Winter Waders in Limerick City

The city stretch of the Shannon is not noted for waders. Apart from the 100 or so Oystercatchers that routinely feed on the open area in King's Island and small numbers of Snipe in the wetlands adjoining the river, there is usually very little else to see.    In some years very small numbers of Redshank can occur along the river anywhere between Corbally and Barrington's Pier.  The occasional wintering Common Sandpiper may also be found.   We went one better last Saturday (8/12/2018) when with a fine winter plumaged Dunlin showing up at O'Callaghan's Strand in close proximity to a Common Sandpiper and a lone Redshank.  The Dunlin and the Common Sandpiper were new recruits since the previous week.

Dunlin

 

Common Sandpiper

    The Redshank wasn't as obliging when it came to posing for the camera!

Hooded Merganser

A spectacular male Hooded Merganser was found at Streamstown Bay, Clifden, Co. Galway on 25/9/2018.  I got to see the bird two days later and managed to get some distant shots.   Back home later that evening I discovered what appeared to be a metal ring showing on the right leg in two of the flight shots.  I learned the following day that two other birders has subsequently made similar observations.  Unfortunately this has cast doubts on the origins of the bird, not withstanding the fact that it turned up on the west coast in the middle of migration season.

Apparently a few thousand Hooded Mergansers are ringed annually on the eastern side of America, so it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that a ringed wild bird could turn up on these shores. It would be a great tick to get but it seems more likely that the IRBC will treat the record as one of bird of unknown origin.