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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (3 Viewers)

Derek sitting at hermitage pt while myself, Freddie, joe and don (i have contact no.s for the mentioned) where only 500yds west illustrates the need for shared info .
I text finds to a circle of contacts who do likewise .I still ring bins everyday to keep up with whats about elsewhere and would use this to follow up finds in Dublin, Wicklow etc. I am quite willing to share local info with anybody who is interested
 
Forgot to mention, 5 eider, two duck, two drake and a 1st winter on carlingford lough since yesterday sometime - this evening still distantly far out on the lough from Carlingford. Also whimbrel, wheatear, white wag, razorbills, passage dunlin and a flock of golden plover overhead, common tern, maybe an arctic, lots of sandwich displaying, swifts and a cuckoo calling outside my house yesterday - got so close i could record the call on my phone but couldn't see the bird...

To swop info you could swop numbers for texting by "private message" (LEFT click on user NAME on left of screen).
 
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Enda said:
Derek sitting at hermitage pt while myself, Freddie, joe and don (i have contact no.s for the mentioned) where only 500yds west illustrates the need for shared info .
I text finds to a circle of contacts who do likewise .I still ring bins everyday to keep up with whats about elsewhere and would use this to follow up finds in Dublin, Wicklow etc. I am quite willing to share local info with anybody who is interested

Well said Enda. A few years back when I was rekindling my birdwatching passion I missed the Red Kite in the Cruisetown/Dunany area purely due to lack of local knowledge/information. I too, am more than willing to share any information with interested parties. At the end of the day whatever we achieve can only be better for the very rewarding hobby we have.

Freddie.
 
I find this forum great, exactly what I need. I get great pleasure from watching common birds and spotting the odd unusual ones. I would have missed the yellow wagtail had it not been for the postings here and the detail on what to look out for. Not being very experienced, I need all the help available to make the most of my birdwatching efforts and I look forward to checking here each day for the latest reports. Very happy to swop mobile nos and meet up whenever suits. Its also great that I can happily report on my sightings even though they are not unusual. Good for you all!!!
 
MEJ said:
Can I ask if the North Louth BWI local group was formed? Thanks.
It is in the process of being formed. From first proposal to full accreditation seems to take about a year. We started in February and have had four events to date (next is dawn chorus, then a talk by Oscar Merne on a Galapagos birding trip in June). I think BWI are keen to make sure that the interest is really there...
See http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/bwi/pages092003/branches/br_events.html#Anchor-Branche-57761 (note that the date of the dawn chorus is 14th not 15th as stated on the link).
 
The more the merrier...

Yesterday there was a strong southerly breeze which churned up the outflowing tide from carlingford lough massively attracting over 1000 terns, mainly picking stuff off the water, also big influx of juv herring + GGB gulls. Over 120 whimbrel working the seaweed piled on the shore. Also off balaggan point three manx shearwaters and four fulmar sitting squat on the water - these along with a whitethroat the other day bring my annual total to 159...
 
breffni said:
Also off balaggan point three manx shearwaters and four fulmar sitting squat on the water - these along with a whitethroat the other day bring my annual total to 159...

Hi Breffni
Very impressive total with only 1/3rd of the year gone and of course still the chance of a few rare autumn migrants to boost your list. Without you going through each individual record, ROUGHLY what percentage would be Louth birds. This would give those of us who don't travel a good idea whats local and the sort of numbers we could be aiming for.
Derek
 
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Once again, Hermitage was a worthwhile place to be today with a grey heron and little egret arguing over fishing rights (poor pic of the latter attached). Two dark-bellied brent remain with the small flock at Cruisetown Beach toward the Clogherhead end. There was also about a dozen Sandwich Terns and small numbers of ringed plover and dunlin here.

Freddie.
 

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fredbern said:
Once again, Hermitage was a worthwhile place to be today with a grey heron and little egret arguing over fishing rights (poor pic of the latter attached). Two dark-bellied brent remain with the small flock at Cruisetown Beach toward the Clogherhead end. There was also about a dozen Sandwich Terns and small numbers of ringed plover and dunlin here.

Freddie.
saw the 2 dark bellied brent today (thanks to u)they are hanging around a good while now would have expected them to be gone by now.about 12 crossbills where at mullahattin this afternoon, very mobile they to are hanging around this good few months (i wonder will they breed they have in the past at ravensdale) talking of breeding what is the status of the little terns at baltray( Sandra had 6 there on saturday) i had thought that breeding had ceased a number of years ago
 
My weekend's outings included the 6 little terns at Baltray, black guillemots at Hermitage, gannets at Salterstown, and a lot of GN divers around. Saw the brent geese at Cruisetown but couldn't pick out any dark bellies. Those little terns seem to have arrived in the last week. There are signs up saying it is a breeding area which have been up other years too, but I don't know if they still breed. Not too many people (or their dogs) actually take any notice of the signs so I really don't know what hope they would have. The signs only cover a small area so it's hard to know exactly how much of the beach you need to stay off, and if it is just the shingle area or also the grassy area.

Enda, how hard is it to locate those crossbills, do they tend to hang around the one area? I'm not familiar with where Mullahattin is or how big an area it is.
 
Derek Watters said:
Hi Breffni
Very impressive total with only 1/3rd of the year gone and of course still the chance of a few rare autumn migrants to boost your list. Without you going through each individual record, ROUGHLY what percentage would be Louth birds. This would give those of us who don't travel a good idea whats local and the sort of numbers we could be aiming for.
Derek
All were in county louth except
Smew
Wood duck
Baikal teal
Barrows goldeneye
Ferruginous duck
Ring-necked duck (though i subsquently had one in county louth)
Green-winged teal
Lesser scaup
Slav grebe (subsequently had one in co louth)
Little gull
Glaucous gull
Franklins gull (later i had one in county louth)
Iceland gull
Brambling
Hen harrier
Short eared owl
Cross bills (though subsequently seen in co louth)
Hawfinch
Mandarin duck
Jay (subsequently seen county louth)
Purple sandpiper

Aiming for 200 species, I have a few easy ticks left, but the last 20 or so will be hard work...
 
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ardnasx1 said:
Enda, how hard is it to locate those crossbills, do they tend to hang around the one area? I'm not familiar with where Mullahattin is or how big an area it is.

I, purely by coincidence, spent almost 2 hours yesterday afternoon in the exact same piece of woodland as Enda saw them. Unfortunately they were not there when I was, but they were only an hour or so later when Enda arrived - little feckers! Forest is at the top of Jenkinstown Hill and turn right. There is so much forest (over 3km from end to end) for them to move round in, they are hard to tie down.
PS - I would suggest that everyone should have a copy of the ordinance survey map that covers our patch, as most of the locations referred to are on it. It's no.36 in the "discovery series".
 
[.

Enda, how hard is it to locate those crossbills, do they tend to hang around the one area? I'm not familiar with where Mullahattin is or how big an area it is.[/QUOTE]

I think Derek has answered the question.they seem to be very mobile constantly on the move they always depart in the direction of jenkinstown wood which is only separated from what we call mullahattin by the road but if in the area u will hear them. i have tried finding them elsewhere in the forest but couldnt. second barrier on left is where i have (and others) seen them.
 
Crossbills

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?
 
Enda said:
about 12 crossbills where at mullahattin this afternoon, very mobile they to are hanging around this good few months (i wonder will they breed they have in the past at ravensdale)
Crossbills are known for their very early breeding, often starting as early as January. So with incubation of 15 days and fledging at say 20 days, it is well possible they may have already bred.
 
fredbern said:
Two dark-bellied brent remain with the small flock at Cruisetown Beach toward the Clogherhead end.

Caught up with the 2 dark bellied brent geese at lunchtime today at Cruisetown. I counted 27 seals out on Carrigahoulla rocks, more than I usually see there. I'm glad their numbers aren't dwindling with all the work going on at Clogherhead pier.
 
Went to Mullahattin this evening in great expectation of seeing the Crossbills. Directions were spot on, thanks Enda. Sadly we didn't see them but it was no hardship being there it was so peaceful and the local scenery stunning. Could hear them from time to time amidst the wonderful and very noisy bird song. Considering the amount of bird song, I was surprised that I found it difficult to spot many birds at all!! Was delighted to hear a distant cuckoo, the first I've heard in ages. I hope to try again for the Crossbills in the coming week, will I be likely to see them on the trees or in flight or do they land on the ground, I expect that they should be easily enough spotted with their colouring.
 
Margaret
I have to agree with you about Mullahattin - it is beautiful and the view out over Glenmore and the Carlingford mountains is spectacular. I spend quite a bit of time up there and even if the birding is not great the scenery makes up for it. Plus it's one of the few truly isolated places left.
Anyways, my experience with crossbills - usually hear them first, then see them flying high in the tree tops. I understand they frequently like to drink and will attend their favourite watering holes several times each day, though I have never seen them do so.
I also saw a cuckoo close by yesterday - it was almost at the top of Slieve Naglogh and must have been looking for some unsuspecting meadow pipits as host parents.
 
Last night had a roding woodcock at mulahattan at 9:37pm and heard, but did not see, another at 9:48 - might have been the same bird (bird #160). Last year there was a calling long-eared owl in the area and gropper but no sign of either so far. Enda reported woodcock at 9:30 last night. The previous evening we checked out the park hotel (for the dawn chorus) - found blackcap, chiffchaff, willow warbler and others. Faint hint of something else at the top - probably just a song thrush and not (say) a flycatcher...
 
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