Weekends That Were - March 2016

31.3.16

Oxley

Heavy rain the night before and everything was fresh and bright – and humid, with the predicted 32 degrees for the day – it seems the summer is never going to end.

On site at 6.30 and quite birdy. The usual stuff along the track with a couple of Rufous Whistlers and Grey Fantails flagging the (apparent) change of seasons. A surprise in the shape of a single Red-browed Finch halfway along – only my second record for the site – the last one on 8.10.05 and I know they haven’t been seen here often.

A Nankeen Kestrel out near Pelican Lake was the only raptor of the morning and the brief appearance of a Restless Flycatcher another not-seen-very-often species was a nice addition to the day’s list. (My 6^th record and first since 2008)

The only butterflies noted – 3 x Monarchs, 4 Chequered Swallowtails and a ragged looking Lesser Wanderer.

26.3.16

Sandy Camp & Kianawah rd wetlands

Mr D arrived on time at 5.45 and we reached Sandy Camp at 6.15. A cloudy, but bright, cool, pleasant morning – with possible showers….

The first bird of note were the Little Friarbirds – throughout the area in significant numbers. We had a distant Forest Kingfisher that elicited some discussion with Mr D winning out. The waterfowl were more or less the usual but a rolling flock of close to 40 Blue-faced Honeyeaters  chased overhead. We walked on to the ‘Bittern’ Pond which was pretty quiet – apart from a massive flock (60?) of Noisy Miners intent on harassing a Carpet Python which had found itself exposed high in a spindly tree. A quietly hanging moth drew attention and tuned out to be a new species for us - Asura cervicalis.

Asura cervicalis.

Returning back along beside the ‘Deep’ pond we increased our list with Leaden Flycatchers, a pair of horny Rufous Whistlers, Double-barred Finch, White-throated and (only for my second record) Lewin’s Honeyeater, Superb Fairy wren, White-browed Scrub-wren, Eastern Yellow Robin and a Grey Fantail.

Back at the main ponds we found a Spotless Crake quietly feeding nearby.

Spotless Crake

All in all a good morning at Sandy Camp with at least 58 species.

We moved on to Kianawah rd – passing Fuller oval today – and checked the exposed mud. Black-fronted Dotterels, the usual White-headed Stilts (100+) and a heap (30) of Masked Lapwings. Two Mangrove Gerygones in the mangroves, appropriately…..

We tried Belesis for breakfast, but being a public holiday, they were shut, so we ate in La Linea  Caffe next door.

22.3.16

Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW

The Phalarope Twitch

The Red-neck Phalarope was back on the rock – so the email on Sunday night advised. I was unable to head south on Monday due to a visit to my eye surgeon for laser work and third injection  (which all went off OK….so far) but Tuesday saw me packing the car with camping and sleeping gear and hitting the road at 13.15.

Two hours later I arrived in the Flat Rock Road carpark and made my way down to the beach to scope out the situation.

Long sandy beach either side of a low platform of broken rock, nothing more than a half a meter above sea level. Surfers in the water, dog owners and walkers on the hard sand. The ‘Rock’ itself barely 100 meters wide at the widest point – and covered in birds.

Thousands of Common, Great Crested and Little Terns and one White-winged Black Tern. A total of 15 Sooty Oystercatchers, 6 Wandering Tattlers, 40+ Red-necked Stints and a dozen or so Ruddy Turnstones. The rocks a mass of shallow pools, breaking water and shellfish. The tide was obviously rising and I kept an eye on it to avoid getting cut off or wet or both.

Scanning the rocks and flocks I wasn’t sure exactly where to look, but did remember that Steve McBride, the original finder, had said it favoured the north side of the rock. I was relieved, therefore, when two older guys turned up laden down with 400m lens and SLR cameras. I approached one of them and asked him about the RNP.

“What’s a Phalarope?” was the response……..my hopes of additional knowledge were dashed. The second guy at least knew what a Phalarope was but wasn’t aware there was one on site.

However, spirits were lifted when shortly afterwards Steve introduced himself. Following our conversation I realized I was an hour behind local time so it was quarter to 6, not quarter to five and adjusted my timepiece accordingly.

It still took another hour and 10 minutes, during which I had despaired of seeing the bird as the sun went down and night approached, before Steve, who had persistently continued to scan the pools and rocks, called me over and said those words we all love to hear…

“There it is”

Are there three more longed-for words for any birder on a twitch?

Maybe – ‘Let’s get laid’ would come a close second……..but, then, again, maybe not……

Anyway, there in the rapidly fading light was The Bird standing in a shallow pool, looking ‘uptight’ - nervous, twitchy. I went for a photo straight away – not my usual style, but something told me time was limited….and it was. Within a minute or two it was off and flying high, out over the ocean. Three minutes later and Steve had found it again! This time half hidden behind a Tern. We moved a short couple of steps to get a clear view. It hopped up onto a rock, sat down and went to sleep. It was that quick. It was that final. The light by now impossible. It was only thanks to the very forgiving nature of my Panasonic Lumix FZ70 (looking for sponsorship…) that I got anything at all. So, heavily photo-shopped here it is….

Red-necked Phalarope

(I know it's shit, but it's MINE!!)

We walked back to the carpark and Steve headed home, while I headed to Maccas for a celebratory Angus burger, fries and desperate-for coffee.

I texted everyone that would be interested and settled down until 21.00 when I drove back to the carpark, set up the passenger seat with self-inflated mat and sleeping bag and slept. Well, slept is probably inaccurate, although I did ‘doze heavily’ and the alarm did wake me at 5.30am, an hour before dawn.

I made a coffee, ate two museli bars and walked back down the beach munching an apple…all details I am sure you need to know…

Cutting a long story short….I gave it from dawn at 6.30 until 8.00 while the tide rose steadily and drowned most of the rocks. I scanned and re-scanned and scanned again every Tern, Stint, pool and rock but The Bird was not to be seen. The tide was higher now than it had been last night. It had been clear after 2am with a full moon and little wind and I think the bird had gone early. There were a couple of Sanderling and a lovely dark phase Eastern Reef Heron to add to all of yesterday’s species, but no RNP.

I packed up and headed back to Maccas for a conciliatory pancakes and coffee, however, not really down – a successful twitch is a beautiful thing.

19.3.16

Minnippi

Picked Mr D up at 5.45 and were on site by 6. Quiet, slow morning, nothing substantially interesting apart from a Black-shouldered Kite (been a while since I have seen one here) and a pair of Tawny Frogmouths perched up in the grove of trees at the ‘bridge’ end of the lake. A flock of White-throated Honeyeaters (~10) mixed with approx 6 Striated Pardalotes appeared to have just ‘arrived’ – unusual to see these numbers feeding together.

A Long-jawed Spider (specific species unidentified) on a sparse web on the bridge was the only other item of interest.

Long-jawed Spider

We sat for a while at Stu’s Lookout, but then retreated without covering the Airfield Track, the grass was very heavy with dew and mosquitoes abounded under the trees and we didn’t have the energy to complete the walk….

Belesis for breakfast at an earlier-than-usual 8.00.

17.3.16

North Stradbroke Island

Feeling a lot better I woke at 5.50 and decided to go to Pt Lookout – winds were predicted at 20-25 knots, south easterly. Making such a late decision I left at 6.15 sans breakfast, not even a cup of coffee and hit the road, water taxi, bus……

On the point at 8 and wondered was it all worth it? There wasn’t much to see, but I settled in anyway and spent the next two hours counting small numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and even smaller numbers of Common Noddys moving mostly south with the occasional blow back. A single light phase Pomarine Skua was nice and a few Little Terns completed the seawatch species list. Not inspiring, but it was a pleasant morning with enough cloud cover to kill the glare, not too hot, iPod in ear and good music helping me concentrate.
It wasn't the most exciting visit but it was my 100th recorded sea watch at the point. 

I headed off just after 10 as a brief rain shower blew in, did the travel thing and was home just after 12.30

16.3.16

Oxley

Two days of jet lag – lying around trying not to sleep, wide awake at night……Was I ever really away? Have I only been back three days? …..very confusing, probably not helped with no definite daily agenda, i.e. I don’t have to go back to work!

Finally awake at 1.30 this morning, after four hours sleep, I sat up until 6.30 then went to Oxley.

It was pretty quiet, but following overnight rain, was fresh and bright. Not a lot to report, mostly the usual stuff, it was just nice re-acquainting oneself with familiar birds. 

A couple of close Spangled Drongos, female Rufous Whistler, Pied Currawongs, confiding Magpies and, at the lake, an overflying Black Kite, closely pursued by a White-breasted Woodswallow, was the first sighting of this species for me on site.

White-breasted Wood Swallow v Black Kite

One thing I did notice was how much closer we get to birds, in general, here, in comparison to most species in the UK/Ireland. Sure, Robins, Tits and the like are very confiding, but generally, (Irish) birds are inclined to keep their distance. I had a couple of Australian Magpies almost at my feet, one responding with song, as I imitated his whistle. I doubt I’d ever get Magpies in Ireland so friendly!

Ireland 

February-March 2016


11.3.16

Killoughter Lane, Co Wicklow

I was keen to see a Great-spotted Woodpecker in Ireland again. It’s been 43 years since I saw the last (and only) one – 17 November 1973 to be specific…. So I dropped Mum off at 10 and set off for Killoughter Lane down the coast in Co Wicklow where GSW had been seen regularly at a feeder in a local’s garden.

I parked up in the road just outside their fence and commenced my watch on the feeder – plenty of Greenfinches, Chaffinchs and, eventually, all the Irish Tits – Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed – a couple of Goldfinches and a pair of European Siskins which were nice to see.

Common Greenfinches 

Male European Siskin

As time passed so did a Common Buzzard and a European Sparrowhawk soared over the trees, but no GSW. My secondary target was a European Jay and it did show, quite well, if briefly, as a passing car (1 of 4) flushed it.

European Jay

European Jay

I gave it 2 hours, then headed home to pack – maybe next time.

10.3.16

Blainroe, Co Wicklow

After a few quiet days non-birding it was nice to get out and about at my sister, Lorraine’s, place in Blainroe, Co Wicklow. She lives near the coast and I took a walk down to the beach on the lovely clear, calm, warm, yes, W A R M, perfect Irish winter day. Mind you I could still see my breath, but it was a beautiful day…..

Not much to see on the coast, the Irish sea was very calm, and only a solitary European Shag flew across my view, while a couple of Pied Wagtails bobbed along the tide line.

Back up nearer the house a feeder in a tree had attracted a bit of attention from a belligerent Great Tit, unhappy with a hungry House Sparrow.

Great Tit v House Sparrow

Great Tit

In the tree above a Common Greenfinch perched briefly. These finches have suffered great losses across the country in recent years mainly due to a terminal disease the species picked up. They appear to now be on the recovery, but numbers are still low. Lousy photo.

Common Greenfinch

Finally a bit further on a pair of Collared Doves perched up.

Collared Dove

6.3.16

West Pier (again), Bray Harbour and Rathmichael Woods

Up and out by 8.30. On the West Pier by 9, Black Redstart in the sights by 9.20, Snow Bunting by 9.30, RHC by 9.45…..couldn’t resist taking more photos of this real cutie…..and I don’t mean RHC…..

Snow Bunting

https://youtu.be/L3PI-kbI_w4

We also had Red-throated and Great Northern Divers, Common & Black Guillemot, Common Scoter, a Black-legged Kittiwake, a Mediterranean Gull and 2 Northern Gannets.

We tried to get parking at the East Pier but it was such a lovely, clear, calm, bitterly cold, morning that half the population wanted to walk along the front, so we moved on to Bray via Dalkey town and Vico Rd, stopping for a few minutes to enjoy the view; a Common Porpoise surfaced several times below us in the calm bay.

Bray harbour and the target was Little Gull – nada, not much at all in fact, apart from this male Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail (male)

 So we said ‘Goodbye’ to RHC and DHH and I headed for the hills. We walked part of Rathmichael woods - very, very quiet, but we did find a trio of male Bullfinches – trip tick – silhouetted against the sky.

Dalkey island in the background, from Rathmichael Woods

Then it was time to return to Dale Rd and take the Mrs out for lunch to the Talbot Hotel for Mother’s Day. After lunch we waved DHH off for his return trip to Belfast and retired for the afternoon.

5.3.16

Baltimore – Dublin via Ballycotton, Clonakilty & Youghal

Went for a walk around the harbour before breakfast at 8.30. Full Irish breakfast completely filled us and we paid our 90 euro and headed off to look for the Black Duck at the fish farm. Despite scanning every duck in sight on site, we failed to find the main target – mind you it was a few weeks since last reported so….

It was off to Clonakilty and a search, first of all for White’s Marsh, then a phone call to a local birder, also called Colin, his number provided by RHC., and then finding the Green-winged Teal, Lifer no 5,  the furthest away Teal in the swamp.

Green-winged Teal

And Eurasian Teal for comparison….

Eurasian Teal

We watched it for a while,, apparently charming the local female Eurasian Teal, as Americans are wont to do, then we headed on to Ballycotton and a quick, fruitless search for a reported Firecrest. We had a distant look at the famous Ballycotton marsh where many an American wader has been found, then it was on further east to Pilmore, near Youghal and a search for a Spotless Sandpiper – a bird I was pretty keen to see.

We walked, rather trudged, around the beach and the point beside the GAA grounds finding several Grey Plover, Common Ringed Plover and Sanderling and finally walking into a wall of wind which we fought against. We searched the marsh behind the point and walked a fair way the other direction along the beach – all to no avail, we finally admitted defeat, our third dip of the day….

Then it was heading home to Dublin, arriving safely, if not knackered, two and half hours later.

4.3.16

Drive to Co Cork – Castleberehaven

Woke again to snow – actually snowing in Mum’s backyard. Again a wet, soggy snow – more problem than enjoyment really, but, again, very pretty.

DHH was picking me up at 8 and, as I had breakfast, I wondered if the conditions would interfere with our planned twitch to Co Cork. In the event, he turned up a few minutes late - the traffic was messy but we headed off on the 4 hour drive to Castletownberehaven. The weather cleared fairly quickly and as we reached Cork the sun was breaking through sporadically. We stopped only for coffee and to relive the results off that and at one location near Cork city to look for a putative Ring-billed Duck – unsuccessfully.

We arrived at the site far out on the peninsula at about 13.15 and by 13.16 were looking at the Glaucous-winged Gull perched up on a weedy rock about 100 meters off the carpark.

Glaucous-winged Gull

https://youtu.be/CvdKqwmB7dQ

We sent some time watching it coming and going and had some lunch as we did. We tried some of Mrs Brennan’s best multigrain to lure it in but it wasn’t interested – the Black-headed Gulls loved it, but it looked disdainfully over its shoulder and flew up river…

DHH went through the rest of the Gulls and spotted an unusual looking bird – we eventually deduced it as a smaller than average Mediterranean Gull.

Mediterranean Gull

A shower sent us scurrying to the car for shelter and after it cleared we decided to check out the rest of the harbour. We did but found little else of interest apart from 6 or 7 Common Snipe on a patch of wasteland.

We returned for another look at The Gull but it went to sleep so we headed off. A couple of hours later we arrived at Baltimore, a small fishing/tourist village on the coast south of Skibereen – the old departure point for Cape Clear.

There were reports of ‘a Black Duck at the fish factory’ and we drove around for a while looking for said fish factory. Eventually we asked a young one walking her dog and she told us it was ‘back up the road opposite the wine place’. By this time the light was going and DHH was pretty exhausted having driven for over 8 hours  so we called it a day and sought accommodation. Being off-season all the B&Bs were closed so we took a twin room in The Waterfront hotel at 45 euros apiece including a full breakfast (we knocked the pretty east european receptionist down from 50 euros each, based on the fact we didn’t need a view) , dumped the gear, had a meal in The Jolie Bris and a couple of pints of the black stuff in The Algiers Inn, empty apart from an old sea dog from Cornwall who DHH chatted to while I wrote this.

3.3.16

Wexford – Tacumshin, Wexford Harbour & the North Slob

Mum dropped me down to Delgany at 8.30, DHH picked me up 5 minutes later and we picked up RHC and headed south.  Reaching Tacumshin at 9.45 we met Killian Mullarney and scoped the site.

Richard (RHC), Dermot (DHH) and Killian

Loads of Mute Swans, Common Pintail, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwings and Dunlin – all at some distance, making individual scrutiny difficult.

https://youtu.be/E8f6cxKyAlw

We donned willies – I wore a pair borrowed from Killian – and worked our way around the edge of the site along muddy wet tracks. We managed to find 2 Bewick Swans, luckily on our side of the water.

Bewick Swan (& Common Pintail)

The Golden Plovers took off in a cloud…

https://youtu.be/0kDBIjX7tvQ

Returning to the cars we drove to Lady’s Island Lake and had lunch overlooking a small island where 30 odd Mediterranean Gulls sheltered from the increasing wind and rain. Then it was back north to Wexford Harbour and a short encounter with a single Ring-billed Gull that managed to completely disappear immediately after this photo was taken.

Ring-billed Gull

By now the rain had caught up with us and it was becoming a little difficult to keep the optics steam free. We headed round to the North Slob and spent some time scanning the harbor through the murky conditions and misty glass – 3, apparently ubiquitous, Great Northern Divers, a few Common Goldeneye and 3 Slavonian Grebes – one giving reasonable views. Then we checked out the hides – disappointingly the waterways in front of the hides were empty and the numbers of White-fronted Geese in the fields very low. We assumed the bulk of the birds were feeding in more distant fields.

Outside the main building a tree hung with feeders attracted some Tits.

European Blue Tit

Then it was time to farewell Killian and head home, me to Dale Rd and DHH to his brother’s in Kilcoole.

2.3.16

Belfast to Dublin via Clogherhead

It was snowing when we woke at 7.30. A wet, sleety snow - the gardens, rooftops and cars covered with a thin layer of soggy white.

Left DHH’s at 9 and tried for Lesser Scaup at the docks again, but the tide was out and it was lashing rain so we moved on south.

Next stop was at a small dam about an hour south of Belfast, back in Southern Ireland - euros and kilometers again. A flock of Northern Lapwing were the closest I had got to this species this trip.

White-fronted Geese

Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing

The morning improved as we headed south again. We hit the coast north of Clogher Hd and made our way along stopping to scope flocks of Common Scoter lying offshore. They were mostly far out, but we checked thoroughly for possible Velvet or Surf Scoters, but came up lacking.

The Mountains of Mourne sweeping down to the sea

https://youtu.be/sVePmUX2guk

Our final stop was at Clogher Hd harbor where we were entertained by several big Grey Seals and found a single Black-legged Kittiwake among the Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Black-legged Kittiwake

Black-legged Kittiwake

https://youtu.be/M4JUSFuPG0c

Then it was on to Dublin and a late lunch with Mum.

1.3.16

Returning to Belfast - birding on the way

We tidied up the house and left by 9.30. A damp windy morning, the snow gone, a misty rain across the mountains.

Not far down the road Dermot stopped so I could take pictures of one of the few Grey Wagtails we had seen so far.

Grey Wagtail

We dropped down to the shores of Donegal Bay once again at Mountcharles and picked out a number of Great Northern Divers, Long-tailed Ducks and a single Slavonian Grebe far out on the choppy water.

Then it was heading for Belfast. We stopped again at Drumgay Lough in Co Fermanagh and among the Tufted Ducks, Whooper and Mute Swans we found a male Smew! A nice surprise, although distant, I managed to get a poor photo that needed some photoshopping…

Smew

Our next stop was close to Belfast itself – a hide on the shores of Lough Neagh where a number of Common Pochard contributed to the trip list. Most were asleep but a couple paddled around – again a poor photo, but…..

Common Pochard

Continuing on we arrived ‘home’ and I spent time checking emails and updating my blog.