November outing to Bull Island, Dublin

 Bull Island by Freddy Mc Gavin

On 9^th November the group had a very pleasant outing to the Bull Island, Dublin. Those car-sharing met up in Bailieborough at 9am and arrived at the Bull Island causeway at 11am. The tide was rising which allowed for close up views of birds such as brent geese,pintail,shoveler and also a variety of waders.

Brent geese by Tom Mc Namara

  pintail by Tom Mc Namara

 The photographers in the group were delighted to have the opportunity to photograph the birds at close range.

redshank by Michael Mc Nulty

 teal by Michael Mc Nulty

 turnstone by Michael Mc Nulty

grey heron by Tom Mc Namara

 brent geese by Michael Mc Nulty

 

 As we were watching the birds on the causeway a number of local birders stopped to chat and to pass on lots of interesting birding information to us. Other birds of interest here were linnet,reed bunting,meadow pipit and stonechat. 

meadow pipit by Tom Mc Namara

 Enjoying watching the roosting waders

After a late lunch break we decided to head down the road to the Bull Wall. This was a lovely location and lots of people,who were out walking and enjoying the afternoon sunshine stopped to chat to us about the birds we were watching, Here we enjoyed watching the large flocks of roosting dunlin and sanderling.

sanderling and dunlin by Michael Mc Nulty

After a short stop for coffee we decided to fit in a quick visit to Broadmeadows before heading for home. It was interesting to see how tame the large flock of mute swans was here.

 mute swan cygnet by Tom Mc Namara

 Mute swans at Broadweadows

 View of Dublin Bay by Freddy Mc Gavin

The highlight for me on the day was the close up views of snipe and pintail and the sound of the brent geese on the Bull Causeway.

 This was the group’s first visit to sites in the Dublin area and information passed on to us by local birders was very welcome! We were delighted when Branch member and Dublin native Andrew Carlton agreed to organise a trip to the Dublin area. He did a great job of planning, travel and itinerary and on behalf of the Branch I would like to say a big thank you to Andrew!

Bull Island is a fantastic site to watch birds and we were more that impressed with the variety of birds there! 

For more information on the Bull Island Birds click here.

Thanks to Tom,Michael and Freddy for supplying me with the lovely photos to share on the Blog.

Elizabeth 

Don't forget to start feeding the garden birds now that the weather has got colder! Birdwatch Ireland's Garden Bird Survey starts on 1st December.Click here for information on the survey and for lots of information on garden birds.  

Presentation on Irish Raptors by John Lusby

On Thursday 20^th November John Lusby of Birdwatch Ireland gave a very interesting and entertaining presentation on Irish Raptors in Cavan County Museum.  John spoke to us about the fieldwork and conservation work being carried out in order to monitor long eared owl, kestrel and Barn owl. Lots of information on this conservation work can be found on the Irish Raptor Blog here, and also on the Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project Blog here.

John had some lovely photos and video clips to show us of owl chicks on the nest and also had footage of the efforts involved in trying to monitor and find nest sites for merlin! Although the work John does can be challenging and varied, it was clear to see form the presentation that he is very enthusiastic about his work as Raptor Conservation Officer. A special work of thanks to John on behalf of the Branch for coming to talk to us, and we hope he can make a return visit sometime.

Click here for Anglo Celt report on John's views on what can be done to lessen the impact of poisons on birds of prey.

To visit the Birdwatch Ireland website please click here.

Information on Branch events in January will be posted next month.

Raptor Presentation by John Lusby on 20th November in Cavan County Museum.

 

                                              Kestral Chicks. Photo by John Lusby

 

"All About Raptors" A Presentation by John Lusby, will take place in The Cavan County Museum, Ballyjamesduff at 8:00pm on Thursday 20th November.

 John is Birdwatch Ireland's Raptor Conservation Officer. He is a bird of prey expert and features regularly on the Mooney Goes Wild Show on RTE. He holds a ringing and filming licence for raptors and coordinates several conservation projects involving Barn Owl, Kestral, Long eared owl and Merlin.

 His last talk to the Branch back in 2012 in Bailieborough on his conservation work with Barn Owls was a great success and we are delighted to welcome him back to the County,this time to Ballyjamesduff.

 This event is hosted in conjunction with Cavan County Museum. All are welcome to attend and admission is free!

 

Outing to The Bull Island,Dublin on Sunday 9th November

Brent geese at Bull Island

An outing to The Bull Island Nature Reserve and other North Dublin Birding sites will take place on Sunday next 9th November.  To Car share meet at the Market Square, Bailieborough at 9am sharp. For those car sharing a contribution towards petrol costs would be appreciated.

  If you wish to travel independently please contact Andrew  on 085 7137983 prior to the event for details of meet up times and locations in Dublin.

The event should last 3/4 hours. Event leaders Andrew Carlton and PJ Byrne. It is recommended to wear warm waterproof clothing and to bring along a packed lunch.

Click here to visit the Dublin Bay Birding Blog
Click here for a site map of Bull Island Nature Reserve.


Upcoming Event on 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.