Little Grebe

I love how confiding Little Grebes are when taking shots of them, so any chance I get to photograph them I gladly do so and could spend hours watching them feed. Here are a few shots that I took locally last Saturday.

 Little Grebe adult and immature John N Murphy

Ring-billed Gull II

Yet another Ring-billed Gull in Cork. As I was passing through Carrigaline south of Cork City during the week for work, I noticed this 3CY bird sitting on a roof top with Black-headed Gulls.  I pulled the car over and got a few shots of this bird. I'm sure it has been in this locality for some time just like the bird at the Lough in Cork City the day before.

A third-winter Ring-billed Gull at Carrigaline, Cork John N Murphy

Ring-billed Gull The Lough

I was in Cork City today for meetings and managed to make it to the Lough at lunchtime for a quick scan of the gulls. There was this one 3CY Ring-billed Gull and a couple of colour ringed Black-headed Gulls. 

 

Ring-billed Gull and colour ringed Black-headed Gulls at the Lough, Cork John N Murphy

 

Clare Species List What Next!

Hard to believe that a common European wader the Kentish Plover has not yet been recorded in Clare John N Murphy

Another Autumn has gone and  three new bird species were added to the Clare county list. The three new species were Royal Tern, Solitary Sandpiper and Tawny Pipit.  It does not come as a surprise that it was at Loop Head where these birds were found. Loop has been the source for almost 80% of new records for Clare over the last 25 years. For the last five years, I have been predicting the 20 species listed below to turn up. It is amazing why we have not had any of the shrikes nor the warblers on this list. It is also hard to believe that the only shrike species recorded in the county was a Great Grey in the Burren during the early 1970's. To date there have been 328 bird species recorded in county Clare. Below are the next 20 species that I predict to turn up and hopefully in my lifetime and the not so distant future.

Red-backed Shrike
Woodchat Shrike
Radde's Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Blyth's Reed Warbler
Killdeer
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Terek Sandpiper
Temmink's Stint
Hudsonian Whimbrel
Kentish Plover
Franklin's Gull
Ivory Gull
Olive-backed Pipit
American Coot
Blackpoll Warbler
Shorelark
King Eider
Night Heron

Greater Hoopoe Lark

I came across these shots of Greater Hoopoe Lark from a trip to the Cape Verdes Island in November 2013, while searching for other shots not related to this trip.  A fantastic bird full of character that always sticks in my head from seeing them in other desert habitats of North Africa. This bird was giving chase to a Locust that nearly got away on more than one occasion, but failed and I watched the same bird catch at least three others after this poor devil was devoured. It's great to have these memories on digi shots that I can look back on with fondness and brings the trip back to my poor old fading memory.

 

 

 Greater Hoopoe Lark, Boa Vista, Cape Verdes John N Murphy

 

Twite

A small flock of eight Twite arrived at the tip of Loop Head Lighthouse early this morning.  A true sign that Autumn has passed and winter has arrived.

 

Twite on the cliffs at the tip of Loop Head John N Murphy