It was round the central bog area of Peatlands (forget the name of it) where I heard the two groppers. If you go there evening or early morning you should hear them plus see snipe drumming.
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Northern Ireland Local Patch (1 Viewer)
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It was round the central bog area of Peatlands (forget the name of it) where I heard the two groppers. If you go there evening or early morning you should hear them plus see snipe drumming.
Derek Polley
Well-known member
Flightline
Phone flightline in the morning and get an update on what has been seen - local no 028 9146 7408
Phone flightline in the morning and get an update on what has been seen - local no 028 9146 7408
MarkHows
Mostly Mammals
Thanks for all the help my trip report can be found at
http://www.hows.org.uk/inter/birds/2008trip/ireland.htm
Had a great time and will visit again soon
Mark
http://www.hows.org.uk/inter/birds/2008trip/ireland.htm
Had a great time and will visit again soon
Mark
Nice to see you visited Lurgan Park!:t: (I'm from Lurgan) If you want hares again the best spot near me is around the Bannfoot/Derrytrasna area.
http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|#map=54.49194,-6.40121|13|4&loc=GB:51.509:-0.1261:8||United%20Kingdom
Where's the prairie dog colony?!?
Oxford Island yesterday and today...
3 tree sparrows
4 stonechat (1 adult female and 3 fledglings)
2 buzzard soaring and diving over Closet Meadows
1 grasshopper warbler reeling quietly (first one for me at Oxford this year).
It's also my birthday tomorrow and I got Birds of the Western Palearctic on DVD-ROM (BWPi) for £139 off Birdguides. Thought it was maybe a bit dear, but I can assure you all that it is worth every penny!!! The detail it goes into about every species is astonishing.
One interesting fact I've learnt is that Kestrels are, "capable of killing species up to size of adult Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur, and Coot Fulica atra."
This is nothing to the detail it goes into though, every wee wing shiver or flap or glide or cheep that you've ever seen a bird do and wondered what it was at is explained in here!
Already posted this elsewhere on Bird Forum but here's my favourite discovery so far...
Last June I posted this on bird forum...
"On one of the warm, calm days last week I noticed some interesting behaviour from two swallows.
The first bird was carrying a white feather in it's bill. The swallow let go of the feather, which floated downwards, whereupon the swallow wheeled round and caught it again in mid-air, like it was catching a large insect. The bird repeated this action three times.
When the swallow dropped the feather for a fourth time another swallow swooped in and caught it. This looked like it was a pre-meditated aerial pass! This bird too then dropped the feather and the original bird re-claimed it just before it hit the ground.
Has anyone ever seen behaviour like this? I know swallows collect feathers for their nests, so perhaps this one was simply too big for them to handle? Is it too fanciful to suggest the birds might have been playing or practising their hunting skills?"
BWPi gave me this tantalising line about swallows which reminded me of this swallow sighting, "For feather-'play' by flock of 30–40 birds while feeding and bathing, see Kliebe 1970."
I couldn't find Kliebe 1970 on Google but decided to check house martins, sand martins etc. on BWPi to see if it said anything similar for these closely related species. And sure enough it states that sand martins will, "Commonly play with feathers, dropping them in flight and retrieving them (C J Mead)."
This is exactly what "my" swallows were doing and I suspect what Kliebe was on about as well.
I'm half hoping that Kliebe's "feather-play" is something completely different and I've discovered new behaviour for swallows!
3 tree sparrows
4 stonechat (1 adult female and 3 fledglings)
2 buzzard soaring and diving over Closet Meadows
1 grasshopper warbler reeling quietly (first one for me at Oxford this year).
It's also my birthday tomorrow and I got Birds of the Western Palearctic on DVD-ROM (BWPi) for £139 off Birdguides. Thought it was maybe a bit dear, but I can assure you all that it is worth every penny!!! The detail it goes into about every species is astonishing.
One interesting fact I've learnt is that Kestrels are, "capable of killing species up to size of adult Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur, and Coot Fulica atra."
This is nothing to the detail it goes into though, every wee wing shiver or flap or glide or cheep that you've ever seen a bird do and wondered what it was at is explained in here!
Already posted this elsewhere on Bird Forum but here's my favourite discovery so far...
Last June I posted this on bird forum...
"On one of the warm, calm days last week I noticed some interesting behaviour from two swallows.
The first bird was carrying a white feather in it's bill. The swallow let go of the feather, which floated downwards, whereupon the swallow wheeled round and caught it again in mid-air, like it was catching a large insect. The bird repeated this action three times.
When the swallow dropped the feather for a fourth time another swallow swooped in and caught it. This looked like it was a pre-meditated aerial pass! This bird too then dropped the feather and the original bird re-claimed it just before it hit the ground.
Has anyone ever seen behaviour like this? I know swallows collect feathers for their nests, so perhaps this one was simply too big for them to handle? Is it too fanciful to suggest the birds might have been playing or practising their hunting skills?"
BWPi gave me this tantalising line about swallows which reminded me of this swallow sighting, "For feather-'play' by flock of 30–40 birds while feeding and bathing, see Kliebe 1970."
I couldn't find Kliebe 1970 on Google but decided to check house martins, sand martins etc. on BWPi to see if it said anything similar for these closely related species. And sure enough it states that sand martins will, "Commonly play with feathers, dropping them in flight and retrieving them (C J Mead)."
This is exactly what "my" swallows were doing and I suspect what Kliebe was on about as well.
I'm half hoping that Kliebe's "feather-play" is something completely different and I've discovered new behaviour for swallows!
Derek Polley
Well-known member
Finally got a cuckoo at Murlough House, plus chough on Rathlin on a visit last week. The seabird colonies are not as tightly packed as they once were and predators are finding pickings easier. I saw a raven flying to a nest with a whole guillemot egg in its beak. Also picked up a golden hare, if i hadn't have read Mark's trip report i would have been puzzled but it was near an ordinary hare close to the Brockley axe factory and i got good views till it toddled off behind a wall. Would be keen to know where the prairie dog colony is as well!!
Brilliant! Very interested to hear that. Actually saw individual swallows doing it again in two separate incidents today. Maybe I'm just paying them a bit more attention lately!
What surprised me was the very scientific BWP using the word "play" to describe the behaviour. (Although what else could it be really?) As I said it only states the behaviour for sand martins, so it's great that you're seeing it in both swallows and house martins.
Eagle at Oxford Island this morning!!! I was doing a tree sparrow survey at Bird's Island (the peninsula east of Oxford Island) and it flew over looking enormous. It was mobbed by heron, lesser blacked backed gull and hoodie crows. It looked about twice the size of the heron and about 5 times the size of a buzzard that was soaring beside it! It's bill was absolutely massive.
It flew across Kinnego Bay and landed for a few minutes in front of the Waterside Hide at Oxford Island. It then moved on down the shoreline and perched in a tree. Have to admit that apart from the obvious fact that it was an eagle I couldn't identify it.
A bit scruffy looking and no sign of white-tail. Had an orange tag on left wing and possibly a white one on the right. Got in touch with Jon Scovell (Portmore warden) who rang Lorcan O'Toole (Eagle guy). Lorcan says it was a white-tailed eagle from the re-introduction scheme in Co. Kerry.
Bottle of Buckfast tonight to celebrate!
It flew across Kinnego Bay and landed for a few minutes in front of the Waterside Hide at Oxford Island. It then moved on down the shoreline and perched in a tree. Have to admit that apart from the obvious fact that it was an eagle I couldn't identify it.
A bit scruffy looking and no sign of white-tail. Had an orange tag on left wing and possibly a white one on the right. Got in touch with Jon Scovell (Portmore warden) who rang Lorcan O'Toole (Eagle guy). Lorcan says it was a white-tailed eagle from the re-introduction scheme in Co. Kerry.
Bottle of Buckfast tonight to celebrate!
nialltkeogh
Well-known member
Possibly the bird that Derek Charles had at Clea Lakes, Co. Down on 15th June???
http://www.birdsireland.com/pages/rare_bird_news/2008/june_photos.html
Nice one all the same...was hoping that bird would drift down towards Dublin or Wicklow!
See Ya,
Niall
http://www.birdsireland.com/pages/rare_bird_news/2008/june_photos.html
Nice one all the same...was hoping that bird would drift down towards Dublin or Wicklow!
See Ya,
Niall
DEREK CHARLES
Well-known member
Hello Stephen,
Enjoy that bottle of Buckfast tonight very well deserved!B
Brilliant find well done! It does indeed appear to be the same bird seen on Sunday at Clea Co.Down. It must have been a big shock when you first seen it. It may well move around and i would expect further sightings around Northern Ireland and beyond.
Derek
Enjoy that bottle of Buckfast tonight very well deserved!B
Brilliant find well done! It does indeed appear to be the same bird seen on Sunday at Clea Co.Down. It must have been a big shock when you first seen it. It may well move around and i would expect further sightings around Northern Ireland and beyond.Derek
Could well be the one.
It was a shock Derek, it was so big! The size of the bill and the scruffy (immature) plumage were the things that would have pointed me towards white-tailed but I'm very glad to get the confirmation.
Read in one of the books that they're not overly shy and often nest at lake-side towns and villages. Breeding pairs at Lough Neagh possible in the near future? You never know, there would be plenty of ducks and fish for them anyway although don't know about nesting sites.
Also interesting was that immatures wander widely so you could see one yet Niall! Also they can catch and kill prey as big as a whooper swan. Cue headlines about children in the Lurgan Mail!
Keith Glasgow
Well-known member
fisi7chella
Well-known member
you are a lucky guy to see that,fair distance up from kerry!!!
fisi7chella
Well-known member
hols
Going to shetland again in the morning for 8 days,hope we see something
unusual.Wish the weather was a bit better,but here goes.......................
Going to shetland again in the morning for 8 days,hope we see something
unusual.Wish the weather was a bit better,but here goes.......................
fisi7chella
Well-known member
trip away
had a great week in shetland,species seen were:
gannet
puffin
arctic skua
mute swan
whooper swan
greylag geese
shelduck
teal
mallard
eider
red breasted merganser
red throated diver
great northern diver
slavonian grebe{summer plumage}
fulmar
storm petrel
cormorant
shag
grey heron
moorhen
coot
oystercatcher
ringed plover
lapwing
knot
dunlin
common sandpiper
snipe
bar-tailed godwit
whimbrel
curlew
redshank
turnstone
great skua
kittiwake
black headed gull
herring gull
great black backed gull
arctic and common tern
black guillemot
guillemot
rock dove
skylark
swallow
house martin
rock pipit
meadow pipit
shetland wren
wheatear
blackbird
starling
twite
raven
3 crossbills.
We missed out on the red necked phalarope and golden plover but saw loads of otters.After a frantic car chase up the coast saw the most stunning views
of a killer whale pod,simon king arrived too late but was gracious enough to
pose for a picture with my wife!!!
had a great week in shetland,species seen were:
gannet
puffin
arctic skua
mute swan
whooper swan
greylag geese
shelduck
teal
mallard
eider
red breasted merganser
red throated diver
great northern diver
slavonian grebe{summer plumage}
fulmar
storm petrel
cormorant
shag
grey heron
moorhen
coot
oystercatcher
ringed plover
lapwing
knot
dunlin
common sandpiper
snipe
bar-tailed godwit
whimbrel
curlew
redshank
turnstone
great skua
kittiwake
black headed gull
herring gull
great black backed gull
arctic and common tern
black guillemot
guillemot
rock dove
skylark
swallow
house martin
rock pipit
meadow pipit
shetland wren
wheatear
blackbird
starling
twite
raven
3 crossbills.
We missed out on the red necked phalarope and golden plover but saw loads of otters.After a frantic car chase up the coast saw the most stunning views
of a killer whale pod,simon king arrived too late but was gracious enough to
pose for a picture with my wife!!!
