tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84981209313404829072024-03-12T18:20:50.307-07:00Garden Bird YearMonth by month, the behaviour, numbers and movements of garden birds in a rural garden in county Wicklow are chronicled.Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-870975277206838622017-04-06T01:44:00.001-07:002017-04-06T01:44:22.557-07:00On the move..<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvdQb3uyQQ0-yKad_K9GtZihyTyStFfK9Zy4YI6P6A2DFdX8MOm8g_IfUJoOjnqjrvC50GhG5pscZOWf_TPlfvllBhwyd9-qX4wJPaQvuSGR5gffzhKvfVzjt-f97jhQGSX4tvzov1dY/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvdQb3uyQQ0-yKad_K9GtZihyTyStFfK9Zy4YI6P6A2DFdX8MOm8g_IfUJoOjnqjrvC50GhG5pscZOWf_TPlfvllBhwyd9-qX4wJPaQvuSGR5gffzhKvfVzjt-f97jhQGSX4tvzov1dY/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just the like the spring migrants, we are on the move..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This blog is now updated regularly on our new website <a href="http://www.irishgardenbirds.ie/">www.irishgardenbirds.ie</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Come and see us soon, like we say, its <i>the home of garden birds.</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">male and female Siskins passing through (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<i><br /></i>Oran O'Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032991694565959459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-78757748108992777302017-03-03T02:45:00.004-08:002017-03-03T02:45:56.788-08:00After the survey: the audit<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Male Sparrowhawk shielding prey in shallow water (Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been an interesting 13 week garden bird survey, as always. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a mild winter you don't expect to be mobbed with birds, numbers or variety, but there were a few highlights and noticeable troughs as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The top most species in our garden, in terms of abundance were Chaffinch and Coal Tit: both hitting 20 birds or more on a number of weeks. Blue Tits, in contrast, peaked at six birds and virtually all other finch species were thin on the ground.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Not enough Juvenile Blue Tits survived last summers wet conditions ( Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the scarce end, Sparrowhawk was a remarkable absentee, present in the garden on only one occasion, in contrast to Buzzards and Red Kites which regularly patrol the extended garden area, particularly the latter species.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The BTO has recently commented on the current status of the Sparrowhawk: it is felt that the reason for its scarcity this winter is linked to last summers damp conditions in June when many clutches of Blue Tits failed and the effect was felt through the food chain. I myself have recently cleaned out two Blue Tit nests that were abandoned last summer, with an egg or two still in place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A noticable absentee for us this winter is the Siskin, though I am still hopeful of spotting one upside down on the peanut feeder, before the survey closes in two days time.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Feeders empty in quick time! ( c. OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other woodlanders that presented themselves regularly were the Great Spotted Woodpeckers ( a male and female, recorded every week of the survey), and a couple of Jays each week from early January.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alreadt there are signs of the breeding season advancing: a Blackbird carrying nesting material and woodpeckers drumming in the woods.</span>Oran O'Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032991694565959459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-13895164910180953192017-02-20T04:15:00.001-08:002017-02-20T04:21:34.225-08:00Spring into song<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Mistle Thrush in characteristic pose, high in tree cover (c. M.Finn)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A couple of evenings ago, I noticed a clear chorus of bird song: the dusk chorus can be every bit as impressive as the dawn version, particularly so at this time of the year. With fewer species in song ( no spring migrants yet) the Song Thrushes and Mistles are much striking to my ears, especially if you get a calm evening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With temperatures at the moment in double digits, thus encouraged, there is plenty of spring breeding behaviour: We are lucky enough to have Woodpeckers in our area, they are drumming in the distance, and chasing each other through the canopy. A pair of Buzzards are constantly mewing and undulating over the forest, escorting Kites and Ravens off their patch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">The flocks of Chaffinches and tit species show no sign of declining in numbers, but their songs are equally strong, and longer days are not far off.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A barrel chested Mistle stands tall. (c. M Finn)</span><br />
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-45279848539551770972017-02-08T09:27:00.000-08:002017-02-08T09:27:05.385-08:00Celebs gather at Druids Glen<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(c. Dick Coombes)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Twelve Waxwings were successfully 'Papped' by BirdWatch Ireland staff this lunchtime, The birds were first seen resting up in tall trees in the picturesque Druid's Glen Resort. A search around the resort revealed four or five small, fruit laden trees: <i>Malus</i> or Crab Apple, probably Golden Hornet cultivar.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Brian Burke and Dick Coombes line up in front of the Crab Apple trees (OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The flock engaged in bouts of aerial feeding for insects, high above the glen, before returning down to the Crab Apples which were consumed with great gusto. It was nice to see their two feeding strategies in action on this cold but very bright day..</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(c. Dick Coombes)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOlVwUER1RNqQ5mU5AwwTuHKlWNNaWAy8_Dyp9zEQCB4-UiyTXRYAZkIJekWE4AEXJaSyUD2XCAhQeKf9whgAzLmvlyjE301_dbmxlevtzhqNthsAhbAGx8Dc0397kGdofdXnWU09b6o/s1600/Waxwing+_6238a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOlVwUER1RNqQ5mU5AwwTuHKlWNNaWAy8_Dyp9zEQCB4-UiyTXRYAZkIJekWE4AEXJaSyUD2XCAhQeKf9whgAzLmvlyjE301_dbmxlevtzhqNthsAhbAGx8Dc0397kGdofdXnWU09b6o/s320/Waxwing+_6238a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(c. Dick Coombes)</span></td></tr>
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-66088164267595735282017-01-18T07:31:00.001-08:002017-01-18T07:31:13.331-08:00Waxwings brighten winter days<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rWrELZPQgh831Qmr0grPrW2LArNruR4h5fyNFjiNUx5bH9a7q8qwSL5YyS4T0ZUV2NvfyiRGdj8wST5AowAAFkcqLj0xloWOjhPC-Ilg97ZZkJH428HdlEjX0ura6Yvx1JrQYXX0Nz8/s1600/Waxwing+ShaCon04+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rWrELZPQgh831Qmr0grPrW2LArNruR4h5fyNFjiNUx5bH9a7q8qwSL5YyS4T0ZUV2NvfyiRGdj8wST5AowAAFkcqLj0xloWOjhPC-Ilg97ZZkJH428HdlEjX0ura6Yvx1JrQYXX0Nz8/s320/Waxwing+ShaCon04+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">c. Shay Connolly</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">With extremely cold weather on the Continent of Europe, and increasing pressure on food supplies, its no surprise really that an irruptive species like the Waxwing has made it to our shores this winter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Their favourite food supply is the berries of the Rowan, a common tree species in Fenno-Scandinavia. If the berry crop fails or, as in this case, is exhausted, the birds.irrupt out of their home territory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Arriving in the east of the UK in recent weeks, the birds will quickly locate and strip berry supplies. They are more likely to be in urban or suburban areas, as here there are many ornamental tree and shrubs, some still with berries. These berries last through the winter season for more than one reason: firstly they are less palatable to birds and secondly, their are probably fewer birds around urban parks in the autumn , when the rural Rowan crop is stripped by young Blackbirds and the like.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y-vJBCTnvOQqNlQrHQFuJeLSWirY258YkkryhErkrAg_u31oMmuTsTgzoYDpslxUrvXFGg_b7APuCo0uB_F_9jcrpM-tTcGG7V-DEV6AVIrEx3lok8tYlCVwTGyDsegOGW60gRGI0SI/s1600/Waxwing+ShaCon05+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5y-vJBCTnvOQqNlQrHQFuJeLSWirY258YkkryhErkrAg_u31oMmuTsTgzoYDpslxUrvXFGg_b7APuCo0uB_F_9jcrpM-tTcGG7V-DEV6AVIrEx3lok8tYlCVwTGyDsegOGW60gRGI0SI/s320/Waxwing+ShaCon05+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">c. Shay Connolly</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ornamental Rowans ,such as the cultivors <i>Sorbus</i> Joseph Rock and <i>Sorbus</i> vilmorinii are specifically grown to delight gardeners with their showy berry crop, in shades of white, orange and pale pink, rather than attract birds who will strip the native red berries at the first opportunity. Come late winter though, with fresh arrivals of birds from the north, all bets are off and berries are ruthlessly hounded out by Waxwings and winter thrushes. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1u7l96OJw0crp_4k9-U63uGHCzr30NVtlzzTYfOO9Cov2Tq8GH2nw9851qeUdfUn-mecxF-oAeY8x5b4hYn4TdoKW4aIRQ1WnZcBTYMkwBmREyGOXJMYVt5e5aN39JzH26g-Xcu2xen8/s1600/Waxwing+ShaCon14+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1u7l96OJw0crp_4k9-U63uGHCzr30NVtlzzTYfOO9Cov2Tq8GH2nw9851qeUdfUn-mecxF-oAeY8x5b4hYn4TdoKW4aIRQ1WnZcBTYMkwBmREyGOXJMYVt5e5aN39JzH26g-Xcu2xen8/s320/Waxwing+ShaCon14+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">c. Shay Connolly</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Looking at the most recent run of records, Lucan in County Dublin has up to 120 Waxwings and smaller flocks have been reported from Belfast and further west with records from Monaghan, Donegal and Sligo. They are well worth looking out for, Starling like in silhouette and prone to hanging about telegraph wires when not actually feeding on <i>Cotoneaster</i> or <i>Sorbus</i>. </span>Oran O'Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11032991694565959459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-75136603484436289712016-12-28T10:29:00.001-08:002016-12-28T10:29:17.419-08:00Blue Tits bottom out..<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9iH8cwjhDL16_FWXzxhYxqHrMu7OCsXX8-_37n312siZ_hyErHr7LKrBq5BVWEUgeuEww5TAS0KGUtoxehao_jT3mfTJNgQT5pzWaYW3gDRSBmMc1kfxf4kPgd-gBl7pLmM61JAe4ME/s320/Blue+Tit+jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="311" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Hanging in there! (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whilst the Coal Tit numbers continue to rise exponentially in the garden, well into double figures on view at any one time. Typically this may be five on the ground, mopping up, six clinging to the circular feeder and another half dozen queing in the willlow tree.. hard to keep the feeders topped up but its not as rosy for at least one of their cousins: Blue Tits are much fewer in numbers, so far this winter. The most I have seen in one viewing is four Blue Tits, normally I might expect twice that number. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Early winter numbers will reflect how the species fared coming out of the previous summer / breeding season. The BTO have just published findings from its 2016 ongoing studies and surveys in the UK: They reckon that brood sizes were smaller, due to poor spring weather. The critical period is of course when birds are hatched and near fledging: this 14 day period in early June if wet and cold, results in casualties in fledged birds through reduced feeding opportunities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In summary: BTO report that following the worst ever breeding season on record for Blue Tits in 2016, the numbers of this species using gardens during November 2016 was the lowest since 2003.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That Coal Tits had a different out turn in 2016 is not discussed by BTO in this media release, however I suspect a difference in </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">laying and </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hatching dates might have ensured a completely different outcome for the smaller Coal Tit, and they have less winter feeding competition from Blue Tits, if there are fewer out there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course Blue Tits are at the common end of the garden spectrum, present in the majority of gardens. They are well capable of bouncing back, but will need a decent breeding season in 2017 to get back the losses of 2016.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">c. (oos)</td></tr>
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<br />Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-26293262197867584272016-12-18T12:05:00.003-08:002016-12-18T12:05:39.827-08:00Coal Tits in a Queue..<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqYg9uzkJEU6Yce6W2MyqdvEinBJLb4gqn09aNO92zH4ZgBLAwgesUteeGL6sZROBQntJiQVaLD3X3OsEjAdu8gxru_4kGpgHJBZKKVRGeuSEjdf4XCiTU2U8bnSpZWLVxYyDBf4cgCI/s320/Coal+Tits+031.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Two Coal Tits await landing space on the seed feeder (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqYg9uzkJEU6Yce6W2MyqdvEinBJLb4gqn09aNO92zH4ZgBLAwgesUteeGL6sZROBQntJiQVaLD3X3OsEjAdu8gxru_4kGpgHJBZKKVRGeuSEjdf4XCiTU2U8bnSpZWLVxYyDBf4cgCI/s1600/Coal+Tits+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a really decent procession of birds to the feeders: we are providing Peanuts, a seed mix with sunflower hearts added and a square of fat/nut mix.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After two weeks of the garden bird survey, we are seeing great numbers of Coal Tits, up to seven on view at any one time! The other tits are not far behind and other good showings include Chaffinches, nearly 20.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNgN1-6Jl2jkhpqVmf24wLUYgY2Od2avK8uXkS56ZlLm77HXFOSl8r6bnRiHHsrMbpFAR0LjJnFt2y6hY-97_FMsPj_Ktx7y6-y394PqenBFzn7iu41-xWYjfLRlmIKmIFQ9wbMKpYuI/s1600/GSW+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNgN1-6Jl2jkhpqVmf24wLUYgY2Od2avK8uXkS56ZlLm77HXFOSl8r6bnRiHHsrMbpFAR0LjJnFt2y6hY-97_FMsPj_Ktx7y6-y394PqenBFzn7iu41-xWYjfLRlmIKmIFQ9wbMKpYuI/s320/GSW+003.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Gt Spot Pecker, gets stuck in! (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Best of all, after an absence all autumn, the local Great Spotted Woodpecker weighs in daily, a female, joined just this weekend by a second bird, a male: a much brighter bird with red nape and much cleaner underparts. Both birds seem a little more relaxed towards our in house movements than heretofore, and spend a bit more time on the peanut feeder, though the female does insist on zero tolerance and/or sharing the feeder with members of the tit family: reaching out its drill like bill towards any bold approaches to the feeder when it is in occupation.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D7seBrRJZsCQQFT6oBl1U_i0XQ97hni7R4_HB5oyjXj_p-K5TkRgiSe0bd8pRZQcxK62D7x9l3IS564RrBjUfeA3K-NogOS-C99k5aniXqD0WiEr_iIQ3qyS4gShyUIct-pnQ1zQ8EQ/s1600/GSW+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D7seBrRJZsCQQFT6oBl1U_i0XQ97hni7R4_HB5oyjXj_p-K5TkRgiSe0bd8pRZQcxK62D7x9l3IS564RrBjUfeA3K-NogOS-C99k5aniXqD0WiEr_iIQ3qyS4gShyUIct-pnQ1zQ8EQ/s320/GSW+001.jpg" width="287" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br />Look, no Coal Tits! (c.OO'S)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEwx6gVECW1kPmy7D9pxBxn8UFh6cg0F9XMsbvtDibB0oKWrQdzNLYEgFWZwMzT7YLSzHaE5AsjCHqEro31VyJXw4wwh8bfi9eUgFscG62jjni0Hl32sBdwhyP8_SSYpcZ-NPl626NkU/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEwx6gVECW1kPmy7D9pxBxn8UFh6cg0F9XMsbvtDibB0oKWrQdzNLYEgFWZwMzT7YLSzHaE5AsjCHqEro31VyJXw4wwh8bfi9eUgFscG62jjni0Hl32sBdwhyP8_SSYpcZ-NPl626NkU/s320/021.JPG" width="320" /></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Seed, Fat or Peanuts? Spoilt for choice! (c.OO'S)</span></td></tr>
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-67207923101354163592016-10-25T11:52:00.000-07:002016-10-25T11:56:29.720-07:00News from the Garden Bird Survey<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3Wf_aQ-KFyYbv21hH3VEuy-Wn180qt7SlBktM4liRg439fCQQygUYIWitsPEBCGSY9j9v9NVOTATm_Wcg6UNZHZFaQyua7pjVagMnEf7NfG_CQtJ3qYse2KZVcAkkIBUl1ECHifQB-o/s1600/Greenfinch+20+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3Wf_aQ-KFyYbv21hH3VEuy-Wn180qt7SlBktM4liRg439fCQQygUYIWitsPEBCGSY9j9v9NVOTATm_Wcg6UNZHZFaQyua7pjVagMnEf7NfG_CQtJ3qYse2KZVcAkkIBUl1ECHifQB-o/s320/Greenfinch+20+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Greenfinch (Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You might have noticed that activity around the feeders is stepping up so<span style="font-size: small;">mewhat: colder nights and shortening days mean more and more birds are including the feeders as part of their daily routine, if not survival plan.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The results from last winters Survey have just been published in Wings magazine, ahead of this winter's survey which is still a month away.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Greenfinches are back in the top ten, at ninth, showing a slight recovery, perhaps from the pervasive <i>Trichomonosis</i> disease that hit their numbers over the last decade.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0g823mfVr8k_n578lMsz5tsI7oHF5WULdyJy1vXeMktZEUZwI3vmq0imF6w4U9q_pL1XxEpxCFCiqfRpShc7115KCrM-lUGTQyEsLf2eRC70KmmzpEnUZCUJlc0SGlkekWRxjz1naF6Y/s1600/Siskin+IMG_8832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0g823mfVr8k_n578lMsz5tsI7oHF5WULdyJy1vXeMktZEUZwI3vmq0imF6w4U9q_pL1XxEpxCFCiqfRpShc7115KCrM-lUGTQyEsLf2eRC70KmmzpEnUZCUJlc0SGlkekWRxjz1naF6Y/s320/Siskin+IMG_8832.jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Siskin drops in, end of season. (Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You will have noticed no doubt that Goldfinches are swelling their ranks, at eighth, occurring in 86% of our gardens. Siskins were welcomed back, after a really poor showing the previous winter, they dropped by at the tail end of the winter, in February 2016, to nearly 60% of gardens.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With all these positive finch stories, no surprise then that the stand out garden predator, the Sparrowhawk, was present and attending the vicinity of the feeders in over 40% of gardens. This is a very high position for this species and is a good indication of the balancing act that goes on in bird populations and the dynamic relationship between predator and prey. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9m-TfxlpyyhrNNAKLNextIMTIwACjq1QHX2iOPKROaDtE48RRHRoi5neX-pX46xecBXcuLBhEusROtu9wGBAJGdsdR8QiUgiOnnfSerq1UHV2sqhkGvRGGPLKl73tSbbVaGPCNOsogd8/s1600/Sparrowhawk+12+%2528juv%2529+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9m-TfxlpyyhrNNAKLNextIMTIwACjq1QHX2iOPKROaDtE48RRHRoi5neX-pX46xecBXcuLBhEusROtu9wGBAJGdsdR8QiUgiOnnfSerq1UHV2sqhkGvRGGPLKl73tSbbVaGPCNOsogd8/s320/Sparrowhawk+12+%2528juv%2529+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Juvenile Sparrowhawk (Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, we have a little over a month to get our garden birds primed and ready for this winters survey, I have a couple of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Linnets visiting right now, I hope they are still around when the form filling begins!</span></span>Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-74560177926924651322016-10-10T13:25:00.001-07:002016-10-10T13:25:17.893-07:00Meadow Pipits move in<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvrV-kU5ofOIKSXc-RdBgRNpvu9OC5rhIEsLm454GLgQpeAz9tXxBzmkN49baqN1n6zxOGmJNAMz5Anr5kKIqtbm-B8jHYG_hb07OJ2lw6UnLC7Ej8_3KCH7yID74oGwcpALcEcBOSEo/s1600/Meadow+Pipit+SConn01+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvrV-kU5ofOIKSXc-RdBgRNpvu9OC5rhIEsLm454GLgQpeAz9tXxBzmkN49baqN1n6zxOGmJNAMz5Anr5kKIqtbm-B8jHYG_hb07OJ2lw6UnLC7Ej8_3KCH7yID74oGwcpALcEcBOSEo/s320/Meadow+Pipit+SConn01+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Meadow Pipit (c. Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Autumn migration, inland, never really reaches the dizzy heights of the coast, its headlands and islands. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">October here opens with a steady stream of Meadow Pipits, moving over recently stubbled fields, in small groups, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">their thin 'tseep- tseep' calls and weak flight as subtle as their brown plumage: Not exactly a straight swap over the same fields for departing Swallows, a bit subtle themselves this year, with no obvious pre-migration gatherings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> However the pipits are both long and short distance migrants to us. These birds may be just moving to lower altitude for the winter,from higher ground in county Wicklow, like the Linnet flock which is also building. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1kkOv8wRBFFB17nkDOjHbPpr98bjRBf3vKiqdqNldWUEFv1IiXqOXqZZIZJVDQQ3Oex08hwdHwZ5BNZKxbenjkAzWPVUbt_VDAIcm9uAgst_cnzTLkwBrY3qaAfQltZGzlBvPvBmyFI/s1600/Malahide+Meadow+Pipit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1kkOv8wRBFFB17nkDOjHbPpr98bjRBf3vKiqdqNldWUEFv1IiXqOXqZZIZJVDQQ3Oex08hwdHwZ5BNZKxbenjkAzWPVUbt_VDAIcm9uAgst_cnzTLkwBrY3qaAfQltZGzlBvPvBmyFI/s320/Malahide+Meadow+Pipit.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Meadow Pipit (c. Liam Kane)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wit</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">h counts of over 1,000 a day recorded at migration stations such as Cape Clear, the movement there is thought to be more long distance, birds migrating to us or just passing through from Iceland and Scandinavia, moving as far south as North Africa to spend the winter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of my favourite October migrant</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s is</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the Goldcrest, spotted on the coast or in t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he home garden, they are often heard calling from cover as they feed incessantly. This bird was spotted</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> sitting up, perky enough on the doormat: most likely it was recovering from a collision with the patio door, it flew off into the sycamores as I approached it, seemingly none the worst for wear. I was happy to put it to flight before a cat discovered it on the ground. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetQ2ugdrVqEkllbnh5kgmkiPXE959zBCaFhnFvFBDbleMrEUe6aGX0jPAElLbTwi3nDtQiDvCK8wf9fnoeS4ldmGWDapN63V4UF500SEeM48YEQ3DfIYmyJuIKmbmgkUlTVospjWITA0/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetQ2ugdrVqEkllbnh5kgmkiPXE959zBCaFhnFvFBDbleMrEUe6aGX0jPAElLbTwi3nDtQiDvCK8wf9fnoeS4ldmGWDapN63V4UF500SEeM48YEQ3DfIYmyJuIKmbmgkUlTVospjWITA0/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="305" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Goldcrest (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<br />Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-74293894957444875302016-09-12T05:49:00.003-07:002016-09-12T05:51:45.949-07:00September song<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4ai2TQzBm8l0E0hraSU0CE4hA9HIBQDaNca5YC5JeaeWehLSlyPHnxKtOpoEJ3DxDhseb3HGEdMAzUf4JoCSLWAFDqxKptYjxqH-rOkkY0usyDSBE8Q4z9WD-M4lxeHECjaGgfP8SgU/s1600/Castle+Lake+Robin+Best.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4ai2TQzBm8l0E0hraSU0CE4hA9HIBQDaNca5YC5JeaeWehLSlyPHnxKtOpoEJ3DxDhseb3HGEdMAzUf4JoCSLWAFDqxKptYjxqH-rOkkY0usyDSBE8Q4z9WD-M4lxeHECjaGgfP8SgU/s320/Castle+Lake+Robin+Best.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Robin in song (c. Liam Kane)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have discovered a new alarm clock: pleasant on the ear and reliable to go off each morning, currently at about 6.00 am.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Robin is one of the few birds that sings nearly all year round. We have just come out of the moult period when even Robins have to remain silent and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">inconspicuous. This is</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in order to avoid detection when they might be flightless or partially so, and thus vulnerable.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAj1CejXZ47PkyzDZVYnksSgNniQKazvx_mvCbKAG_H2GisPDPOWgp9gJ0l3eA6rh7UvB88_H28pHG3AYYaP6uDnD5G2euBrXMzDnBVsZcWAAw_lLuLlMJFK8cWFamVeBLM_NeNT8QSQ/s1600/Garden+Robin+2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioAj1CejXZ47PkyzDZVYnksSgNniQKazvx_mvCbKAG_H2GisPDPOWgp9gJ0l3eA6rh7UvB88_H28pHG3AYYaP6uDnD5G2euBrXMzDnBVsZcWAAw_lLuLlMJFK8cWFamVeBLM_NeNT8QSQ/s320/Garden+Robin+2016.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">A juvenile Robin: now all moulted into adult plumage (c. Liam Kane)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because Robins hold winter territories, they resume song in Autumn. Both sexes sing, though audible, they usually remain in cover while singing to lessen the threat from passing predators.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The song at this time of the year is different from the early spring version: more melancholy and understated, aimed at forming and holding a territory as distinct from attracting a mate. Both sexes sing but in spring it is the male that delivers the strongest performance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Because Robins can sing and forage in very low light conditions, they are usually last to finish and first up in the morning, and if there is an artificial light source, will sometimes sing through the night. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">C. (Liam Kane)</span></td></tr>
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-55785293289009993542016-08-09T10:39:00.000-07:002016-08-09T10:39:00.692-07:00Leaving it Late <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13E3so7lyMwSitJGQHXboRaa7fA8JwBBobeUrQfeVDszOr2UsTQ1EowP8VJodZdmS1E48e9dHYJGtxoaiffRIcY1WjpyPcKHrnv6XlxG0AhHKlAylabncfsdbneXqlZNwWmvSqes0RWI/s1600/3H8A1495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13E3so7lyMwSitJGQHXboRaa7fA8JwBBobeUrQfeVDszOr2UsTQ1EowP8VJodZdmS1E48e9dHYJGtxoaiffRIcY1WjpyPcKHrnv6XlxG0AhHKlAylabncfsdbneXqlZNwWmvSqes0RWI/s320/3H8A1495.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here on the east coast, if you miss the early spring rush of Cuckoos on migration, well you may have to wait til end of season. So it was for me this year, but I did get lucky just in time. The Wicklow coast can often produce a late adult or an even later juvenile bird, tempted to remain with us if the weather is warm and their favourite prey is in evidence.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The adults are most evident in late April when calling birds attract all kinds of attention, from small birds and diligent countryside watchers. Because they get their breeding business done relatively early, that is, lay the eggs but pass on the raising fledglings bit, they are free to depart for Africa in mid-summer.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcrtKJyT5BEr7bCVJNiZgtEB6hG8E6_7XUKboHkjrVofl1wTJ83BYRMZNB3pTPtjngmUCNLCKYN7g2uo1oD-S-EcVE253TWBox0IYIwW1GeTOeH2zzEYHER-_Wiqz3nuJtiacRTxcmhw/s1600/3H8A1584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcrtKJyT5BEr7bCVJNiZgtEB6hG8E6_7XUKboHkjrVofl1wTJ83BYRMZNB3pTPtjngmUCNLCKYN7g2uo1oD-S-EcVE253TWBox0IYIwW1GeTOeH2zzEYHER-_Wiqz3nuJtiacRTxcmhw/s320/3H8A1584.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Ireland they typically use a Meadow Pipits nest to drop their egg in and move on around their chosen territories, repeating the act and trusting the unfortunate Pipit to raise and foster the soon gigantic young Cuckoo. By late July it is only the successful juveniles that are to be seen: Remarkably , these young birds must acquire or inherit information that that will first guide them south into Africa and return in spring with the knowledge of what to lay and what host to seek, always ensuring their egg matches the colour of the hosts.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The diet of Cuckoos is highly specialised, mainly composed of Caterpillars and often the hairy or more toxic ones. So no wonder really that a bird that depends on the fortunes of its host species and also has a specialist protein diet that is in decline, mainly due to intensification of the landscape over the last half century, struggles to show off its iconic spring status in numbers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JLCsmOvY3RqYbJnX8XS651mlSNnSzvdVzBzAhdVrD-pND0foEYssBRPdxpkc9lNSWEYdxlBnv5Evkp4QjgOiwdvhHnyWD3dTjciS_XL-Q3mA2be7blJD0flwVjPvdk9p6SVE79M6kIs/s1600/3H8A1641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JLCsmOvY3RqYbJnX8XS651mlSNnSzvdVzBzAhdVrD-pND0foEYssBRPdxpkc9lNSWEYdxlBnv5Evkp4QjgOiwdvhHnyWD3dTjciS_XL-Q3mA2be7blJD0flwVjPvdk9p6SVE79M6kIs/s320/3H8A1641.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bird that appeared on the railway line at Newcastle was a very dark juvenile, quite confiding as it had found a decent food supply in the unkempt meadows and dune slacks on the fringes of thetracks. This is traditionally a very warm and dry strip, well known for basking lizards and lots of butterflies and Burnet Moths, so a temporary sort of home for a young Cuckoo, making its way south.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This wonderful set of photographs of the juvenile Cuckoo were taken by c. Shay Connolly, </span>Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-12181370513541915942016-07-19T14:43:00.004-07:002016-07-19T14:43:58.306-07:00Sunny side up !<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETNrct1Yr0Jc1C0uRZYX4V3y0uqLqY-dY672FSIapPJ8LKrRTeAfL91Q0Vt411N_Woqb0C-MIjxbupkk3j8YwCt6W_tRh93Qp2Ux1vP8bdSsHdcXJfGnfP74MaIAih1IEQ8nd0goeQAA/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETNrct1Yr0Jc1C0uRZYX4V3y0uqLqY-dY672FSIapPJ8LKrRTeAfL91Q0Vt411N_Woqb0C-MIjxbupkk3j8YwCt6W_tRh93Qp2Ux1vP8bdSsHdcXJfGnfP74MaIAih1IEQ8nd0goeQAA/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robin in full sun mode (c. OOS)</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What a blast of heat around Ireland and further south, soon to moderate though, well, we were a little uncomfortable in all that heat if the truth be known.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Out on the lawn just south west of the house, I have become accustomed to some strange posturing in the grass. Usually a Blackbird, but also a Dunnock and a Robin have taken to just lying down and stretching spread eagled in the turf..birds sun bathing with attitude and a purpose.. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Dunnock stretching a point (OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By stretching out and extending feather tracts, birds stimulate the preen glands to produce oils which improve performance of flight feathers and also flush out feather parasites.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The procedure can look a little weird or grotesque, particularly when Dunnocks are involved.they look so cat like with that two toned eye!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They are also very much exposed to the threat of predators attacking as they lie prone and seemingly dazed in the heat. I have noticed they break the procedure quickly, if any movement is detected.</span><br />
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-66216652683197977792016-06-30T13:16:00.004-07:002016-06-30T13:26:10.339-07:00Out and about with the young ones<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Juv Gt Spot: note red forehead ( c. Shay Connolly)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The last two weeks have been full of the sounds of high summer, perhaps it's a bit unfortunate that they all sound the same: "tsee, tsee ,tsee", which translates to ," I'm a juv., tit I might be out of the nest but I still want to be fed", which sounds familiar on various levels!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This time of the year I keep the peanut feeder topped up, there's a procession of Great Tits which nested just 3 meters away from the feeder and the adults often utilised this food source for a quick protein hit after emerging from the nestbox.. Since the young have fledged, we witnessed the young standing off and begging to be fed which has now matured into a family feed, with adults and young hanging from the feeder all together.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back home, we are still waiting for the woodpeckers to just drop in: they nest about 800 meters down the road and are reliable enough in winter: there's been lots of records in Wicklow over the last two weeks on the Bird Net, of birds flying through relatively open ground, a sign of dispersal of juveniles and adults, setting up new territories: perhaps it was a great breeding season!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I saw one, then two birds whilst down at the coast at Newcastle: they fled scrubby, Alder trees, disturbed by my car and bounded across a meadow, before settling in the canopy of more willow and alder on the ECNR.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Juv Stonechat, an engaging gem on the Wicklow coast (Juvenile Stonechat (Mairéad Nà Chuirc)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was a decent lunchtime: haunting, evocative calls of returning Curlew, from northern Europe, reminding us that the clock's really ticking, for breeding Curlew and the advance of Autumn. One of my favourite juvenile birds is the Stonechat: their engaging stone clacking call and often animated behaviour grabbing the attention: tail flicking and rising to he highest frond of bracken or briar. A real gem of the Wicklow coastline, they are now breeding well after the hard winters of 6 or 7 winters ago, which set the population back. </span><br />
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-75217180118876840542016-06-04T08:59:00.004-07:002016-06-04T08:59:50.780-07:00Perennial favourites<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a blast of great weather: dry, warm and sunny for over a week now, just as all the common birds around the garden are feeding young. Great too for the pollinators, the bees and butterflies are out and about in numbers, not to mention garden enthusiasts.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirS73lkAAVHQLeSjQthiQ49edwD0kSlqlqmakhrfqlPEfuyPjlwWVWR0VElGrQwygxyiNUO6TfDCpbVX2f1WXRd19d6UTbj6X9rf1HJQN489ipEydZ5Tq-Wz_HkAoPhwt1bHofA1iFCA0/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirS73lkAAVHQLeSjQthiQ49edwD0kSlqlqmakhrfqlPEfuyPjlwWVWR0VElGrQwygxyiNUO6TfDCpbVX2f1WXRd19d6UTbj6X9rf1HJQN489ipEydZ5Tq-Wz_HkAoPhwt1bHofA1iFCA0/s320/FullSizeRender+%25283%2529.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="317" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Hardy Geranium and browsing bumble bee (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The best performing plants for us right now, are the perennial or hardy geraniums and of course, Aquilegeas or Columbine, also known as granny's bonnets. They self seed around and give a show of lovely sharp, navy blue and purple flowers around the flower beds, rising up to attract bees in numbers.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzFb_uABfYBOdXhXmcYFFFR_CfXTqeG8WPMMNgjxUnQQUZyMO6NQDDKi4sDKxXl5ihiczGZCRtZN3Pbwh4wdkhA3S0ZC6Q69k8v33pRE1QYpfA29EiepK5dNYNUibGjgj9lKqglmqBRw/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikzFb_uABfYBOdXhXmcYFFFR_CfXTqeG8WPMMNgjxUnQQUZyMO6NQDDKi4sDKxXl5ihiczGZCRtZN3Pbwh4wdkhA3S0ZC6Q69k8v33pRE1QYpfA29EiepK5dNYNUibGjgj9lKqglmqBRw/s320/FullSizeRender+%25284%2529.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Aquilegeas in full flower (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are all timely, for the weekend that is in it, Bloom in the Park: I always associate enormous Aliums and Aquilegeas with the show, and folk walking by with their prize purchases, though maybe this year more walk by with ice cream cones and a fizzy drink! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Interesting how the name Aquilegea is rooted in the latin for Eagle or Aquila, which is probably a reference to the curled up tips to the petals resembling an eagles wing tips.. Columbine is a reference to doves, the arrangement of petals recalling a circle of doves. Bees love to climb right in to the blooms splashing lemon colured pollen on their backs in return for a nectar drink.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Granny's Bonnet or Aquilegea (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-82488337112098680792016-05-11T12:13:00.005-07:002016-05-11T12:13:54.790-07:00Weaving magic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyqsl04mMScoecfMLyhLrt6UT_BqgUJupz8V9dUgrYMMUq__ViGQHhzyzm_skEqMeVxJr2XDY4BqDzhgL0KSMmM51wx93yYxVajJbI_2P-cKBPEqY9ZARkidXGZNjdhZ2fGHG-whnBso/s1600/_DSC0117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyqsl04mMScoecfMLyhLrt6UT_BqgUJupz8V9dUgrYMMUq__ViGQHhzyzm_skEqMeVxJr2XDY4BqDzhgL0KSMmM51wx93yYxVajJbI_2P-cKBPEqY9ZARkidXGZNjdhZ2fGHG-whnBso/s320/_DSC0117.JPG" width="251" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Bunjee jumping from a silken thread (c. J.Fox)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Goldcrest has got to be one of my favourite birds: not leas because they have so many fascinating facts and figures connected to this pocket rocket package. They look so good with a smart, sometimes dazzling head pattern and that big black peppercorn eye, suspended in a cool ashy grey face, accentuated by a furrowed, drooping gape line.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have heard plenty of Goldcrest song in recent weeks, a very thin,hurried verse, recalling an unoiled wheel revolution, repeated 3 or 4 times before fizzling out.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This vocal presence didn't prepare me for the fact that they have taken to visiting the window frames around the house: we run a wildlife establishment here and so you can expect plenty of cob webs and silky thread balls in the crevices around the windows.. there's about twenty separate window frames at ground floor level, so lots of opportunities for extracting silky strands from spiders webs. These in turn are spirited away for use as a sort of 'fairies duct tape' woven around the Goldcrests nest. The operation gives me a great chance to see the bird up close and wonder at the fearlessness of this little gem. As Europes smallest bird, it weighs roughly 7 grams, or 4 Goldcrests to the ounce, in old money, roughly about the same weight as a 20 cent coin.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIyC5tVW-yhUk2leZYDN0EoVo3kpN-U0AMV7ImzuAo824nmW_-wrJf_sUWaQ6ebU3Nxc_NiGoQ2MkZZZ5itESkpGYnRu_4NTCDMWH45wSzfR8nGPKNxyNHALKJzinRiLrfZOS_vp1lpM/s1600/DSC_3833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIyC5tVW-yhUk2leZYDN0EoVo3kpN-U0AMV7ImzuAo824nmW_-wrJf_sUWaQ6ebU3Nxc_NiGoQ2MkZZZ5itESkpGYnRu_4NTCDMWH45wSzfR8nGPKNxyNHALKJzinRiLrfZOS_vp1lpM/s320/DSC_3833.jpg" width="224" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Goldcrest on dock stem in autumn.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Surprisingly perhaps, the delicate nest can house up to 12 eggs, though only pea sized, the clutch still weighs one and a half times the weight of the adult female.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A word of caution: if you find it hard or impossible to discern the song of this little character, it is said that as a standard to test ones hearing, it is one of the first bird songs or sounds lost to old age!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPpqHbZyMPDdUOSaco0zyYRVYrvhRCk-OWft-HFs6aqXuc7zBWsbhTgLmaKwDoeQg1WITIpdTvMEqBXI8o3o4epc7InslxRyglagXj-DglgQgl9-HReyUaVeH31yjzU-sJGi_VxG2Zb4/s1600/Goldcrest+06+%2528Michael+Finn%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPpqHbZyMPDdUOSaco0zyYRVYrvhRCk-OWft-HFs6aqXuc7zBWsbhTgLmaKwDoeQg1WITIpdTvMEqBXI8o3o4epc7InslxRyglagXj-DglgQgl9-HReyUaVeH31yjzU-sJGi_VxG2Zb4/s320/Goldcrest+06+%2528Michael+Finn%2529.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">High protein diet (c. Michael Finn)</span></td></tr>
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<br />Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-33141423605080298532016-04-11T13:08:00.001-07:002016-04-11T13:08:16.495-07:00Hello, Goodbye..<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUp7B-XNWb3BrLKNW0skYD0lOpqHCj8T5Si83cnBdp_10lNEWWJ6jJvw_kadu_4VaCRYv1vE7aPGSrhHxDes4PS51NL0bmxDRaXliFjOeOj-b156EFB1buypw-XayMYKPzKvc7EaopMgc/s1600/White-fronted+Goose+16+%2528Alyn+Walsh%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUp7B-XNWb3BrLKNW0skYD0lOpqHCj8T5Si83cnBdp_10lNEWWJ6jJvw_kadu_4VaCRYv1vE7aPGSrhHxDes4PS51NL0bmxDRaXliFjOeOj-b156EFB1buypw-XayMYKPzKvc7EaopMgc/s320/White-fronted+Goose+16+%2528Alyn+Walsh%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Greenland White fronted Geese (c. A Walsh)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The end of March with an early Easter and some more time around the garden, it was really appreciated. Weather very changeable and plenty of rain and hail stones into April, though the end of March was better.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Best of the passage birds were not entirely unexpected, but most unusual for us~: A late dusk, 8.00pm, listening for Blackbirds in song is always a treat, but the sound of geese, high overhead, the lovely cascade of notes, as if saying: 'keep in touch' , that we know so well from Wexford: White-fronted Geese, a flock of about 30 birds. They were taking advantage of a light southerly to blow them north, they move ahead of some rough weather due the next day. I wonder whether they will pitch up just north of us on Vartry Reservoir, at Roundwood or continue north as far as the Donegal coast or make straight for Iceland.. nobody could really enlighten me on this! This is our second 'flyover' record in spring.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The spring migrants weighed in on time: Chiff Chaffs in song, followed by Swallow, Blackcap and Willow Warbler.. all is right with the world, though the thick carpet of hail on the newly mown lawn makes you wonder!</span>Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-48962738190709734022016-03-14T13:50:00.001-07:002016-03-14T13:50:12.272-07:00Winter thrushes just passing through..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3NxY71fygJliKUuiWM8f-H6EMVICXte2fANVMfk-YaycKsdAtWlEFaRlAfI5tDdnA4bRgylpLXLhssiZch49E3McH4B6tQ9AhLdM9OcHVe5pYuLHmYp2jgIyM9AuA4CCh-2U0943zMY/s1600/Redwing+21+%2528Brendan+Shiels%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3NxY71fygJliKUuiWM8f-H6EMVICXte2fANVMfk-YaycKsdAtWlEFaRlAfI5tDdnA4bRgylpLXLhssiZch49E3McH4B6tQ9AhLdM9OcHVe5pYuLHmYp2jgIyM9AuA4CCh-2U0943zMY/s320/Redwing+21+%2528Brendan+Shiels%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redwing in Hawthorn, (c.Brendan Shiels)</td></tr>
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Though the Garden Bird Survey has finished, there are still movements of winter birds to note: A flight of nearly 40 Redwings located mid afternoon, calling a thin 'seeepp', as they made out from the stand of Birch Trees, over the garden, heading purposefully east. This was exciting as it was my first sighting since the migration from Europe, back in November. Despite its thin quality, this call travels a fair distance and is a valuable contact aid to these migratory thrushes, most often recorded on wintery nights in November as the inward influx from mainland Europe takes hold.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcUP_DOcCTRZ5Sj_wAXF4NLE6wiXdiB_M9rWeeTfef2SsGbp_So1XZ2MFs32lGspKi9HP3S6hpv3F60dyijyoAAFITK2p5brbWN4X3QSdDSpoQ8lTknPYzcoww06igGb9cK-detMvOrk/s1600/Redwing+26+%2528taken+in+to+care+due+to+cold+weather%2529+Fiona+van+Dokkum%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcUP_DOcCTRZ5Sj_wAXF4NLE6wiXdiB_M9rWeeTfef2SsGbp_So1XZ2MFs32lGspKi9HP3S6hpv3F60dyijyoAAFITK2p5brbWN4X3QSdDSpoQ8lTknPYzcoww06igGb9cK-detMvOrk/s320/Redwing+26+%2528taken+in+to+care+due+to+cold+weather%2529+Fiona+van+Dokkum%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redwing picked up and cared for in hard weather ( F. Van Dokkum)</td></tr>
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A few of my colleagues also noted Redwings in recent evenings. During a mild winter, some of our winter thrushes don't need to make the journey to Ireland. However, our Redwings can originate from Icelandic populations or indeed the Fenno Scandinavian race. They have a huge winter range which extends into southern Europe and east to Cyprus and as far as the Caspian Sea and some of our sightings at this time may well refer to passage migrants. Both races of Redwing can intermingle in winter but go there separate ways for the breeding season. In exceptionally hard weather conditions you may witness a mid-winter wave of additional migrants, fleeing a frozen continental Europe: these birds are often desperate for energy and food supplies, hence their tameness and willingness to enter gardens to scour for berries and scraps. Many don't survive the harshest weather, so not having Redwings in your garden may mean that Redwings are doing just fine, elsewhere..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbBLXss_hgeDFhpd7SfBBu3uzIRjZKuqF3HDIt48aXoDqfFm3fkloDNUQll31CyqcCxANePQXp9TmhPJC-Gz7MG7xP_OnIdlqgZWp272VwKQWllXP9o2WKwEwWyT_623b9JzH-NzosQU/s1600/Redwing+24+%2528Dick+Coombes%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbBLXss_hgeDFhpd7SfBBu3uzIRjZKuqF3HDIt48aXoDqfFm3fkloDNUQll31CyqcCxANePQXp9TmhPJC-Gz7MG7xP_OnIdlqgZWp272VwKQWllXP9o2WKwEwWyT_623b9JzH-NzosQU/s320/Redwing+24+%2528Dick+Coombes%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redwing (c. Dick Coombes)</td></tr>
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<br />Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-64003193229505072852016-02-13T03:20:00.000-08:002016-02-13T03:20:01.763-08:00Goldfinches: swings and roundabouts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8BF2s1xJ6gTd6h8pG1pJXy3nRtztske_OPMBLaiJswBSIqZLhpHhPtMyq51tRG7cqFYWn1N5U79kHkYIWh9ZyqXmRyPW3lbg5th6OautGoM_e-6lc0M7bB7LqSfDgYrJGnhFmI17nlw/s1600/Goldfinches+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8BF2s1xJ6gTd6h8pG1pJXy3nRtztske_OPMBLaiJswBSIqZLhpHhPtMyq51tRG7cqFYWn1N5U79kHkYIWh9ZyqXmRyPW3lbg5th6OautGoM_e-6lc0M7bB7LqSfDgYrJGnhFmI17nlw/s320/Goldfinches+001.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">A pair on a Nyjer feeder (c.OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A letter to the recently published Wings magazine questions the abundance of Goldfinches in gardens this winter. We received a good, quick response from Garden Bird watchers, with some interesting observations. We wont really have an accurate picture until all the Garden Bird Survey results are in and analysed, but its good to get a mid season response, albeit from a small sample.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Flocks of 20 and indeed up to 30 Goldfinches have been reported from regular stations around the country but 2 respondents in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey report contrasting fortunes: birds and no birds... maybe Goldfinches can pick and choose their garden, they certainly seem to share info as flocks usually build from an initial pair.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Respondents with the biggest numbers of birds cite the Goldfinches preference for Sunflower Hearts over Nyjer seeds. Another had heard that stale Nyjer seed is unattractive to Goldies and even gives off an odour which prompts the birds to stay away. This observer replaced his Nyjer stock and noted a return of birds. A garden with just a line of Lavender plants, with seed heads in place, was visited by a flock. Worth repeating the wildlife gardening mantra of 'keep your heads' as distinct from the tidy gardener who is 'off with their heads', when it comes to garden perennials and herbs. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I myself had a few Goldies, building up to six this winter, relying mainly on Peanuts and naturally occurring Teasel for food: the Goldies have since moved on and I have reverted to Nyjer seed in an effort to get them back, time will tell! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Pix, c. OOS</span></td></tr>
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-6488504751742302492016-01-29T05:30:00.002-08:002016-01-29T05:30:11.595-08:00On Guard!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1supHTksptxq8x-XqvtGyaOhdoL-OjvaSaAoI-hO2m0QueaQKUPvwm65WWsAZqo9kz3JATCBQ2UvlqlYHMSGjqeonquIuiBjpFQQs1tOc7KpMBw4Tqaux-GzdB_UO6SbWHb05DX1ndr8/s1600/Mistle+Thrush+83+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1supHTksptxq8x-XqvtGyaOhdoL-OjvaSaAoI-hO2m0QueaQKUPvwm65WWsAZqo9kz3JATCBQ2UvlqlYHMSGjqeonquIuiBjpFQQs1tOc7KpMBw4Tqaux-GzdB_UO6SbWHb05DX1ndr8/s320/Mistle+Thrush+83+%2528Shay+Connolly%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mistle Thrush c. Shay Connolly.</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mistle Thrushes often avail of an elevated perch, from a conifer top to a high aerial or telegraph wire: to advertise their strong,far carrying and plaintive song that is noticable from January onwards.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As well as being an aggressive species in the breeding season, they also defend a feeding territory, down to one bush, sometimes for the whole of the winter. We have one such bird on the hedgerow en route to the village: perched over a good sized Holly tree, still with berries. Invariably, as I drive past there is a Mistle Thrush perched up on a telegraph wire, perfectly placed beside the favoured Holly tree. Any thrush species that come close to investigate the food store are chased away midst the clamour of an urgent rattling call, backed up by a swooping descent on the intruder.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXL5dgCh0RwIQar2CuDsqQWFxmgn7wihFhty-G_zuLpP7YGk1G4Oj9BXe1ynOOGZYtULOUpxGEGqFtMBBmoWe76yKZ5sZhnf57MuMJu9HYgLcCa5mJXT0wybA5RHQ1NWVziijp0L7ah4/s1600/Mistle+Thrush+94+%2528David+Dillon%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXL5dgCh0RwIQar2CuDsqQWFxmgn7wihFhty-G_zuLpP7YGk1G4Oj9BXe1ynOOGZYtULOUpxGEGqFtMBBmoWe76yKZ5sZhnf57MuMJu9HYgLcCa5mJXT0wybA5RHQ1NWVziijp0L7ah4/s320/Mistle+Thrush+94+%2528David+Dillon%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Where there's fruit.. there's a Mistle Thrush ( c. David Dillon)</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> It is said that in really hard weather that this defence of a tree and reliable food source is abandoned, only because the pressure of numbers from other thrushes can't be defended and better to share and get some food than none at all, when futile defence is likely to have an adverse affect on actual feeding time.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mistle on an ornamental or Chinese Rowan (c. Peter Walsh).</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Though audible and highly visible, Mistle Thrushes are rather scarce, and apart from early autumn roaming flocks, are seldom seen in numbers and thus far, have remained off my Garden Bird Survey list this winter, though I am hopeful of recording a territory and a nest in one of the ash trees on our boundary, before the survey is finished at the end of February.</span></span><br />
Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-78503595091909971122016-01-12T08:26:00.004-08:002016-01-12T08:26:54.923-08:00Cold snap brings them in..<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEGjoxzlCyOoKzfRAV9oX8j-CbuMajB1AH8ugO1I0gcUSZ2rTv9r8GJ51P1qu6wRYS-qaOQkFAKmg9fTypXW48kP0Lttd3WxIxZ5uZOhaP3N2tHvuwXybPBD3W6Wfs1cgadh0_FWG1lA/s1600/IMG_8744+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEGjoxzlCyOoKzfRAV9oX8j-CbuMajB1AH8ugO1I0gcUSZ2rTv9r8GJ51P1qu6wRYS-qaOQkFAKmg9fTypXW48kP0Lttd3WxIxZ5uZOhaP3N2tHvuwXybPBD3W6Wfs1cgadh0_FWG1lA/s320/IMG_8744+a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Male Bullfinch in the Brambles (c.O O'Sullivan)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With a welcome break in the seemingly never ending sequence of wet days, it is cold, bright and windy, for this week anyway.. the Chaffinch flock is up to twenty or more , can't be long before a Brambling joins up?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A male Bullfinch almost went unnoticed as it sat in tight in the bramble hedge: for a bird with such a showy plumage, they can be subtle, particularly with only a soft mournful piping note to draw attention to them as they methodically search out winter seeds from cover. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The male that visited us is taking some seeds from the brambles. So far, I haven't been successful in attracting them to any of the food on offer in the feeders. They always look well fed, the stubby beak often with seed and fruit pulp stuck to it and the stubby neck gives them a thick set appearance.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even from behind though, the combination of a cool mid grey upper parts, black wings and crown ,white rump are distinctive. Then there's the rosy underparts of the male, a real show stopper!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Distinctive white rump and sharp contrasts (c. OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The dry remains of the blackberry season get a Bullfinch by in January.. (c. OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<br />Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-20926585563952414062015-12-28T09:06:00.002-08:002015-12-28T09:11:04.672-08:00Sing It: Happy New Year!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Dawn just before 9 am, 27 Dec, looking south towards Avoca (c. O OSullivan)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are all a bit washed out since last November, endless rain, storms racing across the Atlantic and picking up names from the Alphabet: We are on 'Storm Frank' as of tonight, at this rate, we might be at 'the Notorious Storm McGregor' within a few months!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really enjoyed a calm and crisp dawn, just a day ago; well worth recording the event and snapping the now gaunt and bare Elder trees and the mist rising up over the Avonbeg river valley, it might be a while before we get these conditions again. Next, after coffee, straight out into the garden to top up the feeders and then on to the nearby oakwood for some excercise . Incessant rain over the holiday period brings on cabin fever to this man and his dog. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The woodland was relatively quiet, compared to the garden, but we did hear a few Treecreepers, Redwing in search of Holly berries and a party of Long Tailed Tits was a nice, chance encounter. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just before exiting the Oakwood, we heard the chattering calls of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the canopy, at a point very close to last years nest hole, I reckoned there were two or three birds and there seemed to be a bit of chasing through the upper branches.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This would appear to be classic territorial behaviour, unusual I imagine in late December, but it has been so mild apart from this one cold,crisp dawn ( it was raining again within four hours and the temperature then rose sharply to 11 or 12 degrees.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Song Thrush delivers its message from a bare Willow ( c. O OSullivan) </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> No real wonder then that Song Thrushes are singing daily, for two weeks now, at least and Dunnocks, Mistle Thrushes and of course Robins join in. Territorial activity continues around the feeding station, though the Tit family and Finches seem to be content in mixed flocks and just quarrel and display over food and feeder etiquette.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMI5v1ewII2oUeiTFsNJs1w72vrDogEcw6dSJ_gpAqLXhV8_V5PSAHIlV2DMufSOVW0NIDmwxdYdLnJGWeOZkRWXg5TdDL76oC4Cfr12U9xtGRqFfnshyJ8g5DudT4EmrztekZzw_dVB8/s1600/IMG_8684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMI5v1ewII2oUeiTFsNJs1w72vrDogEcw6dSJ_gpAqLXhV8_V5PSAHIlV2DMufSOVW0NIDmwxdYdLnJGWeOZkRWXg5TdDL76oC4Cfr12U9xtGRqFfnshyJ8g5DudT4EmrztekZzw_dVB8/s320/IMG_8684.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">A rain soaked Robin sits out another wet one. (c. O O Sullivan)</span></td></tr>
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<br />Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-38122155654902080522015-11-28T06:50:00.000-08:002015-11-28T06:54:40.779-08:00Happy Monday!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This winters Garden Bird Survey gets off to a start on Monday 30th November. For many of us, the 12 weeks of survey time between now and the end of February, are the highlight of the winter. It has been running in its present format for over 20 years and we have witnessed some significant trends in that time. Goldfinches are the headline gain, but we have decent results for others, such as the House Sparrow, which holds it own here, despite the often quoted declines we hear about from the UK. The mixed farming landscape probably favours the Sparrows here more than in the UK and we have a pattern of housing settlement that provides lots of nesting opportunities. Sparrows utilise the house and garden area throughout the year, whereas your winter Chaffinch flock may be comprised of both local birds and winter migrants from Scandinavia. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_NncDW1Tghw7jCEB-Wrn0qDx2PvDjbCeMmw9P7lg19HhLf7i8oDtoLFKPdB3nxeUizRA-5Eo7Qp4CQt3R-ldvGIZrAuKvv6b6AVmE9QrlDAWtVH4_TdX76Cmv42N0eXZ79Majwt7QXA/s1600/Chaffinch+56+%2528Michael+Finn%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_NncDW1Tghw7jCEB-Wrn0qDx2PvDjbCeMmw9P7lg19HhLf7i8oDtoLFKPdB3nxeUizRA-5Eo7Qp4CQt3R-ldvGIZrAuKvv6b6AVmE9QrlDAWtVH4_TdX76Cmv42N0eXZ79Majwt7QXA/s320/Chaffinch+56+%2528Michael+Finn%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Male Chaffinch ( c. Michael Finn)</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Chaffinches are day migrants and can be seen arriving off the Irish Sea along the East coast round about this time. They have a hooked migration route, choosing to curtail long sea crossings by heading south east out of Sweden, down through the low countries and then bending up north and west from France across the English Channel before dispersing across the UK. The Chaffinch population shows a split in pattern with the females travelling further over the winter, with males remaining closer to their breeding home, all the better to set up a territory and assess the conditions for the nesting season, when spring arrives.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJmxc07Xt3ECXdZZb6bq2dpqARxbsQ9ZFMTyRN-wJbyeQcWrJqjq4cjubpbCBiETxCNAMFxom98Ta9mPmNp060Fmg0LetjaTyCA7znhn4L43hBit60NhLYOSsVBhqi-TmbOzElzXd4p8/s1600/Brambling+27+%2528Jamie+Durrant%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJmxc07Xt3ECXdZZb6bq2dpqARxbsQ9ZFMTyRN-wJbyeQcWrJqjq4cjubpbCBiETxCNAMFxom98Ta9mPmNp060Fmg0LetjaTyCA7znhn4L43hBit60NhLYOSsVBhqi-TmbOzElzXd4p8/s320/Brambling+27+%2528Jamie+Durrant%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Brambling (c. Jamie Durrant)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Look out for Bramblings amongst the Chaffinch flocks. They are particularly fond of Beech mast, which is more widely available in central Europe. Bramblings form absolutely enormous flocks in some winters in places like Slovenia, whereas we can usually only muster flocks of less than ten birds. When beech mast is scarce or exhausted, the birds may well come to seed feeders, what a lovely sight! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Beech Mast or nuts (c. O OSullivan)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two Top tips for the Garden Bird Survey: keep a notebook and pencil near your favourite watch point in the house. Note best numbers of the commoner birds and date them. By the end of each week you will already have noticed a pattern emerge. The weekend days are crucial for recording if you are out working, so notes are really a good idea and finally, keep the feeders topped up, even if you have to perform this task pre dawn or post dusk. Your reward will be decent garden bird watching, all weekend.</span></div>
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Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-88474099417578483852015-10-30T04:49:00.001-07:002015-10-30T04:49:44.450-07:00October Migrants<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Redwing (c. Brendan Shiels)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are watching a local headland or studying migration on one of our many offshore islands, movement and associated 'falls' of birds are central to the October scene. There is certainly no beating the excitement of a rare find, even if its an annual occurrence, such as a diminutive Yellow Browed Warbler or Firecrest: the former should be wintering in India but finds itself as a garden bird amongst the sycamore trees of west Corks headlands, courtesy of a reverse migration out of Siberia.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The October fare here in the middle of Wicklow is a little more restrained. We are situated on a pleasant slope at 150 meters altitude between the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers, well inland, but it has its moments too: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The scene around the garden boundary is quite busy, not surprising really, given the crop of ripe elderberries that are reducing in stock daily. The 16th October marked our first movement of winter thrushes: over 25 Redwing and a solitary Fieldfare flew out of the hedges at first light, along with a good number of Mistle Thrushes and Blackbirds. This is early enough for us, sometimes it is November before we experience those kind of movements, so I expect harsh conditions are already apparent in Northern Europe, leading to an early exodus south and west.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Fieldfare (c.David Dillon)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other visitors this month are what we often refer to as altitudinal migrants, involving birds moving shorter distances and out of nearby higher ground which is utilised for the breeding season. So the stubbles and hedgrows have Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, the first Linnet flocks and a Reed Bunting popped in to join the few resident Yellowhammers and House Sparrows. 'Flyovers', or visible migration consists of Grey Wagtails, Crossbills, Redpolls and Siskins. In these cases it is probably best to describe it as 'au</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dible migration', for it is the flight and contact calls that alert you to the movement of birds.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Skylark (c.O O Sullivan)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-52617863501148858362015-09-23T14:25:00.000-07:002015-09-24T00:02:16.905-07:00A Harvest in the Hedgerows<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">September sky, near Rathdrum (OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fields around here are looking tidy, newly shaven of their summer crops: oats and barley mostly, the stubbles remain, reflecting brightly in a sunlit,patchwork quilt, south and west facing landscape. Lovely to look at, but what's in it for the birds and bees? The stubbles have a few pairs of Yellowhammers, a parade of various crow species and the odd young Buzzard wandering around trying to figure out the handiest prey to be found for the least amount of energy expended. This. frequently ends in a persistent, almost sad chorus of mewing calls aimed at parents recently freed of parental duties..</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Speckled Wood on Blackberry blossom (OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the moment t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here's lots of life in the hedgerows. a walk down the lane usually results in a selection of Blackcaps, thrushes and blackbirds exiting ahead of the walker, often reluctant to leave the berry heavy boughs of Blackberry, Elder and Guelder Rose. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Elder berries: good for birds and humans! (OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sharing this early autumn bounty are countless bees, wasps and butterflies, the Speckled Wood being the most prolific at the moment, seeking nectar from pale pink Blackberry blossom. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Guelder Rose: great flowers, berries and foliage (OOS)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elder berry has already peaked, no doubt the berries will be consumed before the late autumn arrival of our Scandinavian winter visitors. Showy Guelder Rose berries, like small bright cherries, look like they are ripe for consumption now, but in fact will last 'til late November before small birds can strip them from their stems. A time of plenty!</span>Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498120931340482907.post-26189939280757284372015-08-24T07:41:00.000-07:002015-08-24T07:41:00.144-07:00Swifts and Swallows Scarce?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-JHeyZLYocaH7NF66pJUB6xM81km3iI2Ojq1BHhBAIziC2onP0btp9UcrYNHwIxQyzcmoNVFVpbeAyu5vArNbRuDk0M7adHrsiYHWbdZlN_0t09OJxhZySXP2PZDXmZtAyQqO6sDIR4/s1600/DSC_4004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-JHeyZLYocaH7NF66pJUB6xM81km3iI2Ojq1BHhBAIziC2onP0btp9UcrYNHwIxQyzcmoNVFVpbeAyu5vArNbRuDk0M7adHrsiYHWbdZlN_0t09OJxhZySXP2PZDXmZtAyQqO6sDIR4/s320/DSC_4004.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Swallow feeding fledged young (c. J. Fox)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Every year we end up discussing the summer migrants and how they are faring, a bit like discussing the weather, its a kind of Irish thing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We tend to advise caution on subjective assessments based on just the personal experience of a few folk. However, Swift watchers are reporting less birds from known haunts,and they are noway near as widespread as Swallows. They have of course departed for Africa at this stage, on of the first to leave our inky skies for the African winter. Seeing and hearing them in numbers in say the old perched villages of the south of France, I always feel that our migrant Swifts draw a short straw or something, heading into such an uncertain season that is the Irish summer.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Swallows are still here, beginning to gather on wires, I wouldn't expect any solid migration movements until mid September and onwards, so this is a good time to take stock: I reckon the late brood is all important for a good return on the breeding season: it was a pretty mixed/poor summer, weather wise. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Quite a few people e mailed us to air their suspicions about a lack of numbers around farmyards and buildings. However, recent Atlas results reveal they occur in 98% of survey squares, certainly one of the most widespread breeding birds we have.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FACH094EuEH9srGnjXfSMhHJgQGT_VZfNLK9ewU1dI5lGBdYNUFQVRRw_hVZinTK2ufU4MkbOciV2YPvBhAZioi_cRmOA-HbQB9WQyMDBKjs7PlNjyLxUtX6x4mrM9i7BRlNf7OMYQg/s1600/DSC_3924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FACH094EuEH9srGnjXfSMhHJgQGT_VZfNLK9ewU1dI5lGBdYNUFQVRRw_hVZinTK2ufU4MkbOciV2YPvBhAZioi_cRmOA-HbQB9WQyMDBKjs7PlNjyLxUtX6x4mrM9i7BRlNf7OMYQg/s320/DSC_3924.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2 Young await a nourishing feed (c.J Fox)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I would be happy to get local opinion, news of Swallows in your area, 2015, and now is the time to check around telegraph wires and sheds!</span></span>Oran Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01154961915546502907noreply@blogger.com1