IRELAND 2023 continued
Day 31 Wednesday 1.3.23
Hung out in morning (finished Better Call Saul – kinda sad. What was even sadder was - I could relate to some of his issues, minus the money of course)
Picked Mr H up from the Luas at 13.30 and we headed south. First stop – Newcastle – nothing of great import, the usual stuff plus a Common Kestrel.
Second stop – Kilcoole. Once again much as previous. Of note ~200 European Golden Plover flying around in a large bunch, ~700 Eurasian Wigeon, more than I had seen here recently, we went through every male, but definitely no Americans, and a summer plumage Red-throated Diver very close inshore – nice bird. No Otter.
Third and final stop, the ultimate reason for our journey south – Black Hill and the Long-eared Owl site. While we waited for nightfall two Red Kites soared around overhead.
We did get the owls, both of them, but just flight views. Although they were within 30 meters or so, they didn’t come any closer or perch up within view. One of them, presumably the male, did perform some wing clapping through the trees, but it was hard to see much given the, now, poor light and the density of the forest. We also had two Eurasian Woodcock fly by.
Fish and chips again for dinner.
Trip List: 104,1 Mammal List: 5,1
Day 32 Thursday 2.3.23
We started off with a full Irish breakfast at the local GAA club – including black and white pudding, which I do like in small quantities. Then it was off to Kilbogget Park, 15 minutes away, for Water Rail (3), Common Kingfisher (1) and Common Redpoll (4). I also (finally) added Goldcrest to my trip list. We also had a very moldy looking Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus, my sixth mammal species for the trip.
I took some photos of the Kingfisher which is, again, one of those birds that have defied my camera over the years. The results weren’t what I had imagined or hoped for, but they’d do, moving forward…
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| Common Kingfisher |
We left the park at 10.30 and met Mr C (Richard Coombes), as arranged, at Skerries, north of Dublin city.
We spent some time around the harbour and scanning offshore picking up stuff like imm Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Purple Sandpipers, Sanderling, Common Scoter etc.
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| Mr C, Mr H and myself (actually taken a couple of weeks ago, but we still look pretty much the same). |
We then drove in Mr C’s car north to Braymore Pt where we had Yellowhammer and Stock Dove, but dipped on Tree Sparrow. A Eurasian Sparrowhawk nearly did a number of Mr C’s head before hammering low down the laneway ahead of us while a Common Buzzard overhead failed to deliver in my camera – again. Off shore a number of Red-throated Divers and approx 300 Common Scoter – all distant.
Stopping off at a servo to pick up sandwiches and coffee then on to Turvey around 16.30. We needed to wait for dusk for the expected ‘performance’ so went for a walk to the hide to use up the time. Nothing notable on the walk or at the hide – well, nothing we hadn’t had lots of before, apart from a perched Peregrine Falcon on the far shore.
Back up to the field in front of the car park and we bumped into Niall Keogh (son of Noel, whom I had bumped into at the East Pier last weekend, Niall of the Irish record Bermuda Petrel of some years ago). Together we stood and waited for dusk and shortly thereafter had the pleasure of watching a Long-eared Owl and a Barn Owl hunt the field in front of us. Absolutely brilliant, especially when the Barn owl turned and flew towards us as if checking us out before swinging away and continuing to hunt. Long-eared Owls two nights in a row? Brilliant!!
Trip List: 111,1 Mammal List: 6,1
Day 33 Friday 3.3.23
A Triple Duck Dip Day.
We left Dale Rd at 7.20 and headed west. We got to Castlebar by 11.00 and stopped off in the Thunderbird café for a full Irish breakfast, piping hot, quickly served, with a nice smile.
A few kms further along the road and a dead animal cause a stop and turn – a Pine Martin and its head was in perfect condition. I retrieved that and planned to bury it in the garden at home for future revival.
Moving on, our first target was a Hooded Merganser which had been present on a small estuary in the middle of nowhere for some time. Exceedingly rare for a wild HM to be on this side of the Atlantic, it remained rarer still for us as the tide was out and the bird nowhere to be seen.
First dip of the trifecta.
Nothing daunted we headed on out to Achill Island and the White-winged Scoter location – another spot in basically the middle of nowhere, a disused pier on a small sandy beach. The Scoter, another American visitor, was reported ‘nailed to the same spot’ and was possibly still there, but the 30 or so Scoters we saw were all very distant on the flat calm water and we couldn’t find anything different among them.
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| The previous location for the White-winged Scoter |
We did have about 70 Great Northern Divers, including one loose flock of 28 birds, dozens of Black Guillemots in both summer and winter plumage and approx 20 Red-throated Divers. The conditions were perfect – good light, flat calm sea, no wind, relatively ‘warm’ – but just no way to pick out a White-winged among the Common Scoters.
Second dip of the trifecta.
As the Hooded Merg would be a lifer for Mr H we drove back to the site stopping off in the Achill Sound Hotel for a coffee and chatting to the only other patron and the bartender for a while about rugby, our origins and recent events.
Back at the estuary the tide had now come most of the way in – but still no sign of the bloody bird.
Back west again and a stop off at Carrowmore Lake for a previously sighted Ring-billed Duck. Yep, you guessed it – third dip of the trifecta. We had about 15 Tufted Duck and 12 Common Goldeneye, but that was about it.
As I said - Triple Duck Dip Day.
We carried on the short distance to Belmullet, through the small village and out to a spot on the coast where a Glaucous Gull had been reported. We, needless to say, didn’t find it either. Not as disappointing as the other failures, but almost an expectation at this stage.
We went to our booked accommodation – a small one roomed, separate, guest house kind of place behind/beside a modern farmhouse. There was a double bed and a sofa bed – which we had expected – and breakfast was part of the deal. The latter was obvious – 2 cups of instant porridge – ‘just add hot water ‘- cereals, some individually package breakfast type sweet rolls, coffee, sugar and milk. The heating didn’t appear to be working and a small oil heater had been turned on, but it wasn’t making much impact - and no Wifi.
We had booked it because it was cheap – 60E/$100Au per night – but some heating and a hot breakfast would have been worth a few extra dollars.
We had coffee/tea then headed into ‘town’ for something to eat. Belmullet village was pretty small but we ended up with a filling meal at the local Chinese restaurant, followed by a Guinness in a small pub which filled up during the evening. The live fire was nice and the Guinness went down well.
We got semi-lost on the way back to the accommodation, but did make it without damaging the hire car.
Trip List: 111,1 Mammal List: 6,1
Day 34 Saturday 4.3.23
We were out on the road around 9. We’d made no effort to get out earlier - it was going to be a long day.
A calm, quiet morning, high cloud provided reasonable light and a complete lack of wind was a complete surprise, but made for a chilly, but not bitter, day. The conditions continued the same all day.
We were looking for flocks of geese. We drove up and down the island along narrow roads where pulling over was a necessity if facing oncoming cars – or even push bikes or pedestrians. Stone walls, earthen banks, muddy ditches all had to be negotiated and avoided while driving slowly looking into fields and sand dunes, looking for flocks of geese.
In the end we found several small flocks of Grey Lag Geese and a couple of large concentrations of Barnacle Geese.
During the day we stopped off at different locations and found – 1 Red-necked Grebe, 5 Slavonian Grebes, 7 Common Eider, dozens of Great Northern Divers, a few Red-throated Divers, hundreds of Common Scoter and on the land front – Fieldfares, Redwings, (genuine) Rock Doves and Red-billed Choughs.
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| Fieldfare |
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| Rock Dove |
At our first stop we saw a distant Eurasian Otter fishing close to the coast in a bay and several Irish Hares in the fields. Most of the work was scope work, very little was close enough for the camera – especially on the water.
Our first big find was a Black Duck associating very closely with a male Northern Mallard on Cross Lake. It had been reported previously but not for some time. We also had a single male Northern Pintail there, which was nice.
The other find was a Glaucous Gull perched on a Dolphin sp corpse on a beach. There were three dead Dolphins on the high water mark – none recent – two appeared to be Common Dolphins, but the one the Gull was perched on had a smooth dorsal fin, as opposed to the dramatically curved, sharp classic fin on the other two. Unsure of ID at this stage.
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| Glaucous Gull |
The Geese were our main target but it was mid afternoon before we finally found our quarry – 2 Snow Geese among the Grey Lags. One was a pure white ‘classic’ Snow Goose, the other a ‘Blue’ morph. We had both seen Snow Goose in Ireland previously, but I had not seen the ‘Blue’ phase previously. We also had a Pink-footed Goose alongside in the same small flock of Grey Lags.
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| "Blue phase' Snow Goose |
Our other target was a reported Richardson’s Cackling Goose which was apparently hanging out with the Barnacle Geese.
We finally tracked down the majority (we believed) of the Barnacle Geese on the island, late in the afternoon and proceeded to scope approx 1,500 birds looking for the Richardson’s. After about an hour we gave it up. Scoping again and again through a flock of Geese is something I can only do for a period of time, then it all becomes a blur.
We called it a day and headed to Belmullet for something to eat.
Belmullet is the second culinary desert on my list – the first being Albany in WA.
There was the Phoenix Chinese Restaurant we ate at the previous night and a burger and pizza ‘Eat in or Take Away’ joint that we finally settled for. The pubs did not appear to do food – unusual in 21st Century Ireland – and there just didn’t appear to be any other options, apart from a hotel with a very expensive menu. It was very poor and, to my eyes, a bit depressing. Its not really any wonder the young people leave and go to USA or Australia. There appeared to be no jobs, no investment, no incentive to stay, in fact the ‘town’ appeared pretty much as I remember from when I visited in 2014. I thought tourism was a main stay of the economy, but there was nothing to encourage visitors to stay. Even finding a decent cup of coffee was difficult and we ended up getting two at the bakery from a self service type machine. If you were visiting Belmullet you’d just keep going and pass on through.
We ate ‘In’ and retired home for the evening.
Trip List: 120,1 Mammal List: 6,1
Day 35 Sunday 5.3.23
We left Belmullet, Co Mayo at 8.30 on a bright, sunny, almost warm, morning under patches of blue sky and light clouds. Before we did an Irish Hare put in a close appearance in the field behind the accommodation.
Our first stop at 10.30 was at Doon Lough, Co Leitrim where we quickly found the long-staying Double-crested Cormorant. This American has been on the lough for more than two years. I was impressed by whoever identified it. I would have just counted the Cormorants (7 or 8) and moved on – its pretty much the same as the Irish ones – but it was an Irish tick for both of us and so we ticked it and moved on.
Next stop just across the border in Northern Ireland - Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. In a park in the center of the town, a Ring-billed Gull was so close we didn’t even get out of the car. A trip tick and an extraordinary view, but not a new bird.
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| Ring-billed Gull |
On the way out of Enniskillen we came across a pair of dead European Badgers on the roadside. We had seen the odd one here and there as they are, unfortunately, a relatively common roadkill, but hadn’t stopped. This time they were fresh and in good condition so I collected a head for burial and later retrieval.
Further east and we arrived at Gawley’s Gate, Co Antrim and quickly had a male Smew in the scopes. Again not a new bird either way, but an incredible, stunning duck and a good trip tick – that stayed just too far away for a photo.
We moved a few minutes away to Portmore Lough, Co Antrim, a corner of Lough Neagh and added Eurasian Tree Sparrow to my trip list – and got photos that I don’t think I’ve got before. They were in and around a couple of feeders in the reserve along with House Sparrows, Blue and Great Tits. Tree Sparrows have again become quite thin on the ground in Ireland. The population seems to rise and fall on a recurring basis, but its not clear why this occurs.
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| Tree Sparrow |
We checked a couple of other sites for gulls/waders/finches but found nothing of any interest and so headed home to Mr H’s place in Belfast, arriving about 15.30, where, in his back garden, I was shown a number of Common Frogs hiding under plastic on his compost heap. They breed in his garden pond, where already there was a quantity of frogspawn. We also saw a Grey Squirrel in the garden.
Trip List: 123, 2 Mammal List: 6, 1 Amphibians: 1
Day 36 Monday 6.3.23
We left Mr H’s place around 8 and headed to a suburban park in Bangor - Ward Park. 3 Bohemian Waxwings had been hanging around for a while and we found them exactly where Mr H had seen them a week or so before. Nice bird!
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| Bohemian Waxwing |
Leaving there we headed north to our next destination – Whitehead, where we picked up Mr H’s friend, John, whom I had last seen in Majorca the previous year. We were hoping to pick up Twite at the usual location, but numbers have dwindled since I was last there several years ago and we failed to find any. We did have a Purple Sandpiper among approx 50 Dunlin and scoped a small group of Northern Fulmars distantly on nearby cliffs. Another trip tick.
Next stop Glynn, a little further north and we walked down a short lane to a railway station overlooking the edge of Larne Lough. We were looking for a Green-winged Teal but it didn’t appear to be around so we moved on to Ballygally.
There had been a Bonaparte’s Gull present on the beach in front of the Hotel for several weeks – and we found it, and saw it well, within a few minutes. The northerly wind was bitter and we retreated to the car for flask coffee, bread and cheese. I ventured out afterwards to try for photos but failed to find it again and gave it away in the face of the numbing cold.
Heading back south we dropped into Glynn again and this time located the Green-winged Teal relatively easily. There were groups of Common Eider offshore looking extremely smart with their black and white plumage and light green napes - stunning - I just wished I could get closer, they were really really beautiful. A summer plumage Mediterranean Gull with its bright red bill and dark brown head was among the Common and Black-headed Gulls. The light was very harsh and the resultant photos disappointing, but emphasize the white vertical shoulder ‘patch’ that makes the males stand out in a crowd. We also had a single Gadwall there, which was a trip tick too.
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| Green-winged Teal |
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| Common Eider |
From there we drove back to Belfast, dropping John off at Central station before returning to Mr H’s place. I had a coffee, took some photos of the Common Frogs in his garden, then headed south in my hire car (Mr H had driven all day) for Dublin.
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| Common Frog Rana temporaria |
It turned out to be a wet spray filled journey with resultant heavy traffic and warnings coming in over the radio about severe temperature drop overnight. One of the side effects of ice and snow is the salt/oil mixture dumped on the roads. When it rains this is kicked up by the traffic and makes the windshield greasy and dirty very quickly – it doesn’t help vision in poor light, but I made it home to Dale Rd without incident.
Trip List: 128,2 Mammal List: 6,1 Amphibians: 1
Day 37 Tuesday 7.3.23
I had accepted Lorraine’s invite to spend the night at her place in Wicklow so around 11.30 left Dale Rd. I intended to bird my way down the coast.
I stopped off at the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire to start with. It was pretty dead despite being hide tide. It was a beautiful day, still only 5 degrees but almost no wind, blue skies and warm sunshine. I had a single Great Crested Grebe and a Mediterranean Gull before moving on to the base of the East Pier. I tried for the Black Redstart but it didn’t show. People were sitting around eating ice cream in the sun - the ice creams were probably warmer than the surrounding temperature but it meant the place was busier than normal. I had another Mediterranean Gull in full summer plumage perched up very close and a Common Redshank just begging to be photographed among the usual Ruddy Turnstones, Eurasian Rock Pipits etc.
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| Base of the East Pier, Dun Laoghaire - Black Redstart hang out |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
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| Common Redshank |
Heading south, my next stop was Kilcoole. Much the same as previously noted, the only notable stuff were 4 Red-throated Divers one of which almost qualified as Black-throated – thicker shorter neck and a heavier looking bird, but the ‘upturned’ bill left me indecisive and I wrote it off as Red-throated.
I headed for Newcastle ECR and the car warned me the temperature had dropped to 4 degrees. Still lovely sunshine and quite ‘warm’. Nothing of major note there either, a bus load of approx 30 tourists, none with bins or apparently any interest in birds were there led by a dude with a scope and bins. Not really sure what they were doing at the reserve.
Leaving there I picked up a bottle of wine and arrived at Lorraine’s at 18.00.
A couple of her friends came over and we had a birthday dinner and lots of wine and spent the evening drinking and chatting. I dragged my sodden, sorry ass to bed around 23.00.
Trip List: 128,2 Mammal List: 6,1 Amphibians: 1
Day 38 Wednesday 8.3.23
I hung out with Lorraine until early afternoon. We went for a walk on her semi-private beach, 500 meters from home. It was bright and clear, but the cold wind of yesterday had increased. It had been predicted that snow and/or sleet showers would occur – and it had in the early morning – but nothing lay on the ground and it didn’t snow for the rest of the day.
I drove back to Dale Rd and started packing. I didn’t do much for the rest of the day, except check-in for my flight on Friday.
Trip List: 128,2 Mammal List: 6,1 Amphibians: 1
Day 38 Wednesday 8.3.23
I had planned, sort of, to go to Kilbogget Park and try again for the Water Rails and Kingfisher, but from before dawn the weather was atrocious - heavy rain and wind all day. It was, in fact, the only heavy continuous rain I had had in the past 6 weeks.
I hung on for a while hoping for a break, but it only got worse. Snow was predicted from the southwest but none had arrived at Dale Rd by evening. It was still predicted after midnight and there were warnings of black ice. I was hoping it wouldn't affect my 4.30am departure (flight at 7.35) too much - or at all in fact.......... It's only a short drive to the M50, the major circular motorway around Dublin city. It should be kept clear by both traffic and the dumping of sand or salt, so hopefully it'll be OK.
From the Irish Met Office website: (Dublin is in Leinster, which isn't mentioned here)
Status Orange - Snow/Ice warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Clare, Connacht, Longford, Louth, Meath, Westmeath
Met Éireann Weather Warning
Further spells of sleet and snow today combined with strong east to northeast winds. Significant accumulations of snow are expected in some areas along with icy conditions.
Possible Impacts:
● Very hazardous road conditions
● Travel disruption
● Poor Visibility
Valid: 11:00 Thursday 09/03/2023 to 00:00 Friday 10/03/2023
Issued: 10:02 Thursday 09/03/2023
Updated: 10:51 Thursday 09/03/2023
But, for Friday........
Status Orange - Snow/Ice warning for Leinster
Met Éireann Weather Warning
Spells of sleet and snow overnight combined with strong northerly winds. Significant accumulations of snow are expected in some areas by morning along with icy conditions.
Possible Impacts:
● Very hazardous road conditions
● Travel disruption
● Poor Visibility
Valid: 00:00 Friday 10/03/2023 to 10:00 Friday 10/03/2023
Issued: 10:51 Thursday 09/03/2023
Trip List: 128,2 Mammal List: 6,1 Amphibians: 1
Day 40 Friday 10.3.23
Due to my concerns for the overnight weather – and the necessary early start – I didn’t sleep very well and by 3.30 had had enough. I looked out the window – yes, snow had fallen, was, in fact, still falling, overnight. It didn’t look too bad, but I didn’t know if it was wet and slushy (OK) or frozen underneath (definitely NOT OK).
Downstairs I made coffee and set up a bowl of porridge then went outside to check conditions. It was wet and slushy, thank God. Still nervous and unsure of the actual driving conditions, I abandoned the porridge and threw away half the cup of coffee. I grabbed my carry-on bags – I had already loaded my check-in bag into the boot of the car – and left the house at 3.55.
The roads up to the M50 were snow covered but some car tracks through them and experimental braking produced no sliding. The M50 was in better condition but I played it safe and stayed below 70 initially. Most cars were doing the same. The conditions improved the further we went and I ended up driving at 90 on what was, essentially, just a wet road, even though it was snowing all the way.
In any event I found my way to the Easirent car park and demountable at 4.35. No one was there. The guy had told me they were there from 5, so that wasn’t unexpected. At 5, 3 dudes turned up and, after checking the car, one of them (a guy from Poland) drove me to Terminal 1 in the hire car itself.
I checked in straight away – no queues at Qatar – and went slowly through security. The airport was full on busy despite the early start and, as usual in Dublin airport, security was very slow. Got to my gate in plenty of time and snagged a coffee on the way. All good.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 7.35 and we boarded around 7.00.
That’s when the Trip From Hell Nightmare started…
The runways were clear, although snow lay on the unused parts, of course. Planes were coming and going it seemed, no flights showed delays on the boards so all looked good.
We sat there.
7.35 came and passed, 8.00 came and passed. 8.30 passed. …..announcements were made claiming something about de-icing and a backlog of planes. Difficult to understand with the ‘accent’ and the mumbled, unprepared speech.
9.00, 9.30, 10.00, 10.30, still no clear explanation – and no one coming near the wings to do anything but walk past.
11.00, 11.30, 12.00, 12.30…..
Really fed up now.
Finally at 12.45 we pushed away from the terminal and got airborne at 13.20 – almost 6 hours late.
Luckily I had a window seat and an empty seat beside me. The guy in the aisle seat, Jacob, was also flying to Brisbane.
We eventually landed in Doha at 22.25 local time. We then spent almost 30 minutes being driven round the huge airport in buses. I don’t know why a Qatar flight does not get a covered gate attachment in Doha? It’s their home town. WTF?
After security we were met by Qatar reps holding signs and distributing new boarding passes. My new flight was at 02.35. I asked about concession food? After all we had been delayed, sat in the plane for nearly 12 hours on a 6 hour flight and now had 3 more hours to wait? Lucky I did ask because there was a 30 dinar (?) free food concession at the food court if we got the staff to scan the boarding pass. How we would have known that if I hadn’t asked I have no idea.
I headed off to find a smoking room.
While I was indulging I looked closer at my new boarding pass.
It read Doh-Per. Doha to PERTH? WTF?
I went to an information desk and found out I was now scheduled to fly to Perth at 02.35, wait 5 hours in Perth and fly Jetstar (Oh fucking joy) to Brisbane, arriving at 5.30 Sunday morning.
The alternative, apparently, was to keep us overnight in Doha and then try to fly us to Brisbane the next day.
So, by giving us a 30 dinar value docket (= a sandwich, small water and small coffee) and flying us half way around the world, they avoided having to put us up in a hotel overnight.
Fuck that for a game of soldiers.
Qatar – best airline in the world? Who the fuck votes that in?
Never again.
I had been given an aisle seat – corresponding maybe to the seat I should have had on the original booked flight? I did manage to change it for a window seat. The plane was an A380 and there were a lot of empty seats – I had the last row all to myself.
We took off on time and I settled in for the 10 hour flight to Perth.
I did manage to get approx 6 hours sleep in 2 hourly bursts and the onboard staff were much better than I had previously experienced, but still…… no excuses good enough.
We landed in Perth more or less on time, collected our checked in bags and proceeded through Australian customs.
When we got out into the main airport there was no one from Qatar to assist. By asking around (no information or transfer desk, in fact, virtually no airport officials in sight at all) we found out (Jacob and I) that we needed to get a bus to Terminal 3 for a Jetstar flight. Incidentally there was nothing on the boarding pass thing to indicate we were flying Jetstar – it was only because we had asked in Doha at an information desk.
We got the bus and found out, by asking a random person again, that the Jetstar check in desks wouldn’t open till 20.00-20.30. There was nothing open in the terminal, couldn’t even get a cup of coffee, so we just hung out and contacted family until the check in opened just before 21.00. We checked in, no problem, then went through security (again) and found a coffee shop in the departure area, thank Christ.
The Jetstar flight was full, but I had been given a window seat. It was a 4 hour flight to Brisbane and the longest of all the flights. I couldn’t sleep and it seemed to drag on forever.
Finally landed in Brisbane at 5.30, got my bag, said goodbye to Jacob (a friend had driven up from the Gold Coast to take him home to that area) and started booking an Uber.
The system quoted me $110 – because of the demand. WTF? There were three other passengers waiting for Ubers. I left it for 10 minutes and tried again – and was quoted $57. I accepted that and a car turned up within 4 minutes. I asked the driver to avoid the tunnels and he got me home by 6.50 for $45. I tipped him a fiver.
So. My 27 hour original booked flight had turned into 41 hours in total.
Another Qatar disaster.
Never again.
Trip List: 128,2 Mammal List: 6,1 Amphibians: 1
20.3.23
Oxley
It was nice and cool at 5.30 and so I decided to head out and have a walk, I filled up with fuel and landed at Oxley at 6.30. Bright, warm, still and a thin mist overhung the grasslands when I arrived. The track was overall very quiet with nothing unexpected and some of the usual species missing – at least to my eyes.
Bird of the morning was a perched up Striated Heron right beside the track at the main pond.
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| Striated Heron |
Other than that only 39 species and Monarch the only butterfly. By 8 it was getting sweaty and hot – although cooler than the previous week.
26.3.23
Minnippi
Picked up Mr P at 6, on site at 6.10. Warm morning, clear sky, no wind.
Fairly normal sort of morning with the exception being a single Spotless Crake on the exposed mudflats on one of the islands. A Tawny Frogmouth in a tree near the bridge and a juvenile Channel-billed Cuckoo, which appeared to have a very crow-like call, were also seen. Fairy-wrens were missing, although Mr P thought he heard some on a couple of occasions – not really unusual at this time of year as they moult after breeding.
We met Mr D for breakfast in Stones Corner afterwards for a catch-up session.
30.3.23
More Birding Pal stuff
I checked my email, as I usually do, in the morning after I got up. There was a Birding Pal request from ‘Max’ – a self declared 23 year old UK birder who was arriving in Brisbane today. Not a lot of notice (!) but with little else on the agenda I responded and, following comms through Whats App picked him up from his accommodation in the Valley.
He had specifically mentioned ‘waders’ and Channel-billed Cuckoo so we headed out towards the Port of Brisbane with the former in mind.
There were no, zero, zilch waders in the ‘wader roost’ at the Port but we checked out the pond on the way and saw a few things but little new for Max.
I thought the mangrove boardwalk might be worth a look, but when we got there the tide was too high for any waders. We tried for Collared Kingfisher and Mangrove Gerygone, of course, but it was very quiet and we didn’t have much success with anything. Given it was hot, mid afternoon and the time of year the outcomes were within expectations really.
Stopped off at Sandy Camp for a fairly quick walk around picking up White-breasted Woodswallows, Rainbow Bee Eaters, Peaceful Dove, Brown Honeyeater and a few other bits and pieces which were all new for him.
I dropped him home around 17.45 after making arrangements for the next day.
31.3.23
Yet more Birding Pal stuff
I picked Max up at 6 and headed to Minnippi. Overall it was pretty quiet but we did get a nice Buff-banded Rail and a flock of White-throated Needletails overhead were unexpected. The juvenile Channel-billed Cuckoo was still in the same area as Sunday so we had quite a successful walk around. We also had Blue-faced Honeyeater, a calling, but refusing to show Fan-tailed Cuckoo and he did manage to get views of Eastern Whipbird after a lot of effort. Two Tawny Frogmouths in a tree near the bridge were nice, but he had seen it before.
On then to Oxley and mostly the usual birds along the track, some new for Max, all three Fairy-wrens, unfortunately in moult, Double-barredand Red-browed Finch and, for me, an immature Rose-crowned Pigeon for my Oxley list was a bonus.
Not much else of note and the heat increasing I dropped him back in the Valley with plans for Sunday.
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