Saturday last (26th) that a probable (later confirmed as a definite) Booted Warbler had been found on the Cunnigar in Dungarvan. I decided to go for this with Brian Lynch and Ger Walsh, despite having seen the bird found by Graham Gordon at the Ballycotton cliffs in 2004, but the bird had been last seen around 9.15am and could not be relocated later, despite our presence to assist with the search. The pics looked good, though!
Fast forward to yesterday, when I was heading west with Paul Rowe: we got word at mid-day that the bird had been relocated nearby, and decided to turn around and go there, picking up the 'Cork youth contingent' of Paul's brother Philip and Sean Ronayne on the way.
The bird was being watched as we arrived, and gave good to excellent views as it flitted around in ragworts and low brambles and perched on the ground. It was a classic Booted, with no real pro-Sykes's features, and was almost certainly a 1st-winter due to the very fresh remiges.
On then to Galley Head, where a quiet evening seawatch failed to yield anything really juicy, but 7 Sooties, 2 Balearics and a Bonxie kept us somewhat interested.
I would also like to remind everyone that the spanking brand-new improved de-luxe Cork Bird Report, covering the years 1996 to 2004, is now available, and must be one of the best things that I've read all year. It's a bargain at 20 Euro, plus 3 p+p (in Ireland) or 5.50 (to the UK). Booker Prize next year? Sure we'd want to get fitted for the tuxedos already...cough, cough, I mean 'The bird report is excellent, and I have no vested interest or bias whatsoever in saying so'....

Do not adjust your set...

2006-08-14T14:12:00.000+01:00

...as normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Oh, hello there,
I suppose some of you are left somewhat bemused by my strange intro to this posting: very well, I shall attempt to explain. It seems that, for some strange reason, I have gained a reputation for bemoaning the lack of quality birds in Co.Cork at any given opportunity in certain quarters, even among people whom I have never actually met! Now, those of you who have met me can vouch for the fact that I do have tendencies towards moaning/ being miserable/ pessimism etc, but the fact that I may have inadvertently given the impression that birding here is shite upsets me, mainly because...
...I love living in Cork!!!!
There, I've said it! Like any good Corkonian, I am intensely proud of my county: as a Cork birder, I am acutely aware of the attractions of living here. Sure, it does tend to get quiet at times, but then it has been a bit quiet for a long time everywhere in Ireland, and it has even been quiet in the UK by their standards and expectations, except perhaps when it comes to escapes (but I won't go there). The fact that the juvenile waders are starting to go through, however (saw my first juv Black-tailed Godwits and Ruff of the year over the weekend), together with news of a Wryneck on Dursey Island yesterday, means that the rarity famine locally is set to come to an end any day, and the possibilities when in the field will become much more exciting from around now until late October, or well into November if it's one of those late autumns (or into December if you include fortunate encounters with shit-rare eastern Phylloscopus warblers on your patch....).
Watch this space....

Time, passing like sand through an hourglass, ever marching onwards (or 'How I left my blog idle for weeks')

2006-07-27T15:14:00.000+01:00

Bonjour, mes amis,

Some of you may just have become concerned by the lack of action on here, thinking that I had flipped and joined the Foreign Legion or something (hence the few mots Francais), or been holed up in my room convinced that my every move was being monitored by the Ukranian secret service (so secret that none of their operatives even know that they are working for them), but the truth is far more prosaic and mundane: the midsummer doldrums have just led to me having had very little to write about. However, after one look at the spurious tripe on some of your blogs, I realised that I couldn't do much worse, so, for now at least, I'm back!
So, where to start? I went out too many times to detail every excursion, but still saw enough to have stuff to recount on here. I suppose the most notable sighting that I've had since way back when was when I caught up with the (presumed 1st-summer) American Black Tern (surinamensis) at Lady's Island on the evening of the 17th. Views of this were relatively distant, though, when the bird flew, we could still make out the dusky greyish underwing coverts (white in similarly aged niger, contrasting with the remiges), more uniform-looking upperparts, less contrastingly pale rump, less black on crown etc. Some nice pics of the bird at rest can be seen at http://wildlifesnaps.com/ . Note that there are pics of a juvenile Black Tern on there also: we saw that as well, but failed to catch up with the adult (?) summer bird. Lots of lovely close adult and juvenile Roseate Terns were most enjoyable as well: I had never actually seen juv Roseates, nor had I ever heard the species...both of these states of affairs were rectified!
Seawatching has been reasonably good, if patchy, since early in the month, and I have seen a few Cory's, Great and Balearic Shearwaters since I last posted, all of which were year ticks for me. I missed the Wilson's Petrel that the bould Foley claimed last Saturday from Galley, as did everyone else present, but there is time to get one of my own yet. Despite things being far more quiet, I enjoyed the short evening seawatch with Paul Rowe on Sunday more than the vigil with Owen and Sean on Saturday: just felt in better form for picking stuff up, and managed to find the first Cory's of the evening at some distance.
Other than that, it's been all Med Gulls, Sandwich Tern gatherings, increasing numbers of waders (though with precious little of note with them as yet) and the end of the harrier surveys for another year, but it'll be August soon, and things may well pick up.

What I did last weekend

2006-07-06T19:11:00.000+01:00

Hello there,
It's been a while now, so I thought that I may as well put something up, though I must admit to having found it difficult to motivate myself to do so! I also keep meaning to finish off the Morocco write-ups, but I'm not sure if their time may have passed now? Certainly, the whole trip seems like so long ago to me!
Last Saturday, conditions seemed promising for a seawatch, so I headed to Galley with young Master Foley and the even-younger Master Ronayne (don't you just hate being made to feel antiquated?). The final tallies were reasonable, with 4 Sooty Shearwaters, up to 7 Poms, 3 Bonxies, 2 Arctics and, best of all, a stunning adult Long-tailed Skua, which was a Cork tick for me (275 in the county now!). A shame that Foley found it, it's not even as though he needs a decent find this year: my own rut now extends to just over 6 months without a rarity (Appendix 1 or 2) to my name! Not sure what will happen to this either, with his 'non-submission' policy? A very good local record, probably not much commoner than the likes of Fea's Petrel in the county!
Also seen were good numbers of commoner seabirds like Puffins, Storm Petrels and Common Scoter, with the best on land being the long-staying 1st-s Glaucous Gull at Timoleague.
I went east with John Kennedy on Sunday, and made amends for those possible Red-veined Darters a while back by getting close views of a definite male at Lough Aderra. Birds were limited to the two hybrid swans still there, and the first of the returning Med Gulls at Whitegate (6 birds).
Did Galley again this morning, but it was dead: 1 Arctic Skua was far and away the best seen, but the 3 Stock Doves near 'Shite Lane' were more notable! The Glauc was again at Timoleague...will it ever leave?

Monty Python's Flying Circus

2006-06-26T14:24:00.000+01:00

So it came to pass that, disillusioned with the lack of decent birds here in Cork, I decided to head to south Wexford with Brian Lynch on Saturday, which involved getting up at an ungodly hour (5am)! Despite arriving at Tacumshin well within the window of opportunity for seeing the Night Heron, we failed to do so, but then it isn't seen every day. Would have been my second for Ireland, but I can wait until there is another closer to home.
A scan from the East End car park yielded distant views of a summer plumaged 'golden plover': this looked as though it probably was just a European, but closer views were called for to prove this...the closer we got, the more 'classic' it became, I'm afraid, and my rarity-finding dry spell now stretches to 6 months. As we were now near the dunes, we continued in that direction, and had to take shelter from some 'heavy' drizzle for 10 minutes or so. On continuing up towards the White Hole, I noted a ringtail harrier get up: suspicions that this was the 2nd cal Montagu's Harrier were soon confirmed, and I quickly started a running commentary to get Brian onto it (tick for him). Views were later good enough to see such detail as the new 2nd gen axilliaries (with diagnostic barring), until we lost it behind some reeds. We walked towards this area, expecting the bird to be hidden on the ground and out of sight, but we pinned it down perched on a fence post, where we watched it for around an hour, until the weather got worse again.
On meeting Paul and Andrea Kelly at the East End car park, we were told of 2 Quail on the Patches, but first we headed to Lady's Island, where we saw nothing better than 3 of the 1st-s Little Gulls, a 2nd-s Med Gull and a Tree Sparrow. Back at Tac, we managed to hear both male Quail, but hadn't a hope of seeing either or them without trampling irresponsibly through potential breeding habitat: we also had two more sightings of the Montagu's Harrier here, with a tatty adult female Marsh Harrier by the East End pool providing a nice contrast when we were on our way back to the car.
Finally, a check of the North Slob failed to turn up the Hobby seen the previous week, but a Greenland White-fronted Goose, 5-6 Wigeon and a female Pochard (I can ID those in summer more readily nowadays....) were an unseasonal selection.
Went to Ballyc with Foley on Sunday: highlights on his weblog, though there were 10 Dunlin there, not the 8 that he mentions (the Curlew Sand was with 8 Dunlin, with the other 2 being seperate).

Enter the dragon....

2006-06-18T20:37:00.000+01:00

So, what's a birder to do when there are no birds to look at? Well, on a day like today, the answer would seem to be 'TV', but, when the sun is shining (as it was yesterday), dragonflies can be a nice diversion. The problem then being a complete and utter lack of willing partners in crime, so I had to resort to thumbing: trouble is, when one is the wrong side of 30 with a lean and hungry look it is so hard to get anyone to stop...I should bring a stunning young woman with me as eye candy for the drivers, but, if I could get one of those in the first place, why would I want to look at insects...?
Eventually, I did manage to arrive at Lough Aderra, and I immediately found a dead Four-spotted Chaser by the roadside, which was a good omen! I also quickly noted a few male Black-tailed Skimmers on the side road: I had never seen as many in a day as I did yesterday, with at least 30 individuals seen, including some females. Four-spotted Chasers also were abundant, and a few Emperors were also noted (this recent colonist is one of my favourite dragonflies, they're so damn impressive). A brief view of an Anax sp looked very interesting, with the blue on the upper abdomen looking more sky blue than on Emperor: perseverence paid off, as I managed a lovely male Lesser Emperor, only my third ever. All have been at this site.
To end on a slightly disappointing note: I saw two mature male red darters, and, as it is awfully early to see mature specimens of Common or Ruddy, I suspected Red-veined, which I have yet to see. Of course, the blasted things were always that bit too distant, but, even so, I thought that one at least had red veins in the forewing...ah well, all the more reason to head down midweek if it gets warm and sunny again.
It would be nice to have some birds to write about, too, but the doldrums are well and truly here!

Scorchio

2006-06-06T11:31:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
Well, as most of you will know, we've been having a heatwave over here, which really reinforces the notion that summer is here, which is great in terms of being out and about, but lousy when it comes to finding rare birds!
A half day in east Cork on Friday resolutely failed to turn up anything of note, though an early morning trip to the same location on 3rd resulted in prolonged views of a singing male Reed Warbler: it was interesting to spend time with this, after recent controversy surrounding an odd Acro in the UK. While the song was 'bog-standard Reed' for most of the time (over an hour), it did get a little more lively at times, with even a little bit of (mostly unconvincing) mimicry thrown in, most notably the Swallow calls that are so often incorporated into Sedge Warbler's song. Other than the two 2nd cal Whooper x Mute Swans at Lough Aderra, however, nothing else of note was seen.
Sunday saw me up in the Ballyhouras all day looking for harriers, with mixed results, and I managed some Cuckoos there and at the Mullaghareirks, with a Grasshopper Warbler at the latter also. It seems that all the rares left in the country are at Tac, though....

Nothing doing...again!

2006-05-30T16:31:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
Well, given the lack of news each weekend that passes, it seems as though I'm trapped in a Groundhog Day-esque time loop, seeing feck all any time that I head out.
Well, given the lack of news each weekend that passes, it seems as though I'm trapped in a Groundhog Day-esque time loop, seeing feck all any time that I head out.

(sorry, couldn't resist the cheap joke!)
Harrier survey duty on Saturday with Tony was very disappointing, with only two brief sightings of a male for me in almost four hours (and Tony had nothing). Almost didn't get out at all on Sunday, as ALL of the birders living in or around Cork city were away or otherwise engaged, and buses are a bit crap at this time of year (all year round on many routes): did get to go to Ballyvergan late in the evening, where I dipped on the adult female Marsh Harrier that was there, and also dipped on a male Garganey nearby.
To cap it all off, it'll soon be June, and migration will be over until we get some seabirds in July (winds permitting)...yawn!

For fear of being boring: a change of topic!

2006-05-25T13:49:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
It has become apparent to me from reading over my blog that the last few posts were all about Morocco, and all were long. The unfortunate side-effect of this is that the whole thing seems to be a bit off-putting, and, so, I have decided to throw in a quick snappy little post, and save the last 3 days of the Morocco trip for another day.
So, what's been happening since I last posted a topical update (which was all the way back on Monday 15th!)? Well, I never did see the Red-rumped Swallow at the Old Head, which was another potential county tick missed: on that subject, my decision to head west with John Kennedy last Saturday rather than east with Foley may have cost me another, as the jammy bastard found a Gull-billed Tern near Pilmore (pic at http://www.birdsireland.com/pages/rare_bird_news/2006/may_photos.html). I have seen two at Tac years ago, and a good few abroad, but the search in vain on Sunday was still a bit of a downer.
The best that I managed last Saturday were a calling Cuckoo at Dirk Bay (patch year tick for Col), single 1st-s Glaucous and Med Gulls in the Timoleague area and, most enjoyable of all, prolonged views of a singing male Gropper at Castlefreke, my first views of the species for some time.
Went to see the Editors at the Savoy on Tuesday night, and, despite having tinnutis well into Wednesday, I enjoyed the night out. I wasn't even the oldest person who went to see them, which cheered me up: the gig was mercifully free of baby-faced types, so I wasn't out of place!

Morocco: Chapter 7: a game of two halves

2006-05-25T13:29:00.000+01:00

So, on to the morning of the 13th, where a search of the hotel grounds at Ouarzazate yielded a few migrants, including a fly-over Tree Pipit, male Redstart, Pied Flys and such like.
Acutely aware of the fact that we had yet to see Mourning Wheatear, we tried another likely spot, and again drew a blank. A poorly seen wheatear with a dark throat and pale belly on top of a ridge was tracked down and proved to be only a Desert Wheatear, and I managed to miss a small group of distant Black-bellied Sandgrouse in flight. White-crowned Black Wheatears and Desert Larks were also present on and around the ridge, but the best was yet to come: Denis picked up an interesting bird perched in the distance, which almost resembled a shrike in some respects, but that sandy colour would suit none but Isabelline, which wasn't likely on range...besides, the tail didn't appear that rufous, and there didn't seem to be a mask either. It looked like a Fulvous Babbler, but we felt that these were most unlikely just to sit around in full view while doing nothing much. Closer approach showed that it WAS a Fulvous Babbler, however,and that there were 3-4 of them in total.
Another species that we had failed to see was Thick-billed Lark, and again we didn't really have a concrete back-up site, so we tried some stone desert near Tazenkht. A flock of 3 Black-bellied Sandgrouse were seen distantly but well enough, and we also had hazy views of one on the ground. Some people saw CCC here, and a Bar-tailed Desert Lark was seen by a single observer, but the only other birds that I saw were 2-3 Desert Larks.
At the Tizi-n-Bachkoum pass, a migrating Osprey and an obliging perched Long-legged Buzzard were some relief from the usual lack of birds in the mountains.By the time we had descended to the Souss Valley, however, I was clearly coming down with something, either food poisoning or heatstroke, and barely managed to struggle down some of the way, logging 4 or more Red-rumped Swallows and a female Cirl Bunting before I just gave up. I went to bed immediately on reaching Taroudant, foregoing dinner and the Tawny Owl that others saw that night.

Morocco: Chapter 6: more desert...and water at last!

2006-05-25T12:24:00.000+01:00

Well, here's another posting about Morocco: at this rate, I will get the whole trip written up some time in October, rares permitting!
After another night at Erfoud, we returned to the site that I had visited alone the previous evening, where the two Ruddy Shelduck had been joined by 2 more. The best views of the trip of subpersonata White Wagtail and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (which bred at the site) were obtained, and 4-5 Little Ringed Plovers, 5+ White-crowned Black Wheatears, 2 Hoopoes and 2 Crested Larks were also present. The overpowering stench of human waste by the dam was a bit of a downer, however....
After leaving, our first stop was near Rissani, at a known site for Eagle Owl, which we failed to see. The tamarisks here held up to 3 singing Western Olivaceous Warblers, 1 male Subalpine Warbler, 2 Western Bonelli's Warblers and a probable Melodious Warbler, with desert species including a few White-crowned Black Wheatears, Trumpeter Finches and, at last, the first Desert Lark that I managed to see!
Our next stop also yielded this species, with at least 4 seen, and 7-8 Trumpeter Finches showed well here too. A female Spectacled Warbler gave prolonged (if intermittent) views, and a Melodious Warbler was also in the area, though there was no Mourning Wheatear.
For the most part, that was the end of our birding for some time, as we climbed the narrow roads that led across the mountains, but a brief view of a large raptor was enough for us to stop. Though called as 'another' Bonelli's Eagle by some to start with, prolonged views showed it to be a Short-toed Eagle. Some locals managed to find us while parked (where had they sprung from??), and tried to sell us some rather odd-looking lizards with fat tails, presumably caught locally. We should have bought them and then left them go!
On returning to the lowlands, we passed through a run-down town near a dump (it looked like a dump anyway), and I wasn't expecting the species that was called next: 2 Cream-coloured Coursers were spotted on dry fields between the town and our next destination. I saw one of these, which gave incredible views from the bus as it ran around in its plover-like fashion. This had been one of the species that I had looked forward to, and I wasn't disappointed!
The destination referred to above was the Barrage El Mansour Eddabbi, which was alive with waterbirds of various kinds, the highlights including 2 Marbled Duck (we had very distant and disappointing views of these, and debated as to whether they were Marbled Duck or just distant Teal, but others had closer views and also saw them in flight. Most underwhelming, though, but I had seen the species very well in Spain before), 3 Kentish Plovers, as many as 42 Ruddy Shelduck, up to 30 Black-winged Stilts, a few Gull-billed Terns, 2 Spoonbills and loads of White Storks. A distant gull divided opinion, with most of our contingent still convinced that it was only a 1st-w type Black-headed Gull, despite the tour leader claiming that it was a Slender-billed when he had it in flight later. Heat haze was a real problem here, as one could imagine from the above statement!
Night at Ouarzazate.

Morocco: Chapter 5: Desert island discs

2006-05-16T14:45:00.000+01:00

An extremely early start on 11th saw us split up and go off into the Sahara via Landrovers, where our first stop was the Café Yasmina. After a tantalising glimpse from the bus the day before, I finally saw my first White-crowned Black Wheatear on a building, but the main focus here were migrants. I personally logged 1 Rufous Bush Chat, 1 Whinchat, 1 Tawny Pipit (overhead), a few Western Bonelli's Warblers, a male Subalpine Warbler, 2-3 Woodchat Shrikes, 1 Garden Warbler and 3-4 Turtle Doves. Brief views of what I felt might have been a Western Olly were most frustrating, as some features seemed slightly off: I later heard that Mike had seen a few Ollys here, all of which were similar, and one of which he got pics of: these seemed to be good candidates for the Saharan subspecies reiseri of Eastern Olly! Just as well I got the Eastern Olly (elaeica) on Cape back in '99, then....
Just outside this area, we found a breeding pair of Desert Sparrows on a ruined building, with another W-c B Wheatear also. The desert proper then beckoned, and we saw our first Bar-tailed Desert Lark and Brown-necked Ravens of the trip (both lifers), along with a Western Olly, 4-5+ Hoopoe Larks, 9 Short-toed Larks (including an amazingly bright individual), 3-4 elegans Southern Grey Shrikes, singles of Short-toed and Booted Eagle, 2 Desert Wheatears and a few W-c B Wheatears. The oasis at Merzouga produced my first Laughing Doves, which were reasonably common in the area, as were Turtle Doves. Stunning views of a male Subalp stand out, and I also saw 2 male Redstarts and a flava Yellow Wag here.
We were then brought to the well-known Egyptian Nightjar site, but DURING THE DAY! Needless to say, we failed to see any roosting or flush them during a 'mild' sandstorm, having to be content with a Rufous Bush Chat, 1-2 Western Olivaceous Warblers and 3 Turtle Doves. Having returned to base at Erfoud, I decided to spend the evening birding alone, and managed 2 Ruddy Shelduck, 3 LRPs and 3 White-crowned Blacks near the hotel, one of the latter being a 1st-summer.

Morocco: Chapter 4: Tagdilt or bust-ard

2006-05-16T14:34:00.000+01:00

Well, after a few more migrants at El Kelaa that morning (or maybe they were seen the previous day?), including 1 Tree Pipit, 2 Ortolans (I didn't get them on the deck) etc, we headed back to the Tagdilt, this time concentrating on the area at the northern side of the main road. Amazingly, almost immediately on arrival the call went out that there was a Houbara Bustard. I got on to this relatively early, and was surprised at just how close it was. Of course, as the bird was relatively obvious when walking through such short vegetation, we later picked it up again way out in the heat haze. A new family for me, having missed out on Littles at two sites in France this March.
In addition to more Desert Wheatears (4+), Hoopoe Larks (2) and a few Temminck's Horned Larks, we added some species to the trip list, including a male Spectacled Warbler (I was slightly slow of the mark when it came to finding stuff out there, but did manage to pick this one up), 1 Long-legged Buzzard (my first since 1999, and first of the smaller cirtensis race) and a stunning male Northern Wheatear of the subspecies seebohmi, which we had certainly hoped to come across on the trip. More was to come: as we got back to our minibus (having successfully found quite a few scorpions under rocks), a group of 4 Crowned Sandgrouse flew across the road, and we later managed to relocate these on the deck and get excellent views of what appeared to be two pairs.
The rest of the day was spent driving to Erfoud, and we actually went around 2 hours at one stage without even seeing a bird! A sandstorm didn't help matters, though....

Morocco: Chapter 3: a few hazy memories

2006-05-15T12:01:00.000+01:00

And now, no 3 in an occasional series,
Unfortunately, I didn't really take good notes for a few days, the 9th being one of them, so forgive me if I leave some details out. Having arrived at El Kelaa the previous night, we were greeted by traditional Berber dancers: one of the girls couldn't sing, and didn't dance much, but she tried, God bless her. They also came over to us at dinner, and one of the girls dragged me up for a dance: I can't dance, but tried an improvised number that, were Morocco a Muslim theocracy like Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, could well have seen me beheaded, or at least neutered. Enough said....
We started the day by checking the ravine behind the hotel, where we had a distant subpersonata White Wagtail ('Moroccan Wagtail'), and also a few Hoopoes and other migrants heading north together with typical breeding species of such habitat like Nightingale and Cetti's Warbler. The first proper birding stop, however, was the legendary Tagdilt track, where I was greeted by my first Desert Wheatear as soon as we turned off the main road. Birding was tougher than I had expected in such habitat, with overall numbers of birds very low, but we managed to get a few species here, most of which were typical of such habitat and, as such, lifers for me. The most numerous species was the utterly charming Temminck's Horned Lark, many of which afforded exceptionally close views (I have never even seen Shore Lark, so I had been looking forward to seeing one of the genus), with 10-20 birds seen in total. Also new for me were 4 Red-rumped Wheatears (2 males and 2 females) and stunning views of 3+ Hoopoe Larks, which were seen in their incredible display flight. A Trumpeter Finch was also in this area.
Afterwards, we went to the Dades Gorge, which yielded at least two adult Bonelli's Eagles, and probably three. Always nice to see this species, but, if I remember correctly, we didn't really have anything else much here.
Back again to El Kelaa for the night, where the house band had added a new girl to fill out the sound a little.

That was the week that was

2006-05-15T11:47:00.001+01:00

Hi all,
Well, having brought you all up to speed with what I did over the weekend, here's a quick summary of the week's main events for me.
Tuesday saw the stunning news of Ireland's first Cirl Bunting at Mizen Head break like a tidal wave on the shore. I wouldn't have expected one of those, especially not in a quiet spring such as this one has been except for the weekend just gone. Regrettably, the inevitable twitch was just an opportunity to meet a few people that one doesn't meet otherwise, as the star of the show failed to put on an encore performance, having last been seen a few hours before news broke. Nothing else of note was seen either while we were there, but at least it was a nice sunny day.
Wednesday was my birthday (having already turned 30, and all that goes with that, I really don't mind turning 31), and I had planned to try to head out and find something, but a combination of how quiet it had been and some beautiful summer-like weather led to me staying around town and chilling out. Didn't really do much else, should have gone out for a pint or something, maybe!
Thursday was warm also, and did nothing, and I spent Friday missing raptors: Dave Cooke had an Osprey at Garretstown flying west just before I arrived nearby, and John Lyden (not the former Sex Pistol!) had a female-type Marsh Harrier there just after I had left! Best I had was a measly Chiffchaff, though the numbers of hirundines continued to impress me...just two days later, my prediction for the area came true, but for somebody else, as mentioned elsewhere on here....

Second chance Sunday

2006-05-15T11:13:00.001+01:00

Hello again,
It has been some time, dear readers, so I feel almost obliged to make another killer posting to keep you all up to speed with the wonderfully eventful life of one of the country's top birders, but I don't know what Muller has been doing lately, so you'll have to make do with some shite about me!
Well, as many of you know, a Broad-billed Sand was found on Saturday at Tacumshin by Paul Kelly. I was birding in west Cork with Brian Lynch at the time, but the prospect was tempting, even if it was technically in Wexford, and therefore not in Cork. We did log a 'most obliging' (i.e. the fecking thing was asleep for most of the time) 1st-s Glauc at Timoleague first, however: sad to say, but that was my best find for ages!
Suffice it to say that the bird had gone AWOL before we arrived, with young master Foley in tow (he wanted it as a Wexford tick), and I learned on arrival that only Paul had seen it at that stage! No sign to late that evening, but a Short-eared Owl was my first for ages.
Satisfied that the bird had most likely arrived on the breeding grounds that evening, I went west again yesterday, and was treated to a handful of Phylloscs and breeding Whitethroats at Toe Head (wow!), only to get news while watching a few GNDs and RTDs at Ross (I seem to recall someone complaining on IBN a while back about such abbreviations as those above, but I make no apologies for their usage here) that it was still over there! The decision was made to try again, but again there was no sign when we arrived, and nobody was looking for it either. There were 63,539 Dunlin in the area, as skittish as feck, and it was clearly going to be tough to relocate this thing. During this stressful search, I got a 'phone call about a Red-rumped Swallow at the Old Head, just reward for Paul Rowe after he decided not to go for the Cape bird the week before (Irish tick for him), and had to then think of who should be left know, despite trying to look for the sandpiper at the time! Multitasking isn't one of my strengths either!
Having already heard that Ronan O'Driscoll had ticked the Dursey Orioles (not a west Cork baseball team, but two Golden Os), it seemed as though everybody was getting birds that they had recently missed out on only me, but a section of the flock flew out and fed in the shallows, and these were easier to search through here. A scan yielded Dunlin after Dunlin...and then a glimpse of a black crown with obvious lateral crown stripes led to me picking out the Broad-billed at last. I only had it here for 3 minutes all told, and I actually even had to take a 'phone call during this time (could just have hung up, but those of us involved in county bird recording have to remain diplomatic at all times...yeah, right!), but the bird was close enough and the views were good, so I was happy enough. Amazingly, given that my list is higher than many but lower than most, BBS was actually an Irish tick for me, and my first for 7 years anywhere, so I was well pleased.
I could describe the bird in more detail, but ye all have field guides, and there's pics on the net!
Having met Killian and Paul Archer, I was told that the adult LRP (more abbreviations? Can you even spell, man?) was on our way back towards the car park, so I duly told the others and we saw this well too. A scan of the East End (ers?) pool yielded 4 nice male Garganey, which are almost too good to be ducks, as that group usually doesn't do much for me.
On then to Lady's Island to enjoy a few Rosys (Roseate Terns to the uninitiated: Rose-coloured Starling doesn't breed in Ireland) at varying ranges, and we finished by making the wrong decision and going for the Rosslare GW Egret instead of looking for the 4(!!!) Marsh Harriers at Lingstown: the former went in behind a bank at high tide and never came out while we were there.
Not a bad day, I suppose: beats sitting in front of a computer!

More of the same, but different

2006-05-08T20:30:00.000+01:00

So it was that, devoid of expectations but still keen on getting out and about, I met up with Paul Rowe and his brother Philip yesterday and did the east Cork area again. It is some indication of how quiet things are that we only managed to get Philip one tick (Common Whitethroat, and we had a few of those), despite him not having been birding that long and still needing birds like Spotted Flycatcher, Reed Warbler (Paul and I saw one and all, but couldn't get him onto it!) etc. The two 2nd cal hybrid Whooper x Mute Swans were still at Lough Aderra, and there were a few House Martins at Knockadoon that seemed to be fresh in, but that's about all!
What with the lack of birds locally, the prospect of finding something decent myself (it's been 5 months now since I've found anything much) and the fact that I have yet to see Red-rumped Swallow in the county, I may well head to Cape Clear tomorrow (if there is news of the swallow) or Wednesday (my birthday) for a few days...a change can be as good as a rest, they say, whoever 'they' are....
Oh, and I am a little ticked off at the presence of at least one Tree Pipit on the Saltees almost every day between Wednesday and Sunday, given my rather amazing ability to be where the species is NOT when it comes to Ireland. I have no such problem with seeing them elsewhere, mind!

The law of diminishing returns....

2006-05-06T16:59:00.000+01:00

It is with great frustration that I draw attention to a well-known generalisation that usually holds true, especially in spring: the further one strays from a main migration route, the more shit the birding is during passage periods! I can imagine British birders being justly frustrated at the recent purple patch as close to them as the Netherlands, with two Slender-billed Gulls seen today, but to them I say this...imagine going out all keyed up to find SOMETHING, not even necessarily a true rare, and managing no better than a heard-only Chiffchaff at Knockadoon Head, as happened to me today! This is by no means unusual either: this spring has been almost a complete damp squib in County Cork, with only the Alpine Swift influx to keep us occupied. Day after day after interminable day, no news is eminating from Cape Clear, Mizen, the Old Head, Galley (I know you're trying, Col!), Ballycotton etc etc, and, indeed, numbers of common migrants are also low, most just fecking off inland on arrival.
I did have a Spotted Fly at the Old Head on Thursday (whoop de fucking doo!), but that was about all I had there. Most odd, as the winds had seemed to have gotten good all of a sudden.
Still, there's always autumn....

Morocco Chapter 2: fun at the races, but didn't get 'green' for go!

2006-05-05T13:35:00.000+01:00

We woke relatively early on 8th, our first full day, to be greeted by the now increasingly familiar songs of House Bunting and Common Bulbul: indeed, two of the former even came close to joining us for breakfast, flying around the room! 'House' by name and nature!
As we were to drive across the Atlas Mountains that day, we planned on trying for Levaillant's Green Woodpecker, which is actually far more difficult to get in the south of the country than further north. As a result, we only had one site earmarked for them, and this failed to turn one up, though Phil did have a brief sighting of what might have been one, as did Coveney, who had gone wandering off on his own. Even I didn't get a lifer here, though we all came close due to seeing such local races as ultramarinus Blue Tit, africana Chaffinch (assuming that the Tipp bird wasn't one!), atlas Coal Tit, numidius Great Spotted Woodpecker etc. Just as it seemed that every bird familiar from NW Europe had an endemic subspecies here, the good numbers of Hawfinch came almost as a relief, as they were the exact same as the ones that can sometimes be seen here.
We pressed on, and managed to find that the habitat nearer the summits appeared to be birdless! Despite this, on walking an area more desolate looking than moorland here, we eventually managed 2 Kestrels, a male Black-eared Wheatear and, best of all, a Barbary Partridge, which was a lifer for me and a few of the others. Only flight views, mind, but close flight views.
Back in the lowlands, we stopped by a dried-up river bed, and were greeted with an interesting selection of birds: a singing Western Olivaceous Warbler (only heard this, though we were to find this species quite widespread in suitable habitat), 2 Ortolan Buntings (strangely, my first since my only previous one, on Hook Head in 2001), a Black Wheatear and my first Trumpeter Finches (appeared to be a pair). I missed the Desert Lark that others saw in the area, though.
Finally for that day, we visited a reservoir, and again I missed two Desert Larks that were seen from the minibus...this was to elude me for a few days yet! Some roosting Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters in a distant stand of reeds were a lifer, though, and I also saw these in flight when a Marsh Harrier flew overhead (one of two). Seamus managed to find a Water Pipit, but unfortunately this was still mainly in winter plumage, and was, in truth, a manky looking thing! Night at El Kelaa.

The great Morocco write-up: Chapter 1

2006-05-05T13:19:00.000+01:00

Hi all,
You wanted it, so here it is...yeah, all two of you reading this! ;)
The Irish contingent (except for John Coveney) flew out of Cork airport early on 7th April, meeting up with the other participants at Gatwick and flying from there to Marrakesh. As is to be expected, the first part of the day was highly boring, unless one likes travelling for the sake of it, or, even less likely, the red tape associated with air travel. Still, I suppose it's necessary!
Thankfully, we still had a few hours of daylight left after getting through customs in Morocco, so there was a very real prospect of seeing some decent birds on our first day. When one has done as little foreign birding as I have, there often seem to be these really common species found right into town centres that would actually be lifers: in this case, I didn't have to look far for the first of these, as Denis picked up a House Bunting on the roof of the airport as we were loading our gear into the minibus. We were to get rather better views of this species before the trip was over....
From the airport, we drove towards our accomodation for the night, down a labyrinth of narrow streets with various goods for sale in open-air markets. This was already the biggest culture shock I have ever had when it comes to foreign travel, but, as I hadn't been outside of Europe before, this was perhaps to be expected. On reaching our hotel, we went up onto the roof, where hundreds of Pallid Swifts wheeled around overhead. Among these, there were smaller numbers of Little Swifts, up to 20, which were lifer number 2 for me, and it was great to get to grips with what is a highly sought-after vagrant here at home (basically, only two people have seen one, one of whom is now dead). 2-3 Common Bulbuls were my last lifer for the day, but, again, we were to see a lot more of these. A few more House Buntings and some White Storks were also seen, before it got too dark and we had to pack it in for the day: anyway, there would be lots more time to look for other species.

Ask not what the harrier survey can do for you, but what you can do for the harrier survey

2006-05-02T19:46:00.000+01:00

Hello again,
My, my, I really must do something about the Morocco write-up at this stage! Later in the week, I promise!
Until then, here is a quick account of yesterday's events. Despite a birder's natural instincts in spring being to head to the coast to look for migrants (and, in theory at least, rares, though my best spring find on a headland was a Golden O back in '03 and I've not had much else in the prime locations, but then my finds list is minscule anyway, so don't mind me!), I decided to help the infamous Tony Nagle with some voluntary harrier survey work. This prospect didn't seem so bad when I kept the following in mind:
1) There has been feck all around for weeks, save for that shrike!

2) I had no lift anywhere anyway!!

So, along with Barry Ryan, we headed north towards the Ballyhouras, managing to year-tick Swift (about 10 or more) over the river in Fermoy. Neither site that I visited yielded conclusive results, though both produced harriers (thankfully, as there are few experiences more boring than spending 3 hours plus looking at a hillside!). Another Gropper, just within the county bounds, was nice (and also heard-only), and a Cuckoo heard on the way back was also a year tick for Ireland and Cork (heard one in Morocco). A 2nd cal Peregrine at the same site was most unusual, sitting around on dead trees like a Kestrel would! There were more Swifts at Fermoy on the way home, and that was that.