Sunday 10 February 2013

Brownstown Head - visit 1

A slow start to the year, but between I-WeBS, being stuck in Cork and pure laziness, I only managed a 'proper' first visit to Brownstown yesterday (9th). A quick check of the garden produced nothing better than Goldfinch, so I headed to the west cliffs for a 'scope count of Tramore Bay in near flat-calm conditions. Rinnashark, the NE corner of the bay, held a good flock of 135 Brent Geese, and a single Bar-tailed Godwit was a patch scarcity. Slightly further out, 4 Great Crested Grebes then the first of many Red-throated Divers came into view, as hoped. Good numbers of Razorbills were also present, plus a couple of Porpoises, but just a single Great Northern Diver and no scoter. Still, with the addition of a few other seabirds (and slightly guilty scoping of Shelduck and Little Egret in Tramore Backstrand), the non-passerine list was creeping up nicely. Best of all, the Red-throat total hit a new county record of 235 (75 in Tramore bay, and 160 immediately SE of Brownstown).  That said, still a long way to go on the year list!

37 species, 47 points (32.2%).

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