Patch Birding - Spring 2020
Monaghan.
Everyone wishes they lived there…don’t they? I would certainly prefer a coastal
patch as the chances of finding decent stuff is surely increased. Duck numbers,
even in winter are relatively low compared to other parts of the country. Most springs,
my birding would be focused elsewhere such as Wexford but with increased
coverage this year, the return has been decent.
Before the
lockdown, on 9th February 2020, after dipping on a Dowitcher sp.
found near Dundalk, Co. Louth by Paul Kelly, Dad and I planned to check some
lakes much closer to home. Between November and March each year we check the
local lakes several times a week. Monalty Lough was our first stop, after a few
minutes of scanning we had almost given up when I caught a glimpse of a duck
diving with open wings. I immediately suspected Long-tailed Duck, and my
suspicions were soon confirmed when it very briefly returned to the surface
before diving again. The two of us eventually managed decent views in difficult
light. With the sun in our faces, it was very tricky to attempt to age this
bird. More views would be needed. The following day much better views were
managed, and it was obvious this was a second calendar year male or
first-winter bird. Decent record shots were obtained and we went home happy!
Only a second county record following on from a bird that Eamonn Larrissey
found on Lough Fea in winter 2007.
Second-calendar year male Long-tailed Duck |
The
following week, the 16th of February, our usual tour of the lakes
was back to normal with almost no birds. After checking 8 lakes our aythya
count was only at 4! Desperate stuff. I was meant to be in work at 6 pm that
evening and time was getting on. Dad recommended that we should check Moylan
Lough, a lake I was never really that pushed on. We were passing nearby so we
checked it just in case. Before even getting out of the car we could see that
there was a nice Tufted Duck flock quite close in! I set the scope up and
started scanning. The first bird in the scope…Ring-necked Duck! Happy days. It
showed well and it had me almost convinced this was an adult male, however, I
needed to double-check…I needed to see it flap! Again, dad and I managed
excellent views. I attached the phone to the scope and started recording. I
knew time was getting on and I was anxious to correctly age it before we had to
head off. At this stage, I was now watching the bird on the phone screen which
was attached to the scope, when it started to preen…I was very hopeful we would
see it flap! Our luck was in… it stood up on the water, flapped and showed its
dusky belly! To my surprise, it was a first winter! A nice learning experience.
Remarkably, this was now at least the 14th different Ring-necked
Duck I’ve managed to see the county and the 15th record! A Lesser
Scaup is seriously overdue. We managed to just about squeeze in the Long-tailed
Duck before I needed to be in work. A nice duck-double! The Ring-necked Duck
was last seen on the 8th of March and many managed to obtain
excellent views and it acted as a good supporting cast for those who travelled
for the nearby Tundra Bean Goose. As the weeks went on it was nice to see the
dusky feathering on the belly retreat and become almost adult-like by the time
it departed.
Second-calendar year male Ring-necked Duck |
New scarce
and rare birds were hard to come by for the next few weeks, however, with
fluctuating numbers of aythyas each week, it was obvious that many ducks
were passing through the county on their way to their breeding grounds. John
Cusack was the last to see the Long-tailed Duck at Monalty Lough in mid-March
and managed the best images and footage of it. Once the lockdown was introduced,
visits to Moylan Lough and other nearby lakes were done daily. I had great
hopes for Moylan especially after Niall Keogh mentioned that inland wader
passage can be decent in the right conditions. Birding was very slow which
could be expected in a landlocked county in Spring. That being said, late on
the 6th April, I picked up another or the same 2cy male Long-tailed
Duck with a small flock of Tufted Ducks on Moylan Lough. With the light fading
rapidly it was impossible to tell if it was the same bird that was on Monalty
Lough. The following day the bird was gone and a thorough search of ideal
nearby sites drew a blank. That was until a week later when I picked it up
again only this time on Lough Fea. Excellent views were obtained and I was more
than happy that it was the same bird that was on Monalty Lough. I last saw this
super duck on the 21st April when it was displaying like mad to a
female Tufted Duck! They’d get up on a cracked plate the ducks! It was joined
briefly that evening by a Canada Goose which dropped in after I picked it up
from dizzying heights! This really caught me by surprise. I heard a distant
Great-spotted Woodpecker calling on the far side of the lake which is still a
pretty good bird in Ireland. I re-joined with dad who had been birding the far
side of the lake who had two Great-spotted Woodpeckers drumming quite close but
due to the thick vegetation, he was unable to see them. On the 29th
April, after 4 tries, we finally got eyes on a Woodpecker, a lovely adult male
at that! It appeared to be feeding rather than attending a nest but further
visits may prove otherwise. It was still present on the 11th of May.
Adult male Great spotted Woodpecker |
Daily
visits to Moylan Lough over a few weeks turned up a lovely flock of 56 Golden
Plovers, Common Sandpipers (with a minimum of 3 on the 1st May), a
Lapwing pair appear to be breeding, and a flock of Whimbrels on the 28th
of April. Slow enough birding but beggars can’t be choosers! The early hours of
the 7th May had heavy rain and southerlies. I was quietly confident
that there might be a few waders in. I drove out to Moylan Lough with dad and
we were greeted with fishermen and a young lad with a dog walking along the
edge of the lake. We almost kept going due to the disturbance but just in case
we scanned. Due to the now very low water level, there are several little
inlets which the waders can bury themselves which makes it a bit tricky to scan
properly from the road. The dog ran along the shoreline flushing everything in
its wake. As I scanned the far shore, I immediately latched onto a racket
coming from above us. A call which I had only heard two or three times before.
Wood Sandpipers!!! I still hadn’t seen them however and I was frantically
scanning the sky looking for it. After what seemed like minutes and what was
probably only a few seconds I had it! However, I couldn’t believe it when I noticed
that there was, in fact, two Wood Sandpipers! They bombed past us at close
range and got quite high, before lowering down again. Luckily, I managed to
scope them in flight for almost two minutes allowing super views. The most
striking thing about them was the gleaming white rump. It was the first time
I’ve ever been able to pick up the neat, black tail bars on a flying Wood
Sandpiper. The bill was relatively short and the underwings were a light grey.
The toes projected past the tail. It was gutting to see them try to land back
in numerous times only to be spooked by the dog. They eventually continued
North-East giving the constant call of what I can only describe as young birds
begging for food in a nest. It was amazing to hear their calls echo out around
the lake. Without a doubt, the most adrenaline-filled patch moment I’ve had to
date! A first county record. Awesome birding! We hoped that they may return to
roost at the lake, so we returned just before dawn the next morning and waited
for it to get bright. It was obvious fairly quickly that they had unfortunately
kept going and were never seen again.
Moylan Lough looking mega. |
The
following day was the global eBird big day and we were out birding again to do
our bit for the national tally. It was a rather slow day with 6 Lesser
black-backed Gulls, 3 Whimbrel, Kingfisher, 2 Lapwing and a Grey Heron which
eventually managed to swallow an Eel after a long struggle. We planned to
finish up at Ballyhoe Lough that evening. We arrived and I immediately picked
up the continuing Shoveler pair in the reeds. The Grey Herons were again after
a proper meal when one managed to catch what was probably a 2- or 3-pound Bream
x Roach hybrid. It eventually had to let it go as its eye was too big for his
belly! As we scanned the lake numerous times, more so just enjoying the nice
evening, I was completely stunned to pick up an immaculate drake Garganey! Surprisingly
it was out in the middle of the lake and not in the reeds where I would have
expected one to be… where was that all evening! We both managed nice views
through the scope and it was dads first since a drake at Tacumshin in April
2011. I immediately rang Peter Phillips who only lives over the road from
Ballyhoe Lough and he was on-site in minutes to watch this super duck. It was
certainly the most obliging Garganey I’ve seen to date, only spending a very
short time in the reeds. It spent 90% of its time in the Monaghan section of
the lake although a couple of times it swam well into the Meath section of the
lake also. Another county first! Sadly, there was no sign the following day on
the 10th of May.
Drake Garganey. |
I have
found patch birding extremely enjoyable and rewarding. The areas
that are being birded, would never be looked at outside of the winter months. It just goes to
show what could be turning up inland in the country. Whiskered Tern next.
Great read Brian!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter!
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed reading this and previous blogs. Well done!
ReplyDeleteAndrew