Pintail ya bas!

The first and last time I claimed pintail from the patch, back in 2009, there was huge outcry and an eventual steward's enquiry, (which was decided in my favour, obviously). So imagine my surprise when I spotted this beauty swim through the scopeview on the lake this very afternoon (127)...

er, its the duck on the right...

Looking even more wondrous in this pic

 So there ya go - only my second record for Galley, after the 5 at Red Strand that were clearly visible from a well-selected spot on the patch approximately 2.5km away. This one was a (from the) garden tick too - Bonus!

Er, the female Goldeneye is still here too...

barney and me

Got word of 2 barnacle geese just off patch this lunchtime (thanks KW!) so obviously had to try and get 'em from within the patch boundary. Luckily Old Spoons was at my gaff at the time so we headed off eagerly to see what we could see.  The birds were on a flooded field between Rathbarry and Red Strand, but unfortunately were invisible below a small ridge from the nearest spot on the patch.

Luckily a willing volunteer did the decent thing and it wasn't long before the two barnacle geese decided they'd like to see how things looked from above the flooded field - hey presto, there they were zooming over the ridge, straight onto my patch list - happy days! Discovered later that they were a Cork tick too - double bonus!

Any geese are mega at Galley - I've only seen brent goose on 3 occasions in 10 years, and otherwise I've only seen egyptian goose (potential 1st Irish!!) and ruddy shelduck (which isn't technically a goose, but hey its close enough). So far I've resisted ticking either on my patch list, but handy to have in reserve.

I nipped back late pm and managed to get a shot of them in the gathering gloom, thusly:

patch tickage baby yeah!

Maybe winter isn't quite so bad after all!

a new wader for the patch

Sunny calm mornings have been fairly scarce here of late, so it's been a few days since I checked the lake. However it was worth a look as I noticed a wee wader running about on the mud. A wee zap of zoom and hey presto - a wood sandpiper! Patch gold and a full fat patch tick! Galley doesn't have much in the way of wader habitat, so such things are pretty scarce around here. Delighted to get one at last! A common sandpiper was also skulking around, for comparison purposes (123 for year).

more migs!

Its been a slow couple of weeks at Galley - predominantly breezy north west winds haven't particularly conducive to going out looking for migs, and on the few mornings when it has been calmer there's been very little about. Until today....

First stop this morning was the top lane, and as I meandered down it, still half asleep, I noticed a dove flying past - flung up the bins in time for a blip view of a turtle dove zooming over the ridge towards Shite Lane - a good start!

There didn't seem to be much else until I arrived at Shite Lane to try and dig out the dove, only to find a whinchat on the whinchat hedge! Another bonus, and one that has been tricky enough in recent years!

A jaunt down Marsh Lane produced the years first 3 swifts, and by now I was feeling pretty happy with my lot, after such a dire couple of weeks, but the best was yet to come! Stopping to check Long Strand for the two female long-tailed ducks that I'd seen earlier in the week, I noticed what looked like a roosting wader on the rocks. Or was it just a grey stone that looked a bit like a roosting wader? Good job I checked more closely as it turned out to be a grey plover!! Only my 4th ever at Galley, and the first one I've actually seen on the deck here! Amayzing! (105)

long tail larging it

Scanning for the green-winged teal from the patio this morning, I was rather surprised to see this!

Yes indeedy, a female long-tailed duck no less, and a full fat patch tick! One that has occurred on patch in days of yore but not very often. Long-tailed ducks used to be reasonably regular at certain sites in east Cork but seem to have become a fair bit scarcer in recent years. This is only my second for the county, and possibly Ireland, as I can't recall seeing any elsewhere, the tart that I am!

Anyway, it was a most welcome addition to the patch list, now standing at 193. Good early bonus for the year too! The male green-winged teal remains on the lake also.

Another fea's for Galley

A few recent seawatches have produced low numbers of great shearwaters and a few sooty shearwaters, however with the wind looking good for a south-westerly blow I headed out to Galley first thing in the hope of better numbers. I was soon joined by Paul Moore who quickly picked up 3 cory's shearwaters ambling through. A good start! But that was it pretty much for the next two hours. A few sooty shearwaters whizzed by, and the occasional bonxie but not a whole lot else.

Until 9.03 when Paul picked up another Cory's. And then started swearing. A lot. Then he shouted fea's petrel. Two seconds later, it flew into my scope view. And I agreed. And started swearing. And shaking. A lot! Its amayzing the adrenalin rush that you get when you see one. After my first one at Galley a few years ago I had to go home for a lie-down!

Two more cory's shearwaters came through shortly after the fea's, and a nice close great shearwater and then it all died off again. So I went home. For a lie-down!

Just fantastic! The swearing was good too. Tom Mckinney would have been proud!

full fat patch tick

A lovely morning at Galley, and with no distractions, I headed out, with a big slog round planned. Hadn't got further than the beach when I noticed 5 blobs sitting on the beach - a quick check with bins, convinced they'd be oiks, so was amayzed to see 5 shoveler sitting there! Patch Tick! Incredible! (64)

Patch Gold!!!

Luckily KC showed up in time to verify them before they flew off. After that mammoth success, there didn't seem much point in continuing further, especially with the news that it was very quiet, so I bailed, and headed home to gloat on the net! A check of the lake later revealed that they'd relocated there, and looked quite settled. A long awaited patch tick, and a total surprise - patch listing don't get much better than that!

sibe chat

There was a really good feel about Galley today - the roaring south-easterly and overnight rain might have had something to do with that! There weren't too many birds in evidence, but it felt like stuff was coming in all day. CC was out first, while it was still raining, picking up a grey phalarope over the stubble fields, and a whinchat, plus a few chiffchaffs. I got out mid-morning and had a turtle dove at Shite Lane (130), and the same few chiffs, but on hoofing down the top lane for a second time, there was a pied flycatcher, seemingly new in. Back at Shite Lane, a new spotted flycatcher was flicking around - that wasn't there earlier! Returning home for grub, I dallied with a bit of work, but it just felt too "rare" to be bothering with that, so headed out again. A black redstart at Long Strand and a willow warbler in the Shite Lane sycamores was more evidence of stuff arriving, but it was CC who got bird of the day - a fab siberian stonechat, out towards the light. I hoofed up for good views, but it was fairly flighty - cracking bird though.

Photos: C Cronin

Checking the relevant hong kong books of kung fu, this appears to be the 6th Irish record, with 4 previous in County Cork - pretty good going, and rarer than the yellow-rumped warbler still on Cape! Just a shame its not split...yet!

more gratuitous bunting shots!

Here are some more shots of the black headed bunting, courtesy of Mike O'Sullivan, and very good they are too!

The icterine warbler was still around Shite Lane today too, but mobile.