-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter breffni
- Start date
Kingfishers
BWI are doing a national survey on kingfishers. They want all records of kingfishers since 2000. Please report:
1. Date of sighting (approx date if exact date unknown)
2. Grid reference (or county, river name, along with a description of the sighting location)
3. Number of Kingfishers seen
They are particularly interested in April - August sightings (ie during breeding period). Sightings should be sent to [email protected]...
BWI are doing a national survey on kingfishers. They want all records of kingfishers since 2000. Please report:
1. Date of sighting (approx date if exact date unknown)
2. Grid reference (or county, river name, along with a description of the sighting location)
3. Number of Kingfishers seen
They are particularly interested in April - August sightings (ie during breeding period). Sightings should be sent to [email protected]...
Attachments
gareth2005
Well-known member
Me and the lads were just talking the other week while out fishing that we havn't seen a Kingfisher in ages. I reckon numbers are down and this years floods will probably have a negative affect.
The Ringed Plovers are only starting to hatch. The Grey Crows would have predated the first nests (at the same time as the Little Tern nests were predated). There are at least 4 chicks there at the moment and at least 4 other nests not yet hatched, and I do expect that there are more nests than that.
Last year the place was awash with ringed plover chicks while there were very few little tern chicks. Aside from the crows and the tides which affected both I'm not sure why they've done so much worse than the little terns this year. One or two were spotted quite a few weeks back but nothing significant.
The confirmed number of fledged/almost fledged little tern chicks is now 15. Potentially there could be 19 so we're still counting!
Paid a visit to the sandmartin colony on the construction site in Bettystown a couple of days ago to see if it was still ok. Building has begun only a few yards from the sand bank but it doesn't seem to be causing them any problem and the colony is intact. So that looks to be a story with a happy ending.
I take it all back, the place is now thronged with ringed plover chicks! They don't hide the way little tern chicks do, they tend to run around openly so they are very visible. A juvenile peregrine has been terrorising them all today, flying low by the edge of the enclosure where all the chicks are. I saw it do this twice and the little terns bravely fought it off. Was a fantastic view of a peregrine in action but I really hope that it doesn't become a regular visitor. Well not until the little terns have left anyway!
There are great numbers of waders along the tide at Baltray, mostly dunlins and sanderlings, but I'm sure there must be something hidden in there among them.... Had a little gull there too during the week.
Gerry o Neill
Well-known member
Osprey seen again Lurgangreen ,feeding on fish on mudflat for 15 mins then 2 hooded crows tryed to steal its fish but Osprey flew off with fish up the fane.
Interesting evening! I take it there's been no sign of the osprey today either.
The number little tern young at Baltray is now up to 34, this consists of the 15 confirmed fledged and 19 unfledged. There are still 6 unhatched eggs, we think 2 of these are infertile as they are well overdue. 2 of the 19 new ones hatched today. It really is getting very late for them so we're keeping our fingers crossed the adults hang around long enough to give these little ones a chance.
Went into Beaulieu woods last night and saw one of the long eared owlets. We were really lucky, it called almost straight away and was quite close. When we got to the tree it was calling from it flew over us, circled over the pond and flew off to the other side. It was a lovely view of it.
A sub-adult yellow legged-gull at Lurgangreen last night (thanks Enda!), a bunch of common sandpipers along the shore at balaggan, bellurgan, large numbers of little egrets at both lurgangreen and ballymascanlon (they must be breeding nearby) - otherwise quiet...the ringed plover chicks are everywhere at Baltray at the minute. The last black guillemot chick is about a week away from fledging at Giles Quay...(pic shows new nesting cavities).
(Sorry about the pics - my Coolpix 4500 is dieing after 60,000+ shots...now lots of weird fringing and soft focus...very tempted to just get another one...best camera i ever owned!)
(Sorry about the pics - my Coolpix 4500 is dieing after 60,000+ shots...now lots of weird fringing and soft focus...very tempted to just get another one...best camera i ever owned!)
Attachments
Last edited:
The Little Terns are still thriving, though I must admit we worry about them all the time, there are so many predators, particularly foxes. Fingers crossed that we can get the next couple of weeks over us without incident until the present chicks fledge. Had a fabulous view of the moon rising out of the Boyne at Baltray last night and a lovely rainbow earlier in the day. It's a wonderful place to be when the weather is fine. We had great views of the chicks yesterday, they are using the 'chick shelters' that Tommy prepared - that is plastic piping covered in glue and then rolled in sand. The chicks don't stay in the enclosure, they seem to like to move closer to the sea and this makes them more vulnerable - its difficult to get the balance right between keeping them safe i.e. fencing them in or on the other hand allowing them to do what comes naturally i.e. roaming over the beach where we have less chance of keeping them safe.
Attachments
Last edited:
Peter Phillips
Well-known member
Great photos Margaret, All the hard work has paid off at Baltray. Well done to you and all the extended family that have ensured the project has been a success. A real family and community effort!
Numbers of waders building up at Dundalk Docks. A single ruff put in an apperance. Has anybody seen a Green Sandpiper yet?
Numbers of waders building up at Dundalk Docks. A single ruff put in an apperance. Has anybody seen a Green Sandpiper yet?
Great photos!
No green sandpipers at the usual spot in ballymascanlon bay (the "hidden creek") last weekend...though they can be seen from the top of the stairs at the sourthern hide at rogerstown (look left along the fence to the pools of water)...
Saw my first wasp of the summer yesterday...
No green sandpipers at the usual spot in ballymascanlon bay (the "hidden creek") last weekend...though they can be seen from the top of the stairs at the sourthern hide at rogerstown (look left along the fence to the pools of water)...
Saw my first wasp of the summer yesterday...
Everything still going really well with the little terns at Baltray. The number of confirmed fledged is 18, and there are 22 unfledged, making a total of 40. About half of the unfledged are close to fledging and they should be strong enough at this stage to escape predators. The outcome so far is way beyond our expectations. The latest scare we had was a stoat on the beach yesterday but it didn't appear to have done any harm and hopefully it was just passing through.
gareth2005
Well-known member
Was out fishing today at a lake just outside Culloville. On the far side of the lake were 3 birds that I cant readily ID. I had no Binos to get a proper look at them but could hear them clearly. Their call was like the noise made when you blow through a blade of grass! The were constantly flying around a group of trees and often catching each other in mid air with their feet.
They were bigger than Kestrels and didnt hover in all the time I saw them but weren't as big as a Buzzard and didnt have the large rounded wings you would expect from a Buzzard or sound like a Buzzard. At the minute the closest match I have is a Female Hen Harrier, but I didnt think they bred around these parts?
Any ideas?
I didnt see anything that looked like a male Hen Harrier so all I have to go on is the birds call and shape. I might fish the lake in a few weeks again and bring my Binos this time.
Gareth
They were bigger than Kestrels and didnt hover in all the time I saw them but weren't as big as a Buzzard and didnt have the large rounded wings you would expect from a Buzzard or sound like a Buzzard. At the minute the closest match I have is a Female Hen Harrier, but I didnt think they bred around these parts?
Any ideas?
I didnt see anything that looked like a male Hen Harrier so all I have to go on is the birds call and shape. I might fish the lake in a few weeks again and bring my Binos this time.
Gareth
That's amazing - no idea what it could be...a pair of raptors will defend territory against an intruder but it's the wrong time of the year for that...hen harriers do flock toghether outside the breeding season - there was a well known roost near Dromiskin somewhere (reeds near the railway line i think)...
Out yesterday there were good numbers of storm petrels around dundalk bay, no shearwaters that i could see though. Two or three arctic skuas were harassing terns off Clogher (didn't see any cetaceans)...
Out yesterday there were good numbers of storm petrels around dundalk bay, no shearwaters that i could see though. Two or three arctic skuas were harassing terns off Clogher (didn't see any cetaceans)...
