Click any of the images for a closer look
White-billed Diver, Cromane, Castlemaine Harbour, March 2011 (Richard Jeffree). Only the second record for Kerry, with the only previous record at Brandon Bay in October 1996.
Stejneger's Scoter, Rossbeigh, March 2011 (C.Batty). The first record for Ireland and Britain, though there have been previous records in France, Denmark, Poland and Finland. Stejneger's Scoter breeds in Asia, in the far north of NE Russia, S to Mongolia, and winters on the Asian Pacific coasts of Eastern China, Korea and Japan.
(Davey farrar).
First-Summer Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black Rock, June 2011,
(Davey Farrar).
Moulting adult American Golden Plover, 19th September 2011, Black Rock (D.Farrar).
Semipalmated Plover, Ventry, September 2011 (Ed Carty). The first Kerry and second Irish record.
Red-necked Stint, Reenroe, Co. Kerry, 1st August 2011 (Pat McDaid). The first Kerry and fourth Irish record.
American Black Duck, Ventry, 2011 (David O'Connor).
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Ventry, September 2011 (Ian Jones).
Little Gull, Black Rock, 28th July 2011 (D.O'Connor). Little Gulls are a scarce bird in Kerry, averaging 4 to 6 records annually in recent years.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Carrahane, 14th September 2011 (D.O'Connor).
Adult American Golden Plover, Black Rock, 20th September 2011 (D.O'Connor).
Least Sandpiper, Carrahane, 27th September 2011 (David O'Connor).
Least Sandpiper, Carrahane, September 2011 (Ed Carty).
Least Sandpiper, Black Rock, 22nd November 2011 (David O'Connor). When a Least Sandpiper turned up at Black Rock, after one at nearby Carrahane in September, many thought it must be the same bird, but a close look at the feathers showed it to be a different individual.
Some of the first photos of the bird were forwarded to Killian Mullarney for comment, and he replied with the above annotated photo and said, "Due to the very low resolution of David O'Connor's shots it is not really possible to make a very detailed comparison of the two birds, but in the attached I have selected two particular feathers (the innermost two greater coverts) where clear differences are visible, even at low resolution. These feathers will not have moulted and the already quite worn fringe on the Carrahane bird (in September) would not become wider as time passed." These two Least Sandpipers were the second and third for Kerry. The first for Kerry was also the first for Ireland, found by Frank King at Akeragh Lough in August 1965.
Bee-eater, Black Rock, 25th October 2011 (David O'Connor). The third Kerry record and the first since a flock of seven on Valentia Island in 1983. This one stayed just an hour.
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black Rock, 14th June 2011 (David O'Connor). The first of some 24 birds seen in Co. Kerry in 2011, mostly in September, a total which beat the existing record for 'Semi-ps' seen in the whole of Ireland in any previous year.
First-summer Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black Rock, June 2011 (Ed Carty).
Adult Semipalmated Sandpiper, Ventry, August 2011 (Ed Carty).
Garden Warbler, Lady's View, Killarney National Park, 4th June 2011 (David O'Connor). A few pairs of Garden Warblers probably nest each year in Kerry, though they must surely be under-recorded.
Little Stint (with Dunlin), Carrahane, September 2011 (Ed Carty). Little Stints proved to be much rarer than Semipalmated Sandpipers in the autumn of 2011.
Black Brant, Barrow Harbour, 17th November 2011 (David O'Connor).
Citrine Wagtail, Ballylongford,15th September 2011 (Davey Farrar).
Red Kite, Coonana, near Caherciveen, 19th January 2011 (Mike Flanagan). With the reintroduction of this species well underway in Wicklow, Dublin and Down, the numbers of sightings in Kerry is rising. However, one of the two birds seen at Coonana for over a month in early 2010 was ringed as a chick in 2011 in north-east Scotland, illustrating that all wing-tagged birds are not necessarily Irish.
Juvenile Mediterranean Gull at Tarbert, 7th August 2011 (John Murphy).
