Corra-gheal-bheag / Little Egret

In Gaelic Corra-gheal-bheag, In welsh Creyr bach .
Back in times before the 16th century when these languages were spoken as first languages The Little Egret would have been a bird fit for table banquet ,between 16-20th century the birds disappeared in GB and Ireland, hunted for food and feather Plumes for hat fashion .
After seen as an Exotic bird of the Meditereanean and Europe.

In 2002 a pair nested in Wales not far from where i lived . they were the first in a rapid increase of Little Egret to over 750 pairs in 2008. In  1997 a pair bred in Cork  and now they breed in most  Irish counties

Cuckoo

I had the pleasure of a few close encounters with Cuckoos over Doonagore in the past week, They keep one step ahead of you and are very quick to move off at human sighting.They are jumpy birds, always being harassed by local birds protecting there territory .....No Rest for the Wicked!

Strong evening at The Cliffs of Moher

Some evenings just have strong power in there making.
 No better place to feel that power of open space than The Cliffs of Moher on a evening walk.
Its nice to have this sort of aspect within 10 minutes from home.

Fields of Yellows,Dragons & Damsels

Yellow Iris

Hairy Hawker(female)

Banded Demoiselle

Banded Demoiselle(fem)

Banded Demoiselle (female)

As spring enters summer Yellow Iris flood the damp fields, water ways and fens , giving life to Dragonflys and Damselflys..The Hairy Dragonfly is our smallest Hawker and a sign of good water quality. The Banded Demoiselles catch the eye

Dotterel

5:00 am in the morning I started of on my walk around the Tacumshin lake. I only got 100m into it when the Dotterel that I had seen the day before ran across my path.

She was certainly busy this morning feeding and calling. While waited for the sun to come up a bit I carried on walking to check out the flock of waders over the East end...

 6:30am I came back to the Dotterel  for some easy photos and then wandered off , but nothing else that morning would compete with this experience, by 8:00am i was done.

The making of a Dotterel Portrait

While visiting Wexford for a few days birding and family camping time, I got a text from Killian Mullarney that a Stunning female Dotterel had showed up near East end Tacumshin.
While looking for the bird  I nearly stepped on it, it flew off. We located the bird again sitting tight.I took advantage of this fact and the Dotterel let me approach within 3ft. This time she never flew and got some fantastic photo`s and moved away , Stoked as can be,a wonderful experience and possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Bearded Reedling

When I was of a young age I learnt my birds from The Observers Book of Birds. The Bearded Tit or Reedling as it is known now was one of the more exotic and rare birds in the book and stuff dreams were made of.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing 7 of these birds in Tacumshin, Wexford, Ireland.
`Follow our dreams young man.`

Summer Sanderling

We get to see hundreds of Sanderling here in Clare over winter, but its nice to see a few reach summer plumage before or during their departure north to the breeding grounds.
Four birds turned up on Moy beach today..but the cloud cover was thick and light poor.