Co. Wicklow Birding (1 Viewer)

Dawn Chorus Walk this morning at Killruddery House - all the usual culprits (minus the Stock Dove we had on the walk 2 weeks ago) plus long, beautiful views of 2 red squirrels, nibbling at pine cones, unconcerned at the crowd gathered to watch them.

Whitethroat in song at Killruddery today. Plus two singing yellowhammers.

Great Spotted Woodpecker heard drumming at various locations throughout Killruddery Gardens and Estate in recent weeks, but no nest-holes located. Last year´s nesthole appears abandoned.

Good to see someone is representing Co Wicklow on this forum. Good luck Sancho.

Si.

Thanks Si! Much appreciated. Cuckoo calling at Calary Bog this evening.

Buzzard with missing central tail feather and missing primary on each wing, flying with fairly jerky wingbeats, as if with extra effort, over Bray town this afternoon, Sidmonton Road area.

Great to see the successful rearing of red kite chicks in the county as reported on RTE tv and radio the other day.

Si.

Quick update on the Little Terns cat Kilcoole: currently 20 pairs on nests. Also present yesterday were c20 Sanderling, 50 Dunlin as well as small passage of Manx Shearwaters and Fulmars (3) offshore.

Peppershrike77 said:

Quick update on the Little Terns cat Kilcoole: currently 20 pairs on nests. Also present yesterday were c20 Sanderling, 50 Dunlin as well as small passage of Manx Shearwaters and Fulmars (3) offshore.

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Gr8 nuz! Are the wardens in situ at the tern site? Couple of other recent reports from kids I teach (fairly reliable, I wouldn´t report the more bizarre ones) are Barn Owl in the Blacklion area, Greystones, and Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming at 2 new areas, one in woodland in Co. Wicklow and another in a Bray suburb.

And very pretty juv Glaucous gull in Bray Harbour today, seen and photographed by a work colleague.

Massive fall of swifts last Thursday evening, at broadlough.
Easily 3-4 thousand swarming over the lake and sea, with a steady stream of birds coming from the east.

Never seen anything like it!

Owen

Sancho said:

Barn Owl in the Blacklion area, Greystones

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Always thought the old stone barns there were prime Barn Owl territory! I live right beside them and haven't had sight as yet. I must watch the area regularly from now on, thanks.

I see a Tawny Pipit was reported in Newcastle yesterday. Supposedly showing very well....

http://www.irishbirding.com/birds/web/Display/sighting/23210/Tawny_Pipit.html

Hi all,

Birding along The Murrough, Co. Wicklow yesterday (8th Sept) between Newcastle Sea Road, Blackditch East Coast Nature Reserve, Six Mile Point, Newcastle/Kilcoole marshes and beach & Ballygannon reedbed produced a total of 80 species (Niall T. Keogh & Andrew Power).

An outing will be held in this area on Sunday 12th September led by the South Dublin Branch of BirdWatch Ireland, meeting in Kilcoole railway station car park at 10:30am.

Species List:
1. Mute Swan
2. Wigeon
3. Teal
4. Mallard
5. Shoveler – 21 at Kilcoole.
6. Common Scoter – 2 drakes flew south offshore from Six Mile Point.
7. Red-throated Diver – 2 summer plumaged birds close offshore from Six Mile Point.
8. Fulmar
9. Gannet
10. Cormorant
11. Shag
12. Little Egret
13. Grey Heron
14. Little Grebe – 15+ at Kilcoole.
15. Sparrowhawk – one hunting along Newcastle Sea Road.
16. Kestrel – a male hunting over Stringer’s channels, Kilcoole.
17. Peregrine – adult & juvenile at Six Mile Point (juvenile had a blue-green darvic ring on its’ left tarsus).
18. Water Rail – singles heard in the BWI Reserve at Kilcoole & Ballygannon reedbed.
19. Moorhen
20. Coot – 6 in Stringer’s channels, Kilcoole.
21. Ringed Plover – 45+ roosting on the beach at Kilcoole.
22. Lapwing
23. Dunlin – c.20 roosting on the beach at Kilcoole.
24. Snipe
25. Black-tailed Godwit – 2 flew south past Six Mile Point & 10 were in Webb’s field, Kilcoole.
26. Bar-tailed Godwit – 25 flew south past Newcastle & 2 were in Webb’s field, Kilcoole.
27. Curlew
28. Redshank
29. Turnstone – one on the beach at Kilcoole.
30. Arctic Skua – one distant dark phase flew south past Six Mile Point.
31. Kittiwake
32. Black-headed Gull
33. Common Gull
34. Lesser Black-backed Gull
35. Herring Gull
36. Great Black-backed Gull
37. Black Tern – one adult flying south & 2 juveniles feeding close offshore from Six Mile Point (see Andrews' pics attached).
38. Sandwich Tern
39. Common Tern
40. Roseate Tern – c.20 flew south between Newcastle & Kilcoole (incl. 8 juveniles).
41. Razorbill
42. Black Guillemot – 3 offshore from Kilcoole.
43. Feral Pigeon
44. Woodpigeon
45. Collared Dove
46. Magpie
47. Jackdaw
48. Rook
49. Hooded Crow
50. Raven – 2 along Newcastle Sea Road.
51. Goldcrest – part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
52. Blue Tit – part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
53. Great Tit – part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
54. Coal Tit – part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
55. Skylark
56. Sand Martin
57. Swallow
58. House Martin
59. Long-tailed Tit – part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
60. Chiffchaff – part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
61. Blackcap – 2 (a male & female) were part of a feeding flock along Newcastle Sea Road.
62. Sedge Warbler
63. Treecreeper – one along Newcastle Sea Road.
64. Wren
65. Starling
66. Blackbird
67. Song Thrush
68. Mistle Thrush
69. Robin
70. Stonechat – 2 juveniles at Webb’s field, Kilcoole.
71. Wheatear – 10 in total, mostly on the beach.
72. House Sparrow
73. Grey Wagtail – one flew south past Six Mile Point.
74. White Wagtail – 3 flew south past Six Mile Point & 2 were on the beach at The Breaches, Kilcoole.
- 74a. Pied Wagtail
75. Meadow Pipit
76. Chaffinch
77. Greenfinch
78. Goldfinch
79. Linnet
80. Reed Bunting

Not a bad tally, and we didn't even see the likes of Pheasant, Guillemot, Oystercatcher or Dunnock!

All the best,
Niall

Thanx Niall - The Murrough is a great spot alright|=)|

The highlights from birding in Kilcoole this afternoon:

-Adult male Green-winged Teal in Webb's Field
-The two long-staying Bewick's Swans with 63 Whooper Swans
-One Barnacle Goose with c100 to 200 Greylag Geese
-One Dark-bellied Brent Goose with a couple of hundred Pale-bellieds. Managed to read three darvics on the latter (K/4, K/9 and 4/3).

A couple of other goodies, which will hopefully still be around for the Wicklow Birdrace .

Howiya,

In addition to Peppershrikes sightings above, there are currently 35 Gadwall & 54 Shoveler on BirdWatch Ireland's Blackditch East Coast Nature Reserve (further south along the coast from Kilcoole) along with c.700 Wigeon - all record totals for the reserve I believe. The Gadwall & Shoveler counts are excellent local tallies indeed.

I suspect that the Green-winged Teal at Kilcoole is a 2nd cal-year male as opposed to an adult. When I first saw this bird on 11th Jan it still had two distinct rows of brown feathers along the upper flanks, the scapulars & tertials were brown-grey & the vertical white breast stripe was quite short. I last saw it on the 5th Feb when it still had a brown cast to the scaps & tertials (noticeable compared to nearby drake Eurasian Teals), still a relatively short white breast stripe (like an inverted isosceles triangle) and a small amount of brown feathering at the posterior end of the upper flanks. Without assessing the shape of the tail & tertial feather tips then one can't be 100% certain on the age however.

It’s great to see the Whoopers (64 – incl. 16 2nd cal-year birds) & 2 adult Bewick’s Swans hanging around for so long in Webb’s field at the moment, obviously availing of the load of spuds put out for them!

There has also been a Spotted Redshank seen in Webb's on a few occasions recently. It's a new winter record for the IO30 10km square in the Bird Atlas so if you see it, make sure to submit it!!!

All the best,
Niall

BirdWatch Ireland Wicklow Branch Re-launch

Hi all,

The BirdWatch Ireland Wicklow branch will be re-launched on Thurs 24th Feb, with a talk by Dick Coombes on "The birds of Kilcoole & The Murrough", meeting upstairs in Lee's Pub, Kilcoole village at 8pm.

More info on future meetings & outings: http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=302

All the best,
Niall

That is a fantastic number of Gadwalls and Shovelers for Wicklow. Only one Shoveler in Webb's today.

Re the Green-winged Teal, got good views of it in the north end of Webbs, but couldn't see any remaining juvenile feathers. I'll take your word for it that is a second-cal bird (unless it is a new individual!).

Attached is a pic of the Dark-bellied Brent.

Irish woodlands and Forests sell off.

Irish woodlands and Forests sell off.
The Irish government is to sell its woodlands and forests to private companies. Details at www.woodlandleague.org.
Get siginig people! Anything with Bertie attached can't be in our interest.
Paul

Have signed Paul. This is scandalous. I stand to be corrected here but I have found no reference to this from conservation bodies such as the Irish Wildlife Trust, Crann or Birdwatch Ireland. One would have thought bodies like these would have voiced concerns long ago. I only found out about this when watching the Commitments reunion chat with Ryan Tubridy last Friday and one of the 'band' members made the matter known to the viewing public towards the end of their stint on the show.

Si.