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Arequipa

This evening, I noticed 4- 5 large flocks of Brent Geese flying North, over the Sutton coast, Nth Dublin..

Would they be starting their migration up to Greenland / Baffin Island now?

Pretzill

Haven't seen any swallow's here yet - I thought I saw a couple flitting about a neighbours feild last week so I'm hopeful some will arrive soon. It doesn't feel like summer will come without them but mind you it's been freezing up here these passed few days.

Sligo
90m asl

Curiousness99

Arequipa wrote: »

This evening, I noticed 4- 5 large flocks of Brent Geese flying North, over the Sutton coast, Nth Dublin..

Would they be starting their migration up to Greenland / Baffin Island now?

I noticed a good few just getting into proper v formations about a week ago, up really high in the sky but making enough of a racket for the dog to notice and bark at them

Curiousness99

I haven’t seen any yet but my neighbor saw one solitary swallow yesterday; first one was 8 April last year

Up the Dublin hills, pretty cold and not many insects about I’d think

The feckin gritter has been out the last two nights!

bfa1509

Was cycling my bike today when I suddenly heard one of the most ominous sounds I've ever heard. It was like sound effect from a futuristic film of some sort.

It sounded like a metallic object hitting another metallic object followed by a resonating hum, not unlike what a tuning fork sounds like when you clatter it off a desk.

I looked up to see where it was coming from and saw this unusual looking bird sitting on a branch. I don't know what it was but it stood up really straight, like it had perfect posture from it's back all the way up to the tip of it's head. I could only see it's silhouette so couldn't see any colours.

I did a search for various birds with an unusually straight posture and the closest I could find was a kingfisher:



Do these frequent Ireland's countryside much? Anyone have any idea from my description?

Edit:

On further inspection, it must have been a kingfisher! On this video at around 0:47-0:50 was very similar to what I heard (although maybe this sound just replaced the memory I had of it at the time). It was much louder/high pitched and for a longer duration when I heard it person

Tiercel Dave

bfa1509 wrote: »

I looked up to see where it was coming from and saw this unusual looking bird sitting on a branch. I don't know what it was but it stood up really straight, like it had perfect posture from it's back all the way up to the tip of it's head. I could only see it's silhouette so couldn't see any colours.

How big was it, Kingfishers are quite small and would only frequent 'waterways'.....

bfa1509

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

How big was it, Kingfishers are quite small and would only frequent 'waterways'.....

About the size of a thrush or blackbird in length but no bigger. It wasn't a fat bird, it had uniform width. The posture of it was something I've never seen before, much straighter even than the kingfisher above.

Edit:

I've been doing more digging and it may not be a kingfisher but could be a bee-eater:



With a call similar to the first 10 seconds of this video:

Goldfinch8

Just saw the first swallow of the year fly over the garden. I have eagerly anticipated their arrival each year since I was a child. Lovely to see them returning again.
Central Mayo.

New Home

It would definitely be much, much bigger than a kingfisher, but with the type of call you mentioned, a pheasant was the first thing that sprung to mind.

Rows Grower

Heard the cuckoo today a few times loud and clear, left it too late again this year to think about my boat rod, construction has started.

New Home

That's probably not a cuckoo's nest.

Rows Grower

New Home wrote: »

That's probably not a cuckoo's nest.

I know that, it's the House Martin's that visit every year.

I heard the Cuckoo a few times in the woods across the way while I was working outside the shed where that nest is.

Doctors room ghost

I think I saw a swift today probably a house Martin

Seth Brundle

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

I think I saw a swift today probably a house Martin

Swifts are unlikely to be here for another 3 weeks or so

Doctors room ghost

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Swifts are unlikely to be here for another 3 weeks or so

Yeah I wasn’t sure.it was gone like a shot but it looked like a Martin the way it was flying

Tiercel Dave

Rows Grower wrote: »

Heard the cuckoo today a few times loud and clear.

Whereabouts are you Rows?.....

Rows Grower

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

Whereabouts are you Rows?.....

I'm in the hills of south Kerry 5km from the sea.

vistafinder

Rows Grower wrote: »

Heard the cuckoo today a few times loud and clear, left it too late again this year to think about my boat rod, construction has started.

Heard him this evening too in West Cork. Was very close when he started singing. Was trying to figure out which tree he was singing from. Eventually saw him taking off from a big Aspen.

bfa1509

New Home wrote: »

It would definitely be much, much bigger than a kingfisher, but with the type of call you mentioned, a pheasant was the first thing that sprung to mind.

I think you could be right. I just looked up a pheasant call and that was probably the closest to what I heard. There must have been a pheasant hiding in the bush beneath the other bird I saw. Thanks a lot!


Can anyone recommend a good reference book that you can look up different birds of ireland? I was looking them up yesterday but couldn't see any great ones - either too texty or too picturey. I would like something that would have a bird per page with some brief info, what the call sounds like and locations you can typically find them.

Curiousness99

bfa1509 wrote: »

I think you could be right. I just looked up a pheasant call and that was probably the closest to what I heard. There must have been a pheasant hiding in the bush beneath the other bird I saw. Thanks a lot!


Can anyone recommend a good reference book that you can look up different birds of ireland? I was looking them up yesterday but couldn't see any great ones - either too texty or too picturey. I would like something that would have a bird per page with some brief info, what the call sounds like and locations you can typically find them.

complete Irish wildlife by Derek Mooney is pretty good and does way more than birds, doesn’t do sound though

Curiousness99

saw my first swallow early yesterday morning above my neighbours sheds

I’m hearing out for the cuckoo now

Tiercel Dave

bfa1509 wrote: »

I think you could be right. I just looked up a pheasant call and that was probably the closest to what I heard. There must have been a pheasant hiding in the bush beneath the other bird I saw. Thanks a lot!


Can anyone recommend a good reference book that you can look up different birds of ireland? I was looking them up yesterday but couldn't see any great ones - either too texty or too picturey. I would like something that would have a bird per page with some brief info, what the call sounds like and locations you can typically find them.

I'd think "The Complete Guide to Ireland's Birds", Eric Dempsey, is a good, easy to use quick reference guide. Seasonal maps for all the species mentioned and also includes the Irish name if its known

https://books.google.ie/books/about/The_Complete_Guide_to_Ireland_s_Birds.html?id=aI56k8xmMBYC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rows Grower

vistafinder wrote: »

Heard him this evening too in West Cork. Was very close when he started singing. Was trying to figure out which tree he was singing from. Eventually saw him taking off from a big Aspen.

As the cuckoo flies it's only a few miles from where I am in south Kerry to west Cork. I heard him about 3pm so hope it wasn't the same one as I get a great kick out of randomly hearing him when I'm gardening.

Kamili

bfa1509 wrote: »

I think you could be right. I just looked up a pheasant call and that was probably the closest to what I heard. There must have been a pheasant hiding in the bush beneath the other bird I saw. Thanks a lot!


Can anyone recommend a good reference book that you can look up different birds of ireland? I was looking them up yesterday but couldn't see any great ones - either too texty or too picturey. I would like something that would have a bird per page with some brief info, what the call sounds like and locations you can typically find them.

There's a brilliant app called Bird up that can take recordings of birdsong and identify them as you are listening. I have it on Android. It also lists the birds and a sample of their songs too.

Also the rspb in the UK have a great site with sounds to help identify birds

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/identify-a-bird/

Doctors room ghost

Mooney goes wild tonight on the wireless at 10.he did a good section last week on the cuckoo

bfa1509

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

I'd think "The Complete Guide to Ireland's Birds", Eric Dempsey, is a good, easy to use quick reference guide. Seasonal maps for all the species mentioned and also includes the Irish name if its known

https://books.google.ie/books/about/The_Complete_Guide_to_Ireland_s_Birds.html?id=aI56k8xmMBYC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

I actually had a pocket version of this waiting in my amazon basket pending any suggestions here, thanks!

athlone573

Birds of Ireland (pictures by Mark Carmody) is a good pocket guide

Xeno-canto.org has recordings of birdsong from all over the world.

https://birdwatchireland.ie/product/finding-birds-in-ireland-2nd-edition/ also by Eric Dempsey is worth a look if you're seeking specific birds.

Del.Monte

God be with the days when you learnt to identify bird songs by hours spent in the field - or bush - until you got to see the offending species singing/calling. And I'm talking before I had my first pair of binos.


Meanwhile, down here in the Sunny South East (Enniscorthy) I saw my first Martins and heard my first Swallow yesterday. The Martins too far off to identify but I'm going down to the Slaney today and should see Sand Martins if they are back.

athlone573

Grouse, curlew, corncrake easier heard than seen!

Ye get a fair few odd birds there in Wexford with the weather and prevailing winds.

NIMAN

Strange thing happened re: a birds nest.

Few days ago at breakfast I watched a small bird fly into the chimney which comes out from my oil burner housing.

I thought, "cheeky wee bugger, probably in pinching insulation to make a nest".

I was out and about around the house that day and saw nothing more.

Fast forward to today, when one of the kids noticed a small nest was built just inside the chimney (It's a horizontal one coming out from the side).

It was in early stages of build, and obviously I had no choice but to remove it, can't be having a nest getting burnt with exhaust heat.

I have now covered it up, but considering heating is on and off daily, surprised they were even considering it as a viable spot.