snow leopards

 I have been working on a few sketches and paintings of snow leopards in recent weeks. These two water colours were done from sketches in Dublin zoo with the background done from notes and photos from India.

I have spent a lot of time working on this oil painting and still have a lot to do. Hope to get a few sessions at it this week and would love to finish it.

I-Webs front cover

Got a copy of the wetland bird report recently with my painting of barnacle geese on the front. The painting was done from some sketches of birds in Raghly, Co. Sligo during the winter. The deadline was during the last weeks of college when I was under a lot of pressure to get projects done but I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the report.

Savis twitch

Was planning on a day in Cahore last week when I got news that a savis warbler had been found in Tacumshin, Co. Wexford. The next day I travelled down with a few friends and after a long wait we got great views as it sang in a willow bush. Views were difficult and the weather wasn't great so I was hoping to go back down. Another friend planned to go on Friday after work and stay overnight to make the most of it and I arranged to go down with him. By 830 Friday evening we were standing in the reeds listening as it sang intermittedley in the bushes infront of us. We scanned from several positions but couldn't pick it up and gave up after it got too dark. We stayed around the area for a few hours with bird singing almost constantly from midnight, a barn owl also screeched several times during the night. A 5.30 am start saw us miss the bird by a few minutes as it had been singing in the open for 45 minutes before our arrival! It sang very sporadically and I never even got a glimpse of it. While overlooking a channel in the reeds, atleast 5 waterrails fed down to few feet infront of me and I while watching them, a pair of juvenile reedlings flew in and fed on the reed heads.

 I tried a few sketches of the birds in the channel, but to view them without flushing them I had to squat down in the muddy water, far from the easiest conditions!

 The views were fantastic with 5 birds present almost continually for over an hour.

 While watching the rails, a juv male and female reedling flew in and fed beside me. Some of my best views of the birds yet.

 One of the better shots!

After a brief nap before some lunch we headed off to the East end and immediately picked up a glossy ibis on the patches infront of the dunes. The wind picked up and we moved to a bank overlooking the pond and started scanning. A pair of marsh harriers, 2 hen harriers, 1or 2 hobby's and a glossy ibis (later found to be a new bird) flew over before I picked up the forsters tern. Shortly after that a few shoveller flew in with an eclipse male blue winged in tow! The teal immediately swam into cover and proved very elusive for over an hour before finally showing well, feeding in the centre of the pond with the shoveller. It flew off to the main lake with the shoveller and we decided to move back to try again for the savis.

 The head pattern was striking, but at a distance the small white hip patch was hard to place and it looked like it was a secondary bar. It had me worried for a long time as it slept in the shadows of the reeds!

The teal flew out from the pond with a few shoveller but unfortunately directly into the sun light!

We spent the evening watching over the reedbed at Lingstown, a fresh juvenile and moulting 2nd year male hen harrier quartered the area with the 3rd year male marsh harrier joining them later in the evening. The savis sang twice for a couple of seconds but never showed and we left the area as it got dark. All in all, a pretty good day out!

 The young male hen harrier spent the evening quatering the reedbed at lingstown, gave great views in the evening light.

 

Some recent photos

 

 The view approaching Tory Island, not often seen below a blue sky!

  

One of only 3 corncrakes to show well despite the great weather. This bird was sitting on a wall beside the road on my way to the pub late in the evening, the birding never stops! 

 Gannets on Saltee, the colony on the west end of the island is a fantastic sight.

 Kittiwake, the first time I have seen a 'red-legged' kittiwake, always worth looking for the real thing though!

 'Bridled' guillemot, atleast two were on the southern cliffs on Saltee.

A pair of chough showed well on the southern cliffs, regularly returning to the same outcrop, undoubtedly nesting nearby. It was great to get good, close views of these after all my recent views have been pretty brief and distant.

Some recent sketches

I have been away from a scanner for a while now so this is a few pics from recent travels. A great trip to Tory Island for corncrakes was followed by another great trip out to Saltee Islands off Wexford last weekend. The following day I travelled to north wexford to see a family of bearded tits a friend had just found. The tits stayed distant but a male and 4 juvs were seen sitting together on reed tips. Great to see them continuing their rapid spread.

After two very quite days on Tory, my third morning started well with stunning views of a few corncrakes singing in the fields behind West town. The day only got better when I found Irelands first collared flycatcher while watching this bird!

This short-eared owl was hunting along the northern cliffs of the island one evening. I never got too close to it but some clear, pro-longed views made it enjoyable evening of sketching.

 On the marsh by the lighthouse I found this stunning male ruff amongst the colony of common gulls. It spent most of its time feeding on its own, but half-heartedly displayed to a passing redshank at one point. The common gulls were relaxed and enjoying the fine weather, an adult yellow legged gull with a few lesser black backs were a nice surprise.

The north eastern cliffs held several pairs of puffins. It is a difficult area to watch, but one narrow bay allows a close approach to a small part of the colony. The birds rarely stayed put for long, usually running into their burrows immediately after landing. Occasionally they sat outside their burrows enjoying the sunshine but always kept one eye on the sky with this peregrine regularly circling the cliffs.

 

A few sketches from a sunny day on Saltee and some fantastic views of the seabirds last weekend. Atleast 2 'bridled' Guillemots were on the southern cliffs, the island is a much better location to sketch birds than Tory as the cliffs aren't as steep and the birds more approachable. The day finished with great views of 2 hobby's and a montagues harrier at Tacumshin, with a few bearded tits flying over the reedbed.

After travelling to see a family of bearded tits a friend found at  a new location, this cuckoo showed really well, perching on fence posts and wires being constantly harrassed by the local meadow pipits.

Collared Flycatcher

A quick post with some pics and sketches of the collared flycatcher from Tory Island a few days back. Will do a full write up of the few days soon enough, need to catch up on some sleep for now!
Basically I was packed and ready to leave the island and decided to give the back of West town one last walk in the hope of a corncrake. I sat in a spot where I had watched a pair earlier in the morning and heard one calling close by as the alarm on my phone went reminding the boat was going. I turned towards the gate and a small passer flicked out and landed on the fence about 40 metres away. Had a spot fly in the same spot the day before but even with the naked eye there seemed to be some white on it. Raised the bins and couldn't believe what I was looking at, a pale grey flycather with a big obvious collar and primary base patch! It flew back into the bush and I moved a bit closer and sat down waiting for a few minutes. I was impatient with the boat due to leave in 5 mins and moved around trying to view into bush without getting too close. I peered round a gap in the wall and spotted it low down only 15 feet away, naked eye views confirmed what I had seen, I quickly blasted off several shots before it flitted down and out of view. Looking at the shots I tried to go through all the features in my head and tick them off, the bird seemed to fit a female collared but I was also thinking about the recent Cape Clear bird and the 'Atlas' in England. I knew Peter Philips was on his way out and left a message about the bird and its location. I stood back from the bush until he arrived and phoned Owen Foley hoping he could help go over the features with me and check online if needs be. Peter showed up quickly and after a few mins we got some great views, both rattling off dozens of shots. We went through what we knew, what Owen had told us to look for and things seemed to be very good for a first summer female. Peter suggested taking shots of the back of his camera with his smart phone and uploading them to the net to let others see it for themselves, while not a fan of the website I thought the earlier people see the shots the less likely the rumours would spread. I thought back to Cape Clear in August 2004 when during a fall of pieds, Steve Wing thought  me how to age and sex pied flies and figured it would be the same for collared. I thought that the black upper tail coverts meant it was a young male, but wondered why the mantle and head weren't black. With close views, dark spots on the mantle were visible but this may just have been down to the strong sun. Owen suggested that a retarted or abnormal male would make sense as the collar was so obvious.  I sat down and spent the day sketching and photographing the bird leaving only twice for coffee and once to meet birders at the pier as Peter left. It was great to be drip fed possitive feedback that the bird seemed to be getting on the net. 4 twitchers arrived on the evening ferry as well a few from a passing nature cruise that had docked in the bay all afternoon. The bird was still feeding upto 10pm atleast when I left it in the 'magic bush'.

My first shots of the fly seemed to confirm what I thought I saw on the first brief and distant views. But could a female type be done? The collar was far stronger than on any females I had seen before, it ghosted a males. The primary base patch was huge and certainly bigger than anything I had seen on a pied before. The forhead spots also seemed to big for pied, but didn't think it was a feature of females? The brown cast on the worn wings were put forward as identifying it as a 1st summer.

The black uppertail coverts made me think it was a young male, but couldn't explain why the upperparts weren't black. As pointed out in the forums this morning, the tail feathers are rounded, they should be pointed still in a 1st year. The pale lower back was also an obvious and striking feature thought the bird usually kept the wings folded tight over its back, only lowering them as its tail or shifted position.

The collar was just so striking from every angle and every light. I have seen the nape of pied look pale but usually only in certain lights and postures, never as sharp and striking as this.

The black upper tail coverts, large white forhead patch and some dark feathers showing through the mantle had me thinking it was a first year male all day. It was only after reading threads this morning and checking some of my own photos this evening that these features can be in an adult female also. The white on the outer tail feathers extended to the tip, looking at photos from Peter, the second outermost tail feathers showed white just over 3/4's of the way to the tip before wearing away.

The overall colder and greyer colour of the upperparts fitted collared but it was hard to judge with nothing to compare it to. No brown tones in the plumage seemed possitive.

I spent the entire day within the vicinity of the bird but never heard it call. Peter walked up the east end but had nothing of note, amazing to think this was the only migrant of the day!

These are shots I took in Hungary last year of two different females. The lower bird matches the Tory bird quite well with forhead spots, distinct collar, similar size and shaped primary base patch and dark upper-tail covs. The upper bird was a paler and plainer individual showing the variation in birds, these were only a few hundred metres apart!

This pied fly was on Hook head in co. Wexford a few years back in Spring, the brown tones in the upperparts are striking compared to the collareds above. A greyish cast over the nape is just the angle of light.

Many thanks to Peter for his help with the bird and for getting the shots out so quickly, and  to Owen for all the pointers on what to look and listen for aswell as relaying positive feedback!

I have spent the last few weeks trying to get down to check up on a local pair of kingfishers as often as possible. On thursday and friday the adults were still busy feeding chicks inside the nest chamber. I went down this morning only planning on spending an hour or 2 at most but immediately heard the commotion of 3-4 chicks calling loudly. The young birds were mostly spread out in different corners of the pond but occasionally came together when an adult returned with a fish. They were very approachable and often sat quite high above the water in the open, though usually still stayed in the shadows. The calls weren't as sharp as the adults, and plumage was noticably drabber especially on the breast. The bills were still quite short and all the young showed a small white tip. Tried a bit of sketching, but spent a lot of time just watching and trying to get a few photos.

 Because the chicks spent most of their time sitting squat, I tried to take my time and do some detailed notes. For a few minutes after an adult returned with a fish, they would remain quite animated and constantly flexed their wings in preparation for darting to the next adult to return. In the afternoon one of the chicks repeatedly dove into the water seemingly trying to catch a feather floating on the surface, wet and matted crown feathers were all it achieved!

 Adult female with a fish.

 Two fledged young keeping an eye on eachother.

 Waiting for dinner.

The short bill and white tip were striking after watching the adults for so long.