Two trips, Two lifers!

As the title suggests it hasnt't been a bad couple of weeks. Saltees boat trip was cancelled last week due to bad weather but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Kieran Grace found a stunning male, summer plumaged, Red-breasted Flycatcher at Hook Head. There were several birders present when I arrived and none were disappointed. The bird kept its comfort distance but was quite showy.

The day didn't end there, as a call came in reporting two Cattle Egret at Tacumshin and I was very kindly given a lift to see if we could spot them. Not only did we get them but we also managed to pick up Little Gull, a (tailless!) Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Garganey, Reed Warbler and Whitethroat (all new for the year).

This week the weather was better so the Saltees were the next port of call. I had missed out on a previous trip and, blog readers will know, a lifer, in the form of a Redstart. Things weren't looking good as i 'dipped' another bird Saturday, but persistence pays off as - third time lucky - i managed to find it, if only momentarily, today. No pics but i can live with that. Most of the regular seabirds were back also, giving me Puffin new for the year as well as Manx Shearwater and Arctic Skua from the boat. Best of the rest were: several Swift moving through, a nice Spotted Flycatcher, a Gadwall (unusual for the island), Raven, Chough, Blackcap, Wheatear and plenty of  Willow, Chiff and Sedge.

A few early moths and insects

Here's a few pics of the early spring moths and insects i've encountered so far this year.

Shoulder Stripe

Early Grey

The Streamer

Powdered Quaker

Hebrew Character

Water Carpet

Cockchafer

Large Red Damselfly

Orange-tip Butterfly

Green Shield Bug


Thanks to Mark Power for finding the Early Grey and to Les Hill for confirmation of Powdered not Common Quaker

Guess who's back!

After a week and a day of fruitless searches the Hoopoe returned today. The bird appears to have broadened its horizons, now venturing between its original scrub and laneway feeding grounds as well as popping into the more open garden next door. Not wanting to spook or scare the bird, I stood inside a small shed and let him come to me. As well as eating and preening, I also managed to catch him having a snooze! I also managed to get some video footage which i'll upload to Youtube soon, or check it out twitter @marcmcflurry.
Enjoy.

A Hoopoe, Saltees and more.

I took a few trips to the Saltees over the last couple of weeks in the hope of picking up a couple of early migrants and maybe a rarity if i got lucky. Unfortunately it has been a slow start to Spring and I've missed a Short-eared Owl and (raging) a Ring Ouzel! A Tree Pipit was the highlight of all my trips and even that was 'seen' rather than 'observed'. Here's a few of the pics from those trips.

Fulmar

Blackcap

Grey Seal

Chough

Rabbit

Chiffchaff

Raven (&LBB)

Tacumshin was another port of call recently, again slow for migrants with a handful of Swallow, a Wheatear and a distant Hen-Harrier the best.

Wheatear

Peacock

Ground Beetle (carabus granulatus)

Peregrine

A Whimbrel was the best on show at 'The Cull' recently but a phonecall  from a neighbour when i got home from that trip gave me one of the best birds I've seen this year as a Hoopoe had appeared in a local garden. It appeared very content, feeding on snails, grubs and earwigs on a rough patch of ground. The bird, a lifer for me, stayed from Wednesday evening til Friday afternoon giving myself and several other 'birders' some fantastic views. 

Whimbrel (Curlew in backround)

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Linnet

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Sparrowhawk

Tree Sparrow

Swallow

White-tailed Eagle. Amazing.

An early start today saw M.P. and myself at Wexford Wildfowl Reserve at 7:45 in search of the White-tailed Eagle that was reported yesterday by Alyn Walsh and spotted once or twice the previous few days. A cold, wet and windy morning greeted us but the forecast predicted finer weather in the afternoon so we contented ourselves watching the courting/mating Hare and the selection of wildfowl (incl. 10 Barnacle geese), unfazed by the rain, in the hope that the Eagle was more likely to appear in more forgiving weather.

Our breakthrough came six hours later, a little after two o'clock, when I picked out a bird moving from the trees on the Raven and down below the sea-wall. It was only fleeing but i knew I was onto something so, using the scope I kept an eye on the area the bird was last seen and after about five mins I picked it up again, this time moving south along the tree line. The bird was very mobile and, given it's size, surprisingly tricky to keep track of as it stayed out at the Raven, soaring the treetops or ducking down to the dunes. M.P. managed to relocate the bird on a number of occasions but unfortunately binocular and scoped views were all we managed as the distance proved prohibitive to taking pictures, the two best i got barely constituting 'record' shots.

The best of the rest were views of a passing Hen-harrier (given up on when the eagle re-appeared), a Kestrel, hunting the sea-wall, just opposite the pumphouse hide and two sand martin viewed from the Pat Walsh hide.