-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (13 Viewers)
- Thread starter breffni
- Start date
More options
Who Replied?Saw the nesting Egret spotted by Sandra earlier today and saw at least one egg. I thought that there may be two but couldn't be sure. The egret stood up and spend some time making adjustments to the nest which is mostly twigs so the pale egg showed up quite well. A second egret arrived to help with this chore and after a short time they swopped places so they are taking turns incubating the eggs. Fingers crossed that the eggs hatch out safely.
Also lots of herons and young, some young out of the nest and one looked as though it was newly hatched. Saw swans with seven cygnets and mallards with young as well. We were too excited with the egrets to pay much attention to the other inhabitants of the pond this evening.
Also lots of herons and young, some young out of the nest and one looked as though it was newly hatched. Saw swans with seven cygnets and mallards with young as well. We were too excited with the egrets to pay much attention to the other inhabitants of the pond this evening.
Derek Watters said:Any time I've seen crossbills before, it was always the calls that helped locate them. Are they ever silent - ie. is it possible they could be in an area and not hear them?
Enda, were the ones at Mullahattin yesterday vocal?
they certainly are very vocal always hear them before seeing them.didnt no that they where very early breeders will certainly be on the lookout for juvs in the coming days/weeks. Nice to hear that there is a couple of cuckoos around
ardnasx1 said:Good news from south Co Louth today - it looks like the little egrets are nesting at last. There were at least 5 at a pond near Drogheda at lunchtime in amongst the herons and one of them certainly looked to be on a nest. Let's hope they are successful!
I think this is a record for county louth?
As far as I know it is. Eric Dempsey said the furthest north he had heard of them breeding was north Co Dublin.breffni said:I think this is a record for county louth?
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Has anyone seen the egrets in the Ballymac area as of late. I've seen up to 5 and I believe up to 7 birds had been present in the area.breffni said:I think this is a record for county louth?
Although not the most up to date information, R.F.Ruttledge's book on Irish Birds indicates that there were 52 heronries in Leinster, the biggest being at Bellurgan Park with 20-30 pairs. Surely it's only a matter of time before one or two pairs take up residence here. Has anyone checked?
introduction
Hi there! My name is Simon and i have just joined the Forum, i look forward to meeting for the Dawn song on Sunday
This is a great site
Cheers, here's to a dry morning without the thunder
breffni said:By popular demand the thread title is changed to County Louth Local Patch encompassing all of County Louth from the Boyne Valley to Carlingford Lough.
Breffni
Hi there! My name is Simon and i have just joined the Forum, i look forward to meeting for the Dawn song on Sunday
This is a great site
Cheers, here's to a dry morning without the thunder
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Derek Watters said:Just thinking when looking at Black Guillimots at Gyles Quay. This is now one of the larger colonies in the area. Is Louth County Council aware of their presence in the quay walls?
It would be a bit late arriving down some day to find all the holes filled up!
Almost a month ago I wrote this posting. This morning I locate the following tender from Louth Co Council.
Louth County Council seeks expression of interest from competent and experienced civil engineering contractors wishing to tender for improvement and upgrading works at piers and harbours in the Cooley Peninsula area.
Work to include:
• Construction of new R.C. slipway
• Placement of rock armour
• Pointing of masonry
• Repairs to masonry steps and quay side capping stones
Interested Contractors must submit an expression of interest in writing to the undersigned at Louth County Council, County Hall, Millennium Centre, Dundalk, Co. Louth no later than Wednesday 17th May at 12.00 noon.
Either as individuals, or as a group, we must state the case on behalf of the black guillimots at Gyles Quay & Greenore. Should we let this work go ahead, together with the on-going works at Clogherhead, there will be no breeding pairs left in the county? Any ideas?
PS Welcome to the forum Simon.
breffni said:I think this is a record for county louth?
In the latest edition of Wings magazine, there is a question from a reader re Little Egrets and Niall Hatch has replied saying that they are breeding in counties Cork, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. So this is certainly a first for Co Louth and I take it that it is the first recorded breeding north of Wicklow.
Certainly, it will be well worth watching the more northerly egrets, if they are breeding in Drogheda it would seem likely that they may also be breeding further North.
Hi Simon, nice to have another addition to this thread.
Derek Watters said:Either as individuals, or as a group, we must state the case on behalf of the black guillimots at Gyles Quay & Greenore. Should we let this work go ahead, together with the on-going works at Clogherhead, there will be no breeding pairs left in the county? Any ideas?
I believe that the works at giles quay will be sensitive to the needs of the black guillemots based on verbal assurances from the council but to express concern about this (and the other sites in County Louth at Greenore and Clogher), email [email protected].
Last edited:
The current heronrie is on private land near ballymac bay - i checked it out last year - no little egrets nesting that i could see...might indeed be worth another look this year.Derek Watters said:Has anyone seen the egrets in the Ballymac area as of late. I've seen up to 5 and I believe up to 7 birds had been present in the area.
Although not the most up to date information, R.F.Ruttledge's book on Irish Birds indicates that there were 52 heronries in Leinster, the biggest being at Bellurgan Park with 20-30 pairs. Surely it's only a matter of time before one or two pairs take up residence here. Has anyone checked?
Hi there Simon, and welcome aboard. This forum is growing and it's great to know there is another pair of willing eyes out there. Recently, the members have been sharing contact information (mobile numbers etc.) so that we all know where and when something rare/scarce/interesting turns up. If you wish to do this, please use the private message facility.
Good Birding!
Freddie.
Good Birding!
Freddie.
We had 20 or so people at the dawn chorus outing this morning at the Park Hotel in Omeath - blackcap, willow warbler and chiffchaff all performed, as well as the usual suspects. A nice treecreeper showed on the way down. Luckily the rain stopped just as we were setting out.
Next there will be a talk at the sprit store in June, exact date to be confirmed.
Next there will be a talk at the sprit store in June, exact date to be confirmed.
I think it would be worthwhile us contacting the County Council to find out what measures they will be taking to make sure that whoever is awarded the contract will honour their word. The more of us who contact them the better, at least they will know they are being watched. I don't know whether this is better done as a group or individuals. Bord Pleanala's report for the development of Clogherhead made no reference to black guillemots so I doubt that any effort has been made for them.Derek Watters said:Either as individuals, or as a group, we must state the case on behalf of the black guillimots at Gyles Quay & Greenore. Should we let this work go ahead, together with the on-going works at Clogherhead, there will be no breeding pairs left in the county? Any ideas?
http://www.pleanala.ie/REP/EF2/REF2011.DOC
So we should probably try to find out if a similar report has been done for these works at Gyles Quay and Greenore.
THE OSPREYseems to have gone to roost in trees in the fields behind the marsh hopefully it will fish in the channels on the marsh in the morning.the one 2 years ago hung around at seabank for 4 days heres hoping for the samebreffni said:An osprey has just been reported at seabank, initially seen at salterstown.
Derek Watters
Well-known member
breffni said:An osprey has just been reported at seabank, initially seen at salterstown.
I missed it by about 15mins - it headed over fields at Hino Garage inland - probably to roost. The last one hung around for a few days so keep the fingers crossed. Hopefully will get hungry overnight and head back to Seabank / Lurgangreen area for food. Also a chance however that it may continue its way inland and head up the interior of the country as many of them do.
Derek Watters
Well-known member
Enda
I wasn't trying to copy you, just typing much the same thing at the same time!
I wasn't trying to copy you, just typing much the same thing at the same time!
DerekDerek Watters said:Enda
I wasn't trying to copy you, just typing much the same thing at the same time!
great minds think alike !!!
Spent the morning chasing the osprey, initially without luck, until a flurry of texts mid morning reporting the bird at lurgangreen - when i got there from salterstown (10 mins later) it had just flown north, finally caught up with it just north of blackrock, where it sat far out on the mudflat and after 3 minutes flew heavily out to sea (bird #161). A search of marsh south did not turn it up again but did turn up the weird albino crow (which fixed me with a disconcerting binocular stare), 20+ skylarks (an enchantment?) and a lurking peregrine before the rain started up again...
This is probably a young non-breeding wandering bird, maybe fledged from the scottish/english breeding sites, on its way back northwards after wintering in africa.
Later had a large flock of sum plum sanderling and dunlin feeding on the decaying seaweed at templetown beach (if you park there don't leave anything valuable in your car!)
This is probably a young non-breeding wandering bird, maybe fledged from the scottish/english breeding sites, on its way back northwards after wintering in africa.
Later had a large flock of sum plum sanderling and dunlin feeding on the decaying seaweed at templetown beach (if you park there don't leave anything valuable in your car!)
Last edited:
Users who are viewing this thread
Total: 14 (members: 0, guests: 14)