Kumlien's Gull, The Cashen

First-winter Kumlien's Gull, The Cashen Estuary, 27th February, 2012 (Davey Farrar). Five Iceland and one Glaucous Gull were also present.

Glaucous & Iceland Gulls, Dingle

First-winter Glaucous Gull, Dingle Harbour, 26th February 2012 (Ed Carty).

First-winter Glaucous Gull, Dingle Harbour, 26th February 2012 (Ed Carty).

First-winter Iceland Gull, Dingle Harbour, 26th February 2012 (Ed Carty).

First-winter Glaucous Gull, Dingle Harbour, 26th February 2012 (Ed Carty).

White-winged gulls

White-winged gulls, Reenard Pier, 22th February 2012 (Davey Farrar).

Iceland Gulls, Reenard

Second winter Iceland Gull, Reenard, 24th February 2012 (Davey Farrar).

First-winter Iceland Gull, Reenard, 24th February 2012 (Davey Farrar).

Adult Kumlien's Gull

Adult Kumlien's Gull, at Knightstown, 22nd February 2012 (Davey Farrar).

Four Peaks Challenge for Raptors

John Lusby, Raptor Conservation Officer with BirdWatch Ireland, is embarking on a remarkable challenge in aid of Raptor Conservation and Down Syndrome Ireland. Their Four Peaks Challenge involves not only climbing the four highest peaks in each province of Ireland, but cycling between each of them.

John is hoping to raise much-needed sponsorship money to be divided equally between Down Syndrome Ireland and the BirdWatch Ireland Raptor Conservation Appeal. Funds from the Raptor Appeal will help with the monitoring and ringing efforts for Barn Owls and Kestrels in County Kerry and will also fund the provision of nest boxes for the two species.

John Lusby, ringing a Kestrel chick from a coastal nest site on the Dingle Peninsula, June 2011 (M.O'Clery).

So please donate to a good cause. By sponsoring John, you can help secure the future of Kestrels and Barn Owls in Kerry.

John's homepage for donations (on mycharity.ie) is HERE.

Spoonbill, Cromane

 Adult Spoonbill, Cromane, 21st February 2012 (Ed Carty).

Adult Iceland Gull, Cromane, 21st February 2012 (Ed Carty).

Tree Sparrow, Cashen Estuary

Tree Sparrow at The Cashen, 19th February 2012 (Mike Flanagan) and (Micheal Sheehy).

Pilot Whale

Pilot Whale, Ballybunion, 19th February 2012.

A Pilot Whale was found by Lisa Fingleton, Rena Blake, Kieran Roughn and Andres Moreno near Kitty’s River on Ballybunion Beach on Sunday morning, 19 February 2012. Local Residents Dr. Joanne O’Brien (Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and Irish Whale and Dolphin Group) and Dr. Barry O’Donoghue (National Parks and Wildlife Service and Ballybunion Sea and Cliff Rescue) arrived at the scene to record the animal and take some tissue samples for genetic analysis. It was a female, measuring 4.83m in length. Pilot Whales have extremely tight-knit bonds within their herds and are unfortunately, despite their name, one of the species most commonly associated with mass strandings. Pilot Whales are a deep water species, so birders may have the opportunity to see them on pelagic trips.  (Barry O'Donoghue).

Adult Kumlien's Gull

Adult Kumlien's Gull, Reenard Pier, 17th February 2012 (Richard Bonser). Aslo present at Reenard on 17th were seven Iceland Gulls and three Glaucous Gulls.

Kumlien's & 10 Icelands at Reenard

Adult Kumlien's Gull, Reenard Pier, 16th February 2012 (Michael O'Clery). A bird which is towards the paler end of the spectrum, with only the three outer primaries showing dark colouration, confined to the outer webs.

One of ten Iceland Gulls present at Reenard Pier (and nearby Knightstown), 16th February 2012 (Michael O'Clery). There were four first-winters, two second winters and four adults, while another first-winter was also present at nearby Ballinskelligs Bay (Michael O'Clery).

'Littoralis' Rock pipit

'Littoralis' Rock Pipit at Black Rock, 13th February 2012 (David O'Connor).

Spotted Redshank & Spoonbill, Cromane

Spotted Redshank, south-east of Cromane, 10th February 2012 (D.O'Connor).

Spoonbill, Cromane, 10th February 2012 (D.O'Connor).

Ring-billed Gulls

Two adult Ring-billed Gulls, Blennerville, 10th February 2012 (Ed Carty).

Dark-bellied Brent & Glaucous Gull

Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Carrahane, 9th February 2012 (David O'Connor).

Adult Glaucous Gull, Carrahane, 9th February 2012 (David O'Connor).

Free download - The Dingle Peninsula Bird Report 1999-2001

A number of people have been looking for copies of the first Dingle Peninsula Bird Report 1999-2001 which has, unfortunately, been out of print for several years. However you can now download a free PDF of the Report by going to this Mediafire download page HERE (clicking the link will open a new page. File size is just under 1Mb).

The other more recent DPBRs are still available for sale. Details are on this page HERE.

Kerry Plans

Kerry County Council's plans for the county are now online, including any provisions for protecting the natural environment. They are looking for submissions for any of the proposed developments, so this might be a good time to check what's going on in your area, and offer any advice or objections. Submissions have to be in by February 23rd 2012. See HERE for all regions of Kerry. See HERE for the Dingle/Blaskets section.

Iceland Gull, Blennerville

Second winter Iceland Gull, Blennerville, 2nd February 2012 (Ed Carty).