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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (1 Viewer)

I looked out yesterday to see a lovely male Blackcap sitting in my Willow tree close to glass doors and it really is an unmistakeable bird. It did not stay too long but hopefully will return again and so nice to see a new bird. I am also really enjoying Jim Wilson and Mark Carmodys new book on Irish Shorebirds.
 
Try putting out apples cut in half on the end of a bamboo stick - winter blackcaps seem to find this irresistable.
Thanks Breffni and actually I read about them liking apples in a book last night. Today I put big chunks out in a fatball feeder and pretty sure I saw him away high up in the trees as he is bigger and fatter than Sparrows etc. I was delighted at least to see a beautiful large Mistle Thrush walking around back garden a lot today.
 
I counted six Redwing Thrushes searching for worms on grassy verges at side of road on route home in the snow and two Song Thrushes. Unusual the way they do not stay together in a flock and well apart but possibly more chance of finding worms which I saw one Redwing eating.
There are seven Robins at home in Omeath chasing the Sparrows away from the peanut feeder and managing well most of time feeding on it. Once or twice they got their feet caught in the mesh and one finally managed to free himself just before help was being offered. Two more Robins are happy living in the garage there since the last snow and drinking water out of the dogs bowl ............. and getting bread and milk too. I guess they are roomin in for the winter.
 
I have an odd quite petite bird which I only have mainly front view of on the Niger feeder. It has a buff plain chest with this very noticeable large enough circle of pure white around under the chin and neck that stands out from the buff. I think it has a striped head or stripe through sides of face but have to check that again and pale beak. It or a goldfinch seem to live almost on the Niger feeder. Some very different lovely large slender black and white large birds about today with a nice flight pattern. The underwings were black and white as quite low sometimes. I think some kind of sea birds.
 
Took in an afternoons birding at the bay yesterday afternoon. 61 species seen in 2 hours.
Highlights included a male Snow Bunting at Annaghasan Harbour[ nearly trod on it!].Wish I had a camera as this fellow was very obliging.
Mixed flocks of Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers, Skylarks, Thrushes, Linnets and Tree Sparrows in stubble fields at Salterstown.
Raptors included Buzzard, Kestrel and Peregrine.
At Lurgangreen more Tree Sparrows and on the mud flats Bar tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Grey and Golden Plover, Brent Geese and Pintail.
Not much out at sea though there were some small flocks of Common Scoter, the odd Gannet and a small number of Great Northern Divers.
In all a very pleasant couple of hours.
 
Caught up with that snow bunting yesterday evening in the virtual dark - the bird can be found by parking at the harbour at annagassan and walking back towards "the saltings" apartment buildings along the shore path - there up to 1:30 pm today and will probably hang around.
 
Geology of County Louth - an illustrated talk by Brendan McSherry, Heritage Officer for County Louth

This evening's talk, (8pm, Monday 4th of January 2010 at the Spirit Store, Dundalk Docks) will stray away from the birds of County Louth to the geology and geological history of the County. For such a small county Louth boasts geological features dating from three key geological periods in earths history. Bird habitats such as Dundalk Bay, the Cooley Mountains or Carlingford Lough, are created through geological processes over millions of years, processes with which birds have evolved. For example, bird migration started with the ebb and flow of the ice ages. Bedrock geology determines the quality of soil and therefore habitat. Geological processes created the mountain peaks where the Peregrine Falcon nests as much as the submerged skerries and moraine where the Guillemot hunts.

Brendan qualified as a geologist and practiced as one for several years before getting into the heritage business, making him the perfect speaker to elucidate this fascinating subject.

All are welcome - talk will finish at 9pm
 
Added the Snow Bunting to my New Year List this morning it was giving good views along the shingle beach to the right of Annagassan Harbour. Anybody thinking of heading down there beware. the roads are bad, it's cold there too, just ask the Brass Monkeys.
 
I noticed while watching my birdfeeders today that the birds feeding around them were a lot more aggressive than usual. Is this normal behaviour or is it because of the cold spell that the pressure is starting to show.
 
I've noticed this too. I can only think this is down to a combination of competition and desperation for food. It must be bloody hard for them at present.
 
There is a huge influx of birds from Britain, Scandanavia and possibly further afield - this was posted on the IBN (By M. Casey):
"Just as a small illustration of how many birds can be using your garden when you see 'a lot' of birds, I noticed Blackbird numbers building up in our rural garden on the Mayo/Sligo birder before Christmas. Nothing dramatic, just noticing 3 or 4 on the front lawn in the morning, and maybe another one calling from behind the house, and seeing ones and twos flying out of the hedge along the drive as I went to work. I started trapping & ringing them just before Christmas as I was off over the Christmas & New Year. In two weeks I processed 69 individual Blackbirds (53 in two days at the peak) in this one garden, of which 52 were new (i.e. unringed) birds, and 17 were local re-traps. 12 birds were long-winged, with wing measurements greater than the normal range seen in our local breeding population, so are presumably migrants from northern Europe. Towards the end of the fortnight I was still catching birds, but virtually all were repeat visitors from the previous days, so most of the birds were staying around. If this is any kind of a representative sample, it is staggering to estimate how many Blackbirds & other thrushes may have been in the parish/county/province at that time."

This influx may well have brought rarities with it so keep an eye out eg woodpeckers, waxwings, sib jay, nutcracker, nuthatch, great grey shrike...dream on!
 
From the warmth of the house, over the past 2 days in the garden have been the usual birds plus Redwing, Brambling (female) and Linnet. A Mistle Thrush visits at dusk to feed on cotoneaster berries and fights off the Blackbirds. Our bird feeders are incredibly busy with more than a dozen Goldfinches being regular visitors. There certainly are plenty of Blackbirds, following each other around the garden. Fieldfares eating and jealously guarding an apple in the garden today. There seem to be Redwing everywhere.
 

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snow bunting

There is a huge influx of birds from Britain, Scandanavia and possibly further afield - this was posted on the IBN (By M. Casey):
"Just as a small illustration of how many birds can be using your garden when you see 'a lot' of birds, I noticed Blackbird numbers building up in our rural garden on the Mayo/Sligo birder before Christmas. Nothing dramatic, just noticing 3 or 4 on the front lawn in the morning, and maybe another one calling from behind the house, and seeing ones and twos flying out of the hedge along the drive as I went to work. I started trapping & ringing them just before Christmas as I was off over the Christmas & New Year. In two weeks I processed 69 individual Blackbirds (53 in two days at the peak) in this one garden, of which 52 were new (i.e. unringed) birds, and 17 were local re-traps. 12 birds were long-winged, with wing measurements greater than the normal range seen in our local breeding population, so are presumably migrants from northern Europe. Towards the end of the fortnight I was still catching birds, but virtually all were repeat visitors from the previous days, so most of the birds were staying around. If this is any kind of a representative sample, it is staggering to estimate how many Blackbirds & other thrushes may have been in the parish/county/province at that time."

This influx may well have brought rarities with it so keep an eye out eg woodpeckers, waxwings, sib jay, nutcracker, nuthatch, great grey shrike...dream on!

snow bunting annagassan
 

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Looking at this photo of Beaulieu pond taken by Tommy yesterday, it certainly is good news that shooting has been stopped for the time being.
 

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