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.