Spring Migrants 2013

Arequipa · 25-02-2013 6:21pm #1

Hi! As Spring gradually draws in, I'm thinking about our swallows...
Would they have started their migration North yet?
I know there's more of a race back to mate & get good nesting sites etc...

Whats the earliest they will be seen on Irish skies?

Arequipa.

Mothman · 25-02-2013 7:27pm

Swallows should be on the move north.

While the occasional one is sometimes seen in early March if not earlier, its usually late March before sightings are frequent and its towards mid April before many see their first Swallow

Arequipa · 25-02-2013 8:37pm

Yea, April is really the time to see them.
I remember seeing martins before swallows & where i spend holidays along Lough Corrib, you will see them out on the lake before seeing them around the house/ in fields.
I read somewhere that at a push, they can make it from South Africa up to Ireland in 5 weeks.
Whereas in the Autumn, they can glide down south, stopping as they move to rest/ shelter or feed...

Amazing birds....

andym1 · 28-02-2013 9:07am

For the last 3 years, I saw my first swift on the same day each year, 3rd May. I did see a Swallow once a few days before St Patricks Day about 13/14 March

OpenYourEyes · 28-02-2013 11:37am

According to the Birdwatch Ireland facebook page they've been seen starting to move through the Mediteranean, so they're on the way!

TrentPirate · 28-02-2013 11:52pm

Are swallows quite tame when it comes to people been near the nests? from looking at the pictures posted on this thread they seem very close when taking the pictures.

Birdnuts · 01-03-2013 12:36am

Those UK wing-tagged cuckoos are starting to move North from their Congo wintering areas according to latest reports.:cool:

PS: Also a heavy passage North of migrating raptors and storks over Tarifa(Southern tip of Spain) for the past week

Mothman · 01-03-2013 6:47am

TrentPirate wrote: »

Are swallows quite tame when it comes to people been near the nests? from looking at the pictures posted on this thread they seem very close when taking the pictures.

Swallows and House Martins often use buildings for their nest sites. not just outside, but very regularly inside. The buildings may be in daily use and they tolerate people going about their normal business. Nests could be just a few feet away, within the zoom range of many camera kits.

If you do go a little closer than usual, then they will be quite uncomfortable and you risk creating issues such as young leaving nest early or preventing the feeding of young.

thebishop · 01-03-2013 7:41pm

First Swallow seen in Ballydehob today. From irish birding .com.

Birdnuts · 02-03-2013 11:13pm

Large numbers of Blackcaps have arrived in Southern Spain this past week. Should be arriving here in a few short weeks if not sooner given the progged strong SE winds for the next several days over these islands.

Birdnuts · 15-03-2013 12:35am

Good numbers of Sand Martins on the South and East coast in recent days. Some inland records too from Carlow. Also Chiffchaffs and Wheaters starting to arrive in the SE.

Arequipa · 20-03-2013 8:46pm

Wow...how time flies!
Do you guys know why sand martins seem to arrive before swallows?

Given how cold it has been the last few weeks, I think the swallows should slow down on their journey north.

With the arrival of spring, rising temperatures & increase in plant growth and insect life; what/when is the normally the optimum time for swallows to arrive?
ie...what time of the year can swallows comfortably feed in Ireland?

Thanks a mil!

DellyBelly · 26-03-2013 8:19pm

Had my first swallow last weekend. Just didnt seem right see the poor bugger flying about in the weather we have beeb having...no flying insects about so I hope it did an about turn and returns next month:)

andym1 · 30-03-2013 4:24pm

Saw my first swallow today walking back from the shop in Clontarf In Dublin. Heard the call first and looked up and there it was, only one !

Birdnuts · 30-03-2013 6:25pm

Unfortunatly I fear many of the early Swallows,Sand Martins etc. may not survive given the continuing exceptional cold spell:(

mr.wiggle · 02-04-2013 11:09pm

I would have thought that with the weather conditions across Europe for the past month, that there would be no way any southern based birds
would even try to, or get the urge to migrate north ? If there was an early warm spell that triggered their migration i could understand, but it been consistantly cold with nothern/eastern winds blowing.

Birdnuts · 02-04-2013 11:55pm

mr.wiggle wrote: »

I would have thought that with the weather conditions across Europe for the past month, that there would be no way any southern based birds
would even try to, or get the urge to migrate north ? If there was an early warm spell that triggered their migration i could understand, but it been consistantly cold with nothern/eastern winds blowing.

I think migration is triggered by daylength rather than prevailing weather. Unfortuntly it hasn't worked out for the advance guard of arrivals this year:(

Judgement Day · 03-04-2013 9:11am

Interesting overlap of the winter migrants (Waxwings) still being here in numbers and summer migrants (Swallows) starting to arrive. Certainly wouldn't give much chances of the Swallows surviving the cold weather/lack of food, and there can't be many berries left for the Waxwings either.

norrie rugger · 03-04-2013 9:12am

Must be summer so

Half-cocked · 03-04-2013 4:31pm

Plenty of small flies around this afternoon now that the sun has appeared, hopefully arriving swallows will be OK.

mr.wiggle · 04-04-2013 12:31am

norrie rugger wrote: »

Must be summer so

One swallow.....
:rolleyes:

whyulittle · 04-04-2013 5:39pm

Got my first migrant today - a Chiffchaff.

tittybiscuits · 04-04-2013 10:12pm

Saw my first chiffchaff last year on Bull Island on 23rd March but haven't seen any this year, nor willow warblers.
Shouldn't seabirds that spend the winter at sea be back to nest by now? I went to Howth today looking for fulmar, razorbills and guillemots but only saw kittiwakes.

ThunderCat · 05-04-2013 10:11am

tittybiscuits wrote: »

Saw my first chiffchaff last year on Bull Island on 23rd March but haven't seen any this year, nor willow warblers.
Shouldn't seabirds that spend the winter at sea be back to nest by now? I went to Howth today looking for fulmar, razorbills and guillemots but only saw kittiwakes.

Similarly I would have thought the Brent Geese at the beach near me would have left by now. Glad they haven't just yet, I enjoy watching them. Never ceases to amaze me the journeys they, and other species, take every single year.
Nice pic of the chiffchaff a couple of posts up. Not sure i've ever seen one. Where have they migrated from by the way?

tittybiscuits · 05-04-2013 10:45am

Chiffchaffs winter on both sides of the Mediterranean and parts of the middle east I think. Speaking of brent geese - a guy saw me watching them the other day and asked me when they'd be leaving. I had to admit I hadn't a clue. I suppose due to their size they can cover ground faster than small passerines so they have a shorter journey, so maybe they hang around a bit longer because they like it here so much!
And +1 on the chiffchaff photo...

Half-cocked · 05-04-2013 2:56pm

tittybiscuits wrote: »

Shouldn't seabirds that spend the winter at sea be back to nest by now? I went to Howth today looking for fulmar, razorbills and guillemots but only saw kittiwakes.

They will all come ashore together later this month. I remember staying out on the Saltees a few years back last week in April. One day the cliffs were all empty, the next morning they were crammed with seabirds.

Half-cocked · 05-04-2013 3:02pm

ThunderCat wrote: »

Similarly I would have thought the Brent Geese at the beach near me would have left by now.

The first Irish Brent Geese arrived in Iceland last week (first leg of their Spring migration). Dublin birds have been moving up to Northern Ireland for a few weeks now, but there will still be birds in Dublin right through into May. All the colour ringing over the last 12 years gives us a pretty good idea of when and where they go. We even get birds from Brittany passing through Dublin during their migration.

tittybiscuits · 06-04-2013 12:15am

Half-cocked wrote: »

They will all come ashore together later this month. I remember staying out on the Saltees a few years back last week in April. One day the cliffs were all empty, the next morning they were crammed with seabirds.

Thanks Half-cocked, I'd say it's some sight to see after looking at empty cliffs. I'd say the sound is something else; one thing I missed yesterday was the noise of a seabird colony, I was in Howth last August and the sound was really something to behold.
I finally got my first chiffchaffs today as well, saw 3 in Turvey and heard at least another 2...
Also regarding migrants I counted 29 great crested grebes in Broadmeadow estuary in Dublin the other day. They're a common enough site of the north Dublin coast in winter but I'd never seen them coming into breeding plumage before. Well worth a look for anyone who hasn't seen them..

tittybiscuits · 06-04-2013 12:19am

A few sandwich terns spotted around Bull Island in the last week too: http://www.bullislandbirds.com/, and Cork/Kerry seems to have its fair share of swallows...

Bsal · 06-04-2013 8:33pm

I saw my first Wheatear of Spring today in Skerries and there was also 9 Eider ducks paddling around near Red Island, thats my first time seeing them

Birdnuts · 06-04-2013 9:23pm

I'm 90% certain I heard a Swallow today. Couldn't see the bird as it was between me and the Sun. At the Liffey inlet into the Blessington lake. Also saw a Shelduck on the lake which I hadn't seen in these parts before!!.

littlebug · 07-04-2013 8:00pm

Saw my first two swallows today

Birdnuts · 10-04-2013 9:53pm

One or 2 Swallows here over the last few days but still no sight or sound of sand martins or Chiffchaffs - never remember them been this late:(

tittybiscuits · 10-04-2013 11:35pm

I saw those eider in Skerries yesterday, 3 of them anyway. Didn't see any wheatear though, maybe it was a bit too breezy for them.

I've been keeping an eye out for sand martins too, Birdnuts. Not sure when they usually arrive but no sign yet at their usual haunts around here...

whyulittle · 12-04-2013 9:35pm

Plenty of sightings around the country today, including a Cuckoo on the Saltees.

Took a walk around Boora, but still nothing there that I could see.

Arequipa · 14-04-2013 5:30pm

Hi! Saw my first 2 swallows in North Dublin today... They were flying low over houses & tracking North!
Its great to see them again!

Half-cocked · 14-04-2013 6:29pm

Arequipa wrote: »

Hi! Saw my first 2 swallows in North Dublin today... They were flying low over houses & tracking North!
Its great to see them again!

Had 2 today Sutton/Baldoyle. The same ones?;) And a Chiffchaff in the garden.

Arequipa · 14-04-2013 8:03pm

Hi! Could be! I am in the Sutton area too... At least the cold easterly winds have gone for now & temps are on the up!

Bsal · 14-04-2013 9:05pm

I spotted my first Swallow today at Dublin airport

V Bull · 15-04-2013 9:53am

I was in Tacumshin & the South Slobs on Friday just gone, spotted swallows in both areas..

OpenYourEyes · 15-04-2013 9:56am

V Bull wrote: »

I was in Tacumshin & the South Slobs on Friday just gone, spotted swallows in both areas..

Swallows are at the North Slob too, and there's a few more Wheatears knocking around as well!

Desmo · 15-04-2013 10:32am

Dozens of Swallows at Cahore yesterday (Sunday) and several around Seapoint this morning (on me way into work)
Des

Desmo · 15-04-2013 10:35am

I saw an amazing concentration of Chiffchaffs (around 20) plus a willow warbler on Friday at UCD. They were concentrated around the ponds near the back of the vet building, darting out from a few bushes to get flying midges. Later on, a few of them started singing and it was quite a racket.
Des