Captain_of_Crunch
YVdpep_re64
Scheduled to take place at the start of February. Watch this space!
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2011 Wicklow Bird Race (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Captain_of_Crunch
- Start date
Captain_of_Crunch
YVdpep_re64
The likely date for the event is the 19th of February. More details to follow.
nialltkeogh
Well-known member
2011 Wicklow Bird Race - The Resurrection!
Hi all,
The 2011 County Wicklow Bird Race will take place on Sunday 20th February, meeting at the car park at the southern end of Bray promenade (by the amusements) at 07:00 for team registration, with the race then beginning at 07:15. The race will finish at 18:30 in The Beehive Inn, on the N11 south of Rathnew. Teams of 2-4 people per car at 5 euro per person.
As some of you may already be aware, the race ran ‘smoothly’ between 2000 & 2006 with several teams taking part, after that however, only one or two teams ever bothered to turn up for it so it wasn’t run for a few years...until now!
Rather pessimistically I suppose, we are still only expecting a small number of teams to show up, involving the regular south Dublin/Wicklow crew. As such there have been a few changes made to the normal bird race schedule & rules as follows:
(1) Depending on how many people decide to take part, certain rules such as the number of participants on a team who must see or hear a species to allow for points to be scored will be decided on the day (as a team of four would obviously have a massive advantage over a team of two!).
(2) The race is also being held on a Sunday (rather than the traditional bird race day - Saturday) as it suits the small minority who we know will definitely turn up. Running the race on Sunday 20th also means that it will not clash with any I-WeBS counts, IRBC meetings & Raptor conferences which are being held on weekends running up to the race, thus ensuring that they cannot be used as an excuse for not participating!
Despite this, we are hopeful that enough people will show up in order to allow for normal or as close to normal rules to apply, and get the ball rolling for running a regular race in 2012. And if by some miracle a whole gang of people arrive then we would be more than happy to allocate teams at their request into one of two groups - "Experienced" or "Not-so-experienced" which will allow teams of birders of all capabilities to take part.
Anyways, hope to see many of you there on the 20th Feb!
All the best,
Niall Keogh & Dick Coombes
Hi all,
The 2011 County Wicklow Bird Race will take place on Sunday 20th February, meeting at the car park at the southern end of Bray promenade (by the amusements) at 07:00 for team registration, with the race then beginning at 07:15. The race will finish at 18:30 in The Beehive Inn, on the N11 south of Rathnew. Teams of 2-4 people per car at 5 euro per person.
As some of you may already be aware, the race ran ‘smoothly’ between 2000 & 2006 with several teams taking part, after that however, only one or two teams ever bothered to turn up for it so it wasn’t run for a few years...until now!
Rather pessimistically I suppose, we are still only expecting a small number of teams to show up, involving the regular south Dublin/Wicklow crew. As such there have been a few changes made to the normal bird race schedule & rules as follows:
(1) Depending on how many people decide to take part, certain rules such as the number of participants on a team who must see or hear a species to allow for points to be scored will be decided on the day (as a team of four would obviously have a massive advantage over a team of two!).
(2) The race is also being held on a Sunday (rather than the traditional bird race day - Saturday) as it suits the small minority who we know will definitely turn up. Running the race on Sunday 20th also means that it will not clash with any I-WeBS counts, IRBC meetings & Raptor conferences which are being held on weekends running up to the race, thus ensuring that they cannot be used as an excuse for not participating!
Despite this, we are hopeful that enough people will show up in order to allow for normal or as close to normal rules to apply, and get the ball rolling for running a regular race in 2012. And if by some miracle a whole gang of people arrive then we would be more than happy to allocate teams at their request into one of two groups - "Experienced" or "Not-so-experienced" which will allow teams of birders of all capabilities to take part.
Anyways, hope to see many of you there on the 20th Feb!
All the best,
Niall Keogh & Dick Coombes
Captain_of_Crunch
YVdpep_re64
2011 Wicklow Bird Race
Three teams took part in this years Wicklow Bird Race, leaving the Bray Seafront at 07:10. Despite the cool and windy conditions, a total of 106 species recorded, including several new records for Wicklow Atlas Squares.
Birds:
With the strong southerly winds, seabirds were very much in evidence on the final tally. Undoubted highlights were the locally scarce Common Scoter recorded off Greystones and Blackditch, as well as an adult Little Gull seen from Bray Head. More typically, good numbers of Gannets, Fulmars, Auks and Kittiwakes were noted from coastal sites.
As with the Dublin Bird Race in January, Little Egrets were thin on the ground with singles seen at Kilcoole and Killoughter, as well as two sheltering from the weather near Hunter's Hotel (Cronykerry). The flock of around 60 Whooper Swans at Kilcoole proved very uncooperative on the day, relocating to the fields beyond Newcastle Airfield. Only one team managed to find the two Bewick's Swans. Also present were the long-staying and locally rare Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese. Although the Green-winged Teal present the previous few weeks in Webb's Field (Kilcoole) was not seen, single Tufted Duck (Blackditch), Goosander (Vartry Reservoir) and Wicklow "Mega" Red-breasted Merganser (Broad Lough) were found.
Birds of Prey were in short supply: single Peregrines in Broad Lough and Bray, three or four Kestrels, wing-tagged Hen Harrier at Broad Lough and only one Buzzard. Wader highlights included Bar-tailed Godwit, Woodcock and the Spotted Redshank at the Breaches.
Best of the rest: At least 50 Stock Doves were seen feeding with several thousand Jackdaws (including one possible Eastern) and Rooks near Newcastle. One lucky team managed to find the very elusive group of 7 Waxwings in Charlesland. Other good finds included two Bramblings on a feeder in Kilcoole village, c50 Yellowhammers in Newtownmountkennedy and c20 Tree Sprrows on a private site near Coyne's Cross.
Some common species proved very difficult to find, including Meadow Pipit (1), Grey Wagtail (None), Skylark (2), Stonechat and Raven (1 Heard only). Only one significant flock of winter thrushes was found. Although the poor weather on the day have influenced this, it seems the heavy snow at the end seems to have badly hit Stonechat and in particular Grey Wagtail populations.
Results:
1. "Peckers" (D. Coombes / Christian Osthoff) - 96 species
2. "Southside Swifts" (N Keogh / Brian Porter) - 89.5 species
3. "Famous Grousers" (A McMillan / S McAvoy) - 87 species
Considering that the highest winning total stands at 97 species, this is a remarkable tally in relatively bad birding conditions.
Three teams took part in this years Wicklow Bird Race, leaving the Bray Seafront at 07:10. Despite the cool and windy conditions, a total of 106 species recorded, including several new records for Wicklow Atlas Squares.
Birds:
With the strong southerly winds, seabirds were very much in evidence on the final tally. Undoubted highlights were the locally scarce Common Scoter recorded off Greystones and Blackditch, as well as an adult Little Gull seen from Bray Head. More typically, good numbers of Gannets, Fulmars, Auks and Kittiwakes were noted from coastal sites.
As with the Dublin Bird Race in January, Little Egrets were thin on the ground with singles seen at Kilcoole and Killoughter, as well as two sheltering from the weather near Hunter's Hotel (Cronykerry). The flock of around 60 Whooper Swans at Kilcoole proved very uncooperative on the day, relocating to the fields beyond Newcastle Airfield. Only one team managed to find the two Bewick's Swans. Also present were the long-staying and locally rare Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese. Although the Green-winged Teal present the previous few weeks in Webb's Field (Kilcoole) was not seen, single Tufted Duck (Blackditch), Goosander (Vartry Reservoir) and Wicklow "Mega" Red-breasted Merganser (Broad Lough) were found.
Birds of Prey were in short supply: single Peregrines in Broad Lough and Bray, three or four Kestrels, wing-tagged Hen Harrier at Broad Lough and only one Buzzard. Wader highlights included Bar-tailed Godwit, Woodcock and the Spotted Redshank at the Breaches.
Best of the rest: At least 50 Stock Doves were seen feeding with several thousand Jackdaws (including one possible Eastern) and Rooks near Newcastle. One lucky team managed to find the very elusive group of 7 Waxwings in Charlesland. Other good finds included two Bramblings on a feeder in Kilcoole village, c50 Yellowhammers in Newtownmountkennedy and c20 Tree Sprrows on a private site near Coyne's Cross.
Some common species proved very difficult to find, including Meadow Pipit (1), Grey Wagtail (None), Skylark (2), Stonechat and Raven (1 Heard only). Only one significant flock of winter thrushes was found. Although the poor weather on the day have influenced this, it seems the heavy snow at the end seems to have badly hit Stonechat and in particular Grey Wagtail populations.
Results:
1. "Peckers" (D. Coombes / Christian Osthoff) - 96 species
2. "Southside Swifts" (N Keogh / Brian Porter) - 89.5 species
3. "Famous Grousers" (A McMillan / S McAvoy) - 87 species
Considering that the highest winning total stands at 97 species, this is a remarkable tally in relatively bad birding conditions.
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