Taiwan 25th March 2018

Looks like I let the blog slip yet again. I'm going to try to throw up the last of the Taiwan pics as soon as possible. I was just in Cyprus two weeks ago and have plenty of shots from that trip as well. Quite on the homefront here so far with the only recent good bird being an adult American Golden Plover at Omey Strand.

Back to Taiwan. We spent the first half of 25th March around the Zengwun Estuary which is one the main areas for wintering Black-faced Spoonbills which we saw good numbers of. The estuary and adjacent shrimp ponds proved to quite good for waders. I managed to tick my first ever Long-toed Stint here. I spotted one bird resting on a dyke immediately adjacent to the bus. It quickly flew off before I managed to get any shots. Other notable waders seen in the area included a small distant flock of Great Knot, Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint and Marsh Sandpiper. In all we recorded nineteen species of waders here. Another unexpected surprise was a single Chinese Egret. Easily overlooked amongst the local Little Egrets. This species is listed as Vulnerable by the ICUN and the global population numbers no more than 3,200 individuals.

No new endemics for the day but I did have the following four lifers - Chinese Egret, Long-toed Stint, White-shouldered Starling and Black-faced Bunting.

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Chinese Egret

Little Egret

Black-crowned Night Heron

Green Sandpiper

White-shouldered Starling with a Red Turtle Dove.

Light-vented Bulbul

Brown Shrike

Javan Myna

Pacific Swallow

Pacific Swallow

Pacific Swallow

Male Plumbeous Redstart

Male Plumbeous Redstart

Female Plumbeous Redstart

White Wagtail leucopsis

White Wagtail leucopsis

White Wagtails subspecies leucopsis (top) and ocularis (below).

White Wagtail subspecies ocularis

White Wagtail subspecies ocularis

January 17 Gulls

A few shots from the last few weeks, mostly gulls unsurprisingly given the time of year.

Norwegian ringed Black-headed Gull, Loughrea, 1st January 2017. Ringed in Oslo on 22nd July 2013. Seen several times during each summer near ringing site but not outside of  Norway or during the winter months.

Polish ringed Black-headed Gull, Loughrea, 1st January 2017. Ringed on 29th May 2011. First re-sighting of the bird.

Third-calendar Lesser Black-backed Gull at Waterside, 8th January 2017. Nearly as rare as Ring-billed Gull here during the winter.

Third-calendar Lesser Black-backed Gull at Waterside, 8th January 2017. 

Third-calendar Lesser Black-backed Gull at Nimmo's Pier, 8th January 2017. 

Fourth-winter argentatus Herring Gull, Waterside, 8th January 2017. 

Fourth-winter argentaus Herring Gull, Waterside, 8th January 2017. 

Ring-billed Gull, Waterside, 8th January 2017. Very dull bare part coloration. Not one of the regulars in the city area. One of four individuals recorded so far this winter.

Adult leucistic Black-headed Gull, Nimmo's Pier, 8th January 2017. Long returning bird.

Adult leucistic Black-headed Gull, Nimmo's Pier, 8th January 2017. Long returning bird.

First-winter Iceland Gull, Rossaveel, 10th January 2017.

First-winter Iceland Gull, Rossaveel, 10th January 2017.

First-winter Iceland Gull, Rossaveel, 10th January 2017.

First-winter Iceland Gull, Rossaveel, 10th January 2017.

Little Egret, Sruthán Pier, 10th January 2017.

Inishmore & Achill weekend washout

I headed out to Inishmore on Saturday for my annual September wader trip. I didn't have high hopes on the wader-front given how poor its been this autumn. Checked all the wader spots - Trawmore, Loch Bharr an Phointe, Loch Phort Chorrúch, Kilmurvey, etc. There was zero water at the turlough at Kilmurvey so no chance of the Hudsonian Godwit still hanging around there. The best was right at the end of the day as I was on the ferry back home in the form of two Grey Phalaropes right beside the boat. Very brief and of course the camera was in the bag! On the island I had a Little Egret at Loch Phort Chorrúch (island tick for me) and 2 Grey Plover (possibly another island tick for me?), 4 Pintail and a Grey Wagtail. I only had time for a quick look at the gardens/wood at Kilmurvey and the REV garden along the High Road, both of which held a single Chiffchaff. I would have stayed until Sunday but I just couldn't find any accommodation. The whole island seemed to be full up. My days of staying in the hostels are over I think. The only two B&B's that had a vacancy were charging 70 and 80 euro each, thanks but no thanks. Sad to see rip-off Ireland is as healthy as ever, probably never went any in the last seven years in some quarters anyway.

I checked the SW Mayo coastline and Achill Island with Cathal Forkan on the Sunday. All very quiet there too. No sign of the adult American Golden Plover at Keel sadly. This wasn't too surprising as there was a huge amount of disturbance in the area between a small outdoor festival beside Keel Lough, numerous wind surfers on the lake and beach, a lot of golfers on the machair (did I mention before how much I despise golfers?), walkers with/without dogs and even a scrambler bike to top it off. Trying to regularly bird a place like Achill would do my head in with all this disturbance. I generally associate Achill with either badly overgrazed/damaged overcut bog or Rhododendron/Gunnera invested land. Safe to say I ain't a fan!

Little Egret

Little Egret

Little Egret and Grey Heron

Little Egret and Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Chiffchaff

Lapwing near Kilmurvey, probably hung out with the Hudsonian Godwit when it was on the island!