Tawny Pipit - Loop Head

A beautiful morning at Loop Head lighthouse , I walked round the garden wall to find Tony Mee near the cliff edge looking into a scope , as I walked over to say Hello, his finger touched his lips and he pointed  >> 3 metres away a  very pale, large Pipit with long legs and tail  was standing on the grass .

For the next few hours we followed the bird, A very difficult bird to ID in the field, but we narrowed it down to be a Richardsons or Tawny Pipit.

The photos were  sent in, and Murf arrived and it was confirmed as a Tawny Pipit, a Clare 1st record

Wheatears

Small numbers of Wheatear can still be seen on headlands and coasts as these birds move south on to warmer climates for the winter

A Surfers view

You drop the kids to school and head to the sea.

All local Surfers, from all over the world, the view from your local car park changes with the weather and tides.

But the view can and will determine the outcome of your day.

Today this is my view  `Lahinch Bay`

Bonaparte`s 2

I had a few hours in the afternoon so I went down to try and get better photos of the moulting  Bonapartes Gull.

The tide was high with a steady swell and the birds were just out of my range but I managed a few,

Semi P - Quilty

While out watching the Gulls on Quilty beach on a very high tide . A Semi P came in off the sea circled high  and landed on the only small patch of sand available just to our left just as the waves washed over giving the bird no place to go but back out sea .

Bonapartes Gull -Quilty

 Theres been a couple of sightings of this Bonaparte`s Gull since the 20th September when it was scared off Seafield beach by dogs and lost to sea

Ive checked the area a few times since then , as have others,  but with no joy.

I was delighted to hear that the bird was relocated today at Quilty beach,

 During the evening high tide the bird was feeding around the concrete river entry on the north end of the beach

Bonaparte`s Gull

All Yellow on the headland

Two Yellow Wagtails were elusive and wary at the north end of Ross bay, Loop Head.

Yellow browed Warblers were still showing up in various places all over the headland as were

Merlin ,Peregrine, Chiffchaff, Goldcrests, Golden Plovers, Lapland Bunting,several Chough , lots of Reed Bunting, Robins and Blue Tits.

Beautiful waves in Crazy Places

Beautiful waves in Crazy Places

Crazy waves in Beautiful Places

Merlin - Loop Head

One of my favorite things about autumn at Loop Head is the Merlins that pass through.
Every year I look forward to seeing them.
 Since their arrival at the headland, Starlings,Skylarks and Meadow Pipits are on the menu, the Lapland Buntings certainly have left the area.

Yellow Browed Warblers -Kilbaha

A good few Yellow browed Warblers were getting about Kilbaha village

Ive been waiting a long time to get a good sighting and to get the camera on one of these small elusive warblers

I had a count of six on this overcast day with light east winds.

October Sessions

A week of beautiful lines

 A good few swells mixed with offshore winds has given a great start to the surfing season.

Paul Copner

Portuguse Man of War -Lahinch

Its been a while since I`ve held one of these Man of wars.

A few have been washing up along Lahinch , I found this one after surfing at Cregg.

It brings back memories of being entwined in one at Snapper rocks. 

The stings are like being in a bucket full of wasps charged up with electricity particles, the lengths of tentacles/stingers scar you for months like a whiplash and for hours after various sensitive body parts swell and contract.

 The Portuguese Man-of-War isn’t a jellyfish.
Anyone unfamiliar with the biology of the venomous Portuguese Man-of-War would likely mistake it for a jellyfish. Not only is it not a jellyfish, it’s not even an “it,” but a “they.” The Portuguese Man-of-War is a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together.
That said, if you see one floating up near to a fellow surfer yelling ‘jellyfish!’ is probably your best course of action.

Grace handling the bubble of  stingless Man of War