Dotterel

I took a trip to Loop Head, Co. Clare last Saturday (4/10/14) along with Tony Mee and Gerry Butler to look for migrants.  It turned out to be a good day as we found a Dotterel.  We first picked up the bird with a flock of about 40 Golden Plover just after they took off from a re-seeded field about 1.2km east of the lighthouse, on the south side of the peninsula.  At that point we were looking at a small unidentified wader that looked about half the size of the Goldies in flight.  The flock split up and all eventually headed westwards towards the lighthouse.  Later in the morning we came across what looked like a small party of Goldies on the heather just east of the lighthouse.  Having worked our way around to the south of the group to get a better view it became clear that there was a lot more birds in the group including one brightly coloured first winter Dotterel.  

The Goldie flock took to the air again and headed back eastwards. We relocated them again on the 'Plover' field just to the north of the lighthouse road.  This Dotterel was keen to stick with the Goldies who in turn were more flightly than normal, probably because of the Peregrine Falcon, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels, Merlin and Ravens that were hanging around the area. As a result photo opportunities were reduced to distant records shots.

Yellow-browed Warbler

I made the long trip down to Mizen Head in west Cork last Sunday (Sept. 28th) in the hope of seeing the Ovenbird that was found there the previous evening.  Unsurprisingly the bird did not show, however this Yellow-browed Warbler that was found nearby provided some measure of reward for the long trip.  It was a very bright and well marked individual, a fine bird on a nice day!  The bird was in the last garden on the road to the lighthouse. I also came across some fine butterflies on the stretch between the garden and the lighthouse, including a Clouded Yellow, a Small Copper and a fed Red Admirals.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Stilt Sandpiper

I struck it lucky on Friday (5/9/14) when business took me to Dublin and I got a chance to pick up a new life tick with the Stilt Sandpiper at Broadmeadows on the Swords Estuary.  The bird was first seen on the previous day (Thursday), hot on the heels of another Stilt Sandpiper found by Killian Mullarney in Wexford on Tuesday.  Assuming the Swords bird is a new bird, it is the 14th Irish record of this rare North American species.

The bird was very active and a bit nervous and it moved around quite a bit. The light conditions were not great making photography a bit of a challenge.  However the bird was quite well marked and seemed to be  in transition from adult summer to winter plumage.

Broadmeadows is good spot for getting close to waders and there was good selection there on Friday. Lapwing and Redshank are often very nervous and difficult to approach but these birds below were a bit more relaxed and approachable than normal.

Lapwing

Adult Lapwing

White-winged Black Tern

I was back in my local patch at Coonagh during the week to check up on the summering wildfowl and search for autumn migrants.  Following a week of strong winds, starting southeasterly, then moving to southerly and eventually to westerly, there was a good chance of something interesting showing up.  This turned out to be the case when a juvenile White-winged Black Tern was found there today.

This is the third record of the species for County Limerick, the previous ones being 1875 and 1990, and the first for Coonagh.  The site is proving quite attractive to migrant Terns with Common, Arctic and Black Terns all recorded here on a number of occasions in the past few years.

Glossy Ibis

The Glossy Ibis at the Coonagh Nature Reserve is proving to be a bit more regular in the past week or so. It was seen on four out of four visits, up to Saturday April 5th.  The bird is showing a distinct preference for the middle pond during high water in the Shannon,  but it remains remains quite wary and difficult to approach.

Glossy Ibis at Coonagh

Coonagh Nature Reserve

The Coonagh Nature Reserve has been hosting County Limerick's first Glossy Ibis in the past few weeks. The bird is quite wary and generally can only be seen when it is flushed from its feeding area in and around the small pond located between the two large lagoons.  I could only manage a few distant flight shots on Sunday morning last (23/3/14) to add to the few distant shots from the previous week.  It was first found on 7/3/14 and has only been seen there twice since. The third shot below was taken on 14/3/14 while the bird was roosting on the southern shore of the Shannon at low tide, having just left the reserve.

Glossy Ibis

It's a quite time at Coonagh now that the visiting winter wildfowl have departed but evidence of spring is present in the arrival of small numbers of Sand Martins and a Wheatear.  Most of the remaining wildfowl have paired up and hopefully will stay on to breed.  There are at least three pairs of Gadwall, three pairs of Pochard and three pairs of Great-crested Grebes along with larger numbers of Tufted Duck, Coot, Little Grebe, Mute Swans and a few pairs of Mallard, Teal and non migrant Greylag Geese.

Gadwall Pairs

One of three pairs of Great-crested Grebes

Apart from the the spring migrants of the past week the site was also visited briefly by a female Hen Harrier, always a nice sight  to see on any birding trip.  A Jack Snipe has also been seen there on a few occasions recently.

Hen Harrier

More Gulls

The exceptionally stormy weather brought large numbers and a good variety of Gulls to coastal areas in Ireland from Arctic regions this winter.  Smaller numbers penetrated further in land including a first winter Glaucous Gull in mid January here in Limerick City and a second winter Iceland Gull in early February. Glaucous Gulls have been relatively scarce in Limerick over the years, being out numbered over two to one  by Iceland Gulls.

First winter Glaucous Gull

Second winter Iceland Gull

The bad weather also brought in larger than normal numbers of Herring Gulls and a first winter Ring-billed Gull to the City, joining the long staying adult Ring-billed Gull.

First winter Ring-billed Gull (above) and first winter Common Gull (below) for comparison

The long staying adult Ring-billed Gull has spent at least the past five winters in Limerick City and it is most often found near the slipway at O'Callaghan's Strand.

Adult winter Ring-billed Gull

  

On a recent trip to Dublin I got an opportunity to see one of the rarer gulls that turned up in Ireland over the winter and pick up a new tick in the process, the second year Caspian Gull at Sean Walsh Park in Tallaght. It paid two short visits to the park while I was there but proved a bit tricky to photograph.

 Second year Caspian Gull