To start with I saw two male Garganey this afternoon at the Quoile Castle Island Hide.
They are fairly scarce and this was the first time I have seen them in the wild. On Flightline ( 02891 467408 ) The Northern Ireland Birdwatchers Association's Rare Bird Alert there had been a number of sightings in the last 48 hours but none at the Quoile. Flightline works very well: You ring and listen to an answering machine with the latest sightings and then if you have a sighting you leave a message afterwards.
I have been out to Killard with the dog nearly everyday recently and was glad to come across a Ringed Plover nest with four eggs in it on wednesday. They are incredibly difficult to see and I made a mental note of its relation to a bit of flotsam.It was situated just above the high tide line on the beach. Well the following day I went out and there were two eggs left in the nest
Can you see them? I doubt it. Here they are at 10 times magnification. 
Well I went out again today and sadly there are footprints absolutely straight through the nest and the remains of the eggs. It doesnt look as though the two foot tracks stopped or even noticed what they had done!!I do think that the Dept of Environment and Heritage Service ought to cordon off this small section of the beach during the breeding season to give these birds a helping hand as Killard is designated as a ASSI (Area of Special Scientific Interest)
This week I am part of the I and the Bird Blog Carnival
being hosted by Bird DC . For those of you that are not aware what a blog carnival is. Here is a description courtesy of "I and the Bird".
What is a carnival?
A Carnival is a periodic presentation of excellent blog writing, selected and submitted by the authors themselves. The first carnival, Carnival of the Vanities, sought to showcase posts that bloggers felt were their very best, which is why such a collection can be called a vanity. Subsequent carnivals have developed in the same spirit, but are usually focused on a particular theme. The one that has influenced me the most has been the Tangled Bank, a carnival for science, medicine, and natural history bloggers. Other successful examples include Carnival of the Capitalists (business, marketing, finance, economics, capitalism), The Skeptic’s Circle (critical thought, myth debunking), Grand Rounds (medical blogging), and Philosopher’s Carnival (philosophy, natch.) A comprehensive list of current carnivals can be found at Blog Carnival, Conservative Cat, and the TTLB ÜberCarnival.
One of the defining traits of a carnival is that the responsibility (some call it honor) of being the host rotates. Each installment is edited by a different blogger and hosted on that person’s blog. Though hosting a carnival can be a lot of work, most bloggers find the experience quite satisfying. The potentially dramatic increase in traffic doesn’t hurt either.
What makes I and the Bird different from other carnivals?
At long last, bird bloggers have a carnival to call our very own. I and the Bird is a compendium of blog writing about birds, specifically some form of bird watching.
When is the carnival?
I and the Bird is published every other Thursday. If there wasn't a new one last Thursday, expect one this Thursday. Of course, we have contributors from all over the world, so time differences may shift the publishing time significantly.
Still working on the Bird Photography Link. Click on under construction and it will take you to the basic site.
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