Peregrine's Bird Blog

13 Feb 2012

Snowy Owl at Altikeeragh Nature Reserve

I have wanted to see a Snowy Owl for a very long time and have never liked the idea of driving all the way to North Co.Mayo (a 430 mile round trip) on the off chance of catching up with the bird that seems to reside there. So when I heard last wednesday that a Snowy Owl had been seen near Castlerock in Co.Derry I hoped that it would stay around until my day off . Day after day reports came in that it was still being seen well and as a number of birders saw it yesterday I thought well I will get up early and try to get there for first light. It's 90 miles from home.

I left home at 6.30am with a fairly clear sky but after about 50 miles it was cloudy and beginning to rain so I was not very hopeful. I arrived at Altikeeragh Nature Reserve for 9.00am. I went through the first gate and it was absolutely bucketing down so I read the paper until the shower had ended before going to look for the owl. I walked a few hundred yards onto a small crest of a hill and there off to my right was my first ever sighting of a Snowy Owl sitting on a pile of pallets. I was elated. The one thing I can say is that twitching a bird that sticks out like a sore thumb is a hell of a lot easier than say a small brown bird in the same type of habitat.

Snowy Owl on pallets

The bird then lifted and flew off to my left before landed on the blanket bog. It is only then you realise quite how big they are. They weigh five times as much as a Short -eared Owl and have the wingspan of a White-fronted Goose. I was then joined by another birder and we headed off towards it.

Snowy Owl in Flight

Snowy Owl on bog

As it flew off it put up a flock of Golden Plover.

Golden Plover disturbed by Snowy Owl

As we were walking towards the Owl we flushed a couple of Snipe and also saw a few Red Grouse flying away. We were then joined by photographer Ronald Surgenor and shortly after the owl was away again and the rain came back with a vengeance and I headed home happy but damp.

The Snowy Owl's 52 inch Wing Span

19 Jan 2012

A Rarity of a Ross's Gull at Ardglass Harbour

Ross's Gull Ardglass Harbour Co.Down found by Tom Ennis

Yesterday I had been dropping of some photos off in Bangor and was on my way to Belfast when I heard that a Ross's Gull had been found at Ardglass Harbour by Tom Ennis. (Brilliant find Tom) A big rarity for Northern Ireland with the last one being seen in 1998. I had never seen a Ross's Gull before and it is one of the five gulls that I would really like to see. The others being Ivory Gull, Pallas's Gull, White-eyed Gull and Heermann's Gull. It was a quarter to four . The pain of knowing that I had to go to Belfast to pick up my keys for work and that by the time I had done that and got to Ardglass it would be dark and then the fact that I am at work before it is light meant the bird had to stay around until the afternoon. When I got home I found out it was an adult bird which was even better still

Ross's Gull

At work today it was fairly quiet and fortunately I got away at three and drove down to Ardglass Harbour cursing every driver who was driving slowly and cursing Downpatrick as it is a nightmare to drive through when the four schools are being let out.

I arrived in Ardglass and drove onto the pier and parked and could see four birders, Chris Murphy, his wife, son Tim and Derek Charles looking out from the top of the harbour wall. I was already beginning to feel relieved and Chris Murphy shouted down that it was still there. I climbed the steps and there it was flying in the middle of the entrance to the harbour. What fab birds Ross's Gulls are. It was small, slightly larger than a Little Gull smaller than a Kittiwake but with similar feeding actions, of aerial dipping, to the Little Gull.

Ross's Gull Aerial dip feeding

One of the first things that strike you is it's wedge shaped tail and it's pale grey underwing and which has a broad white trailing edge to the wing. It also had a very small splash of pinky orange on its belly and fairly big eyes for its body.

Ross's Gull

I watched it for over an hour flying up and down the entrance to the harbour. The light was not good for photography and I had to use a high iso to get any speed. Oh for an upgrade of camera with better low light ability. There was a strong breeze and it was bloody freezing. Nevertheless I went home happy because of yet another unexpected lifer.

The first specimen of a Ross's gull was collected by Sir James Clark Ross in 1823 in the Northwest Passage. The Ross's Gull is mainly an Arctic and subarctic species distributed around the Northern polar region and mainly breeding in northeastern Siberia and on some sites in Svalbard, Greenland and Canada.

Ross's Gull

Ross's Gull- Wedge-shaped Tail

Adult Ross's Gull

Ross's Gull

...

2 Jan 2012

It Is a Very Happy New Year I've Found a Lifer a Richard's Pipit

Richard's Pipit Killard NR 2.1.2012

Normally on the 1st of January I spend the day birding but yesterday I had to work and only got to do a wee bit in the afternoon. I was in Belfast and so headed over to Belfast Harbour where there were large numbers of Lapwings which were nice to see. Loads of Teal as well. Afterwards I headed home and went for a walk on the shoreline in front of the house. It was a fab evening and there were flocks of Brent, Golden Plover, Curlew and 6 Greenshank, 3 Grey Plover and loads of Dunlin. There were also quite a few Shelduck, Oystercatcher and a lone turnstone. My 2012 Bird List

Brent Geese

Curlew

Golden Plover

This morning I headed out to walk my hound at my local patch Killard Nature Reserve and it was very bright. I wasn't expecting much as there were loads of people out there being a bank holiday. I was hoping to add a few birds to the year list with Purple Sandpiper and Stonechat being the main targets. Purple Sandpiper yes and Stonechat no. The wind was fairly ferocious and as I came off the beach I saw what at first I thought might be a Skylark because of the size but it flew off into a rocky area which I thought surprising. So I walked over to where I thought it had gone and it flushed quite a few yards from where I thought it had gone. It landed and then I told myself it wasn't a Skylark and it seemed to have quite a supercillium and not the streaking of a Meadow Pipit. So what was it. It then flew a few hundred yards ahead with out calling. I eventually got to it and lay down on the ground and even though I had Pickle with me it came closer and closer and so I was able to get reasonable shots which I hoped I would be able to identify it when I got home.

Richard's Pipit

When I got home and looked at both Lars Jonsson's "Birds of Europe" and Collins Bird Guide and I wasn't sure whether I had found a Richard's or a Blyth's Pipit. In "Birds of Europe" I thought Richards and in Collins I thought Blyth's so I sent the photos to a couple of birders and both thought it was a 1st year Richard's Pipit. The difference in sketches between Birds of Europe and Collins really shows why Lars Jonsson is in my opinion the best bird illustrator in Europe. Thank you Owen and Ronan confirming it was a Richard's.
Happy Days
Here is a wee bit about Richard's Pipit from Wikipedia

25 Dec 2011

Merry Christmas

7 Dec 2011

Bar-tailed Godwits and Grey Plover at Killard Nature Reserve

Bar-tailed Godwit

What a fab morning it was this morning. When I listened to the weather last night the forecast was for heavy gales and rain in the morning and I thought that had put paid to my day off. So when I got up later than usual and the sun was streaming through the house I hastily grabbed some porridge before heading to Killard Nature Reserve with Pickle my dog.

The sun was incredibly bright and the tide was just on the turn. This can be really good for shorebirds as they feed on the receding tide. One particular spot at Killard is very good and there can often be Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstones, Purple Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Oystercatchers and Bar-tailed Godwit.

Dunlin

Ringed Plover

Grey Plover and Ringed Plover

Grey Plover / Black-bellied Plover

Over the last five or six years there have always been one or two Grey Plover that spend the winter out at Killard and I have always found them very difficult to get close to but a couple of days ago this bird above allowed me to get fairly close, even if it took 45 minutes of crawling to get close to it. It was worth it. They are one of my favourite birds and I would love to see them in their full summer plumage on their breeding grounds.

Today the Grey Plover wasn't on the beach but there were three Bar-tailed Godwits which were flying around along with some Dunlin and Ringed Plovers.

Bar-tailed Godwit

At first they were quite flighty but the longer I stayed in the one position the less they became worried about me or the dog. After quite a while I crawled across the very wet sand and got to within about 25 feet of them and watched feeding on ragworms. I meanwhile was getting colder and colder as the wet beach was working it's way through my clothes and called it a day. I walked away with a spring in my step (this might be to do with the fact I have lost 35lbs in the last two months) There is something about bird photography that gives me a real buzz especially when the light is right and you finally find yourself getting close to birds that aren't that easy to approach.