Joe and myself on Tacumshin lake...
Each autumn I plan on spending around a week around south Wexford birding. A nice break from the busy work schedule, though I often lead a few tours on the weekends while I’m down showing my clients what Wexford has to offer during the autumn migration. And these tours rarely disappoint! If you are interested in coming along just get in touch with me and I will organise an itinerary for some great birding!
Me seawatching at Carnesore point...
This year was no different in terms of my plan of action, I stayed very close to Tacumshin lake being able to see parts of the main lake from the house I had rented out for the few days. Some months ago I was asked if I would be available and interested in doing some Co-leading of birding tours with Oriole birding whom had a birding group over from the UK. This was a great opportunity for me to begin to branch out my guiding business and work with a fantastic company that have been in the business for many years!
Young
Whinchat at Tacumshin...
After arriving back from Inishbofin on the 6th of September after a successful few days of leading tours on the island. I then made my way to Wexford on the morning of the 7th to Co-lead the Wensum valley birdwatching society from Norfolk while they arrived over for a four day birding trip with Ashley (Oriole birding). The first day got off to a nice start meeting the group and seeing what Tacumshin had to offer. We began our days birding at the forgotten corner, scanning the lake and surrounding areas. Ashley picked up a beautiful juvenile whinchat which is always a great sight in Ireland, and especially when this bird is likely to have arrived while on its migration south to Africa! The temperatures began to rise as the day progressed and birding was difficult, but we continued on and walked onto the lake from the high car park/east end. While on the lake we saw at least five juvenile little stint which showed well at times along with a handful of juvenile curlew sandpipers and not to forget a lovely dainty juvenile wood sandpiper also. A juv hen harrier showed nicely at times while it quartered the lakes edges and grasslands.
After leaving the group after a days birding and a quick rest up. I then headed for stoney point at Tacumshin which gives a fantastic viewpoint over the lake and surrounding areas. As the light began to fade I noticed three glossy ibis had arrived in and had begun to preen on the lakes edge. Presumably the birds that have been around for some time now! I also had very distant views of a marsh harrier as it looked for its last potential meal of the day flying with the sunset in the background. A distant skua species over the beach had my interest for a few minutes as it harassed terns offshore, the bird appeared to be a pomarine on the general body structure, but unfortunately was too distant to be sure of its identification!
Juvenile little stint among dunlin Tacumshin...
Day two of the tour and we headed out to Carnsore point in search of any migrants that may have arrived in the fog that night or early morning. Lots of activity with at least 10 blackcap feasting on berries, several common chiffchaff, a handful of common whitethroat, 2-3 spotted flycatcher and a sedge warbler present along the well vegetated lane to the point. The group walked the point with myself and Ashley and we had a nice flyby Merlin, and couple of white wagtails and some whimbrel around the main point area. But no rares that we had hoped for!
Spotted flycatcher Carnsore point...
Churchtown was next on our agenda. 2 pied flycatcher had been here for a few days and we managed some very poor and brief views of both as they flicked from tree to tree. Always a nice bird to get during your tours and in general a good bird to see in Ireland! A few blackcap and common chiffchaff best of the rest in the area. A quick coffee pits top was needed at Carne, a scan around the area revealed some Mediterranean gulls flying around though little else of note. Rosslare back strand was quiet as the tide was still rather high, though a juvenile peregrine falcon gave a nice view for the group! A look around stoney point and the forgotten corner and we added marsh harrier to the trip list for all of the group, a common enough bird for the group back home but always a nice scarcity over here! It was then time to say our goodbyes to the gang. A nice two day Co-guiding to say the least!
Juvenile Kentish plover Tacumshin...
A good friend of mine, Joe Proudfoot said he would join me in Wexford for a few days and we could bird around the area. And here’s what we say over the few days. We had brief views of a single pied and spotted flycatcher at churchtown, while an arctic skua was flying around offshore here also. We picked up a juvenile spotted redshank was a very welcome find at Lady’s island for myself and Joe, this is now a very scarce bird in Ireland and a difficult bird to see and find away from returning wintering individuals. A short-eared owl was a big surprise as it appeared from the thick fog at ring marsh on the evening of the 8th. While three glossy ibis flew out from the marsh also. Juvenile little stint, curlew sandpipers and one wood sandpiper had continued at Tacumshin. We did manage to track down the juvenile pectoral sandpiper also and that bird gave some nice though distant views while among the dunlin flocks. A little ringed plover have a high pitched call overhead on the lake on the 9th. The juvenile hen harrier was kicking about while we wandered the lakes shores also.
On the evening of the 9th after some much needed resting. Myself and Joe headed out across the lake at Tacumshin in the hopes that something new may have dropped in! And our hopes soon became a reality when Joe said can I look at a bird in your scope. I said of course, Joe then asked me to look in and give my opinion on what this bird was. A plover species clearly when I looked in, and to my amaze this bird was a juvenile Kentish plover! A very rare bird for Ireland with around 20 Irish records to date!! Joe had just gone and picked up this magnificent bird which had really blown this trip out of the water! And for me it is always brilliant to be involved with finding something so rare! Killian Mullarney and Aidan Kelly had been standing with us chatting away as we scanned the flocks so they had been on hand to lend their expertise for this bird’s identification also. The bird flew off with some common ringed plover as it called and disappeared behind the Sandy dunes heading for the beach. We arrived the next morning to try and relocate the bird with no luck. After a few hours I received a phone call from Kieran Grace to say he had just found a juvenile buff-breasted sandpiper among the beach! Myself and Joe left the patches and slogger through the sand to get eyes on this magnificent wader species. The bird showed well for a short period before flying away down the beach out of sight. A good flock of white wagtails feeding along the seaweed gave some nice views there also. As did an arctic skua harassing gulls and seabirds just offshore. Hard to beat Tacumshin during migration!
A fantastic trip spent with great people and seeing great birds. Until the next one! Which will be leading tours in October of Inishbofin island, Galway in search of rare vagrants! Fingers crossed 🤞 Cian (The life of an Irish birder)
Inishmore... The weather conditions were never exactly easy to look for passerines in. Wind or rain was a feature of most of the 6 days on the island that we spent. Our original plan was 4 night but that soon changed when another storm left us with no option but to stay on the island an extra night. Arriving on Thursday last and leaving just yesterday (Tuesday). This was my first time on the Aran islands, and Inishmore to be exact. A lovely island, but for me a little too big and full of cover for searching for vagrant passerines.
A pretty slow start for the most part, though Hugh did pull out a red-eyed vireo on the 21st which happened to be my 25th birthday! And I saw the bird on the 22nd which was a lifer for me, and giving me my 296th bird species that I have seen in Ireland to date! Which isn’t bad going for somewhere that isn’t a big twitcher. Joe stated that he picked up an interesting wigeon on the lake and for me to get on it with my scope. I did just that and after a while and some discussion we found eclipse male American wigeon to be the correct fit! The bird was among Eurasian wigeon which gave a nice comparison and contrast between the two species. Over the next few days we had very little of note seeing the American wigeon a few more times and very little else! An educational bird to pick up and spend some time watching!
A series of images of the eclipse male American wigeon. The grey head with contrasting dark eye mask, bright grey-blue bill, rufous flanks with clean white belly, clean white rather than grey-white (shown on Eurasian) axillaries on the underwing. striking bird even when seen at distance with binoculars. A brighter bird than Eurasian birds present. Always an enjoyable plumage to see in this species! Most likey to be the bird that spent the winter here for the past few years, but is not often found or looked for while in this eclipse plumage.
Red-eyed vireo... A difficult island to work and a bit of a slog at times, though we did book into a B&B that was around a forty to fifty minute walk from the west end of the island the the village! Which made things a little more difficult, the bikes did help but not always easy to cycle around all day! You win some and you lose some! Autumn isn’t over yet!
Leaving the island after 6 days! Pomarine and Arctic skua along with some European strom petrel seen from the ferry also.
