Spring morning in Kilmore

Had an early start this morning , first off had a quick look around the harbour , plenty of Great-northern divers still on show , counted 6 at one point and a distant Slavonian grebe.
Lots of Gulls about , the pick being this beauty , a 2cy Iceland gull just lazing around the harbour walls , already have a 1st winter on patch , but nice to see all the same.

2cy Iceland gull

 

Decided  to stay away from the shingle beach , extremly windy and went up the coastal fields through the Memorial garden with a hovering Kes for company all the way , spotted a very  pale looking mobile pipit on the way up , disappeared for a few minutes and i thought no more about it , continued on up the fields where i encountered a sizeable linnet flock 50+ and  a small flock of Brent geese.On the way back , had another look for the pipit and there it was back in the same place , to pale to be Rock , got as close as i could and BINGO , Water pipit , patch tick for me , managed to rattle off a few shots before it vanished again.

Headed back to the car on a high , looked up the sheet and discovered it was only a 2-pointer (dam).

                                                                                    

Water pipit

 

Anyway , good mornings work , Current standings 76 spp /89 pts and 44.1 %

 

 

Spring Cleaning

Apparently February is "Officially" Spring. So after a successful Saturday down in West Cork digging out various American Gulls, I spent Sunday attempting to mop up gaps in the Ballycotton list that "theoretically should" be present during the winter.

I started down at the pier, where there was a dearth of Gulls. This was depressing, as I had hoped that perhaps fishing during the week had brought the hoard of winged rats back into the bay, and 3 loaves of tesco's finest did little to boost numbers.

I moved on back to the gate over the lake, in the hopes that some gulls were sitting out the high tide on the mud. Sure enough, there was an appreciable number here.

D'lake at Ballycotton - Legendary

This produced the first new addition, in the form of an Adult Ring Billed Gull. A true patch "Scarce", they are surprisingly uncommon here, usually being found washing or preening in the outflow from the Back Bog. I have only ever seen 2 or 3 in all the years I have been birding here (though admittedly I do not look that hard for them), so getting this on the yearlist so soon was a high point.

Adult Ring Billed Gull - Patch Scarce - Valuable points

One of the 1st Winter Glaucous Gulls from Previous weeks was also on the lake, but otherwise a general clearout of gulls...or so I thought.

1st Winter Glaucous Gull - Et Tu Brute

I then took a quick stroll up the lane towards the back bog, where I knew there would be a chiffchaff hanging around. It did not take long to suss one out, pweeting away in the hedgerows. Never exactly going to be difficult over the course of the year, but again, good to get it out of the way early.

I then tried a few likely locations for Black Redstart, this failed dismally, but compensation came in the form of a Kingfisher flushed from the rocks at silver strand. Another species that, although are usually around on the back channels or Shanagarry, can be tricky to connect with.

After this I headed for Ballynamona, intending to hunt after a Water pipit which had been around a few weeks previously, and check likely spots for Jack Snipe. Here I ran into Denis O'Sullivan, and he informed me he had checked a usual spot for Jack Snipe at Shanagarry to no avail, and there was no sign of the Water pipit.
So we worked up to the lake to check the south fringe for Jack snipe. Alas a dog walker made his way right through this area ahead of us, so if it was there, it was flushed before we could see it.

A quick scan out to sea, showed several fishing boats returning back in...and a mass of gulls following them.
So I ran back around to the pier to intercept them.

Winged Rat Express

Another or the same Glaucous gull was in this group, as well as an Adult Mediterranean Gull. Much commoner than Ring Billed Gull, especially in June/July/August when juveniles show up in good numbers. Already on my list for the year, but nice to see anyway.

As part of the patch list thing, I am aiming to spend a small amount of time seawatching each visit. It really is the most likely aspect of the patch capable of adding really juicy birds to the list. The best today was the usual Gannets, Fulmars, Gulls and Auks, with five Common Scoter flying by.

I then took to walking the infamous "Phil's Back Passage" and the gardens above the village. Tree sparrow should be gettable here at some point during the year, but the House Sparrow flock failed to produce on this occasion, and there were no sign today of the usual Yellowhammers that they might otherwise associate.
Blackcap, however, fell fairly easily up behind the church, and then Patch bird of the day fell, with a single Waxwing lifting out of a garden near Phil's. A new bird for the patch, and one which, considering the winter that has been in it, I should have searched for sooner.

I ended the day by first checking the beach from Silver Strand again, where Gulls had again built up in numbers. It was obvious though that the mix had changed, with no white wingers or Yellow Legs in the flock.  It may well be the case that my chance at adding Caspian and American Herring have bit the dust, but I still have until March, we keep our hopes up. The Navy boys decided to visit BallyC today for some reason.

In the Navy

I then moved on to the Back Bog for dusk, the most likely spot for Short eared and other owls. But none chose to show themselves. At the very least I should manage Short Eared here before the year is out.

D'Back Bog - Raptorless 

Whilst I know it is not "On Patch"..I can't resist.

The Real McCoy - No. 1 Patch Target

This 1st winter American Herring Gull I found on Saturday, at Baltimore-West Cork,  is currently my most hoped for addition to my Ballycotton List, and finding this bird has made me more certain of the bird I had in BallyC. I just need to run into it again. Fingers Crossed.

Scores this week - 97 Species - 128 points - 54.3% Comparative Score.

Ballyquintin reporting

Slow and steady progress from Ballyquintin last weekend and this. The grove at Templecowey has started to contribute - a goldcrest (26 Jan) and coal tit and great tit (at last!) today (3 Feb). The farm along the road has a pair of collared doves on 26 Jan, and there were mistle thrushes in the fields on 27 Jan. Surprise bird, also on 27 Jan, was a bullfinch. It was cold and windy, blowing on to the point. I decided to walk around anyway, and spotted something bright fly into a low hedge by a stone wall, very near the shore. It reappeared, then worked its way along the hedge before disappearing inland - an immaculate male bullfinch. I don't think I have seen one on the headland before, and certainly didn't expect one in that weather.

Apart from that ... the green-winged teal remains in Barr Hall Bay (seen today, 3 Feb), although the teal numbers seem to be dropping. Red-throated and great northern divers are on the sea. And a short-eared owl, a bird I have been looking for on every visit this winter finally turned up on 26 Jan, but it wasn't me that saw it!

3 Feb: 74 species, 94 points.

Still blowing hard

Every day since I started it has been blowing a gale every time I went out so my total of 72 species (81 points) is a bit of a surprise. I added Raven, Mute Swan and Grey Heron today but where are all the Redwings ????

Eamonn

Ninch Niche

I decided that as I regularly go for walks in the Ninch/Laytown area of East Meath that I may as well treat it as my patch. I do suspect that others occasionally go snipin' on the Laytown/Mosney beach but I have never actually bumped into them.
The area I have chosen stretches from Sonairte in Ninch along the river Nanny and down the beach towards Mosney as far as Ben Head. I have rarely seen anything of note on my many walks but patching makes you look at common birds more which I have enjoyed over the last few days.
The weather has been continuously shocking over the last 4 days (when I started) but I have clocked up a surprising total of 69 species (78 points). The only surprises were a Long-tailed Duck and a Carrion Crow but it was very nice to find a flock of around 100 Stock Doves.
I don't expect much in the way of rarities but I now have another reason to welcome the Spring when it arrives and the migrants that come with it.

Eamonn

Ballycotton - Hello. How was your January?

I am coming at this whole patch birding thing a bit late. But with the amount of time I spend at Bally-C I thought I would give it a go.

I have never really "worked" a patch properly before. I tend to work certain coastal routes at different times of year, to maximize the birds I find. But over the past couple of years I have found those routes are taking in Ballycotton more and more.

Ballycotton is a strange site. Some years, there are good birds galore. Others a sparse sampling of juicy tidbits.

Sitting down to work out what I had seen there was a challenge in and of itself. In total I have seen about 195 species in the area. Most years do not come close to this however, and keeping track of what I have seen from year to year was difficult.

The Patch

The patch I work is pretty much the same as what people have always worked. From the cliffs and the famed "Phil's Back Passage", taking in migrants and Seabirds, to the beach and its waders and gulls, to the back bog and its raptors and the marshes up as far as Garryvoe.

This patch should allow for a good mix of species, and is easily worked in a few hours. However the real tricky birds will be those that you would normally not be bothered with on a visit to Ballycotton. Finding birds like Treecreeper will be...interesting.

Working out the past years scores was also interesting for the bias involved. 2011 was a damn good year for American Waders, and I found a fair few on the beach here. This plumped up the average score a fair bit, coming in at 235.7 (This could change if I notice some omission or misplaced inclusion.)

I do not intend to work the area religiously, as other patch fanatics do. There will be times I go nowhere near the place, particularly in October, when I am usually haunting West Cork. Probably madness really, as I would stand to dig out good birds that time of year. Luckily, east Cork often does very well in November for passerine migrants, and I can put in some time then.

January was a reasonably good month. Though I only managed a few visits to the area due to distractions like Bird-Races etc, I did manage to see some decent birds.

Over the past 2 weeks, the numbers of gulls have boosted, due to the renewed level of fishing out of Ballycotton and the icy easterly winds. The result was a real bonanza in terms of large Gull species, including ~6 Yellow Legged Gulls, ~4 Glaucous Gulls and a single Adult Iceland gull.

Big Gull Bonanza - Hanna Hyvönen

Glaucs - Brutes - O. Foley and Hanna Hyvönen

Yellow Legged Gull - Hanna Hyvönen

Due to the incessant bad weather and windy conditions, however, hoodwinks over the past couple of weekends have included a possible Caspian Gull and 1-2 American Herring Gulls.

Possible Yank - Hanna Hyvönen

In fact I am convinced this one is the real deal. With a solid dark tail, barred upper and undertail covs, and smooth,solid chocolate-mocha underparts, I am just hoping for some better views to seal the deal. With luck, he will hang around and I will run into him again, or someone else will.

Last weekend I failed to connect with this or the Casp candidate, but with storm force winds, no fishing boats were active, and gulls could be seen out on the various islands, waiting patiently for a free meal.
The weather did have the benefit of moving a few juicy bits inshore, which included a Black Throated Diver (tough enough in Cork) and a cracking Little Auk flying by (Patch Tick).

The month's end sees a score of 92 species and a score of 117, Comparative score 49.6%.

I guess I will have to put a bit of effort into mopping up some of the obvious, "gettable" species, no doubt lurking in the marshes and laneways.

South Dublin Coast - Week 3

After adding almost thirty species to the Patch list last time out, this week was much quieter with only two additions. Redwing continued to move through the area during the week, but unfortunately no sign of any Fieldfares or Snipe, two species I was hoping the cold snap would push towards the coast.

Killiney Bay - No bonus points for nice views though

 Started off on Saturday with a quick look in the "Magic Cove" at the northern end of Killiney Bay, which has held Black Redstarts in the past, but no sign of any this time around. A fly-past Rock Pipit was new for the Patch list though.

Magic Cove

From here it is a relatively short walk to Sorrento Point, a birding site I had never visited before. Icterine Warbler has been found here, as was a Frigatebird during a seawatch. The area near the tip of Sorrento Point is covered in dense hebe and other vegetation - hopefully enough to hold a Yellow-browed Warbler or flycatcher in autumn. A quick seawatch from here produced a few Gannets and three Red-throated Divers.  Around 150 Shags were gathered in one big group around the southern tip of Dalkey Island - possibly a pre-breeding gathering? Around twenty minutes into the seawatch there was a very impressive low-level flyby of the Coast Guard and Army helicopters through Dalkey Sound, the latter hanging around for a while to carry out exercises on Dalkey Island.

Does Common BlackHawk get 10 points?

 As it was high-tide, there were relatively few gulls in Bullock Harbour, the most notable of which was a second winter Mediterranean. A quick look around the Shanganagh River estuary added Grey Wagtail to the Patch list, while the Brambling returned to the garden on Sunday. Slightly galling were records of Little Gull and Waxwing seen by other observers on the patch during the week - would have been a nice few points.

The two new species bring the total to 57 species, 68 points and 57.57%. I'll post the full species list so far in a comment to this post.