Irish Wildlife Observations 2012.

Bluebells and Elderflower are starting to flower already in the Bantry area. This is about 5 week earlier than usual. The seasons are very mixed up in the last few years. Last year a few Elderflower trees flowered in May as usual and they flowered again in October and were in full leaf by the end of January this year.

WOW! and the Orcas arer in Cork area already was down in Wexford yesterday catching mackerel while going after pollock!... things are definetly changing!

Busy morning. Took a walk up the Lackagh and saw a young otter and a couple of mallards. Then out on a wee lough saw more mallards, ravens, buzzards, greylags and a coot.

All that plus a very nice 2.5 lbs rainbow trout now resting in the fridge.

Lovely weather outside too.

hello...
was fishing along the Co.Clare coast and stumbled across a Basking Shark that had been washed up,not sure who if anyone i should contact that might be interested in this...its just over 11feet long and seem to be a female,although the claspers may be hidden under the body..i rang(no answer twice) and emailed the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation but got no reply..

hello...
was fishing along the Co.Clare coast and stumbled across a Basking Shark that had been washed up,not sure who if anyone i should contact that might be interested in this...its just over 11feet long and seem to be a female,although the claspers may be hidden under the body..i rang(no answer twice) and emailed the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation but got no reply..

you could try the number below

Irish Whale and Dolphin Strandings Scheme
IWDG Strandings Co-ordinator
Mick O' Connell
Coolcummisk, Beaufort, Killarney, Co. Kerry.
Tel: 087-6328106

E-mail: strandings@iwdg.ie

http://www.iwdg.ie/

Chuckaroo some of your birds are turnstones I think (the dark plumage). Not sure about the lighter coloured ones.

Chuckaroo some of your birds are turnstones I think (the dark plumage). Not sure about the lighter coloured ones.

thanks joebhoy, thats new on me so thanks for that. and im pretty sure that you are right
im pretty sure also that they were all the same species too though because they flew around together and had the same markings down their wings and back in flight. and all birds moved quickly as they skimmed only a metre or two above the water. they also stayed in perfect unison as they flicked and changed direction sporadically. great sight
as i say, probably something that a lot of peolpe are familiar with, not me
cheers
would the males and females look different significantly? or maybe mature and young birds? i.e. to explain the differences in plumage in my photo...

was up in wicklow yesterday and had a red kite fly only 20m away from me - it was amazing - it was definitely him checking out myself and workmate not the other way around

he came back around a few times to see us before going much higher

the thermals with the warm weather had them doing amazing gliding as another joined him

also saw 2 buzzards on wednesday further south

magnificent

Chuckaroo some of your birds are turnstones I think (the dark plumage). Not sure about the lighter coloured ones.

thanks joebhoy, thats new on me so thanks for that. and im pretty sure that you are right
im pretty sure also that they were all the same species too though because they flew around together and had the same markings down their wings and back in flight. and all birds moved quickly as they skimmed only a metre or two above the water. they also stayed in perfect unison as they flicked and changed direction sporadically. great sight
as i say, probably something that a lot of peolpe are familiar with, not me
cheers
would the males and females look different significantly? or maybe mature and young birds? i.e. to explain the differences in plumage in my photo...

I think the birds with orange legs and dark plumage are Turnstones while the other whiter birds are probably Sanderlings.

Chuckaroo some of your birds are turnstones I think (the dark plumage). Not sure about the lighter coloured ones.

thanks joebhoy, thats new on me so thanks for that. and im pretty sure that you are right
im pretty sure also that they were all the same species too though because they flew around together and had the same markings down their wings and back in flight. and all birds moved quickly as they skimmed only a metre or two above the water. they also stayed in perfect unison as they flicked and changed direction sporadically. great sight
as i say, probably something that a lot of peolpe are familiar with, not me
cheers
would the males and females look different significantly? or maybe mature and young birds? i.e. to explain the differences in plumage in my photo...

I think the birds with orange legs and dark plumage are Turnstones while the other whiter birds are probably Sanderlings.

I think John West is correct with the Sanderlings. They would be feeding in the same area and would fly together when disturbed. Beautiful birds

I think the birds with orange legs and dark plumage are Turnstones while the other whiter birds are probably Sanderlings.

I think John West is correct with the Sanderlings. They would be feeding in the same area and would fly together when disturbed. Beautiful birds

thanks lads. never even heard of Sanderlings before. cool

was up in kilmacanogue last friday and had a bird of prey hovering above my head - could not make out what it was

had a shrile cry followed by 3 short calls

any ideas?

couldnt see shape of wings from below

also saw a grey bird of prey on the sally gap sweeping down from cliff faces - thought it was a harrier but was told maybe a peregrine - certainly was agile flying onto the ledges

was fishing in conamara on monday night when a big dog otter came out from the rocks/sea to my back came up in an arc to the bait and box behind me - i was downwind from him - standing only 3/4 metres away

he was sniffing the bait - i had to let a shout - i couldnt believe it! that close and i was afraid he was going to nick my bait - and i was running low - should have let him at it in hindsight, to have a right look at him

once i gave a shout he headed to the water arcing round me on the other side and surely getting a sniff of me at this stage, but my shout got the attention of a dog who ran into the water after the otter - mad!

also saw a grey bird of prey on the sally gap sweeping down from cliff faces - thought it was a harrier but was told maybe a peregrine - certainly was agile flying onto the ledges

Hey Corbyeire. How big was the bird...? The male harriers are a distinctive blue grey colour and quite big whilst your peregrine have more of a duller grey colour from a distance. If it was nears cliff faces then i'm guessing its likely to be a peregrine. I know for a fact that there are nesting birds in that area.

i remembered it more as a bright grey colour - it was a crisp wintery morning up there on the thursday after the snow

he was maybe a 100 metres away from me so im just guessing at a size, seagull - ive looked at some google images and the white band at the start of the tail i definitely saw, so i think it was a male harrier

Sounds like a Harrier alright. Great spot if so...!

If he have black tips on his wings under/over then he is your man. Very few of these birds left in Ireland due to lack of appropriate habitat. Interestingly the female bird looks nothing like the male and is very drab in comparison.

i remembered it more as a bright grey colour - it was a crisp wintery morning up there on the thursday after the snow

he was maybe a 100 metres away from me so im just guessing at a size, seagull - ive looked at some google images and the white band at the start of the tail i definitely saw, so i think it was a male harrier

A harrier flew in front of my car at the glen of the downs last month, saw it then again at the same spot about 3 hours later

Have seen buzzards every day on the way home from work at the m1 malahide exit, and also near the ballymun exit of the m50! Also a pair of red kites at the donabate exit of the m1 great week for seeing raptors

Wow greate pic

Today I saw my first house martins and swifts of the year at a lake close to Bantry.

Friday 13th I heard the first cuckoo on the clare/galway boarder but have not heard it since. An hour later I saw the first swallow on the telephone wire but havent seen any others.
Sorry about the poor quality photos but they wouldnt come in close enough even though i watched these for around an hour


Back to the buzzards, firstly for a big bird they have very small feet and are not as rapacious as may be thought, they are just as happy following the plough for worms or eating frogs but on occasions will take rabbits. If they were around lambs they would have only been taking carrion and present little or no danger to a live lamb. Most eagle predation on lambs is on dead ones but unfortunately this is not what farmers believe.
Never seen a buzzard in Clare,even though i would be sure that the area could sustain a few pairs, but did see a large eagle over Ballyvaughan which caused me great excitement until I was told it was from the Burren bird of prey centre. I have seen many peregrines and one solitary merlin.

Today I saw my first house martins and swifts of the year at a lake close to Bantry.

Saw a few house martins in Donegal on Friday 13th and a couple of swallows in Armagh on Sunday.