The wood sandpiper was a fantastic find - well done Freddie! I was thrilled to see it and it is great that so many got to see it, thanks for letting us know Enda. Was good to meet up, it's surprising we don't bump into each other more often. I managed to briefly see the black tern, it was very far out and difficult to see. Got a good look at arctic skuas though.
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County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter breffni
- Start date
Having spent the last few weeks carefully looking for a yellow-legged gull i finally managed to turn up this example at cruisetown on monday...had to send the photos to various experts to confirm the id. The bird should still be hanging around cruisetown/dunaney. Front end looks like a herring gull and back end looks like a lesser black backed gull - mantle is intermediate between lbbg and hg (argenteus) - bird looks basically like a very vicious lbbg. LBBG and HG pics for comparison...
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gareth2005
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Sorry to have missed the outing in Lurgangreen, ended up going fishing all day. Sounds like a good one though.
Catch anything? The best at lurgangreen was ruff and little egret but the main idea was to explain the site to people - next event is 9th October when Niall Hatch from BWI will give a talk at the spirit store - details to be confirmed...meanwhile a random linnet from hermitage and an adult med gull from templetown beach where there are lots of razorbills and guillemot - many accompanied by little auk-like young...gareth2005 said:
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gareth2005
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Will definitely make it one of these events, would have really enjoyed it too. Caught 2 Pike in Monaghan, unfortunately found evidence of illegal fishing on yet another lake with fish scales all over the bank.
Incidentally there were three shooters and a dog at the southern end of lurgangreen when we got there. They cracked off a few shots but failed to rise the five mallard that were sitting tight and close amongst the waders...anyway after a while they moved to the blackrock side and in one of the stupidest things i've ever seen, laid decoys right in our field of view, presumably hoping to attract the ducks and give the birdwatching group a demonstration of shooting virtuosity – the ducks had more sense. Meanwhile there were hundreds of mallard lounging around seabank, a mile to the south...but are decoys kosher in the hunting fraternity?
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gareth2005
Well-known member
I too have hunted in the past, but have been surprised to find out how many species can be legally shot.
Here is a list. http://www.irishfieldsports.com/fowling/ducks.htm
I presumed it was just Mallard and Wigion.
Here is a list. http://www.irishfieldsports.com/fowling/ducks.htm
I presumed it was just Mallard and Wigion.
gareth2005 said:
What an amazing website - white-fronted geese are definately not legal quarry and much of the rest of the information is either wrong or ambiguous...on the other hand the irish list does have some extradorinary anomalies: it is technically legal to shoot bullfinches, jays and herring gulls as pests - herring gulls are actually red listed in Ireland where their population has crashed as much as 90% in recent years...
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gareth2005
Well-known member
I just googled this site looking for when Duck was in season and found it.
I noticed some hunters last winter out in the fields on Balaggan Point when I was walking. I presumed that that was a protected area. They got nothing but annoyed some of the Brent geese in the area.
I noticed some hunters last winter out in the fields on Balaggan Point when I was walking. I presumed that that was a protected area. They got nothing but annoyed some of the Brent geese in the area.
Whoever runs the site should correct their info - if their punters follow it they could end up having their guns taken (+ court, fines etc) - legal quarry for 06/07 are listed below. I am trying to get an up to date list for "pest species". Shooting is legal around Balaggan point but not over the foreshore (without a special licence) or within 50 yards of the road.
Red Grouse: 1 to 31 September
Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Goldeneye, Golden Plover, Snipe, Jack Snipe: 1 September to 31 January
Red-Legged Partridge: 1 November to 31 January
Cock Pheasant, Woodcock: 1 November to 31 January
Curlew: 1 November to 30 November
Canada Geese (Countrywide): 1 September to 15 October (this is extended to 31 January for parts of Cavin aand Leitrim)
Greylag Geese (Countrywide): 1 September to 15 October (also extended to 31 January for certain areas in Cork and Wexford)
Woodpigeon: 1 November to 31 January
Ruddy Duck: 1 September to 31 January
Red Grouse: 1 to 31 September
Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Goldeneye, Golden Plover, Snipe, Jack Snipe: 1 September to 31 January
Red-Legged Partridge: 1 November to 31 January
Cock Pheasant, Woodcock: 1 November to 31 January
Curlew: 1 November to 30 November
Canada Geese (Countrywide): 1 September to 15 October (this is extended to 31 January for parts of Cavin aand Leitrim)
Greylag Geese (Countrywide): 1 September to 15 October (also extended to 31 January for certain areas in Cork and Wexford)
Woodpigeon: 1 November to 31 January
Ruddy Duck: 1 September to 31 January
quite enough weekend,seawatch on saturday with DH produced 5 artic skuas,100s manxies & 1 balearic (med) shearwater that came in very close.sunday had artic skuas off hermitage (1) cruisetown(3) adult med gull at seabank were duck numbers are begining to increase teal & wigeon starting to arrive
