Cork Bird News to your phone, for free!

I'm currently trialling a twitter site for rare & scarce bird news in County Cork. If you want to receive updates on sightings via your mobile, for free, you need to sign up to twitter online at http://twitter.com/  Once you've got a username & password, you can set up your account so that you register your mobile with twitter - more here...

http://help.twitter.com/entries/110250-how-to-add-your-phone-via-web-activation

 

When your mobile is activated with twitter, you can go to the cork bird news site (http://twitter.com/corkbirdnews) and follow it - see here...

http://help.twitter.com/entries/15610

 

At the moment, I'm posting news via my phone or online. However, twitter are currently beta-testing a multiple users (contributors) system, which would let several folk operate from 1 account - this would (theoretically) mean that someone finding a rare in the field could just send 1 text message to Twitter/Cork Bird News and the news would go to everyone following the site on their phones - in seconds! Currently, sending a twitter message costs 9c on O2 and 0c on vodafone, as an introductory offer - they've only just got it going.

 

As well as news of rare & scarce birds, news of decent falls of migrants, or seawatch totals will also be posted, to let folks know that it mite be worth checking elsewhere. News of megas found elsewhere in the country will also be posted.

 

Click on "Join the Conversation" on the Twitter box to the right to see all news postings to date, or to sign up.

a few more migs

The spring trickle continued today, with 3 chiffchaffs at Shite Lane and a willow warbler in Dirk Bay, which I managed to miss, so no year ticks! Doh!

manxies

Very quiet mig-wise this morning, with a female merlin the only thing of note.  A male merlin was seen later, and a black redstart was knocking about the ruin on the way to the lighthouse.  My first manx shearwaters of the year were feeding off Long Strand this afternoon (91).

zilp zalp

Another lash round the patch this morning - finally caught up with the wintering whimbrel in Dirk Bay, with the first chiffchaff of the spring also there (90) (although it could have been skulking there all winter too, I guess).  Not much else doing though - still no hirundines yet!

more ears

A nice sunny morning at Galley, but by the time I got out into the field, a strong easterly wind had got up, so that it felt pretty baltic. Just 2 wheatears was the best of it, out near the lighthouse, where they've bred in previous years.  A sparrowhawk and a peregrine flew over Long Strand and the spoonbill was still asleep at Rosscarbery  this morning too.

sherkin, and a tick!

Managed to get over to Sherkin this afternoon to catch up with the stone curlew there - a good irish tick, and tricky to get anywhere outside of Norfolk. It was certainly the first time I've seen one without parking illegally by the side of the road and scoping frantically before getting moved on by the Weeting Heath wardens! Big thanks to Julian for finding it in the first place, and for ferrying us around today! Great stuff, fella!

got me ears on!

Playing a hunch, I had a quick stroll down the top lane this lunchtime, thinking that the ploughed and weedy fields could be good for producing the first mig of the spring. Imagine my surprise when a wheatear popped up - a cracking male too (88).  Top stuff! Sadly nothing pink & white with a crest followed suit though - that was my other hunch - can't win them all!

year ticks at last!

A full-scale assault on the patch today failed to produce any migs but did net a male merlin and a ringed plover for the year (87). Still good numbers of divers about, with at least 60 red-throated divers and 20 great northern divers offshore, plus a few redwings and song thrushes still knocking about too.

the end of silence

The by now traditional long silence between the flurry of winter birding and the start of the spring is hopefully nearly over, as the first early spring migrants have begun to appear on the cork coast. Had a wander down Shite Lane this morning, but couldn't do better than a water rail skulking in the ditch at the bottom of Marsh Lane, trying to look rare. Only me second one actually on the patch, as I usually hear them around Kilkeran Lake, which technically speaking is actually outside the patch. Enough excitement for one day!