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County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter breffni
- Start date
thanks - though i think the Rev FX Martin (RIP), an Augustinian priest, would be a little alarmed to discover he had a 45 year old son...gareth2005 said:
I had 50+ PB Brent + 3 DB Brent on Marsh south yesterday, visible from Bellurgan across the channel. The main flock is now in Iceland preparing to cross Greenland - they are expected to depart Monday - so these birds could hardly catch up now - i wonder what they will do....try for migration and breeding or spend the summer here the way Canada geese do in america?
Next clear calm night (hopefully with some moon) i plan to check out mulahattin again - will let folks know seperately.
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Well Breffni, after reading the comments re the newspaper article, I just had to get my hands on the Argus and read it myself. So I'd like to add my congratulations, excellent.
Gareth, its good to know where birding mags can be obtained, thanks. Even though the mags that I have seen are U.K. based, they also refer to Ireland so they can be relevant.
Went out today with the scope but it was so blustery that neither the scope nor I could keep still, so I gave it up as a bad job....... there's always tomorrow.
Gareth, its good to know where birding mags can be obtained, thanks. Even though the mags that I have seen are U.K. based, they also refer to Ireland so they can be relevant.
Went out today with the scope but it was so blustery that neither the scope nor I could keep still, so I gave it up as a bad job....... there's always tomorrow.
Hi all, just reporting on what was a really quiet morning; a nice wheatear at Hermitage (photo attached). Very few gulls, mostly sub adult herring and common, but a number of gannets were feeding close to shore. At seabank there was an arctic skua pursuing a sandwich tern and eventually getting a meal out of it. Otherwise pretty quiet.
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Colourful wheatear...other stragglers include at least nine pb brent and one db brent at marsh south, still presumably arguing over wheather they should be heading east or west...
One whooper hanging around ballymac bay - i had a good look around the channels feeding ballymac bay hoping for a sandpiper but very quiet. Later looked in mounthamilton woodland. Buzzards calling loudly in the area, good variety of warblers etc - no gropper though.
One whooper hanging around ballymac bay - i had a good look around the channels feeding ballymac bay hoping for a sandpiper but very quiet. Later looked in mounthamilton woodland. Buzzards calling loudly in the area, good variety of warblers etc - no gropper though.
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Derek Watters
Well-known member
Where's mounthamilton wood?breffni said:
Derek Watters said:
From the train station in dundalk, exit right, continue about a half mile until you see "willow grove" on the left, drive to the end of the road (100 yards) - the woodland is mainly willow - last year the gropper was at the end near a wet field with a a lot of sedge. You can also enter from the south via a playing field (back the road a bit). This area was slated for housing but some of it might survive...
Another area in Dundalk worth a check is Balmers bog (reed warblers? water rail?), this is the low lieing marshland south of the dublin road (enter from the road behind the louth hospital (priorland?)). Balmers bog was slated for development but is now likely to be spared because it is too lowlieing.
The moon is waxing again next week so might head up to mulahattin late in the week if clear weather - the woodcock will be out less and less as we get further into june.
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Derek Watters
Well-known member
Thanks for the directions - must give it a shout this week. Also hope to make the next Mullahattin outing - should be able to get my hands on an infrared night scope which should help us locate the woodcock and L.E.O's.breffni said:
I'll certainly do my best to make Mullahattin this time, lets hope the weather holds out.
Things have been fairly quiet down this end of the county. Little terns are still hanging around Baltray in small numbers. I'm keeping a daily watch on the little egret nest, hatching should be any day now.
Must check out Mounthamilton and Balmers bog, always good to find out about new places.
Things have been fairly quiet down this end of the county. Little terns are still hanging around Baltray in small numbers. I'm keeping a daily watch on the little egret nest, hatching should be any day now.
Must check out Mounthamilton and Balmers bog, always good to find out about new places.
these may be the most northernly nesting little egrets ever recorded...ardnasx1 said:
yesterday had three seperate whitethroats, one singing from the top of a bush at the end of my garden + a small flock of tree sparrow...at the beach the starlings feasting on the rotting seaweed appear to just eat the stuff directly, a tarry doughey sort of stuff (as opposed to picking off the insects which is what i thought they were doing)...
(sorry to hear of the passing of Willie McDowell).
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There is a new sculpture/art(?) thing in Baltray on the grassy area before you enter the village. It is 3 large eggs and a stone plinth on the ground beside them with a sort of metal image of an open book showing birds eggs and some text about terns etc. (Sorry about the bad attempt at a description.) I don't know anything about it, who or where it came from.
Nice to see the importance of birds in the area being highlighted.
Nice to see the importance of birds in the area being highlighted.
Derek Watters
Well-known member
I wonder who erected this statue. I would suggest however that some practical assistance to the birds would be more benificial. I have visited the little tern site at Baltray and was horrified at the levels of disturbance.ardnasx1 said:
Yes indeed Derek. They used to be protected in the past, Freddie might know some more about this?
Sorry guys for the late reply - haven't chipped in for a few days. The colony area was protected some years ago but it only amounted to a single strand wire fence around the perimeter. There was also small posters attached along the wire and at the fence posts alerting people to the presence of the birds. To the best of my knowledge, a few dedicated volunteers manned the colony area in the evenings and at weekends, mainly to try and keep dogs away. I think, as the years went on, the number of volunteers and, unfortunately, the protection dwindled.
Sorry guys for the late reply - haven't chipped in for a few days. The colony area was protected some years ago but it only amounted to a single strand wire fence around the perimeter. There was also small posters attached along the wire and at the fence posts alerting people to the presence of the birds. To the best of my knowledge, a few dedicated volunteers manned the colony area in the evenings and at weekends, mainly to try and keep dogs away. I think, as the years went on, the number of volunteers and, unfortunately, the protection dwindled.
Started the day in Beaulieu Wood/Pond, looking at Herons and Little Egrets, moorhens, a mallard with 11 chicks, a swan with 5 cygnets, really a very serene location for bird watching (provided there is not a cider party - it is within walking distance from the town).
There was a very heavy mist over the sea, particularly in the Dundalk area.
Mullahattin was quiet, with the sounds of chaffinchs and willow warblers, but very few sightings - not even a buzzard in sight.
Ended up in Dunany and saw quite a few rb mergansers out at sea. Also had some discussion with Sandra on a gull - was it a medditerianian?? didn't quite fit any of the book descriptions, orange/red legs, same coloured bill and black around the eyes and smaller than a herring gull. Unfortunately it flew off before we had sufficient time to come to a conclusion.
The noise of the swallows was wonderful, having a working farm there certainly draws birds, also reed buntings, stone chats and white and pied wagtails.
There was a very heavy mist over the sea, particularly in the Dundalk area.
Mullahattin was quiet, with the sounds of chaffinchs and willow warblers, but very few sightings - not even a buzzard in sight.
Ended up in Dunany and saw quite a few rb mergansers out at sea. Also had some discussion with Sandra on a gull - was it a medditerianian?? didn't quite fit any of the book descriptions, orange/red legs, same coloured bill and black around the eyes and smaller than a herring gull. Unfortunately it flew off before we had sufficient time to come to a conclusion.
The noise of the swallows was wonderful, having a working farm there certainly draws birds, also reed buntings, stone chats and white and pied wagtails.
Thanks Freddie. What a shame. The signs that are up there now really don't have any effect.fredbern said:
The little egrets have hatched, impossible to say how many as the nest is very hard to see at this stage but there seems to be two anyway, I'll have a better idea when they get a bit bigger.
MargaretM said:
Adult med will have a clean primaries/tail...was mantle a bit dark? did it have partial black hood with strong white eye-ring? could it have been a franklins?
(btw crossbills were seen recently somewhere near sleive gullion - not sure of exact directions...)
Looked for little egrets - saw one non-breeding bird and 2 breeding birds - definately up to something but couldn't see anything with the growth - there were some begging sounds but i have no idea what little egret begging call is like - maybe its the same as a heron(?). Herons doing very well - birds in all stages of development present - some possibly on 2nd brood.
Yesterday a few of us went up to Crom - garden warblers present: heard several, saw two, including one being mobbed by spotted flycatchers, of which there were small groups of 2 - 4 birds together. Also a cuckoo, blackcaps, many willow warblers, chiffchaff etc.
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Excellent photo of the herons! The little egrets have been silent throughout the nesting, unlike the herons who make an absolute racket all the time. I don't know how easy it will be to distinguish the sounds of the young egrets from the herons, maybe when they are a bit bigger and more visable we'll be able to tell.breffni said:
A few of us went up to mulahattin tonight. Three quarter moon or so, calm, warm, clear - the woodcock showed at about 10:25 and later at 10:40. Gropper (at last) calling at the same time, then long-eared owlets started at 11:10 and were intermittant near the trail until we left at 11:45 or so...
