This unspoilt lake is behind my house and I can never spot anything

euser1984

What should I be looking for and what times?

There were pheasant here earlier in the year. The swans and ducks are gone now that they get fed by visitors to the local park.

AFAIK - It has bream, perch and pike....I also understand if there are herons (which supposedly there are) then there are also hawks?

An owl lives close by but I can never seem to pinpoint where he is....do these camoflague well?

I'm thinking of giving up. I have Nikon Monarchs 10x42 binoculars btw....

Here's a picture taken with my phone. I also have an SLR if more detail would be useful....it's marshland for the record. You can't really see it in this picture but there is an island towards the back - you cannot see the end of the lake because it's behind the island....lots of lush green vegetation over there.



upload image

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There have to be duck, moorhen and coot at the very least. Plus reed bunting and many "garden" birds. Lay low nearby for an hour or so and you should see something.

jmkennedyie

Sitting down for an hour or two a great suggestion...listen out for calls.
Have you a branch of Birdwatch Ireland nearby? Attend a meeting or two. Invite some of the branch or all of them over for an outing. Also, visit throughout the year and you will notice different things at different times. Warblers singing in spring. Thrushes, finches in winter. Different flowers flower in different months. Also different activity at different times of day - young owls screeching these evenings. Next month or two birds are a bit knackered after breeding and many are moulting so don't be surprised if numbers low.

Capercaillie

Will be a few sedge warblers there.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I have a very similar lake behind my house - indeed I thought it was the same place when I first saw your photo.

I went down for 40 minutes this morning and had

Swallows
Reed Bunting
Hundreds of Starling
Sedge warbler
Cormorant
Bullfinch
Teal
Snipe
Pheasant
Buzzard
Blackbird
Wren
Rook
Grey Heron

Plus Butterflies, damselflies and bees. An endless list of plants all around.

Keep at it!

magicbastarder

any bats?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

any bats?

Not at 9.30 this morning.

Plenty late evenings.

ardinn

Where is it? I need a new place to have a go for pike!

euser1984

Clara Easy Flutist wrote: »

I have a very similar lake behind my house - indeed I thought it was the same place when I first saw your photo.

I went down for 40 minutes this morning and had

Swallows
Reed Bunting
Hundreds of Starling
Sedge warbler
Cormorant
Bullfinch
Teal
Snipe
Pheasant
Buzzard
Blackbird
Wren
Rook
Grey Heron

Plus Butterflies, damselflies and bees. An endless list of plants all around.

Keep at it!

Cool, where did you see the Heron? Are they in the reeds?

ardinn wrote: »

Where is it? I need a new place to have a go for pike!

Two lakes here with plenty apparently; athough, one of them is polluted. I see people fishing in the lake behind me but not often....perhaps due to being difficult to access. Bream, perch & pike....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

euser1984 wrote: »

Cool, where did you see the Heron? Are they in the reeds?




Two lakes here with plenty apparently; athough, one of them is polluted. I see people fishing in the lake behind me but not often....perhaps due to being difficult to access. Bream, perch & pike....

Heron flew up from the reeds.

Don't say where the lake is please. Leave it unspoiled.

euser1984

Clara Easy Flutist wrote: »

Heron flew up from the reeds.

Don't say where the lake is please. Leave it unspoiled.

I have the camera ready to catch the guy that dumps some chemical and cut grass into a stream leading to it....

Good idea on not disclosing the location - thanks.

euser1984

Clara Easy Flutist wrote: »

Not at 9.30 this morning.

Plenty late evenings.

Where would the bats be hanging around? I was looking up the kind of owls I should expect to find around here....they seem to have colors that would camouflage them into the trees so to speak....there are plenty of conifers around.

A quick look on the web seems that there are no bird watch clubs around...the're are hunting clubs though so I'm not going to get in contact with them...having said that, those hunting people are the same people that ring birds in the local town park. I think they have introduced new ones recently also. I would think that they are not for hunting purposes.

Where have the pheasants gone since the earlier part of the year? There used to be lots around the grasslands of the lake pictured.

Finally, a concern I have is causing much problems bringing my dog with me sometimes? Not when I'm spotting but just for a walk....how will she affect the habitat?

Thanks.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I take my dog all the time. She keeps close to me when I tell her to and does no damage nor causes any disturbance. But it depends on the dog.

Looking for owls in daylight can be a futile exercise. Go for them at dusk.

There can be large amounts of pheasants when hunting clubs release them. In early summer they disperse and lie low for breeding and rearing young.

Some of the bats here are in my attic. Again, look at and after dusk.

Ulmus

Sad to read that someone is dumping chemicals and cut grass into a stream that flows into one of the lakes. You could report this to your County Council.

euser1984

Ulmus wrote: »

Sad to read that someone is dumping chemicals and cut grass into a stream that flows into one of the lakes. You could report this to your County Council.

I will but do I not need to give photographic evidence or will a notice given to him be enough?

OK guys, I have found one dweller....just beside the reeds there is a black colored bird with a red beak (I think it's red - I've been viewing from a distance)....about the same size as a blackbird I'd say. I'm checking out a bird watch now anyway.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Advise the County council and they will investigate without you needing to do any more.

Red beak says water rail to me but if so it's a great find. Could it have been more orange?

whyulittle

Moorhen is what jumped to mind for me.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Of course that's what it was!

I was thinking all red. The Moorhen is yellow tipped with a red face shield.

euser1984

I think it might be a moorhen after your suggestions judging from pictures on wikipedia. The decision was just based on looking at pictures of water rails also.

I'm just back from the lake now. I was out for a while sitting "fishermans pier" - it's small and made out of wood....it protrudes just a small bit into the lake through the reeds. I saw just one more of the same type of bird, again. It was far away though so I'm not 100% on identification although I think water rail could be ruled out if this is the only type in Ireland.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Ralaqu.jpg/330px-Ralaqu.jpg

It was really funny watching him because he was crossing an area of vegetation and he looked like a person holding their trousers up while avoiding getting their trousers wet; and also, taking as few steps as possible. Legs like a duck?

Do I need to hide/camoflague myself for anything to come out?


Also, just as I was leaving gulls arrived (look and sound like sea gulls but I live nowhere near the sea).....
I think they might have arrived in the area 2mins before I left because I could hear them....as I was a bit from the lake they started scouring the water.....I don't know anything about these....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Try hiding at the edge of the reed rather than out on the pier. Gulls are found inland very often.