Night Heron

Limerick's first live recorded Night Heron and second verified record in all was found last Friday (21/4/17) by a Mick Madden on a series of small duck ponds at the rear of his home near Adare.  News of the bird broke on Monday morning and the sighting was confirmed John N Murphy and I by early afternoon.  As the site is private access has necessarily been very much limited.

Work committments meant that I did not get an opportunity to photograph the bird until this evening (26/4), but it was worth the wait as the bird proved to be quite tolerant of observers much of the time.

The previous record for the County relates to a dead bird found near Bruree in November 1957.  It was suspected of having died from a collision with overhead lines. Another possible record relates to a bird reported in the Abbeyfeale area in November 2011 on the Kerry side of the River Feale. It's not known if this bird ever visited the Limerick side of the river.

Cattle Egret

A local birdwatcher, Trevor Browne, came across a small group of Cattle Egrets near Mungret on the outskirts of Limerick City last week (28/3/17).  At least two birds were present initially, rising to four by the weekend.  I got out to see them on Saturday (1/4/2017) and managed to get a few photos.

This is the fourth record for Limerick, following on from a single bird at Castletroy in January 2016, a flock of five near Bruff in February 2013 and two birds at Loghill in January 2008.