Dundalk Bay Sunday 12th October

Joint Cavan and Monaghan Branch Outing.

 Dundalk Docks photo Heather Bothwell

Report by Heather Bothwell.

We met at 11 am at the docks, Dundalk . The tide was low at this time and birds were still feeding as the tide rose. Flocks of golden plover, lapwing, redshank,  greenshank, black-tailed godwit., curlew, dunlin, cormorant, teal and mallard , could be seen in their full glory,  as the light could not have been better and the water as still as a mill pond.

Teal photo by Clare Donoghue

Lapwing photo Clare Donoghue

Black-tailed godwit photo Clare Donoghue

Redshank Photo Clare Donoghue

Golden plover flock photo Clare Donoghue

 On leaving the Docks we moved on to inspect the new hide at Lurgangreen.

 The hide at Lurgangreen by Heather Bothwell

 As we sunbathed !!!! eating our lunch, the tide came in . This moved the birds away from the hide, so at high tide few birds were to be seen. Despite this lack of numbers we did get views of the newly arrived Brent geese,  little egret, oystercatchers and a kingfisher put in an appearance in front of the hide .  The high-light of the day was when a female Merlin came in from behind the hide and landed on the other side of the Fane river.   We all delighted in excellent views of a very accommodating  little falcon . The height  provided by the new hide  helped this. Thank you  Louth, Birdwatch 
Ireland, we wish you  many long years in the comfort of the hide. 

Click here to visit the Louth Birds Blog
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Upcoming events in November.

Sunday 9 November: Outing to the Bull Island Nature Reserve and Rogerstown Estuary, Dublin. (More details on the blog closer to the date).

 Thursday 20 November: A presentation entitled "All about Raptors" by Birdwatch Ireland’s Raptor Conservation Officer John Lusby will take place in   Cavan County Museum, Ballyjamesduff at 8:00pm.