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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. (4 Viewers)

For anyone interested i am selling my Opticron Angeled ES80ED Spotting scope, with 2- - 60X HDF Eyepiece, tripod, Cover and car window mount. The perfect digiscoping scope or for general birdwatching.
Used less than a dozen times, perfect condition Still have box and warrantly cert, its about 3 years old
Only selling it because I dont have the use for it anymore and it just seem t sit in the press.

Here is the latest model of it here http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?KEY=1951


PM me with offers please

Gareth
 
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hpux said:
wow - just had a look at the blog.
Well done guys, looks like you're doing sterling work
Click to expand...

Thanks indeed, it's great to get positive feedback. We are now at 74 chicks with more yet to hatch. The spring tides are over so that's one less thing to worry about for the moment. Some photos below from this year.
 

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Dony said:
A few weeks ago I was delighted to see housemartins returning to the apex of my house and repairing/rebuilding their nest from last year -and a fine job they did of it too.
All was going well and the female had moved in and I presume she was sitting on the eggs. Then something started to happen in the next few days which I thought rather odd! Some house sparrows started to persistently attack the nest and gradually pulled away at it bit by bit untill there was a large section of it removed so they could gain entry, and what seemed to me, they evicted the housemartins and anything else that was in the nest! The housemartins have now dissappeared altogether and are showing no signs of returning which seems a bit unfair!
I should add to this that there are a lot of pairs of sparrows nesting in the very near vacinity.
I suppose I'm just wondering if this practice is common? I'm just a casual birder so wouldn't really know.
Click to expand...

Goodness that is so evil, I thought only the Cuckoo bird was that evil. I saw an interesting article in the Mirror paper lying in the tea-room (not my kind of paper) about A Swift Decline just other day and me writing about Swifts... Following day I heard about 5 or 6 screeching around the roof-tops of the old buildings at end of Hill Street and close to Townhall and the sound is something you couldnt forget really. I think it meant from reading the article that they scream around their nests but not certain...... anyway here is the website mentioned for anyone interested in filling in surveys about any nest sites indentified ...... forms are available from the RSPBs website at
rspb.org.uk/helpswifts. I would like to have a custom made Swift nest box put at back of my garage as very private with Ash trees and Hawthorns, Hazel trees too. I was very interested to see such efforts made to find suitable nesting places for them and would be very happy even to get HOUSE MARTINS nesting if Swifts a bit out of reach so to say....... They are still swooping fast around the old building at hospital.
I hope Andy Murray wins this VERY exciting tennis match on presently.|=)||=)|
 
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Dony said:
A few weeks ago I was delighted to see housemartins returning to the apex of my house and repairing/rebuilding their nest from last year -and a fine job they did of it too.
All was going well and the female had moved in and I presume she was sitting on the eggs. Then something started to happen in the next few days which I thought rather odd! Some house sparrows started to persistently attack the nest and gradually pulled away at it bit by bit untill there was a large section of it removed so they could gain entry, and what seemed to me, they evicted the housemartins and anything else that was in the nest! The housemartins have now dissappeared altogether and are showing no signs of returning which seems a bit unfair!
I should add to this that there are a lot of pairs of sparrows nesting in the very near vacinity.
I suppose I'm just wondering if this practice is common? I'm just a casual birder so wouldn't really know.
Click to expand...

Its does happen - house sparows are quite agressive. They displace bluebirds from their nests in the USA, where they are introduced and invasave.

One way to deal with this is to provide a couple of alternative nesting boxes for the sparrows as soon as they start into the house martins nest. The sparrow nest box should be nearer the bird table than the house martins nest and ideally out of sight of it. But once they get started it may be hard to get them to stop...

Note that both house sparrows and house martins are declining.
 
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The corncrake near cruisetown was heard last saturday at 10pm. If anybody has any more recent records please let me know, including negative records.
 
breffni said:
Its does happen - house sparows are quite agressive. They displace bluebirds from their nests in the USA, where they are introduced and invasave.

One way to deal with this is to provide a couple of alternative nesting boxes for the sparrows as soon as they start into the house martins nest. The sparrow nest box should be nearer the bird table than the house martins nest and ideally out of sight of it. But once they get started it may be hard to get them to stop...

Note that both house sparrows and house martins are declining.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info.
What I didn't realise is that in my case the sparrows have laid and are now rearing a brood of their own in the housemartins nest. The cheek of them!!
 
corncrake calling last night from midnight to 2pm from a spot about 30 yards fromt eh first time i heard it - this is a good sign.

I checked the fields from there back to hermitage and around boycetown for quail or another corncrake but a long-eared owl was the best....
 
Corncrake at port beach

11/6 T. Dolan first hears bird walking his dog and every night until 18th at least
18/6 Breffni, Don, Gerry heard bird calling
19/6 Gerry 2 – 3 birds calling (one seen briefly)
23/6 Derek heard bird
26/6 Bird not heard Gerry Murphy
27/6 Someone heard bird (who?)
30/6 Not heard Brendan Mc Sherry
1/07 Bird heard calling by Breffni

Any other records?

Corncrakes usually double brood, first in May/June, then in July/August - the second brood is usually a few miles away from the first - so it is possible that this bird already has bred somewhere in the area and is now getting going on second brood? Also they stop calling when they find a mate and go silent until chicks are hatched (for about 20 days) but should start up intermittently after that again...
 
For what it's worth I also seen the bird. As I was in the field it flew almost directly towards me and dissapeared into the corn approx 5ft away - that's how I recorded it so clearly on my mobile phone! It was only after 10pm and still bright - unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but it was a very memorable experience (my first corncrake). There was definately only one bird calling the night I was there.
 
hi breffni
sat 27th at9.30pm to9.55pm 2birds calling
one in field across from graveyard
one in field to the left of graveyard
 
OK

11/6 T. Dolan first hears bird walking his dog and every night until 18th at least
18/6 Breffni, Don, Gerry heard bird calling
19/6 Gerry 2 – 3 birds calling (one seen briefly)
20/6 ?
21/6 Not heard Peter Phillips
22/6 Not heard Peter Phillips
23/6 Derek Watters heard bird
24/6 ?
25/6 ?
26/6 Bird not heard Gerry Murphy (11pm)
27/6 Two birds calling from 9pm PJR
28/6 ?
29/6 ?
30/6 Not heard Brendan Mc Sherry
01/7 Bird heard calling by Breffni
02/7 ?

Location is important. Birds singing from the same location (give or take 20 yards) indicates the bird is settled, possibly another clue that it might have already bred. The possibility of two birds is even better (they are terrific ventriloquists and deliberately bounce calls off walls such as the gable of the ruined church).

The wheat in the area is well advanced but at least a few weeks away from cutting. There should be no further spraying. Hoepfully we can get farmer to cut in a corncrake friendly way. It will be important to monitor cutting to see if any juv corncrakes break cover, which is i guess the only way to confirm breeding...
 
Maybe the farmer should be contacted to make him aware in case he decides to spray etc.

Are there any grants to entice the farmer to cut in a Corncrake friendly way? It may help...

Gareth
 
gareth2005 said:
Maybe the farmer should be contacted to make him aware in case he decides to spray etc.

Are there any grants to entice the farmer to cut in a Corncrake friendly way? It may help...

Gareth
Click to expand...

Proving complicated to locate owner! The are no corn crake specific grants available outside the "core areas" in the west, but I'm certain that something could be organised either through an teagasc or npws, assuming that the owner is amenable...
 
breffni said:
OK

11/6 T. Dolan first hears bird walking his dog and every night until 18th at least
18/6 Breffni, Don, Gerry heard bird calling
19/6 Gerry 2 – 3 birds calling (one seen briefly)
20/6 ?
21/6 Not heard Peter Phillips
22/6 Not heard Peter Phillips
23/6 Derek Watters heard bird
24/6 ?
25/6 ?
26/6 Bird not heard Gerry Murphy (11pm)
27/6 Two birds calling from 9pm PJR
28/6 ?
29/6 ?
30/6 Not heard Brendan Mc Sherry
01/7 Bird heard calling by Breffni
02/7 ?

Location is important. Birds singing from the same location (give or take 20 yards) indicates the bird is settled, possibly another clue that it might have already bred. The possibility of two birds is even better (they are terrific ventriloquists and deliberately bounce calls off walls such as the gable of the ruined church).

The wheat in the area is well advanced but at least a few weeks away from cutting. There should be no further spraying. Hoepfully we can get farmer to cut in a corncrake friendly way. It will be important to monitor cutting to see if any juv corncrakes break cover, which is i guess the only way to confirm breeding...
Click to expand...

I heard the bird on the 20th at 10pm.It only called once for a few seconds. Not heard on 21st or22nd I stayed for an hour both nights around 10pm. Not sure about the weather but no rain.

I know most hay fiels are cut from the outside in. But grain crops are normally cut from one side to the other(as far as I can recall) so the birds might be able to take refuge in the grass margins as the field is being cut...just a thought..
 
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breffni said:
Proving complicated to locate owner! The are no corn crake specific grants available outside the "core areas" in the west, but I'm certain that something could be organised either through an teagasc or npws, assuming that the owner is amenable...
Click to expand...
The farmer is aware of the corncrakes presence and is a few weeks away from cutting. He is apparently keen to help in what ever way he can as he is interested in nature. I was speaking to one of the locals one evening who had heard the news in the local garden centre and had some down to see if he could hear the call - he said as a child it was one of the commonest summer sounds in that area. He had just been speaking to the farmer before he came down. I didn't get a name however.
 
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I've located farmer - now trying to arrange some other stuff (maybe better take discussion off-line though - anyone available for monitoring cutting in the event?).

Bird was calling last night from 11.15 despite relatively cold and windy night from exactly the same place as i first heard - birds persistance is very encouraging.

Revised timeline:
11/6 T. Dolan first hears bird walking his dog and every night until 18th at least
18/6 Breffni, Don, Gerry heard bird calling
19/6 Gerry 2 – 3 birds calling (one seen briefly)
20/6 Bird heard by peter phillips
21/6 Not heard Peter Phillips
22/6 Not heard Peter Phillips
23/6 Derek Watters heard bird (briefly seen also) 10pm
24/6 ?
25/6 ?
26/6 Bird not heard Gerry Murphy (11pm)
27/6 Two birds calling from 9:30 pm PJR
28/6 ?
29/6 ?
30/6 Not heard Brendan Mc Sherry up to midnight
01/7 Bird heard calling by Breffni midnight to 2am
02/7 ?
04/7 Bird heard calling by breffni 11:15
 
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