Mega bird for Galway found on Inishbofin by Criag Nash on Monday 10th September. I headed out on Tuesday for a look. My last Irish Ortolan was way back in October 2001 on Hook Head, Co.Wexford. This is first record of Ortolan Bunting for Galway. Previous to this the only buntings on the county list so far were Yellowhammer, Reed, Corn, Snow and Lapland Bunting. So we're still awaiting a Little or even Rustic Bunting, both of which have turned up in Clare. After searching through the local Linnets for an hour or two I got a text from Craig to say it was again present at the original spot just before the Dolphin Hotel. Craig had put down some seed by the roadside so the bird made repeated visits to the roadside. It never joined up with any Linnets and flew into the garden whenever cars or pedestrians passed by.
stunning shots Dermot!
ReplyDeleteFantastic selection of shots. One on my wish list for Tory.........
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. It was showing down to five metres at one stage so it was hard to go wrong. They've definitely turned up on Arranmore Island I think Peter, I'm sure there are Tory records? Four together on Scilly two days ago also.
ReplyDeleteAmazing shots! Also amazing that there were no rare buntings at all on the Galway list prior to this (given that Corn would have bred up there), Ortolan or Little Bunting really ought to have occured, and were presumably overlooked in the days of less coverage.
ReplyDelete2001 was a while ago, ticked that one myself but did see two more since.