So now that everyone has got the first spring
migrants out of their system - yes everything is very late isn't it, no I've
never had swallows before sand martins either. The first fine day in quite a
long long time came in April , visibility was good so I made my way at high tide
to the highest point of the farm, in appropriately enough 'The High Field' .
(Field nomenclature can be as imaginative as the bird variety, the
equally elevated next door field is called the Top Field,
so I'll leave it to your imagination to guess why the adjacent Boreen Field got
it's name.) Once more looking south to the north channel of Cork Harbour in
hopes of something flying high above the intervening hills. After about 10 mins
two ducks flew through and quickly disappeared, 'bugger' I was sure they were
Wigeon but just not sure enough. Another couple of minutes and five more ducks,
except this time they showed well against the background and they were clearly
Shellduck, only the second patch record ever. Clearly you can seawatch from an
inland site even when you cant see any water.
Five or ten minutes later and 4 more ducks and
this time they were Wigeon, again showing below the horizon but above the
intruding hills and trees, first ever patch sighting, the previous record was a
migrating flock at night; now if only Grey Plover and Turnstone were given to
such flights of fancy.
The bitter spring has had it's impact on crops
and birds. The Oilseed Rape should by now be 6-8 inches high, due to the cold it
was at best 2 inches, now I'm sure you'll admit, we've all used that excuse from
time to time,but from a farming point of view this crop had had it's chance and had to be ploughed down.
Whatever about the expense the year listing upshot is Sedge Warbler may be
trickier this year as 2 pairs bred in last years OSR.
Miniscule Oilseed Rape phoning home to say goodbye
I'll be waiting for the
post breeding dispersal this year when a few birds can usually be found in
cereal crops pre harvest. The migrating wave of Willow Warblers were also late,
but at least they did appear eventually and moved on just as quickly. I also
finally got a Kingfisher and both Martins on the same day. As for breeding
species Greenfinches seem to be commoner and possibly are making a comeback from
Trinh ...Trinch ...Tricn....that disease they get.
Gratuitous Greenfinch Pic
Lots of Blackcaps and
Chiffchaffs now singing and Stock Doves are finally appearing in numbers, eating
the late sown Barley but at least they're around. Finally last night while
locking in the dog for the night I was most surprised to flush a Long - eared
Owl from a gate in the yard. Just the third patch record - question is, does it count as
a Summer or Winter record?
66 species and 76 points. Paul
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