Dermot Breen's Blog: yellow-browed warbler

Showing posts with label yellow-browed warbler. Show all posts

Friday, 29 March 2019

Melodious Warbler, Slyne Head, October 18.

I found a hippolais warbler in the Trident Garden at Bunowen on Slyne Head on 13th Ocotber of last year. The bird showed briefly but reasonably well however at a distance and in poor light as can be seen in the poor record shots below. The bird appeared very pale grey in the field and initially even suggested Olivaceous Warbler but wasn't quite right. The primary projection looked rather long at the time, it displayed a pale tertial panel and given the strong grey tones I opted for the Icterine Warbler option at the time. On review and in consultation with others it was clear that it was in fact a Melodious Warbler. Aonghus O'Donaill, Cathal Forkan, Richard Hunter and Eamonn Larrissey managed to twitch the bird with a little difficultly. I only saw the bird on one more occasion despite checking on several days after finding it. The bird appeared to just disappear into the middle of the garden and probably stayed in there not being particularly mobile. It was last seen on 20th October. It was another relatively poor year for the species in Ireland with only three others being reported in the Autumn. There's only one previous accepted county record which was found by Paul and Andrea Kelly on Inishmore on 5th Ocotber 2015. There is also only one county record of Icterine Warbler which was also on Inishmore in the following year.
A few pictures of a few Yellow-browed Warblers that were in the same garden around the same time.

Melodious Warbler, Slyne Head, 13th October 2018.

Yellow-browed Warbler, Slyne Head, 15th Ocotber 2018.

Yellow-browed Warbler, Slyne Head, 19th Ocotber 2018.

Monday, 31 October 2016

Inishmore last week

A selection of shots taken over the three days that I spent out on Inishmore recently. Plenty of Yellow-browed Warbler shots, can't get enough to them, they really are little gems.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Garden Warbler

Blackcap

Stonechat

Greenfinch, very rare on the island, first one I've seen out there anyway.

Hooded Crow

Song Thrush

Rather friendly Robin.

Birds on the mind.

Western Bonelli's Warbler garden.

No escaping the US election, not even on an offshore island off the west of Ireland.

Port Chorrúch, this seaweed strewn cobble beach has had two Baird's and one White-rumped Sandpiper to date.

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Black Reds & GWF's

A selection of different species from the last fortnight or so. I had two Black Redstarts on the roofs of the Trident Ballyconneely Holiday Homes on Monday. These are actually the first "Black Reds" I've seen at Slyne Head. The last record for Slyne comes from 1893! The species has always been relatively scarce compared to the south of Ireland and even adjacent county Clare. While like many scarce species, records have increased during the last decade or so, they are still years where none are recorded at all.

I was delighted to see a flock of 23 Greenland White-fronted Geese flying into Mannin Bay near Ballyconneely on 27th October. They were flying east just offshore presumably after following the coastline south. When I last saw them they were heading into Roundstone Bog but I doubt they stopped. Sad to say that these were the very first "GWFs" I've seen in my ranger area since I started in 2008. Historically there were several different flocks in what is my area (west of Maam Cross). Roundstone Bog held one of the last remaining flocks up until around the late 1990's. All gone now. There is (was?) only one flock numbering in the single figures left in Connemara which I've written about previously http://dermotbreen.blogspot.ie/2014/03/the-very-last-greenland-white-fronted.html I suspect this flock may have been heading onto Rahasane Turlough. I had a flock of 15 birds there on 24th October and this had increased to exactly 50 birds on 1st November. Nice to see around three pairs with juveniles although there were 60 there last winter. The results from 2014/2015 International Census of Greenland White-fronted Geese was only just recently published. The long-term future of Greenland race of White-fronted Geese doesn't appear all that great in contrast to most geese species.The full report can be seen at the link below and I've pasted the summary here.

The global population of Greenland White-fronted Geese in spring 2015 comprised 18,854 individuals, a very sharp 9.6% reduction on 20,797 in the previous spring. This is the first time the population has fallen below 20,000 individuals since 1985. Half of the decline could be accounted for by the loss of 1000 geese on Islay between years, and another 500 from elsewhere in Britain; 10,266 were counted in Ireland, 8,588 were counted in Britain. Reproductive success was very low at only 6.1% in Ireland, but 12.9% in Britain.

http://gwfg-conservation.wikispaces.com/file/view/Greenland%20White-fronted%20Geese%20in%20Britain%20%26%20Ireland%202014-15.pdf/564727409/Greenland%20White-fronted%20Geese%20in%20Britain%20%26%20Ireland%202014-15.pdf

Yellow-browed Warbler, Slyne Head.

1st win male Black Redstart, Slyne Head.

1st win/ad female Black Redstart, Slyne Head.

Reed Bunting, Slyne Head

Icelandic Redwing, Slyne Head.

Greenland White-fronted Geese, Mannin Bay.

Greenland White-fronted Geese, Rahasane Turlough.

Great White Egret, Rahasane Turlough.

Thursday, 22 October 2015

Inishmore October 2015 Part One

I just spent a week out on Inishmore, 11th to 17th October. The Arctic Warbler was by far the best bird I had during the week. Otherwise it was pretty quiet with about eight to nine Yellow-browed Warblers, 1 Lapland Bunting and long staying and unseen Reed Warbler being about the best of the lot.
While Inishmore has probably become best known for it's American passerines in recent years that possiblity just wasn't going to happen during my week. Ireland has been stuck in a high pressure system for the last while so if it was going to happen it was going to come from the east. I can't exactly complain about a self found Arctic Warbler I suppose! The high pressure resulted in unseasonably good weather. For the first time ever I didn't have a single drop of rain all week. While the wind never reached gale force it did get a little strong towards the end of the week and first time you could really feel the winter chill in the wind.