Rainy Day in Kilmore.

Knew i should have went yesterday was the first thing i said to myself when i pulled into the harbour in Kilmore this morning , could'nt see the Saltees which is always a bad sign.
Anyway , on with the wet gear and off i went. Plenty of Gulls around the Pier but nothing too exciting so decided to take a walk down the beach. All the usual waders still knocking around and plenty of Rock pipits to keep me company and couple of Red-throated  and Great-northern divers near the harbour. Managed to pick up a few Goldfinch  and Redwing in the Fields and moved on down to Patrick's bridge where i picked out a distant Slav Grebe ,  a Red breasted Merganser pair here was another tick.



Red-Breasted Merganser

 

At the far side of the Bridge pools had two Little grebe and lots of Sanderling and Turnstone ,  a flock of Blackwits and Curlews here aswell and plenty of Hoodies and Starlings knocking about and a few Linnets sheltering from the rain , also had a Kestrel swoop in for a few minutes.

Curlews and Starlings

 

Did'nt hang around too long after that as the rain was pelting down , not a bad day despite the conditions , going to be hard to add anything elese to the patch now before the spring although should have a few White-wing gulls yet , usually a good spot for them.

Anyway up to 74 spp / 85pts and 40.7%

 

Tom 16/01/2013





Early morning at Kilmore

Early start this morning, made a brief visit to Tac on the way. Cranes are still knocking around, and a nice female Hen Harrier made an appearance. Was hoping to see the Bearded Reedlings at Lingstown but no joy.

Lots of Gulls knocking around the Pier at Kilmore but nothing too exciting, so set off around the coastal fields to pick up a few i missed so far. Still no Goldfinches, would usually be one of the 1st on my list, but picked up Skylark and Coal tit.

Brent Geese



Moved down to the beach ( Avoiding a couple of hundred starlings with dodgy bowels ) and came across a small group of Brent geese and a solitary Greenshank. Further up saw a very confused looking 1st winter Kittiwake. A couple of flyover Stock doves (always a tricky one ) and a few Knot.

Kittiwake

Very few Divers around today, but did get a small group of distant Common Scoter and a few Gannets milling around.

Stonechat 

Not a bad day overall up to 71spp/81pts and 38.7%

Tom 12/01/13.

Kilmore quay , Jan 2nd and 4th 2013.

Had my 1st visits of 2013 to Kilmore during the week.

Quiet enough ( Gull wise ) on wednesday, little trawler activity, highlights were a Black redstart and little Egret.

Friday was a bit better with a nice Med Gull showing at the pier also distant Red-throated diver and ridiculous views of Great-northern divers inside the harbour walls. Also had two Stonechat pairs (Nice to see).

All in all not a bad start to the year , so after two visits score stands at 58 spp / 66 pts.

Tom

                                 

            
 Great-northern diver, Kilmore jan'13
      

2cy Great black-back , Kilmore Jan '13