Animals and birds you used to never see...

I remember I went to a field in Gormanstown on a report that there might be short eared owls that come from Scotland. That was about ten years ago and I did indeed find them. Went to live in Scotland and saw an abundance of Wildlife since. Been back in Ireland living in the midlands. Keep an eye out for all things wild but not much in the way of Raptors or Red Deer. Pity, In Scotland the Grampians present a haven for wildlife to roam and as a result Aberdeen City becomes a flood of wild animals.

Spotted red squirrel,plus gold crests,all the finches,usual black birds ,thrushes,on the walk to the Lee fields, behind the tennis village,cork, hopefully a kingfisher b4 I get home,egret,,and a few cormorants spotted

John_Rambo wrote: »

tricky D wrote: »

Egrets
Gannets
Woodpecker about a decade ago.
Bramblings and other assorted small birds.
Lots of BoPs: Kes, Sprawk, Buzzards, Peregrines, and my first Owl a couple of weeks back.
Odonata: Damsel and Dragonflies.
Porpoises, Dolphins, Killers and Humpbacks.

On the flip, I haven't seen a Basking Shark in a few decades.

Competed in a sailing regatta a few years ago in Kinsale and I actually thought we were going to hit one we saw that many of them. We saw a sunfish too!!! Even have a video of it. We hadn't a notion what it was.

Some great advice on this thread on how to attract wildlife in to the garden. Thanks everyone.

Sunfish lucky u

NCS wrote: »

Talking of owls, one night of the annual meteor showers (can't remember which one), around midnight I thought I'd see if I could glimpse anything out of an upstairs window. I was there for no more than thirty seconds or so peering intently when the window was suddenly full of wings as a large owl soundlessly took flight from the guttering just above. Scared the living nightlights out of me :eek:. I would have thought the house was too far into suburbia but obviously not.

I see owls on the motorways every few months or so. There’s one that hunts the median of the M20/21 near Dooradoyle in Limerick. Thirty years ago, I had one in my garden every night, because my house bounded a cornfield and there were lots of field mice in it. Then came set-aside, and corn growing stopped, the owl population dropped. The corvids are rocketing, because farmers aren’t shooting them over corn. In one three mile stretch of the N21 at Coolanoran, there are five newly-established rookeries.
My local rarities are blackcaps and long-tailed tits, very rarely see either. When I was a lad, egrets and rock doves were unknown. I have seen woodcock exhibiting strange behavior twice, running in circles on the road. I think they mistake roads for frozen rivers, if they arrive on migration on moonlit nights.

As mentioned previously, buzzards and egrets mainly

Otters in the Liffey in the middle of Dublin city centre was the one that amazed me the most

Years ago pine martens were very rare - I used to go to the Burren to see them with the late and great John D. MacNamara. in the past twenty years they have increased their populations hugely, I've seen them around Abbeyleix and Adare. My local wildlife ranger in West Limerick has found their scats in the Sugarhill area.
Dippers are very easy to see, surprised you haven't seen one - stand by any shallow river with big rocks and you should get lucky. I saw about five egrets from the Maigue bridge in Adare this morning on my way to work. The first one appeared there about ten years ago, probably from the colony in Tarbert. Kingfishers are easy enough too - as a boy I used to do a bit of fishing and if you spend time on a river like that you'll see them. They use the same fishing perch over and over. I've seen jays and woodpeckers in abundance at bird tables in Sussex and Kent but not so often here.
Probably the rarest thing I've seen are whimbrels - a flock spent a winter on farmland behind my house a few years ago.

I took shelter under an ivy bush in a shower of rain years ago, and three barn owls flew out of it.

Not so much a never seen as a never heard (in Ireland), the Cuckoo,
I'd always thought I just hadn't recognised the sound, till I heard one once in Cornwall....

Seeing jays and Sparrowhawks in city garden in recent years never saw them before(in my garden)
There is a couple of Oaks trees nearby that are starting to mature/get big I think the Jays are coming for that. I seen them with acorns.

Threads gone mad!

My thoughts, jays are apparently very shy birds and hide away in forests, I might see them 4 or 5 times a year, but one day recently I saw about 5 on the same walk. They get less fussy in autumn when they are panicking trying to stockpile food for the winter. And also in spring when nesting I guess. I seen a stoat a year or 2 ago. That was a good score. Kingfishers? So bloody small and so fast I know they are right in front of me sometimes but still can't see them. You need to have an hour to sit by a river. Goldfinches, getting fierce common now, but never seen them until recently. Never seen a sparrowhawk either but buzzards all over the shop now. They were extinct here when I was growing up. My cousin seen a dormouse last year, that's a major score, I've never seen one! Nature is great lads isn't it?

emo72 wrote: »

Threads gone mad!

My thoughts, jays are apparently very shy birds and hide away in forests, I might see them 4 or 5 times a year, but one day recently I saw about 5 on the same walk. They get less fussy in autumn when they are panicking trying to stockpile food for the winter. And also in spring when nesting I guess. I seen a stoat a year or 2 ago. That was a good score. Kingfishers? So bloody small and so fast I know they are right in front of me sometimes but still can't see them. You need to have an hour to sit by a river. Goldfinches, getting fierce common now, but never seen them until recently. Never seen a sparrowhawk either but buzzards all over the shop now. They were extinct here when I was growing up. My cousin seen a dormouse last year, that's a major score, I've never seen one! Nature is great lads isn't it?

Ref kingfisher- need a quiet place by a clean stream, up early- patience needed- once one is spotted on a perch , remember it , always use the same 5/6 on a 2/3 k stretch