Brambling

I took a walk around Tuvey reserve in Rogerstown to see what was about. There had being a big flock of finches in Rogerstown over the winter and in the flock were about 7-10 Bramblings. By now the flock was not even a tenth in size with good numbers of Chaffinches and a a lone Yellowhammer. So I wasn`t holding out much hope of a Brambling showing up, so I sat down and enjoyed the sun (a rare sight in Ireland these day) and eventually the birds started to show. After maybe 2 hours a Brambling joined the flock and started to fed with them. Always great to see these little birds as the don`t breed here and we don`t get many of them in the winter.

Continental Cormorant

I was out in Broadmeadows Estuary again as the Continental Cormorant was still around and I`d said in a previous blog that I needed to get back to see if I could get any better shots. Well once again the bird was keeping its distance and the weather was grey and misty but I manage to get better shots than I previously had.

In this shot you have the Continental and a Juvenile Carbo above it.

Purple Sandpiper

I was down by the shore today in Skerries Co Dublin as it was such a fine day (seeing as we haven`t had many in Ireland this year so far) it would have been a shame not to get out birding. While there I had good but distant views of 3 Eiders (2 males and 1 female) as well as good but distant views of 3 Red-throated Divers. One of my favorite shore birds was on show and showing well, yes the Purple Sandpiper. They don`t seem to mind humans and you can get nice and close for a shot or two. The ones I was watching were so relaxed they had a bath in a rock pool in front of me, I also had nice views of Sanderling and Redshank. On the way back I stopped at Broadmeadows Estuary to have a look and see if there was anything around. Boy what a evening, great displays for 500+ Golden Plover and some nice views of Black-tailed Godwits. So here`s a shot or two.

 Redshank Sunning himself in the lovely spring sunshine.

 Sanderling sitting and snoozing while they wait for the tide to turn.

Black-tailed Godwit at Broadmeadows Estuary

Just a fraction of the amount of Golden Plovers at Broadmeadows.

Ruff ruff!!!

I remember it wasn`t that long ago I found my first Ruff and how pleased it made me, so seeing two together is always much more pleasing. They were a bit flighty so getting close was always going to be tricky but in the end I got close enough for a shot or two. Now all I have to see is a full summer plumage male ruff displaying and that will be the icing on the cake.

 You can make your make up your own caption, but I like to think it`s saying Aye!!! who left this cola bottle here!!.

Even more Waxwings

I had a MRI on my ankle today to see how bad the damage to my ankle is as I`m still limping around the place. Then on my way back from the clinic I came across 60 Waxwings feeding up on berries and quenching their thirst on the side of the road, so this was an opportunity not to be missed. 

A nice start to 2013

2012 ended for me on a sour note, I badly sprained my ankle so this meant getting out birding just wasn`t going to happen for me. Not only that but the hard drive in my computer crashed which meant I was offline and there wouldn`t be much I could do for a while. So now that I am some bit mobile I am making up for it as much as I can, and what a start to 2013 I`m having with 3 good rarities for my yearly list (Common Crane, Continental Cormorant, and Hawfinch ) and 1 life tick been a Long-Billed Dowitcher I really can`t complain about how the year has started for me and it 2013 and all. I`m beginning to think 13 is my lucky number.

 Continental Cormorant, I must head back to see if I can get a closer shot. But nice to have this one as well.

 The Cranes were quite flighty, so this was only a record shot.

A life tick and another bogey bird down for me.

 Another shot of the Dowitcher with a Godwit behind him.

 I of 2 Hawfinches I had in Curraghchase the other day, this seem to be the best spot in Ireland for these birds.

And another shot of the Hawfinch here.

Limerick Waxwings at last.

I was home in limerick for the day yesterday and deceided to have a look around while I was there. So I took a quick trip to Curraghchase to see if the was any big flocks of finchs out there. I couldn`t find one big flock which is puzzling me??, why aren`t they there this year, the more i wandered the more I want to try and find answers so I search the ground around the beach trees and notice there is little or no beach mast on the ground or in the trees! does this mean they failed to produce any this year I don`t know maybe someone can shed a little light on this for me. Anyways I headed back to Doradoyle as waxwings had been reported there monday and sure enough after a little searching I found 3 of them feeding on berries in the rain. It was quite a dull wet day but to finally get some Limerick waxwings for my blog was just the treat I needed.

Some birds I had in Dublin recently

Over the past 2 weeks I`ve been getting out birding in Dublin on the odd occasion but I haven`t been updating my blog as much as I would like. So here is a small collection of shots I have built up.

 Pale Bellied Brent at Bull Island.

 Mandarin Duck in the Phoenix Park.

 Pintail at Bull Island.

 Wood Duck in the Phoenix Park.

 A recent Waxwing I had on the south side of the city.

 Kestrel at Turvey in Rogerstown.

 Male Hen Harrier at Turvey.

Waxwing in Portmarnock.

Bombycilla garrulus

There has been an influx of Waxwings over the past few weeks to Ireland. Reports are that their food source failed this year in Scandinavia so this pushed these birds into the UK and Ireland. They are one of my favourites and I have struggled these last few years to get any sightings let alone photos of these birds. But thankfully that run has come to an end and I managed to see and photograph 14 of these birds today in the Liffey Valley shopping centre in Dublin. Though the light wasn`t great and the birds were flighty I was just happy to see them.