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West Donegal (1 Viewer)

Christmas walk at Inch Lake

Had a very pleasant walk at Inch Lake yesterday with my three kids. The highlight of the birding bit was distant views of a Smew and two Black Swans. I don't recall ever seeing a Smew at Inch before. Has anyone else seen Smew ther recently?

Our list for the lunchtime walk was:

Blackbird
Greyback Crow
Whooper Swan
Tufted Duck
Mallard
Teal
Moorhen
Grey Heron
Blue Tit
Wren
Long Tailed Tit
Chaffinch
Robin
Wigeon
Goldeneye
Red Breasted Merganser
Smew
Black Swan
Mute Swan
Lapwing

Happy Christmas to everyone.

Richard Smith
 
Hi Richard

There were two redheads at Inch last winter. Blanket Nook used to be one of the best spots in Ireland for them. Up to nine were there from January to March 1999.

Dermot
 
New Year in Derrybeg

Spent a few days from 28th to 1st in Derrybeg. Weather freezing cold with blue skies and frozen sand on the beaches. The highlights of the birding were:

Flock of Wimbrel at Magheragallon
A few resident Chough at Magheragallon
A flock of Snow Bunting at Magheroarty on 30th December
30-40 Brent at Ballyness Bay nr Magheroarty
Stonechat at Magheroarty
Kestrel at Bloody Foreland
Kestrel or possibly Sparrowhawk at Magheragallon flying with prey, being harassed by a gull.

Happy New Year,

Richard
 

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Apologies, the"longbeaks" were young Curlew not Whimbrel as I originally thought. Still, nice to see them at close quarters feeding in the neighbor's garden.

Has anyone been out birding in Donegal recently? The weather has been pretty rotten. Winds up to 90mph in Gweedore on Saturday night.
 
Sunday 25th, Magheragallon, Derrybeg

20+ Brent
7 Cormorant
2 Oystercatcher
2 Curlew

Atrocious conditions, snow and rain.
Roll on the Spring please!

Richard
 
Spent Sat to Mon in Donegal.

Highlights below.
Saturday
Killybegs 1 ad Kumlien's (Derek and Wilton had a second adult), 15 Icelands, 7Glaucous and a few argentatus.
Nothing at Portnoo nor Durnesh Lough.

Sunday
Inch Island Lake - 8 Ruff, one neck collared Greylag and one davric ringed Whooper.
Greencastle - 6 Icleands, 1 first-winter Glaucous x Herring hybrid and 10 Waxwings in the village centre (between shop and fishery school).

Monday
Glenveagh National Park - Resident pair of Golden Eagles heard calling.
New Lake - 3 Greater Scaup.

Dermot
 

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BCK Greylag

Details on the neck collared Greylag. Not the first Greylag from Loch Eye that I've had at Inch.

COBCK L.Eye 06/11/2004 v 4 f
COBCK Little Salkeld, Eden Valley, Cumbria NY5634 14/03/2005 vv 4 f
COBCK Langwathby, Penrith, Cumbria NY5534 14/12/2005 vv 6 f
COBCK Bollakot, Fljotshild, South ICELAND 20/04/2007 vv 6 f
COBCK Inch Is Lake, N.Ireland C3622 08/02/2009 vv 6 f

Dermot
 
sheskinmore on february 17th

We had a great dry day walking on sheskinmore. We seen wren, stonechat, grey heron, wigeon, mute swan, raven, curlew, skylark, robin, lesser black backed gull. For us the highlight were ten golden plover, a species that had always seemed to be elusive for us. It was great to see them.
Went round to loughros point,seen oystercatcher, 6 brent geese and a great northern diver. Interestingly, I seen a GND on the same beach on 01/04/07, wonder was it the same bird!!!!!
 
Magheragallon, Derrybeg

Spent the day mending fences to keep the infernal sheep out, however noticed a large flock of Brent feeding on the estuary. Perhaps 50+ birds. These were accompanied by 15-20 Redshank. Weather turned pretty wet so did not get a chance to explore further.

Change of scene next weekend, going birding in Norfolk for a couple of days. Never been before so it should be good.

Richard
 
Inch Lake Sun 8th

A wild and wintery morning at Inch.

Teal
Goldeneye
Mallard
Wigeon
Tufted Duck
Gt Crested Grebe
Shelduck
Whooper Swan
Mute Swan
Lapwing

Good numbers but no surprises today.

Lots of singing Wrens and a few Blue Tit about too.

Richard
 
Was up in Dunfanaghy over the weekend doing a recce for a walking weekend later in the year. Pulled the curtains back on Sat morning in the B&B near New Lake to see 40+ whoopers, 70+ greenland white front and 4 barnacle geese. Also added mallard, teal, wigeon, tufted and pochard later on. Treecreeper in Ards Forest Park, Great Northern diver off the pier at Port-na-Blagh with black guillemot and razorbill. On Sunday morning Dunfanaghy harbour had a mixed flock of sanderling, ringed plover and dunlin. A drive round Horn Head in force 7/8 winds and hail showers was spectacular but largely bird free apart from fulmars back off the cliffs and one lonely gannet. All in all a good weekend, but I still haven't got kestrel or moorhen on my Donegal list - or dunnock!! Need to be here more often?
 
West Donegal Tour

Did a tour of some West Donegal birding spots today.

New Lake Dunfanaghy
Whooper, Pink Foot Geese, White Front Geese, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Mute Swan (doing courtship display).

Magheroarty
Brent Geese (70+)

Magheragallon
Golden Plover
Ringed Plover
Redshank
Chough
Brent Geese (24) + (40+ on shore)
Lapwing

Good day trip for a windy day.

Richard
 

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Sheskinmore
Just a brief note following a few recent walks in the Rossbeg/Tramore/Sheskinmore area.

Around 8-10 lapwings displaying on the walk over to the lake. A further 10 were resting on the reed beds a the side of the lake. The lake itself was quite quiet when I was there with only a couple of mute swans visable. A flock of around 40 greenland white-fronted geese (as recorded earlier in the year) were still there and grazing on the bank. No sign of golden plover but was not able to spend much time looking around.
The estuary had a small flock of sanderling 20+ moving around and over 30 brent geese near the sea. There was also a single curlew and a couple of black guilamot around.
The beach again had sanderling, quite a number of ringed plover, oystercatchers and usual array of gulls. The ravens appeared to be nesting at the end of the beach and there was a moorhen in the marshy area.
Lots of the lbj about and glimpses of occassional chough in the distance. Couldn't get near to any significant group.
Hope to get back and update soon.
 
Inch Lake Sunday 5th

Despite a cycle race preventing access to the Pump House road I managed to get to the lake via the Farland Bank road. Spring has arrived! Lots of Chifchaff and Wrens singing their heads off. No sign of any Terns as yet. Large numbers of Black Headed Gulls on the salt water side. 20+ Mute Swan on the nesting island. Duck numbers were low, a few Mallard and Tufted but as I forgot my binoculars, there could have been more.

Managed to get a few photos of a Chifchaff high in a tree. I was experimenting with my son's Nikon D700. A mighty weapon for bird photography, the ability to choose a high ISO setting with no loss of quality is a real breakthrough.

Looking forward to the arrival of the Terns in the coming days.

Richard
 
Easter in West Donegal

Just back from 5 days in West Donegal. Large flock of Brent at Magheragallon, Derrybeg, 70+ birds. Saw 3 Kestrel, a possible Merlin at Carrickfinn.

Put up a House Martin's nestbox but no sign of any potential lodgers yet. saw a couple of Swallows but low in number as yet. No Terns or Cuckoo yet. High numbers of Skylark everywhere along the coast. Saw a pair of Stonechat at Carrickfinn yesterday. Wheatear showing up in most of the coastal locations. 3 - 4 Hares at Magheragallon which is great to see.

Richard
 
Inch Lake Saturday 18th

The nesting island is a hive of activity with high numbers of Mute Swans and Terns. I did not get very close as my twin daughters were in charge and the Farland Bank was indeed far! Bribery and corruption will only take you so far, I was outnumbered two to one!

Willow Warblers and Wrens everywhere, the lakeside path was full of the sounds of Spring.

Good numbers of Tufties, Mallard, Teal and a few Wigeon and Shelduck were seen on the lake.

A big cleanup operation was completed around the reserve on Saturday morning which was great to see. It's a pity that litter bins are not provided, I expect thats because of the extortionate costs of paying private operators to empty bins in Donegal. This is the case across the county as a result of the government's policy of not providing public litter bins in rural areas incase people use them for household waste.
 
Gweedore 2nd - 3rd May

Sandwich Terns and Whimbrel at Magheragallon.
Also;
Wheatear
Ringed Plover
Skylark
Gannet
Linnet
Chough
Shelduck
Mallard

Waiting patiently for Cuckoo. Last year's records for Bunbeg showed the first sighting on 17th May.
 
Sheskinmore
Quick walk about at the weekend
Geese all seem to have moved on. Generally a bit windy and quiet.
8-10 lapwing around the lake along with a pair of grey heron, mute swans and a pair of small dark (brown/black) nondiscript duck. Any thoughts on these welcome. They were too far away to see properly (even through scope) against the disturbed lake surface. No obvious distinguishing marks. Did fly low over the surface and were diving when settled.
Lots of larks everywhere, along with pipits, pied wagtails and occassional stonechat.
Ringed plover on the beach with small range of gulls and ravens still at the rocks at the end. Martins and swallows around the lake and estuary.
Did see 3/4 gannets diving at the far end of Portnoo beach near to the rocks. First time I have noticed that.
 
Sheskinmore
a pair of small dark (brown/black) nondiscript duck. Any thoughts on these welcome.

Most likely teal. I've seen them on Sheskinmore Lake loads of times, they can look very dark from a distance, especially if going into eclipse. I remember having the same problem at the same site when I wasn't familiar with the species! The odd wigeon turns up on the lake but they're a bit bigger and probably brighter too.

Teal are sometimes on the wee pools in the sand dunes too or even at the edge of tramore beach. Not sure if they breed- suppose one or two pairs are possible- never seen juvs., but not often up at the right time of year for that I suppose.

Edit: "diving when settled" - not sure if I've ever seen teal dive, they're generally dabblers. I suppose another possibility is common scoter but would still go for teal.
 
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...a pair of small dark (brown/black) nondiscript duck. Any thoughts on these welcome...No obvious distinguishing marks. Did fly low over the surface and were diving when settled.

Hi,

Sounds like they could be a couple of female type Tufted Duck which would tie in with the non-descript dark (brown/black) plumage, small size & diving habit.

In flight Tufted Duck show a white panel on the wing extending from the secondaries to the inner primaries & greyish outer primaries.

All the best,
Niall
 
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