During the week an email went around about the possibility of a large flock of Brent Geese in Tymon Park, Tallaght. It was thought that with the weather being so bad they might be gathering in a huge flock to keep warm. With the roads now safe to drive on, I drove over to Tymon to have a look.
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| Tymon Park, Tallaght, Dec 5 2010 |
I talked to a few dog walkers and none of them had seen any geese in Tymon since jan/feb. Not one, let alone a huge flock. I walked all of the fields in Tymon and I didn't see anything either so I think that's the deal. I might try and go back next wknd just to take another look - because you never know for sure.
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| now daily photo of Common Gull, not sure why the black band hasn't appeared yet. Black headed gull behind. |
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| Moorhen, Tymon Park, Tallaght |
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| 'Watch out for the aggressive swan around here, it'll hiss and nip at you.' a dog walker told me. 'Swans don't attack you unless you provoke them' thought I. As it walked towards me, I thought it'd just walk on by, but it hissed and nipped me. |
In the trees near this path, I saw birds which were exactly like the bird I had seen in Crumlin. Turns out the bird in Crumlin was a Lesser Redpoll and nowhere near a Brambling. (Thanks Susan, Niall and Eric for feedback on that crumby photo).
I (honestly!) came to this conclusion anyway after seeing an amazing photo by Brendan Sheils of a Brambling in his back garden on the Tolka site and these similar birds today in Tymon.
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| Same brown streaking (not spots like a Brambling) and the single white wing bar. |
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| All these birds had black chin |
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| Pinkish tint on breast |
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| And Red on head = male Lesser Redpoll |
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| There was a flock of approx 50 of them, lovely to see. |
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| About 3pm, I felt the temp fall and as it was getting darker I decided to leave |
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| Visibility dropping, 3pm, Tymon Park, Tallaght. Dec 5 2010 |
*****************************WARNING - BULL ISLAND, DUBLIN*******************
Just going to end this post with a warning to photographers leaving their camera gear in cars on the causeway at Bull Island in Dublin. Seems you're being watched.
Sadly, someone was taking photos at Bull Island yesterday, put their gear back in their car and left the car for 15 mins whilst they crossed over the causeway to put their scope on waders. In that 15 mins thieves managed to break into his car, take all of his high end camera gear and left, locking his car on their way. Little fkn shits. Needless to say that the person is devastated and wants the word to be out there to other birders, photographers in the area.
