The discovery by Niall Hatch of a Brown Booby at Greystones beach, Co. Wicklow on Monday July 13th caused a great stir in birding circles in Ireland. It turned out to be the fourth record for Ireland and the first accessible one. Sadly the bird was showing signs of weakness by the following afternoon and was taken in care by the local wildlife ranger that evening. It was taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center where it unfortunately died two days later. It transpired that the bird was seriously underweight and was most likely suffering for some underlying condition.
I got to see the bird late on Tuesday morning when it was actively fishing along the shoreline interspersed with resting periods on the beach. True to its name it showed no signs of fear of people and on a number of occasions landed in close proximity to people, rather than selecting quieter locations to roost.
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