Hooded Crow

This species is seen regularly killed by farmers and on grouse estates. In County Cork,Ireland the county's gun clubs shot 23,000 Hooded Crows in two years in the early 1980s

In the British Isles, the Hooded Crow breeds regularly in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and in the Scottish Islands. It also breeds widely in Ireland.

Whooper Swan ? its summer

A lone Whooper Swan was in a field alongside the Clooneen river near Kilfenora. The strange thing being that its a winter visitor and we are at the end of June. Maybe the bird has a injury and is using this habitat which seems well to stay alive....check out the Brown cap (summer colours).

Spotted Flycatchers at Home

A pair of Spotted Flycatchers flit back and for their favoured perches picking insects in the small wood next to my home. Nice garden tick, and i think they are nesting nearby...why?...because they are holding insects in the bill..

The Essential Contentment of Futile Wanderings

Paul Griffin

A fantastic sunset falls behind a layer of cloud , an evening spent within the ocean brings contemptment to the end of surfers day.
Lahinch sunset

Ringed Plovers success

A pair of Ringed Plovers that nested less that 1/2 metre of the side of the road successfully hatching 3 chicks, 2 days later the birds have made it across the road, but now with only 2 chicks..... 2 out of 3 aint bad.

Wheaters galore

I have`nt seen many Wheaters this spring , so i went for a walk where in the past ive always seen them.

Doolin to the Cliffs of moher, where i saw 6 adults and 9 young , the females seemed to be doing the feeding , while the males kept watch at a distance

Ringed Plover Cliffsite

Ringed Plover

 

A pair of Ringed Plovers have a raised few chicks on a rough stoney plateau on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher. I hope the young ones stay clear of the Herring gulls that glide along the cliffs edges.

Re-singing Grasshopper warbler

 

 

	- Grasshopper Warbler Song.mp3

A few male Grasshopper warblers were singing in the late evening around Lickeen lake. One bird was in the exact perch on which i photographed one a two months ago to the day, its a good chance of it being the same bird.
Chased every female that showed.

Tree Sparrows in the wall

A pair of Tree sparrows are nesting in the walls of an old graveyard near the coast.
This is now a rare bird in many areas and looks set to become even rarer.
The lack of insects for the nestlings in the modern agricultural landscape is a likely cause.

Bird busy Willowbrook

Blackcap (juv)

Sedge Warbler

Blue tit (juv)

Bullfinch (fem)

Bullfinch (male)

Willowbrook bog busy with with Warblers, tits,buntings & finches feeding their young among willows,scrub, open forest,streams, long grass and copse, a rich quiet area rarely observed

Secret Waterfall

A simple walk down a local river near to home reveals a secret waterfall, what a gem of a place.

Sand Martin perching

Sand Martins resting and preening on barbed wire during a fly hunt on Seafield beach , these birds are doing well here with plenty of feed available.

White-winged Black Tern

 

Another classic find from Dave Macnamara...a White-winged Black Tern
This rare vagrant spent the day on the wing feeding close to reeds and lillys of Lough Atedaun , with a bit of swamp wading to a good viewing area of the reed beds the bird allowed us a good show of what marsh terns do.... "my god is it 8 oclock, ive been here near 4 hours"

Common Terns in the sun

A few Common Terns nest around the edge of the colony , being smaller than the Black headed gulls and Sandwitch terns , its probably a safety stragety to stay away from larger beaks

Sandwitch Terns in the sun

The first sunny day in weeks , i drove up to a Tern colony in North Clare to see what was happening. Black headed Gulls have chicks and the Sandwitch and Common Terns a sitting, partners deliver food to the sitting birds with a exiting call. The colony is busy warding of large gulls that are waiting for opporunity.