Streamstown Hooded Merganser

The big bird news from Connemara this Autumn was the male Hooded Merganser that I found in Streamstown Bay just north of Clifden town on 25th September. I count this site each month during the winter for the Irish Wetland Bird Survey. It never has much in the line species diversity or quantity of individuals. It can have a nice collection of Greenshank numbering close to 20 birds but otherwise isn't a particularly outstanding hotspot. In ten years I think the best bird I've had here was a Curlew Sandpiper. To say I was a bit surprised to see a male Hooded Merganser swimming around in the tidal creek in the middle bay at low tide on Tuesday 25th September was an understatement! The light as per usual was very poor but I couldn't see anything obvious on a brief glimpse of the legs when it climbed up on a muddy bank. I couldn't be 100% sure if it was ringed or not but it looked good at the time. It also had pristine wings and was capable of flight. This is a species that is plagued with doubt when a potential vagrant turns up on this side of the Atlantic. They are a popular species in captivity and colour ringed birds have turned up in Ireland before which would strongly cast doubt of the origins of said birds. A pair of Hooded Mergansers that turned up on Tory Island, Co. Donegal in May 2015 were accepted as being of wild origin. A few Scottish birds in recent years have also been accepted as wild. I released news and decided to let people make up their own minds if they wanted to come over to see it. The Streamstown bird remained on site until the 6th October allowing many birders to come and see the bird. Obviously the bird spent most of its time swimming in the water which made checking the legs rather difficult. A few days later Tom Tarpey and Kieran Grace were able to independently confirm that it appeared to have a metal ring on the right leg. This was the first time that there was good light allowing anyone to fully check out the legs. Metal rings are extremely hard to see at a distance in overcast conditions but flash and shine nicely when they catch good light, especially if it's a new ring. Some could and are making the point that the fact that it has a metal ring doesn't necessarily discount the bird as being wild as small numbers are ringed within their native range in North America each year. Personally I think the possibility of being a captive bird cannot not be fully ruled out so it won't be featuring on my personal Irish list and I couldn't blame the IRBC for not accepting it as a wild bird either. A female type Hooded Merganser turned up in Spain during October which was sporting an orange ring on the left leg and another male was seen in Scotland but it didn't appear to be ringed. Regardless it was a nice bit of excitement in what was generally a very quiet September here. It seemed to fare very well for itself in the brackish waters of the inner section of Streamstown Bay and feed almost exclusively on small flatfish presumable Flounder. Also nice to join up with a much larger Red-breasted Merganser on one occasion.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.

Male Hooded Merganser.