American Golden Plover

I made it back to Kilkee late this afternoon Friday 20th September 2013 after work to see the adult American Golden Plover found by Killian Mullarney and Jim Dowdall last weekend.  The bird was feeding on the seaweed to the west end of the beach with Turnstones, Dunlin and one Knot.

 American Golden Plover on Kilkee Beach with Knot © John N Murphy

American Golden Plover

I travelled to Bell Mullet in County Mayo yesterday 25th October 2011, to look for the Upland Sandpiper.  While there I managed to see the Upland, along with three juvenile American Golden Plovers on the peninsula, one adult White-rumped Sandpiper, one Curlew Sandpiper and a Lapland Bunting.  It was such a dull day and the following series of photo's depict how dark it was on the day.

American Golden Plover

On my way to Loop Head yesterday I stopped off at Seafield, Quilty mid way down the west Clare coast to search for storm blown North American waders and seabirds.  On the beach at Seafield, next to the pier there was this moulting adult American Golden Plover.  This is the second one in the county so far this year.

American Golden Plover

After a quiet morning seawatching at the Bridges of Ross and Loop Head on Friday 5th August 2011, myself and a few friends decided to go in search of vagrant waders along the west coast of Clare on our way home.  We got to Doonbeg Bay where I quickly picked up on a summer plumaged Plover.  At first and from distant views we all thought that it was more like a Pacific Golden Plover due to its warm overall colouration and shorter looking primary projection.  But later once we were able to get close enough for the photos below to be taken it started to resemble an AGP as is now the case.  This is the first Autumn record of one in Ireland this year and it is amazing that over the summer we have had three PGP's in the country and not the usual scattering of AGP's as of yet.  There is still lots of time for North American waders to flood the country.