Castletown Bearhaven!

 On Sunday morning myself David Walker and Gillian Hollamby flew from Stansted to Cork where we picked up a hire car all for a mere £36 each. We drove in very poor weather conditions which worsened every Kilometre of the c125 to Castletown Bearhaven arriving early afternoon. We soon found our target the Glaucous-winged Gull sitting on rocks a few yards out in the harbour, though by now the rain was torrential, so we retired to Macarthy's bar for fresh crab sandwiches and tea in the hope the rain would abate, unfortunately it didn't if anything it got worse.

Macarthy's Bar. taken on Monday in much better weather.

 When we left Macarthy's the Glaucous-winged Gull had disappeared and not even a record picture taken! there was however an adult Ring-billed Gull there but the weather was to severe for photographs. We drove around the harbour to try and locate the the Gull without success. It's hard to believe a mega like this and we only saw 1 other birder on Sunday and 2 on Monday. As the light failed we went back to our B&B Murphy's Restaurant for fraught night of worrying if the Glaucous-winged Gull would be present in the morning. Our worry was made easier by after having a delicious Rack of Beef  and a bottle of Rioja in Murphy's then spending the rest of the evening in Macarthy's, downing a few Guinness enjoying an Irish sing song.

Our B&B

Ring-billed Gull. taken on Monday

Monday morning  9.0 A.M. and it was still more or less dark but it was dry and windless. We soon found the Glaucous-winged Gull perched on top of a street lamp where we took our first images of it, I have already deleted all of the images I took at that time, though the light was dreadful all the while we were there. We took the opportunity to go back to our B&B for breakfast where we could watch the gull from our breakfast table. After the breakfast the light had improved a little and more images were taken.  We also saw 3 Glaucous Gulls nearby and a 2w Iceland Gull at Eyeries, rounding off a brilliant 2 days birding in great company before we had to make our back to Cork airport and home. A short video of the Glaucous-winged Gull can be seen HERE

Glaucous-winged Gull

1w Mediterranean Gull Bearhaven

2w Iceland Gull, Eyeries Beach

Hooded Crow, Eyeries.

A clear frosty morning on the peninsula made for a pleasant walk from the ARC to Hookers. 100s of Lapwing and Golden Plover were in the Boulderwall fields, also a small flock of Linnets my first of the year, but no sign of the drake Smew that had been in residence on the track side pools. Despite there being at least 2 Dartford Warblers between the coral and the viewing mound I failed to see any of them, nor not surprisingly the Penduline Tits. At the back Hookers the Slavonian Grebe still also a Bittern, 2+ Bearded Tits and a Snipe over.
A visit to the fishing boats saw the 1w Caspian Gull as tame as ever, unfortunately no sign of any of the Glaucous Gulls. A short video of the 1w Glaucous Gull can seen HERE. Another look around the beach this afternoon with the same result.
An hour lunchtime watching from Plodland saw 2 Great White Egrets, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Common Buzzards, 100s of Lapwing and Golden Plover and the usual Greylags and Canada Geese.
Late afternoon on Walland Marsh 9 Marsh Harriers came in to roost in one reed bed and 8 more into another, also a Bittern, 4 Bearded Tits, a Great White Egret, 2 Stonechats and a couple of Common Buzzards.
The Long-eared Owl was apparently showing well today. A short video of it taken the other day just to prove it's not stuffed can be seen HERE.
   

1w Glaucous Gull again!

 Another very cold morning watch at the fishing boats where I was joined by CP. We saw a trickle of Red-throated Divers coming in and out of the bay, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, c100 Guillemots, a few Razorbills and the usual Cormorants and Great-crested Grebes. With no sign of any Glaucous Gulls we walked along the beach to The Point then back towards the Lifeboat Station, about 400yds short of the Lifeboat Station we found the 1w Glaucous Gull which promptly flew back to The Point. Time for Breakfast and some domestic stuff.
At Scotney most of the grey geese were absent, only 5 Brent Geese of note. On the reserve the drake Smew was again viewable from the entrance track and the Long-eared Owl was still present.  
Back at the boats this afternoon the gull reappeared and showed well again, hopefully it will perform well tomorrow for those who have to work during the week.  

 At the puddles!

Long-eared Owl Basking in the sun!

Glaucous Gulls!

An absolutely punishingly cold morning sea watch at the fishing boats today. There was very little moving off shore, just some localised feeding movement of a few Guillemots, Red-throated Divers, Kittiwakes and Gannets, because of the lack movement I only last half an hour before seeking the warmth of the car. I through out some scraps of bread and instantly the regular 1w Caspian Gull appeared.

From the entrance track on the reserve 3 Smew including the drake, 2 Great White Egrets and a Bittern that flew towards the ARC. I drove the short distance to Scotney and immediately spotted the Tundra Bean Goose and was interrupted by a message from RBA about a Glaucous Gull by the entrance track on the reserve, exactly the place I left minutes earlier. Minutes later I was back there seeing a Jay on the way but no Glaucous Gull, I found out later it was a fly over seen by AP. I made my way to the VC and had a look at the Long-eared Owl, 4 more Smew were on Burrowes, while have a hot chocolate in the VC a Firecrest was in the scrub in front the window.

Speaking to AP he told me had seen the Glaucous Gull distantly from the entrance track and it had flown towards the sea, he was only able to obtain long distance images which were inconclusive in ageing the Gull. From the VC I went to the beach in the hope of finding the Glaucous Gull, not long after arriving at the beach I spotted a Glaucous Gull sitting on the beach about 400yds away, as I moved to get closer to it the bird flew off over fishing boats towards The Point and appeared to land there. DB joined me at The point and the bird flew back to the boats showing well to all who chose to come and see it. Later I threw some bread out to try and tempt it in closer, it immediately came for the bread as did the Caspian Gull and to my and MFs amazement another Glaucous Gull appeared though quickly moved off. I at first thought it was another 1w bird but on reviewing the some of MFs quickly shot off images showing a pale eye proving it to be a 2w. A few of the images can be seen below, still many more to review.

 1w Glaucous Gull

 1w Glaucous Gull

 1w Glaucous Gull

 1w Glaucous Gull

 1w Glaucous Gull

 1w Glaucous Gull

 2w Glaucous Gull

 2w Glaucous Gull

2w Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Bittern!

Bittern

Early morning from the viewing ramp, 3 Bitterns including the Leucistic individual gave flight views this morning, though not very good photographic opportunities. 2 Great White Egrets could be seen in the fields, up to 4 Marsh Harriers quartered the reed beds, a Kingfisher, several Cetti's Warblers but no sign of the Penduline Tits, Bearded Tits or Dartford Warbler. 

Leucistic Bittern from the ramp this morning

A run around the marsh with MH was disappointing though we did see a dozen Tree Sparrows, Mistle Thrushes and 31 Bewick Swans at the wind turbines. A short visit to Pett saw the Glossy Ibis by the pool, 9 Brent Geese with 20 Whitefronts in the fields behind, c20 Redshanks and few Curlews,. A stop off at the double bends Scotney on the way back, found the Tundra Bean Goose and 10 Brent Geese among the many feral Greylags and Barnacle Geese.

 Glossy Ibis

This afternoon I spent another couple of hours in a fruitless search for the Dartford Warbler and Penduline Tits at the ramp, only to find a different Dartford Warbler where I parked the car. A late afternoon look from the ramp with SB saw of note 2 Bitterns 1 of which was perched, a Raven flew over. The drake Smew was on the Boulderwall pools at dusk.
The Long-eared Owl was on its usual perch and the 1w Caspian Gull was by the fish huts.

Reed Bunting at Hookers

More Little Gulls!

Little Gull from the fishing boats

08.00-10.10 from the fishing boats:

Brent Goose: 25E     8W

Common Scoter: 1W

Red-throated Diver: 13W

Great-crested Grebe: c40 around

Fulmar: 1W

Gannet: 203W

Cormorant: 889 came out of Lade Bay

Great Skua: 1W

Little Gull: 16W

Kittiwake: 109W

Caspian Gull: 1 the regular 1w bird was by the puddles

Guillemot: 140W

Razorbill: 5W

At a rain lashed and windswept Scotney I couldn't find any Whitefronts or the Tundra Bean Goose among the sleeping hordes of Greylags, a single Brent Goose was with the feral Barnacle Geese, even the Black-necked Grebe was hiding.

 At the ARC the Cormorant island is now under water, also the Willow Trail is now closed due to flooding.  From Hanson small numbers of Tufted Duck, Pochard, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler a single Great White Egret was of note.

A couple of hours spent on the ramp this afternoon failed to see the Penduline Tits, nor any Bearded Tits or Bitterns. A kingfisher showed well, several Cetti's Warblers were heard and seen along with 3 Great White Egrets and 4 Marsh Harriers. The Long Eared Owl was still showing behind the Dipping Pool today.

Bonxie!

Great Skua on the beach this afternoon

08.00-11.00 at the fishing boats with RO,LO,SO and MC
Brent Goose: 89E
Common Scoter: 6W
Velvet Scoter: 1 around
Eider: 1W
Red-breasted Merganser: 3W
Red-throated Diver: 29W
Graet Northern Diver: 1W
Gannet: 106W
Curlew: 2W
Great Skua: 3W
Arctic Skua: 1 o/s
Little Gull: 23W
Kittiwake: 92W
Guillemot: 157W
Razorbill: 72W
Auk sp: 78W
Grey Seal: 1

Distant Velvet Scoter

A text from RS this afternoon alerted me to a Great Skua that he, Chiddy and MS had found and was posing near the fishing boats.

Unfortunately it was partially oiled but feeding well on the fish offal, it was easily seeing off any Great Black Backed and Herring Gulls that were brave enough to come near it. It was still present on the beach late afternoon when we left.

Great Northern Diver!

Great Northern Diver over the fishing boats this morning 

08.30-10.00 from the fishing boats with DW.
Common Scoter: 4W
Velvet Scoter: 1W
Red-throated diver: 7W     7E
Great northern diver: 1W
Fulmar: 3W
Gannet: 58W
Turnstone: 3 around
Oystercatcher: 1W
Little Gull: 1W
Kittiwake: 34W
Guillemot: 134W
Razorbill: 91W
Auk sp: 75W

Great Northern Diver

Smew from Dennis's Hide

On the reserve today the Long-eared Owl still showing to the crowds, the drake Smew showed well from Dennis's hide along with a red head Smew and a Shag.

Smew

Shag

From the viewing ramp up to 5 Bitterns were seen, also a Kingfisher, Water Rails, Great White Egrets and Marsh Harriers and what was probably a Penduline Tit, but the view was brief and distant. On the pool behind Hookers a Slavonian Grebe.

At Scotney The Tundra Bean Goose, 25 White-fronted Geese, a Brent Goose all among the 100s of feral Geylags and Barnacle Geese, also a Black-necked Grebe there.

 White-fronted Geese at Scotney

A drive around Walland Marsh failed to find any Bewick Swans, but did find 5+ Common Buzzards, 6+ Marsh Harriers, Fieldfares, Redwings, several Mistle and Song Thrushes, 20+ Tree Sparrows and 6 Yellowhammers of note.

Little Gulls!

Most of the Little Gulls were close in shore

09.00-11.50 from the fishing boats with MH and DW. The first hour of the watch was in atrocious conditions, thankfully the boats gave us shelter from the worst of the weather.
Brent Goose: 10E       12W
Teal: 31E
Common Scoter: 4W
Red-breasted Merganser: 1W
Red-throated Diver: 7W    6E
Great-crested Grebe: N/C
Gannet: 24W
Cormorant: c300 around
Oystercatcher: 124E
Turnstone: 3 around
Knot: 1E
Great Skua: 1W
Little Gull: 120W Only 1 juvenile!!!!
Mediterranean Gull: 4E
Kittiwake: 58W
Guillemot: 134W
Razorbill: 2W
Auk sp: 23W   13E

Little Gulls

Brent Geese passing the fishing boats

At the fish hut the 1w Caspian Gull was showing extremely well also a colour ringed Great Black-backed Gull there.

1w Caspian Gull by the fish hut

JH485 Great Black-backed Gull by the fish hut (ringed at Tromso north of the arctic circle per DW)

A quick visit to a very busy reserve saw a couple of Peregrines, Marsh Harriers and a red head Smew of note, though the Long-eared Owl was still present, also the Penduline Tit and a Shag were reportedly still present.

At Scotney the Tundra Bean Goose and a single Greater White-fronted Goose among the Greylags, little else was seen in the windswept conditions.

Late afternoon in the Willow Trail 2 Chiffchaffs of note and a red head Smew from Hanson.

A very brief Penduline!

Great White Egret at South end of the ARC early morning

08.10-09.10 from the fishing boats:

Teal: 2W
Red-throated Diver: 82W
Great-crested Grebe: 210 off shore
Fulmar: 2W
Gannet: 11W
Cormorant: N/C
Mediterranean Gull: 7W
Little Gull: 7W
Guillemot: 48W
Razorbill: 2W
Auk sp: 112W

Great White Egret from the RSPB entrance track this morning

On Burrowes Pit today 3 Shags, a Slavonian Grebe and 6+ Goldeneye of note. The |Long Eared Owl was still behind the Dipping Pond though somewhat obscured.

2 of the 3 Shags on Burrowes today

As it was the first still day for a long while I thought I'd take a look at the back of Scotney, first I drove to the double bends where a pair of Smew could be seen.

 Distant Smew on Scotney

Among the 100s of Greylags I finally caught up with the Tundra Bean Goose, also 17 Greater White- fronted Geese and 4 Brent Geese among the 100+ Barnacle Geese.

 Tundra Bean Goose in its usual sleepy pose!

Some of the Greater White-fronted Geese at Scotney!

Grey Wagtail at Scotney Farm

My walk around Scotney Farm saw a Grey Wagtail, Black Redstart and Little Owl of note, disappointingly no Corn Buntings, Skylarks or Tree Sparrows there.

News of a couple of Penduline Tits at Hookers drew me back to the reserve. After about an hours wait I managed a very brief view of 1 of the Penduline's, while waiting a Kingfisher showed well, Cetti's Warblers were singing, Marsh Harriers were around, a Peregrine flew through and just before dark the leucistic Bittern made a Brief flight.