17 June 2023

 

17/06/2023

Season now in full swing and really busy.  This is not my job but my hobby so mainly at weekends

Great Black-backed Gull chicks to be ringed

Herring Gull Chicks to be ringed

Lesser  Black-backed Gull chicks to be ringed.

And one of my favorite birds.  The European Shag.  

European Shag - Baby Dinosaurs

European Shag - Showing off new ring.

1st June 2023

Swan hatching has reached its peak.  Already in the survey area which is Dublin, North Wicklow and East Kildare there have been over 100 cygnets hatched.  I have more emails to go through (Can't keep up with replies, but I will catch up).

23 Nests hatched, but probably more.

Kildare

Dublin Southside

Dublin Northside

May 2023

 24 May 2023

What a busy month.  With Swans there are both hatchings and thankfully 100's of sightings of my project colour ringed individuals.  All to be added to database and entered into the BTO for my Adult Survival project.  I am way behind with all the correspondence but I do some catch each evening.  Apologies if you are left waiting for a report, I will get to them.  Likewise with hatchings, I have only 10 nests on my spread sheet that have hatched, so at least 6 more to verify and enter.

Tymon Park - Spawell or Wellington Road Pond

Herring Gull survival project is also in full swing.  We have had many hours of ringing and ring reading.  Unfortunately,  it looks like we will not get to Lambay this year, but 94 Herring Gulls recorded so far in Dublin  The aim was to get to about 200 individuals, more if possible.

For Great Black-backed Gulls, this year has been somewhat of a disaster.  As an apex predator, it looks like last winter bird flu has has a massive impact.  Shenick Island has gone from approx 50 nests last year to about 20 this year.  This sort of crash seem to be replicated at each colony I visit.

To date we have only recorded 50 of the target of 100 individuals.  They are just not around.  As with all species I do have many outstanding sightings to process, but there doesn't seem to be many new sightings on first review

April 2023

April 24th 2024

First cygnets hatched in Dublin.  Sean Walsh Park, Stadium Pond.  Only 2 visible according to my observer but more to follow, still in the nest.

April 2nd, 2023

This is my really bust time of year.  The Great Black-backed RAS and Herring Gull RAS kicked off on March 10th.  It has been shaping up for a disastrous season with numbers low and ring reads extremely low.  However, April 1st was a better day with 13 GB Rings read.  Hopefully, they are just late returning to Dublin this year and that Avian Flu hasn't decimated the population.

1PH, first sighting since March 2022.  This is quite typical.  They winter usually somewhere within 500KM some even winter in Spain.  

MUTE SWAN SURVIVAL RAS

First one this year was a surprise.  At the Avocet Twitch in Broadmeadows, CDID photobombed a group photo at the twitch!  Photo from twitter @JohnC1809.  Really made me laugh. 399 more to find - minimum.

Migration Starting?

February 2023

I have started colour ringing Black-headed Gulls in my local parks.  On Saturday 11/02/2023 I recorded one at Bull Island.  What is unusual is that the Southside ones usually roost on Sandymount Strand. Daily travel is East-west. No record of going north south or south north before.  Movement usually starts late Feb.  Is this one on the move to its breeding ground already?

The movement distance is not significant.  I have ones from my Local Park from St Petersburg and Ukraine and everywhere in between.  The significance or oddness is the direction.  1,000's of Black-headed Gull ring reads and this is a first.