Lesser black backed Gull Ringed

A  dark juvenile Lesser black backed Gull was at Clahane with a blue ring EECR.

An Ireland bird born from the colony at Lough Ree

Elegant Tern - Clare/Galway

An Elegant Tern with its big yellow bill was playing King of the castle on the small island on the hottest day of the year 

I visit this colony every year and always hoped one day of a rare Tern here and they dont come much rarer than a bird that comes from around Pacific Mexico

 Im having a afternoon sleep when `BING`5pm and news came through of a Tern with a yellow bill at my local Tern,,,,,,,          colony on the Clare/Galway border. 30 minutes later and Im helping the land owner heard a few sheep into a field,[land permission costs] Ive known the old famer a good few years and today he was 85yo, a quick chat and off across the limestone fields to the Terns

 

Juvenile Med Gulls at Clahane

A good few juvenile Med Gulls have been around Clahane this week with the collection on Gulls that use the high tide to feed on shoreline wash out

Ring billed Gull and Terns at Lahinch

A nice gathering of Gulls has formed in Lahinch beach reefs.

I was aiming  to photograph Sandwich Terns that were feeding a juvenile on a rock.

While doing this I focused on what first thought was a lazy Common Gull that hadn't moved due to my presence ,as it stood up in my camera focus I realised it was a  2cy Ring billed Gull and probably the one from Clahane previous week

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

While walking the Mullaghmore trail on the Burren with my children we came across 3 Lesser Butterfly Orchid, one of the rarer gems found within the Burren wildflowers .

Return of Ring billed Gull

It's been quite a while since I've set eyes on a Ring billed Gull in Clare, and good to see one at my local patch Clahane in the flurry of Gulls that came with a NW wind cycle. A 2cy  bird that appeared quite slow and focused on finding nibbles along the river entry.

A Med Gull was also on offer.

Whinchat - Shannon Callows

I was in the meadows of the Shannon Callows near Banagher early in the morning.

Summer breeding Whinchat was the target species. I got to see over 8 individuals during a 2 hour walk through the meadows adjacent to the river also drumming Snipe, Redd Buntings, Sedgd Warbers, Blackcaps and a few Swift.

Bar-tailed Godwit Liscannor

Bar tailed Godwit are generally a winter visitors to the shores of Ireland and most birds have now left.

This bird is on its way north to Scandinavia,  it may have travelled all the way from as far as South Africa and starting to show breeding colours that we don't often see here.

Gannet in Lahinch

I had a call early morning to say that a large aggressive Seabird was on Lahinch prom and a FB post was out to the concern about this bird and its safety.

I was in Lahinch so I collected the Gannet and released it to the sea at Liscannor harbour .

I believe the bird may have been caught out at night in the fog and came in to lights of Lahinch  and onto the stone seafront where it was tired but still a handful. 

 

Great Northern Diver in Summer plumage

It's May and most of the Great Northern Divers have migrated North,  but a handful of birds can still be seen within Lahinch bay and they are in spectacular summer plumage.

The Barn Owls Dinner table

A fresh Shrew believed to be a Greater white toothed Shrew lays on the feeding table of a Barn Owl, a smelly place where rodents and Starlings are torn up, swallowed and spat back out

The amount of pellets on the floor and poo stained rock sugest this is a regular feeding spot and I know it has been for years.