May 2019 - Mute Swan Nesting Project

Swan Nesting Results 2019

The project boundaries are roughly 40km in all directions from Dublin City Centre.  As far west as Newbridge, Kilcoole in Wicklow and Skerries in North Dublin.  So far it is only 44 known nests this year!  Nests that have hatched is 29, but 2 of them there is no count as they moved on day 1 onto the river.

25th June

On May 13th the Tolka Valley male was being very aggressive towards last years offspring.  However, on the 14th the adults were gone.  This pair are early movers and have moved onto the Tolka River on the day of hatching!  Today Alan spotted a pair with 4 Cygnets on the Tolka River about 4Km down stream.  The male CAJV was identified.  Excellent, another outcome determined. 

19th June

St Stephens Green - Female still on nest - Male still missing.
Crossguns Bridge. I stopped a couple last night in the Lord Edwards pub who were discussing Cygnets and eggs left in the nest.  Apparently Crossguns Bridge has hatched - 2 Cygnets and 4 eggs abandoned.

16th June

Broadmeadows #2. CAXD + W27875 have appeared with 2 Cygnets

11th June

Waterville Park in Blachardstown is hatched - 4 Cygnets
Poppintree Park, Hatched 4 cygnets but female still on the nest.

8th June 

Millenium Bus. Park, Naas.  Driving past saw parents with 4 quite big cygnets

6th June

Knock Lake Hatched - 4 Cygnets - Thank you Jan
Broadmeadows - First Cygnets CBFK and 3 Cygnets

2nd June

Carton House, Maynooth - 3 Cygnets noted.  Thank you Anna

1st June

Broombridge Canal - Hatched 3 Cygnets recorded yesterday.  One parent is colour ringed CBDV so they are a new pair I think.  Thank you Rhona!

29th May

Bushy Park Hatching - Thanks Harry! 1 Cygnet so far.

27th May

Tymon North - Hatched - 6 Cygnets
Kilbogget Park now hatched - 3 Cygnets - Thank you Derek

Tymon Park Limekin Lakes 21/05/2019

As of 27/05/2019

Number of known Nesting Pairs = 34

Number of nests known to have hatched = 14
Number of Cygnets so far this year = 64
(Millenium Pk not added yet) Seemed to be back on nest 14/05/2019

Missing information!

Naas Canal: Nest appears hatched a K Gym but Swans and Cygnets moved on day one.  Looking for a family on the canal.  At least 1 adult colour ringed.

Tolka River: Nest hatched, but Swans and Cygnets probably on Tolka River as last year.  Last year they turned up in Griffith Valley Park!

Herbert Park: New pair.  Still haven't identified if it is a new pairing or the ones from the Dodder at the Aviva.  Rings to read!

25th May

Tymon North was hatching today - No cygnet count yet!

23rd May

Poppintree Park - Still on nest
Waterville Park - Still on nest

22nd May

Sean Walsh Park Stadium - Hatched yesterday but only 3 Cygnets!- Thanks you David

Leixlip - Another nest located. Thanks Jan

Herbert Park - New Pair, one definitely colour Ringed but not read- Thanks Alan

Blessington Basin - 3 new Cygnets observed yesterday - Thanks Joe

Tymon North - Still on Nest

Marley Park - Nesting attempt No. 2 Very late, we still hope.

21st May

Tymon Limekiln Hatched 6 Cygnets

20th May

Tymon Limekiln Hatched today.  Still on the nest I could only see 2 cygnets.

Ballycragh Park - Hatched today 6 Cygnets

Ballymount Park. 9 Days old!

15th May

Marley Park - Nest built but clearly no eggs yet.

14th May

Marley Park - Nest added to total

Tolka Valley Park - Hatched yesterday and gone.  They will be on the river near Glasnevin! As usual!

Peoples Garden, Phoenix Park 2 Cygnets hatched at 9am.

Peoples Garden, Phoenix Park. 7 Cygnets at 4pm. - (Thanks Julia)

13th May

Skerries confirmed as 7 Cygnets (Thank you Jan)

12th May

Ballycragh Park - Still on Nest
SWP Stadium - Still On Nest
Tolka Valley Park - Still on Nest

11th May

Ballymount Park - Hatched 6 Cygnets
Corkagh Park - Hatched - 7 Cygnets

Sad news.  Pen on nest on Canal at Lucan.  Now dead.
CAXA - Killed by car at Harolds Cross

10th May 2019

Lakelands Newbridge are hatched, it looks like 4 cygnets
Skerries Mill, 2 Hatched so far today.  Expecting more!
Millenium Business Park Naas.  Swans off the nest this morning.  Maybe hatched?
Tymon Limekiln - Still on the nest

8th May 2019

Parkwest Liffey Filters - Hatched with 9 cygnets.

7th May 2019

Waterville Park, Blanchardstown, still on nest
Poppintree Park, still on nest

4th May 2019

Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24

Sean Walsh Park,  CAAH and CBSB have 6 Cygnets

3rd May

Fr Collins Park has hatched.  Thanks to social media they actually hatched on Sunday 26th of April.  5 Cygnets.

Maynooth Harbour has Hatched. 5 Cygnets.  Again thanks to social media, first seen on May 1st

1st May

The first Cygnets of the year goes again to Naas Ponds.  7 Cygnets hatched in the Pond on the town side and have been moved, by the parents, to the middle lake.

It is another new pairing.  The female is from the pairing known at the "Fairgreen Pair", the Male is from the "Town Pond Pair".  I have no idea what happened to their origional partners.

Thank you Caroline for the report

February 2019

Still having Broadband issues so way behind on blog, apologies

24th February

Still a few Mediterranean Gulls about.  Recorded 2 at Sandycove.  PRN6 which is Polish.  Judging by previous departure dates, I expect it too will be gone by next week!

Ploish Mediterranean Gull, PRN6

23rd February - Wexford Wildfowl Reserve

I was hoping to add readings of Greenland white fronted geese from the wexford wildlife reserve, but although I saw 1,000's of them, any with neck collars were 3 fields away and with the slight mist they were just out of range

Greenland White-fronted Goose with neck collar

There were about 100 in range but none with neck collars - maybe next year!

The same the next day, so I spent a few hours watching and reading Brent Geese.  The Snow Goose hanging around the centre had a Slimbridge metal!  

Got very close to lots of Greylag, but many are feral and only semi-wild.  No rings recorded

22nd February

From my Hotel bedroom in Wexford, there is a manmade Island in view 200m away.  I was scanning the Gulls on this with my binoculars when I thought one might have a Red Ring! Not the best photo but 401:D.  It was in Howth 2 weeks ago 120Km north of here.  I had to go onto the Balcony to get this shot!

16th February

Now is the time of trying to get leaving dates for the Black-headed Gulls.  Numbers are dropping as adults are leaving.  2ACA has been present every day, but so far no sightings after the 16th.  has it left?

16th February

Passing Tallaght Community School, there was a Yellow ringed Black-headed Gull. This I assumed was the long awaited return of 217G, from Lough Mask.  First recored in TCS in 2012 and at the same location in  subsequent Winter, but usually only a couple of times until Sept 2015 and then nothing.  I stopped the car and out with the camera only to find it is a new ring!  Yellow [T7TT] is from Poland.  As I haven't  recorded it before, I assume it was ringed in 2018, but I will have the details in 2 days and update!

At my sons football match this morning I noted a Herring Gull on an Electricity Pole in Ballycragh Park.  One of our Club Project Gulls!  683:D is an Urban Gull and this was a first sighting since ringed!  Excellent!

14th February

At lunch time today, as well as the usual coloured ringed Gulls, the Black-headed Gull 2A88.  Ringed in Essex, UK this is my 4th sighting this winter. 

12th  February

NUT IS BACK!

Today at Sean Walsh Park at the Stadium I observed Black-headed Gull White NUT from Denmark.  This Gull is getting on.  Ringed as an adult in 2005 it is in at least it's 17th calendar year!  I first observed it in this park in 2012 when I started ring reading.

Only the usual suspects around at Sean Walsh Park, 27H0, 2ACA and the Swedish Juvenile who is always at my feet.  For me it has been a pleasure to watch its moult progression.

9th February

At Dublin Zoo again this morning with my boys.  The Zoo is actively discouraging the Herons which used to congregate around the food courts and Penguin enclosure.  I saw only 3 and only one with a coloured ring, K07 and it seems to have recently injured it's foot.

I read all the Ibis rings and some Flamingo rings....why, because they were there!

3rd February

Howth on a Sunday would normally be quiet, but I forgot my Swan ringing kit, so after I collected Tonya we went there to try our luck.  Not much about till we were just about to head.  A Trawler removed it's nets for repair and suddenly we had Gulls!

Only a few coloured so we concentrated on metal only rings  This one was interesting.  When I input the metal as a Herring Gull it said ringed in 1996, but challenged me on species?  GA01076 is a Herrring Gull ring size, I await the report with intrigue!  The 2nd 0 looked like an 8 in one of the photos!

Herring Gull GA01076

The other metal of interest was a Great Black-backed Gull with an Oscar Merne ring series.  Never took a photo of the whole bird before it flew off!

Great Black Backed Gull MA01505 - Ringed 2002

Herring Gull from Irelands Eye.  Only 3rd Sighting and all in last 3 months

Herring Gull 0LT - Only ever recorded at Howth.

Tonya had my camera for much of the morning so surprised by all the non Gull photos.  Nice Starling

2nd February

At Bray Harbour there was plenty of Gulls to scan but few with Coloured rings. The best was a Colour Ringed Mediterranean Gull.  White 3AAA is no stranger to Bray.  This individual from Denmark ringed in 2013 has been reported a dozen times at this location over the years.

Mediterranean Gull White 3AAA

The only Red ring was 791:D which seems to be a permanent fixture at this location.

791:D.  Ringed 2018 Irelands Eye

January 2019 - CR Shag!

January 26th

The end of the month has just been Swans, Swans and more Swans!  Mainly reading rings to validate my RAS Project.  This is an annual survival project which runs from April to September.  Basically I read 100's of Swan rings at wintering flocks to see which ones were not recorded last summer!  The only ringing I do is targeting ones that have lost their colour.  Without the colour ring they can go unrecorded for a couple of years.

January 19th - The afternoon

Quick stop at Bullock Harbour.  A Great Black-backed gull from 2009.  Blue 2LH.  This plastic ring ring is also cracked from top to bottom!

January 11th

Received the most amazing report of one of our Colour Ringed Shags.

In 2018 the Irish Midland Ringing Group Colour Ringed 34 Juvenile Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) on the Islands off  Dublin to try and learn more about survival and dispersal of this sea bird.  How amazed was I when the first report was at a bird table in some ones garden in Wales!
My report regarding the recovery went like this!  Photos used by kind permission of Gethin Jones.

For those of you who do the Garden Bird Survey, it would be astounding if you got a Shag in your Garden. However, Gethin in Criccieth in North Wales certainly did on December 20th 2018! Photo of it perched beside his bird table. There had been a storm and it had landed in his Garden which is admittedly near the beach.

Shag at bird table!

He caught it and put it in his shed overnight. However, this Shag was Unique. It had a coded IMRG Coloured Ring - KAAV. Ringed on Irelands Eye on July 8th 2018 by GP. This was the first sighting. However, Gethin felt the bird was light. So what would you feed a Juvenile Shag?

The only fish he had available was defrosted. It seemed to enjoy his cod in parsley sauce but left Gethin with a few scars as he was quite keen on biting him too!

On the Morning of the 21st of December, the sea had calmed and Gethin released him back to the wild. A Happy ending. Please look out for our colour ringed Shags. They can't all be in Wales!

Freedom

January 19th

We rejoined Dublin Zoo today!  When my boys were younger we went every 2nd week!  There are huge changes and it was enjoyable but we were very disappointed that the free flying Aviary of Roberts House is now Zoorasic World.  We used to spend a lot of time in there, trying to locate every species of bird.  With regard to colour rings I spotted a locally ringed Heron K07 and a Mute Swan.

January 13th

I-webs count today, one week late I know but I twisted my ankle last week so couldn't do the walk.

Apart from my Swans, the first colour ring spotted was a Grey Heron. Orange K21

Apart from CR Swans and the Heron, it wasn't till I got to Grand Canal Dock that I recorded my CR Gull of the day.....and there were 3 together!

Herring Gull 0LM.  Ringed as an Adult in 2016.  1st Sighting away from Colony

Great Black-backed Gull 1AV.  Ringed as Pullus in 2010.  8th Sighting

Herring Gull 699:D.  A permanent fixture at this location!  46th Sighting in 6 months!

Those of you who read my blog, know I do a annual "RAS" project for Adult Survival of Mute Swans.  Although the project dates for re-sightings are April to September, I use Winter sightings to validate my data.  At wintering flocks I read all the rings.  This year a number of "Missing Swans" have turned up minus their colour ring.  Re-capturing these and fitting a new colour is essential project maintenance.  Without the colour ring the chances of being recorded are practically 0!.  There were 97 Swans on this 5km stretch of Canal.

Example
Swan Yellow CAID was ringed in December 2015 as a Juvenile.  It was recorded 9 times, the last recorded in January 2017 with a cracked Colour Ring which obviously fell off soon after.  No further sightings till January 2019 when it was recaptured, identified by the metal ring and it is now CBKA.  It had not been included in the last 2 years data.  This is typical of Swans without a colour ring.

Swan Metal rings are difficult to read

Swans CAZJ and CBSL proudly displaying their colour rings.  The metal rings are hardly visible.

January 8th

At Sean Walsh park, the Dutch Black-headed Gull made it's 2nd appearance.  Hopefully it will become a regular sight.

January 5th

Got out birding to Broadmeadows Estuary.  Read 27 of the Mute Swans present.  Although my project uses data gathered between April and September, during the winter many return to the Estuary.  This allows me to record some birds, particularly those that have lost their coloured rings.

However, I am also on the lookout for anything else with coloured rings.  The Common Gull from Norther Ireland was recorded.   I first recorded it here in 2013 and although I haven't recorded it every year it is my 5th sighting at this location

I also spotted a colour Ringed Oystercatcher.  My camera captured the Code CC.  A poor photo but the code can be read.  This is my 2nd sighting of this scottish ringed individual, the other being September 2017.  What is also interesting is that there are only 3 Irish sightings.  Jan Rod is the only other person to have recorded it in Dublin.

January 4th

On the way back from the Airport, I took the coast road.  I read a few Brent which I spotted on the Beach at Portmarnock. They were some distance away but managed to capture the codes.

Brent DNBB and BTBB - a pair.

I also stopped at Fr Collins Park.  I love seeing all the gulls line up on the bridge railings.  However no sign of the Norwegian Green[J18J] this year.  It has always been a regular at this location.

Lining up for inspection - but no coloured rings!

January 3rd

A trip to Bray Harbour, primary goal was to record what Mute Swans are present.  But as always on the look out for Colour Ringed Gulls.  The first was a Black-headed Gull from Denmark White[9MT]

The 2nd Gull recorded was one of our Colour Rings.  Ringed on Irelands Eye, It "Mother" is Blue[OLR]!

Herring Gull 706:D at Bray Harbour

Herring Gull 706:D with Parent Blue [0LR]

January 1st

Another new year of ring reading.  I didn't get out birding today, but took a detour on the way home and stopped at Ben Madigan Park in Drimnagh.  There was 036:D sitting on it's favorite Crossbar.
I have sighted this individual at this location 3 times, so you would think this is where it spends it days.  However it has also been sighted at Howth 17km away.  It seems they have areas that they favour but they do move around.

Herring Gull 036:D - A gull from an Urban Nest site.