Glossy Ibis at Lahinch Marsh

 With the influx of Glossy Ibis throughout the counties and plenty being seen on the loughs.

I fancied my chances of finding one locally at Lahinch marsh and after a while two birds were showing next to a flock of Mallard but they didnt take long to walk into the Tussock grass and disappear.

Osprey - Lahinch day 19

 I was making my way back toward Ennistymon from Liscannor, the Osprey caught my eye again hovering over the water near the castle.

 I stopped for a watch as it moved out over the bridge and out of sight. I turned the car around and headed for Lahinch bridge just round the corner and there it was hunting the river , again I pulled over and got this fly by as she went back over the bridge into the marsh

Osprey 3rd day on the Marsh

 Its been a good few days for this Osprey on Lahinch Marsh

Its seems highly successful at catching Mullet and Ive seen it on a few occasions over 3 days feeding and carrying fish.

Osprey round Lahinch Marsh

 A call came through from my friend Geoff to say he has a distant Osprey on Lahinch marsh from our corner that we view from.

Jeez, Ill be an hour., But an Osprey is not to be missed around your home patches.

It stayed,,circling the whole Marsh river system all the way upto Ennistymon sometimes out of sight , but always returning for another lap.

It landed on a sandbank where it met a  Hooded Crow, a Peregrine Falcon came in low so fast and buzzed them just as I was ending my video

It returned caught a fish a slowly lifted over toward Kilshanny.

This birdwatching.

Cattle Egret near Lahinch Marsh

Cattle Egret remains a very rare bird within the county and I have only missed a few records

Ive seen them throughout Europe, in County Limerick and Wexford but its been a long time coming know I finally caught up with a Cattle Egret in Clare down near Lahinch marsh during the school run. It was feeding around Cattle in a field just above the marsh

Poor quality photos from scope camera video

Red throated Diver Lahinch Marsh

 This juvenile Red throated Diver has been up and down the river in Lahinch Marsh finally it came over to the ballyyellery corner just passing me in silence. There is plenty of these to be seen out in Lahinch bay but not often seen up the river.

Red crested Pochard - Lahinch Marsh

 A very windy stormy NW blast onto the coast blew a female Red crested pochard into the Ballyellery corner of Lahinch marsh, which sharp eyed Geoff Pearson picked up heading for cover in the rushes. The storm squall only allowed short views as we and the duck took cover, luckily the RCP drifted out of the channel and toward the corner when it took off back to cover or gone 

2 Arctic Terns passed through the marsh in the wind and 10 minutes later a surprise Little Tern also came to the corner

Great White Egret in the Dark

A few weeks back a friend of mine from the Hen Harrier project told me he seen what he thought was a GWE on Lahinch Marsh. The bird eluded me for a few weeks then I saw it near the Links Golf coarse last week and again on Lahinch beach yesterday

Since November 2016 there has been 9 or 10 recorded Great white Egrets in Clare,.

Ballyallia Lake Ennis, Shannon airport Lagoon, Lough Grady, Lough Atedaun Corofin, Doonbeg and now Lahinch Marsh.

Its a special moment when we discovered the bird in the dark at roost with the Little Egrets 

I hope we have a keeper!

 

A pink stand out

A little pink stand out in a team of 6 juvenile Redpolls enjoying a preen in the sun 

Ballyellery , Lahinch marsh

Little Gull and Med Gull at the Gull roost. Lahinch Marsh

 At this time of year Gulls of all ages are around the coasts,
The sandbanks at the west end of Lahinch Marsh offer a safe place for Gulls and waders to roost up from the busy beach and dog walkers.
While checking out the roost today , 1 juvenile Little Gull, 1 Juvenile Med Gull which was ringed ,10 Lesser Black backed Gulls , 40 Black headed and 15Common Gull and a Little Egret,a Ruff flew over head and a few Curlew were in the area.

Little Gull (juv) a bird that tends to breed far up in Northern Europe through to russia and Asia

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull ringed at Ladys Island Lake in Wexford on the south eastern tip of Ireland this summer. The breeding colony there is the largest in Ireland and expanded to over 70 pairs this year.
 It is the first sighting of any of the juveniles any distance away from Wexford and it is the first sighting of a UK/Irish ringed Med that I have had from the West of Ireland.

Little Egrets are a regular now on the marsh

Lahinch Marsh. The unknown

Due to inaccessibility Lahinch salt marsh is a unknown to many local people. 

An untouched wildlife refuge,stretching from Lahinch rivermouth all the way up to the Cascades in Ennistymon

Over the years Ive seen Osprey ,Glossy Ibis ,Hen Harriers, Peregrine Falcons, Otters, Kingfishers, Goosanders and various Geese just to mention a few.

 Waders, Terns & Gulls roost on the open sandbanks above the rivermouth , while all the way up the marsh Cormorants and Little Egrets roosts in the wood that overhangs the river.

The marsh is subject to good flooding which fertilizes grass patches,wild flowers such as  Bee Orchids, Pyramidal Orchids, Yellow Rattle and Eye Bright flourish.

Breaking January

The waves break all though the first few weeks of January.

Some days the sun would break to heavy rain clouds producing rainbows.

Some days the wind would batter.

The rivers filled.

 Life goes on along the coast,

Herring Gull

As the sun rises

Lahinch salt marsh

Empty beaches  

Shags -Killard Point

Glossy Ibis about

This morning I really wanted to catch up with the 2 Glossy Ibis that had been seen at Lahinch marsh over the last few days.
I scoped the 2 birds in a flooded field across the other side of the marsh below the cattle sheds, so I drove around hoping to get some closer views

Glosy Ibis - Lahinch marsh

Later on in the day I was up along the north coast of Clare , As I approached the Flaggy shore a wader caught my eye in a floded field , I took a quick photo and it was gone.
Later on when checking the photo a Glossy Ibis was in the field next to it...
How did I miss that one?

Glossy Ibis in a flooded fieeld with what is presumed to be a juvenile Greenshank

Hen Harrier - Lahinch Marsh

A Ring tail Hen Harrier hunting over Lahinch Marsh.
The bird was at quite a distance but allowed me to view it for nearly 1/2 hour as it moved around the marsh looking for prey.