Winter birding early 2020.

Thought I'd give South America a break for the time being just to post a few pictures from the past few months. Yet another poor winter for gulls again. Since I came back from my month away my best bird in the subsequent three months has probably been the first-winter/second-calendar Ring-billed Gull that I found feeding in fields adjacent to Lough Fahy on Omey Island. They are still extremely rare out here in Connemara. A handful have been seen at Rossaveel and I've only had two here myself since 2008, both at Ross Beach which may have even involved the same adult which might have returned. They continue to decline in at the former stronghold of Nimmo's Pier. There was just one sighting of one in all of February with none recorded in all of March or April. There used to be a small increase in numbers in Spring associated with the northward movement of Common and Black-headed Gull back to the big breeding colonies on the great western Irish lough and even maybe up to Scotland. I managed to see a grand total of one Glaucous, three Iceland (all at Ross Beach) and one Little Gull in Galway this winter!

Around the same time of the Omey Ring-bill, there was a male Ring-necked Duck on Lough Fahy. Not often you get two Aerican vagrants here during the winter months. This may well be the same the same Ring-neck that I had on a smaller adjacent lough on the island back in September/October. I got my best shots ever of the species then which I must upload here at some stage. This was the first Ring-necked Duck I've ever seen out this way which is a little odd considering they're not even considered a rarity in Ireland now.

Also on the wildfowl front Barnacle Geese have started to utilize a mainland site in county Galway for the first time in living memory this winter at Rinvyle Point. They are regularly found on most of the offshore island around Connemara. The last national aerial survey recorded 1,948 birds across seven different sites in Galway alone. The total Irish population then was 16.237 birds. Maybe I might have an opportunity to pick up the first Cackling Goose for Galway finally.

Adult Glaucous Gull, Aillebrack, 14th January 2020.

Adult Glaucous Gull, Aillebrack, 14th January 2020.

Adult Glaucous Gull, Aillebrack, 14th January 2020.

Adult Glaucous Gull, Aillebrack, 14th January 2020.

Adult Glaucous Gull, Aillebrack, 14th January 2020.

Second-calendar Iceland Gull, Ross Beach, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Iceland Gull, Ross Beach, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Iceland Gull, Ross Beach, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Iceland Gull, Ross Beach, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 20th February 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 27th January 2020.

Second-calendar Ring-billed Gull, Omey Island, 27th January 2020.

Barnacle Geese, Rinvyle Point, 24th February 2020.

Barnacle Geese, Rinvyle Point, 24th February 2020.

Greater Scaup and Ring-necked Duck, Omey Island, 27th January 2019.

Greater Scaup, Omey Island, 27th January 2019.

Ring-necked Duck, Omey Island, 27th January 2019.

Ring-necked Duck, Omey Island, 27th January 2019.

Leucistic female Eurasian Wigeon, near Moylough, 23rd February 2020.

Leucistic female Eurasian Wigeon, near Moylough, 23rd February 2020.

Woodcock, Connemara National Park, 6th March 2020.

Twite, Rossadillask, 20th February 2020.

Twite, Rossadillask, 20th February 2020.

Common Dolphin, Sky Road, Clifden, 20th February 2020.

Common Dolphin, Sellerna Beach, 4th February 2020.

Common Dolphin, Aillebrack, 14th February 2020.

Wind blown sand over machair on Omey Island.

Colour ringed Curlew, ducks & divers

I a colour-ringed Curlew at Rostaff Turlough near Headford yesterday just across the county border on the Mayo side. I got word very promptly back from Alan Leitch, David Douglas and Jenny Weston all of the RSPB this morning.
It was ringed as a chick near Corgarff within the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland in 2014. Amazingly it was part of a clutch of six chicks. As most of you will know, waders as a general rule nearly always lay four eggs so six is most unusual. Jenny believes the extra two chicks may actually be from another clutch entirely and were adopted as it were by another pair. You learn something new everyday! Thanks to Jenny Weston for the use of the photo.

This is the second Irish resighting from the Scottish scheme with a bird also ringed in the same area and year being seen in Dublin last March. http://grampianringing.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-curlew-sighting-at-last.html

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I also had a decent flock of 28 Greenland White-fronted Geese at Rostaff. A few noteworthy birds at nearby Belclare Turlough back across on the Galway side of the border as well. There was a very good sized flock of around 54 Greenland White-fronts feeding in adjacent feeds. Great to see a few family parties in amongst the flock. On the turlough itself I had a female Ring-necked Duck mostly asleep with Pochard on the Belclare village side of the lough. This is probably the first female I've seen in Galway in a few years now. In my experience female Ring-necked Ducks seem to have a greater tendency for associating with Pochard flocks over Tufted Duck. I suppose female Ring-necks do have a closer resemblance to female Pochard over female Tufted Duck. There seemed to more than the usual number of Pochard present (50 birds) so in my continuing search for a Redhead and/or Canvasback I came across a new hybrid combo for myself in the form of a male Red-crested Pochard by Common Pochard. It immediately drew attention in having much cleaner white flanks contrasting with a (darker) browner upperparts including brown primaries, a hint of the puffy head shape of RC Pochard with orange on the forehead, less black on the bill with a pink subterminal band and generally being a slightly bigger bird compared to Common Pochard. It's a very close match to the second hybrid depicted in the link below.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/444365@N25/discuss/72157604053970163/

Male Red-crested Pochard x Common Pochard

Male Red-crested Pochard x Common Pochard

Male Red-crested Pochard x Common Pochard

Male Red-crested Pochard x Common Pochard

Male Red-crested Pochard x Common Pochard

Female Ring-necked Duck

Female Ring-necked Duck

Female Ring-necked Duck

To finish up the day I headed out to Tawin Island to look for the Pacific Diver that was discovered here nearly over month ago now. Between one thing and another, mainly extremely rough weather, I hadn't had a chance to look for this bird since being refound by Paul Troake this year. This is most likely to be the same bird initially found here in 2009. It's been seen very sporadically here and at Rinville Point and at Finvarra Point which is just across the border in county Clare. Paul almost certainly had this bird last winter but the views were just too distant to confirm it. HIgh tide may be best for bringing the bird in closer to shore. I spent a good three hours trying to see the bird yesterday. It has been seen mostly along the northern side of the headland but I saw it directly west off the headland and unfortunately was rather distant. If it was tick for me I mightn't have been able to tick due to the poor views however as I saw plenty in California this time last year I was happy enough to add it finally to my county list. There less than twenty Great northern and around five Red-throated Divers present. The sea was reasonably settled but a biting northerly wind made conditions on the side of the headland a bit nippy! Most of the divers were distant as it was at low tide at the time. It's amazing how quickly you can call Great northern Divers at huge distance. It's hard to put into words but its just down to the jizz I suppose. This bird clearly wasn't a GND nor a RTD for that matter. The only other possibility was Black-throated Diver but this bird at no time display the characteristic white thigh patch of that species. The cheek/face area seemed darker compared to BTD. One feature which I found also rather useful was the sublime and very distinctive gentle curvature of  the head and neck. The nape area seemed much fuller but I didn't get the pale grey colour that's often seen in Pacific but again may have been due to the distant and light. It was also preening at one stage and was rolling onto it's side. Had it been closer in one would imagine that the vent strap would have been seen but alas no.

California 19th February 2015

So just to (finally) wrap up the California & Arizona trip I've added a few pictures from my last few hours in the US which I spent in Point Lobos area with the Golden Gate Bridge viewable in the distance. Lovely stretch of coastline and urban park along here. Plenty of Surf Scoters offshore which included another Harlequin Duck (a female this time), my first and only Black Scoters (two females), plenty of Harbour Porpoises and a pod of Bottle-nosed Dolphins. There was a small flock of gulls gathered around the Sutro Baths which have seen better days a bathing spot. This spot attracted two first-winter and a very brief adult Thayer's Gull. The park area proved very productive for Varied Thrush. There were probably around a dozen here most of which were much more approachable than previously seen individuals although they still typically kept to the shadows of the large pine trees. Also around the site were a few Pygmy Nuthatches, Brown Creeper and California Towhee. Not too shabby for a city park. I couldn't say I was particularly looking forward to heading back to what seemed like a relatively bird less place like Ireland compared to California and Arizona. I ended up with around 274 species during the three weeks of which 128 were lifers for me which wasn't too surprising given that it was my first trip to western US. Full trip list below.

Wild Turkey	Snowy Plover	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Scaled Quail	Killdeer	American Cliff Swallow
California Quail	Mountain Plover	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gambel's Quail	Wilson's Snipe	Wrentit
Ring-necked Pheasant	Long-billed Dowitcher	Cactus Wren
Greater White-fronted Goose	Marbled Godwit	Rock Wren
Snow Goose	Whimbrel	Canyon Wren
Ross's Goose	Long-billed Curlew	Sinaloa Wren
Brant	Greater Yellowlegs	Bewick's Wren
Cackling Goose	Willet	Marsh Wren
Canada Goose	Lesser Yellowlegs	Pacific Wren
Wood Duck	Spotted Sandpiper	Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Gadwall	Ruddy Turnstone	California Gnatcatcher
Falcated Duck	Black Turnstone	Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
American Wigeon	Surfbird	Black-capped Gnatcatcher
Mallard	Sanderling	American Dipper
Mexican Mallard	Western Sandpiper	Red-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-winged Teal	Least Sandpiper	Pygmy Nuthatch
Cinnamon Teal	Dunlin	White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Shoveler	Pomarine Jaeger	Brown Creeper
Northern Pintail	Bonaparte's Gull	Northern Mockingbird
Green-winged Teal	Heermann's Gull	Sage Thrasher
Canvasback	Mew Gull	Bendire's Thrasher
Redhead	Ring-billed Gull	Curve-billed Thrasher
Ring-necked Duck	Western Gull	California Thrasher
Greater Scaup	Yellow-footed Gull	Crissal Thrasher
Lesser Scaup	California Gull	Le Conte's Thrasher
Harlequin Duck	American Herring Gull	Common Starling
Surf Scoter	Thayer's Gull	Western Bluebird
White-winged Scoter	Glaucous-winged Gull	Mountain Bluebird
Black Scoter	Caspian Tern	Townsend's Solitaire
Bufflehead	Forster's Tern	Hermit Thrush
Common Goldeneye	Royal Tern	American Robin
Barrow's Goldeneye	Common Murre	Varied Thrush
Hooded Merganser	Xantus's Murrelet	House Sparrow
Common Merganser	Cassin's Auklet	Nutmeg Mannikin
Red-breasted Merganser	Rhinoceros Auklet	Buff-bellied Pipit
Ruddy Duck	Rock Pigeon	Sprague's Pipit
Red-throated Loon	Band-tailed Pigeon	Phainopepla
Pacific Loon	Eurasian Collared-Dove	Purple Finch
Common Loon	White-winged Dove	House Finch
Pied-billed Grebe	Mourning Dove	Lesser Goldfinch
Horned Grebe	Inca Dove	Pine Siskin
Red-necked Grebe	Common Ground-Dove	Evening Grosbeak
Eared Grebe	Greater Roadrunner	Orange-crowned Warbler
Western Grebe	Whiskered Screech-Owl	Nashville Warbler
Clark's Grebe	Great Horned Owl	Common Yellowthroat
Northern Fulmar	Burrowing Owl	Myrtle Warbler
Black-vented Shearwater	White-throated Swift	Audubon's Warbler
White-faced Ibis	Broad-billed Hummingbird	Black-throated Gray Warbler
American Bittern	Black-chinned Hummingbird	Townsend's Warbler
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Anna's Hummingbird	Rufous-capped Warbler
Green Heron	Costa's Hummingbird	Bronzed Cowbird
Great Blue Heron	Allen's Hummingbird	Brown-headed Cowbird
Great Egret	Belted Kingfisher	Red-winged Blackbird
Snowy Egret	Lewis's Woodpecker	Tricolored Blackbird
Little Blue Heron	Acorn Woodpecker	Brewer's Blackbird
Reddish Egret	Gila Woodpecker	Great-tailed Grackle
Cattle Egret	Williamson's Sapsucker	Eastern Meadowlark
American White Pelican	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Western Meadowlark
Brown Pelican	Red-naped Sapsucker	Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brown Booby	Red-breasted Sapsucker	Sooty Fox Sparrow
Brandt's Cormorant	Ladder-backed Woodpecker	Slate-coloured Fox Sparrow
Neotropic Cormorant	Nuttall's Woodpecker	Song Sparrow
Double-crested Cormorant	Downy Woodpecker	Lincoln's Sparrow
Pelagic Cormorant	Hairy Woodpecker	White-crowned Sparrow
Turkey Vulture	Arizona Woodpecker	White-throated Sparrow
Osprey	Northern Flicker	Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-tailed Kite	Black Phoebe	Dark-eyed Junco
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Say's Phoebe	Savannah Sparrow
Cooper's Hawk	Hammond's Flycatcher	Baird's Sparrow
Northern Goshawk	Gray Flycatcher	Chipping Sparrow
Harris's Hawk	Vermilion Flycatcher	Brewer's Sparrow
Northern Harrier	Cassin's Kingbird	Black-chinned Sparrow
Bald Eagle	Loggerhead Shrike	Vesper Sparrow
Red-shouldered Hawk	Cassin's Vireo	Black-throated Sparrow
Red-tailed Hawk	Hutton's Vireo	Sagebrush Sparrow
Ferruginous Hawk	Steller's Jay	Lark Bunting
Golden Eagle	Western Scrub-Jay	Green-tailed Towhee
Crested Caracara	Mexican Jay	Spotted Towhee
American Kestrel	Yellow-billed Magpie	Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Merlin	American Crow	Canyon Towhee
Peregrine	Northern Raven	California Towhee
Prairie Falcon	Cedar Waxwing	Abert's Towhee
Clapper Rail	Bridled Titmouse	Northern Cardinal
Virginia Rail	Oak Titmouse	Pyrrhuloxia
Sora	Juniper Titmouse
Common Gallinule	Mountain Chickadee
American Coot	Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Sandhill Crane	Verdin
Black Oystercatcher	Bushtit
Black-necked Stilt	Horned Lark
American Avocet	Violet-green Swallow
Black-bellied Plover	Tree Swallow

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

California Towhee

Ring-necked Duck with mud/sludge on bill and forehead.

Varied Thrush

Varied Thrush

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 1.



First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 2.

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 1.

First-winter Thayer's Gull, bird no. 2.

 

First-winter Glaucous-winged Gull

First-winter Glaucous-winged Gull





First-winter Glaucous-winged x ? hybrid gull.

First-winter Western Gull

First-winter Western Gull

First-winter Western Gull

 

Second-winter Western Gull