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

Lapland Buntings

A cold morning at Loop Head cleared by 10 am I strolled along the road, Meadow Pipits were all over the headland with fluttery Skylarks calling and gaining yards..I sat in the heather and watched the small groups of Lapland Buntings that have been roaming the headland  they were joined by a few Wheatears.

        

A Stint in the rain

I was at Seafield early in the morning at high tide , Before light I sat near the seaweed watching the shorebirds in the rain.

3 Little Stints and 4 Curlew Sandpipers were mixing with the 60+ Dunlin flock

Little Stints

Curlew Sandpiper

Morning Ennistymon

A calm Sunday morning in Ennistmon .

Light bouncing in all directions ,Water passes under the bridge.

At this moment in time , this building is up for sale and has a alchol license 

Sanderlings

Lots of these little Sanderlings turning up on the coast this week

Morning at the point

A nice long awaited swell came through during the week , Im sure all that entered the water over the weekend enjoyed there time in the warm water ,and with all surf spots showing head high waves.

Thought Id try my hand at the GoPro this morning.

Med Gull -liscannor

This Med Gull was in a flock of 300 mixed Gulls that were feeding on Kelp flies that the high tide had washed into the sea.

Black headed Gull (left) , Med Gull(right)

Curlew Sandpipers on the Clare coast

Early morning I headed along the Clare coast in search of migrating shorebirds.
As I past through a quiet Lahinch ,4 Female  Common Dolphins with calfs were showing well and playing in a glassy Lahinch bay ,
` I just woke up to baby Dolphins`.
 Lough Donnel showed 2 Ruff , 30 Dunlin and 30 Black tailed Godwits, but not the bird I was looking for.
At the bottom end of Dugmore beach, Doonbeg a pod of large Bottlenose Dolphins were close to the reef giving fantastic views in the scope.
At Seafield ,Quilty ,a pair of Curlew Sandpipers and a few Dunlin were in the corner near the boats and gave me a chance for some camera practice.



 



 

Royal Tern - Rinavella Bay , Clare, Ireland

Late evening bird news said that the Royal Tern (2nd Irish record, 1st for Clare) that is frequenting Beale Strand in Kerry had left the roost and headed across the Shannon to Clare.

I had a hunch that the bird would turn up at Rinevella bay on the reef that Sandwich, Arctic and Common Terns use to roost.

I was walking the shoreline of the bay toward the reefs with my daughter Grace when sure enough at 9:15 this monster of a Royal Tern showed up.

` Got ya`

The Tern did the rounds in and out of the bay not settling on the reef for long (maybe due to a knackered right leg)  until 10:50 it moved on

I relocated the bird feeding offshore just around the coast at Carrigaholt bay around 3pm 

To get home and find that my Image Stabilizer was off  and with Shaky exited hands and my photos  were not the best ,,,,,,

Never Mind aye!

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

Solitary Sandpiper

Late afternoon and we heading off to Loop Head in hope of seeing the Solitary Sandpiper that had been found on Cloghaun Lough earlier. A rare American wader and a 1st County record of the species.

The bird showed well out on the mud banks with a Least Sandpiper ,Common Sandpiper a few Snipe, Curlew, Mallards and Wagtails

Cloghaun Lough