Great White Egret returns

Great White Egret, Ardcost Cross, near Reenard, 29th September 2016 (Eric Dempsey).

The Great White Egret from the 27th returned to its original site just below the bridge at Ardcost Cross this evening, offering some much better views in the evening sun.

Great White Egret, Ardcost Cross, near Reenard, 29th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Great White Egret, Ardcost Cross, near Reenard, 29th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Turtle Dove and more, Valentia

Juvenile Turtle Dove, Valentia Island, 29th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Turtle Dove, Valentia Island, 29th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

A fair bit of seawatching pulled in a good variety of seabirds at Coosgorm on 28th and 29th September, with (combined from about 6 hours over the two days) about 2000 Sooty Shearwaters, a Long-tailed Skua, a Great Shearwater, 9 Leach's Petrels, 15 Grey Phalaropes, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and 1 Pomarine and about a dozen Great Skuas. Some of these came close enough to get half decent photos. Well, quarter decent.

Grey Phalaropes, Coosgorm, Valentia Island, 29th September (M.O'Clery).

Grey Phalaropes, Coosgorm, Valentia Island, 29th September (M.O'Clery).

Great Skua, Coosgorm, Valentia Island, 29th September (M.O'Clery).

Great Skuas, Coosgorm, Valentia Island, 29th September (M.O'Clery).

Great White Egret, near Reenard

Great White Egret, Ardcost Cross, near Reenard, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Initially glimpsed from a moving car while passing over a small bridge, a screeching halt, an unconventional and probably illegal reversing manouvre and a rapid deployment of binoculars revealed the striking and unexpected sight of Kerry's fifth Great White Egret quietly feeding in a small creek. 

Our version of 'fast parking' on the narrow road might well have been interpreted as 'abandonment of vehicle' in legal circles. Nevertheless, these record photos were quickly taken before returning to the car for The Big Lens, Canon's 500mm equivalent of heavy artillery, but by the time myself and Eric (Dempsey) got back to the bridge on foot, the bird had flown. We saw it distantly heading towards Reenard, then left up the channel towards Portmagee. Only 20 minutes of daylight remained, so not much chance for it to be relocated. Hopefully it will turn up again to be enjoyed at a more leisurely pace and with ample space and time to park.

Great White Egret, Ardcost Cross, near Reenard, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Great White Egret, Ardcost Cross, near Reenard, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Lapland Buntings, Carrahane

Lapland Bunting, Carrahane, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

One of three present.

Lapland Bunting, Carrahane, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Lapland Bunting, Carrahane, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Lapland Bunting, Carrahane, 27th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Pied Flycatcher, Dunquin

Pied Flycatcher, Dunquin, 26th September 2016 (D.Farrar).

Pectoral Sandpiper, Portmagee

Pectoral Sandpiper, Portmagee, 25th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Pectoral Sandpiper, Portmagee, 25th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Little Stints at Black Rock

Two juvenile Little Stints, with Sanderling, Black Rock, 22nd September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Little Stint, Black Rock, 22nd September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Little Stint, Black Rock, 22nd September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Little Stint, Black Rock, 22nd September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

White Wagtail, Black Rock, 22nd September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Eider, Fermoyle

Juvenile Eider, Cappagh/Fermoyle beach, Brandon Bay, 19th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Baird's' (plural) at Derrymore

Juvenile Baird's Sandpiper, Derrymore, 18th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Baird's Sandpiper, Derrymore, 18th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Derrymore, as they say, can be 'a feckin' hoor of a place' to bird. It's a long, long walk out, and there's no guarantee that the usual high tide roost site will have many - or any - birds present. On those occasions when little or nothing is to be seen, the return 'walk of shame' can seem endless. Nevertheless, sometimes, just sometimes, it can produce really exciting birding. This evening was one of those times, with two Baird's Sandpipers present among the hundreds of Dunlin and Ringed Plover. With close to 40 records of Baird's for the county, this is the first time that two have been seen at the same site at the same time in Kerry.

There's an entertaining write-up of a 2011 birding visit to Kerry from the Punkbirder team which includes the finding of two Semipalmated Sandpipers at this site on this page HERE. Well worth a read.

SemiP and Curlew Sand at the Inny

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Inny Estuary, Ballinskelligs Bay, 18th September 2016 (Pat McDaid).

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Inny Estuary, Ballinskelligs Bay, 18th September 2016 (Pat McDaid).

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Inny Estuary, Ballinskelligs Bay, 18th September 2016 (Pat McDaid).

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Inny Estuary, Ballinskelligs Bay, 18th September 2016 (Pat McDaid).

Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, Inny Estuary, Ballinskelligs Bay, 18th September 2016 (Pat McDaid).

Spotted Redshank, Tarbert

Spotted Redshank, Tarbert, 17th September 2016 (Ian Jones).

Little Stint, Black Rock

Little Stint, Black Rock, 16th September 2016 (David O'Connor).

White Wagtail, Black Rock, 15th September 2016 (David O'Connor). One of three present.

Green Sandpiper, Trabeg

Green Sandpiper, Trabeg, 16th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Green Sandpiper, Trabeg, 16th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

The upper estuary at Trabeg is much the best site to see Green Sandpipers in the SW of Ireland, with up to three present each August and September. This is one of the more accessible areas where river meets estuary and you would have to wonder how many of these distinctive waders go unnoticed each autumn in the largely inaccessible areas of creeks, muddy pool edges and tidal river stretches elsewhere in Kerry, such as Castlemaine Harbour.

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Cashen Estuary

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Cashen, 14th September 2016 (D.Farrar).

Lapland Buntings near Lough Naparka

There were two Lapland Buntings along the storm beach and machair just north of Lough Naparka, near Castlegregory, this evening.

Lapland Bunting, Lough Naparka, 13th September 2016 (click the image for a closer view) (Michael O'Clery).

Despite being relatively tame, on the ground they blended in well with their surroundings and were all but invisible when not moving.

Lapland Bunting, Lough Naparka, 13th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Lapland Bunting, Lough Naparka, 13th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery). In North America, this species is referred to as 'Lapland Longspur', a reference to the long hind claws.

Lapland Bunting, Lough Naparka, 13th September 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

Both birds were very vocal, calling frequently. One even sang a few times, the brief outbursts resembling a mix of Linnet and Skylark song.

An astonishing 84 Lapland Buntings were recorded on Tory Island, Co. Donegal today, so there is clearly something of an influx occurring at the moment. 

Spotted Sandpiper on the Skelligs

There's a great series of photos and a write-up of the recent Spotted Sandpiper on Great Skellig Island on John Murphy's blog HERE. The seventh county record.

Spotted Sandpiper, Great Skellig Island, 31st August 2016 (John Murphy).

Couple more of the (or another?) SemiP

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Blennerville, 12th September 2016 (Ian Jones).

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Blennerville, 12th September 2016 (Ian Jones).

SemiP at Blennerville

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Blennerville, 9th September 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

Although present at Blennerville since 5th September, it took a while for decent views and photos to be obtained to finally secure the I.D. as a SemiP.

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper, Blennerville, 9th September 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper with Curlew Sandpiper, Blennerville, 9th September 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

Baird's Sandpiper, Derrymore

Juvenile Baird's Sandpiper, Derrymore, 8th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Baird's Sandpiper with Dunlin, Derrymore, 8th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Juvenile Baird's Sandpiper with Dunlin and Ringed Plover, Derrymore, 8th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

The Baird's was present at the high tide roost for only five minutes before taking off alone and flying high to the west.

Two of the five Curlew Sandpipers present, Derrymore, 8th September 2016 (M.O'Clery).

Wheatear, Lough Naparka, 31st August 2016 (M.O'Clery).

There was perhaps 20 of these largish, strongly buff-washed Wheatears on the machair around the Magharees at the end of August and early September, and were most likely Greenland, or Icelandic race birds, leucorhoa. However, apparently Scandinavian and Russian birds can also have this rich buff coloration on the underparts in autumn. Geography would certainly favour them being Greenland Wheatears, though without measurements, it can't be certain.

White Wagtail, Rough Point, 31st August 2016 (M.O'Clery).

About ten were around the Rough Point area at the same time as the Wheatears, and their occurrence on the west coast would also suggest Icelandic origins.