Author Archives: Tom Tarpey

A Hawfinch and two Bramblings were seen at Curraghchase today (Aidan Kelly).  See photos on irishbirding.com .

Two Buzzards were seen near Lough Gur and a third bird was seen near Drombanna.  A Great Northern Diver, 268 Wigeon, 172 Teal, 14 Shoveler, 145 Tufted Duck, five pairs of Great Crested Grebes, a Little Egret and two Ravens were also at Lough Gur (Tom Tarpey & Tony Mee).

The Eastern Jackdaw continues to be seen regularly in Newcastle West (Geoff Hunt).

28 Redshank and three Greenshank came in to the Coonagh Nature Reserve to roost. Also present there were 38 Tufted Duck, eight Gadwall and nine Pochard (Maura Turner)

A Barn Owl was seen at Gooig Bog (Andrew Holmes).

A Peregrine Falcon was seen at Old Mill (Geoff Hunt).

A first winter Mediterranean Gull was seen at Westfields today.

News was received today of a BTO ringed Black-headed Gull seen at Thomond Weir on 1/2/2015.  The bird was ringed as chick at  Hamford Water, Little Oakley, Essex on 3/6/2006.  The bird was in its ninth year making it one of the oldest ringed Black-headed Gulls seen in Limerick. The current oldest ringed Black-headed Gull is the Swedish ringed bird that has been frequenting the Shannon at the Mill Road, Corbally in recent winters and is now in it’s 11th year.

Buzzards have been seen recently at Attyflin, Patrickwell and at Reens Pike near Rathkeale (Adrian Insley), at Adare (Pat Fitzgerald) and at Kilmallock (per Andrew Holmes).

March is one of the best months to search for breeding Buzzards. Pairs tend to display on bright days with less than 50% cloud cover and are more likely to display if there are other pairs nearby. They have been seen in many parts of the County in the past few years so it is well worth keeping an eye for them over the next month.j

The Green Sandpiper was seen on the Arra River near Newcastle West again today.
A female type Hen Harrier was seen at Grouse Lodge,  Ardagh (Andrew Holmes).