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County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter breffni
- Start date
Mr Hornblower
Well-known member
First of all - Dolce thanks for your kind sentiments .
Was out at Gyles Quay around 5pm and saw a Stork standing/fishing at lowish tide on the front beach.Also saw 2 ringed plover and plenty of (I think they are Great Black Backed Gulls) on the back beach down by the rocks.
Was out at Gyles Quay around 5pm and saw a Stork standing/fishing at lowish tide on the front beach.Also saw 2 ringed plover and plenty of (I think they are Great Black Backed Gulls) on the back beach down by the rocks.
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Algarve 2010
Hi all. Just back from 2 weeks in the Algarve and got quite a bit of birding in. Unlike previous years when I only brought the camera, I decided to get some digiscoping in this time so I brought the Swarovski. Unfortunately however my bag was checked in Dublin Airport security on the way out and when they give me my bag back they failed to say they left it open!! My Canon A590is duly fell out onto the floor and the LCD shattered! :-C
So before I left the country my digiscoping setup was in bits. As it happened my wife had a new Fuji A245 with her and it saved the day, although I had to hand hold it to the scope and it wasn't anything like as digiscoping friendly (or image clear) as the canon. Anyway I went out with a list of 7 birds I dipped on previous visits and got this down to 2. Posting up a few photos here and hope to do up a report later.
Hi all. Just back from 2 weeks in the Algarve and got quite a bit of birding in. Unlike previous years when I only brought the camera, I decided to get some digiscoping in this time so I brought the Swarovski. Unfortunately however my bag was checked in Dublin Airport security on the way out and when they give me my bag back they failed to say they left it open!! My Canon A590is duly fell out onto the floor and the LCD shattered! :-C
So before I left the country my digiscoping setup was in bits. As it happened my wife had a new Fuji A245 with her and it saved the day, although I had to hand hold it to the scope and it wasn't anything like as digiscoping friendly (or image clear) as the canon. Anyway I went out with a list of 7 birds I dipped on previous visits and got this down to 2. Posting up a few photos here and hope to do up a report later.
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Derek Watters
Well-known member
A few more:
Cattle Egret, Crested Lark, Avocet, Red Rumped Swallow and a Barn Swallow which had just fledged and was awaiting it's parents food deliveries in a large reed bed.
By the way, the birds in the previous post were:
Eurasian BeeEater (with bee!), Black Winged Stilt, Purple Heron (amazing how well they can blend into a reed bed), Greater Flamingos and White Stork.
Cattle Egret, Crested Lark, Avocet, Red Rumped Swallow and a Barn Swallow which had just fledged and was awaiting it's parents food deliveries in a large reed bed.
By the way, the birds in the previous post were:
Eurasian BeeEater (with bee!), Black Winged Stilt, Purple Heron (amazing how well they can blend into a reed bed), Greater Flamingos and White Stork.
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Derek Watters
Well-known member
Finally for the moment a few flight shots - Cattle Egret, Common Kestrel, Purple Heron, Avocet and finally a second shot of the same Kestrel at it's cliff ledge nest site (if you look carefully you should see a lizard in it's claws!)
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Derek Watters
Well-known member
Hi Mr Hornblower. If you don't mind me asking, how sure are you that it was a stork, as in the first photos I posted above? If so it would be a very important county record.
Having seen your posting above, I spent the last hour covering the general coastal area eitherr side of Gyles Quay but no joy. Alot of shooting going on in the fields behind the car park at Gyles Quay so nothing at all around that area.
As a matter of interest is there anything stopping people shooting at this time of year? I am not saying the individuals tonight were shooting anything (perhaps clays?) but their actions were causing alot of disturbance to pipits etc which had all fled the area.
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gareth2005
Well-known member
Its likely they were shooting Pigions or Corvids this time of year
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Any pigeon or crow that hung about for the duration I was there deserved to be shot! I actually moved off the beach!! It sounded like rifle shots, nearly all were in 2's about a second apart and they were an average of 3 mins apart (but not consistent).
Hi Derek
Nice pics from Portugal, reminds me of my visit a few years ago. Where did you have the flamingoes?
Sean
Nice pics from Portugal, reminds me of my visit a few years ago. Where did you have the flamingoes?
Sean
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Pera Marsh - Lagoa dos Salgados
Thanks Sean
Flamingos were at Lagoa dos Salgados or Pera Marsh as it's widely known. I visited this site each morning and the numbers of Greater Flamingos ranged between 40 - 100. While there, it was reported in the local media that there were reports of one of the flamingo breeding at the site - the first ever in Portugal!! I did get a few record shots.
Despite the importance of this site, it lies beside a golf course and lets just say environmental concerns do not appear to be high on anyones agenda over there! It really is a disgrace and would land people in jail if it were to happen here. There is a beach of sand which holds the water in the lagoon but bulldozers are occasionally used to completely drain the site (some say to balance water levels on the golf course), leaving 1000's of birds stranded. While I was there water levels were not bad (maybe another foot of water would be spot on) and I seen recently hatched coots, little grebes, moorhens, purple swam-hens, avocets and BW Stilts.
Few photos attached:
1. Looking North West from the new board walk that was installed in 2009 on the southern end of the lagoon
2. New signs have been placed on the western end of the lagoon and part of the foreshore ploughed up to prevent access to 4WD's etc
3. Distant shot showing roosting grey herons, flamingos, spoonbill and assorted ducks (pochard, gadwall and mallard).
4. Distant shot of purple swamp-hen and chick to the left
5. Flamingos arriving in, with boardwalk and 2 storey bird hide (top left) in backround.
Thanks Sean
Flamingos were at Lagoa dos Salgados or Pera Marsh as it's widely known. I visited this site each morning and the numbers of Greater Flamingos ranged between 40 - 100. While there, it was reported in the local media that there were reports of one of the flamingo breeding at the site - the first ever in Portugal!! I did get a few record shots.
Despite the importance of this site, it lies beside a golf course and lets just say environmental concerns do not appear to be high on anyones agenda over there! It really is a disgrace and would land people in jail if it were to happen here. There is a beach of sand which holds the water in the lagoon but bulldozers are occasionally used to completely drain the site (some say to balance water levels on the golf course), leaving 1000's of birds stranded. While I was there water levels were not bad (maybe another foot of water would be spot on) and I seen recently hatched coots, little grebes, moorhens, purple swam-hens, avocets and BW Stilts.
Few photos attached:
1. Looking North West from the new board walk that was installed in 2009 on the southern end of the lagoon
2. New signs have been placed on the western end of the lagoon and part of the foreshore ploughed up to prevent access to 4WD's etc
3. Distant shot showing roosting grey herons, flamingos, spoonbill and assorted ducks (pochard, gadwall and mallard).
4. Distant shot of purple swamp-hen and chick to the left
5. Flamingos arriving in, with boardwalk and 2 storey bird hide (top left) in backround.
Attachments
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Forgot the nesting flamingo shot, so here it is, plus a few more:
1. An example of how the bright sunshine can make for beautiful shots especially of birds on the water - Little Grebe
2. In wooded areas the bright sunshine can make things very difficult! Here 2 reasonably sized birds with bright colouring (Jay and Azure Winged Magpie) are very difficult to spot and/or photograph. Indeed, although I was able to get within feet of crested tits they proved almost impossible to photograph.
3. Red legged partridge
4. Hoopoe
5. The forgotten Greater flamingo nest shot (a Portugal first)
1. An example of how the bright sunshine can make for beautiful shots especially of birds on the water - Little Grebe
2. In wooded areas the bright sunshine can make things very difficult! Here 2 reasonably sized birds with bright colouring (Jay and Azure Winged Magpie) are very difficult to spot and/or photograph. Indeed, although I was able to get within feet of crested tits they proved almost impossible to photograph.
3. Red legged partridge
4. Hoopoe
5. The forgotten Greater flamingo nest shot (a Portugal first)
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Mr Hornblower
Well-known member
Derek - I'm not 100% per cent about the Stork,I had actually seen a Large grey heron on the back beach and when driving away saw this Tall slim bird that in comparison to the Grey heron looked fairly different (I had stopped at the slipway half way up the hill to observe) I also noticed its neck was very long and slim as it stood motionless in the water and although not completely white (White and Pale grey) it still didn't have the same contrasting colours of the Grey heron (which I had only just seen on the back beech,and seen on the previous friday whilst fishing the Newry canal,two Grey's that were very large) But looking at Photo's of Storks I've cancelled out the black stork and the white one seems to short (I always thought they had longer necks - Sorry) On conclusion I'm not sure what it was - and had cancelled out a Grey Heron because of its Slender frame !
Sorry for the alert ! and will take my Minolta 404 SLR with its 300mm lens next time and if I'm lucky enough get a shot of it.
Nice pictures above Derek - especially the Bee eater & Avocet in Flight
Sorry for the alert ! and will take my Minolta 404 SLR with its 300mm lens next time and if I'm lucky enough get a shot of it.
Nice pictures above Derek - especially the Bee eater & Avocet in Flight
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Hi Mr Hornblower. May have been a little egret. I suspected that it was not a stork but always worth checking any reports out just in case.
BTW - There is a very interesting website concentrating on the birds 'up north' at http://nibirds.blogspot.com/. Below is the answer to their recent quiz that may be of interest locally and one that I was not aware off.
Answer to Wednesday's trivia question:
"Ivory Gull is one of the most sought after rarities in Ireland (there are only 3 Northern
Ireland records). Apart from these what is the connection between Ivory Gull
and the Emerald Isle?"
Captain Leopold McClintock was from Dundalk (Louth) and was involved in the search for the Franklin expedition to find the North West Passage (they were all lost when the ships Erebus and Terror were crushed in the ice).
He was one of the pioneers of Arctic travel and in 1853 covered 1,408 miles by sledge in 105 days. On 21st June 1853 an Ivory Gull was found on the nest with an egg - the first ever find of a nest of this species. Then he sighted an island to the north of Melville Island to which he crossed and charted.
He named it Emerald Isle.
BTW - There is a very interesting website concentrating on the birds 'up north' at http://nibirds.blogspot.com/. Below is the answer to their recent quiz that may be of interest locally and one that I was not aware off.
Answer to Wednesday's trivia question:
"Ivory Gull is one of the most sought after rarities in Ireland (there are only 3 Northern
Ireland records). Apart from these what is the connection between Ivory Gull
and the Emerald Isle?"
Captain Leopold McClintock was from Dundalk (Louth) and was involved in the search for the Franklin expedition to find the North West Passage (they were all lost when the ships Erebus and Terror were crushed in the ice).
He was one of the pioneers of Arctic travel and in 1853 covered 1,408 miles by sledge in 105 days. On 21st June 1853 an Ivory Gull was found on the nest with an egg - the first ever find of a nest of this species. Then he sighted an island to the north of Melville Island to which he crossed and charted.
He named it Emerald Isle.
'Tis a mushroom alright - maybe some kind of bell cap...
Thanks safe enough as Bella will eat every cuisine under the sun but doesnt like mushrooms .........
I could hear that reeling sound of what I think might have been Grasshopper Warblers over in the long grass at the further or second Shelling Hill beach ie if you keep walking on to the right (where jellyfish always were). I have heard them here too a good few times plus opposite the hospital regularly but not sure if another sort of bird makes that reeling sound too. I will have to listen to the all the bird sounds again and again ...... but I am very curious about the bird that makes this sound as heard them in Son Ferrer Mallorca too but couldnt see the bird.
There are song thrushes on about five different roofs between Daisyhill and my house every evening and I can hear one every night at back door almost latish too (I know their song off now as so many singing their hearts out around here) but I was surprised to read that they stop singing in July I think and so does the Blackbird .........I notice too that the little Redpolls are very fond of Hawthorn trees.
