No newts at Sally Gap

Pretty much everything else, but no newts.
Sorry Hannah.

'Amazeballs' birding yesterday!!

A Wicklow branch outing to Sally Gap, Coronation plantation and some pine woods along Military road was made to order.
I was happy out to start with, we were going to spend the morning around moorland/ bogland looking for upland birds, there was a scorchio sun in a pure blue sky (23º), the roads around the Sally gap were empty and because I arrived a little early I had the babbling river Liffey to myself before the mob arrived.

Coronation plantation, Wicklow. Great spot to have to yourself, saw 2 grey wagtails along this stretch of the River Liffey, no Dippers though. May 26th 2012

The empty R759. I felt like I was driving through bandit country in New Mexico or Arizona, the heat and sunshine changed the environment completely. Kept wondering when the Magnificent 7 plus John Wayne plus Clint Eastwood were going to gallop past me

The Wickla Mob

The day's list of what I saw, Saturday 26th May, 2012, 9am - 2.30pm
(maybe more species I didn't see, eg I think someone saw a Whitethroat)

Cuckoo (a calling and displaying cuckoo no less)
Red grouse x 2, flushed by accident within 5 mins of walking from the Military rd carpark near Sally Gap
Whinchats, Niall counted 4 at Coronation plantation - my first time seeing one
Crossbills - seen where Tolka Branch saw them at their outing last week (bilberry woods)
Grey wagtails x 2, at boulders Coronation plantation
Spotted flycatchers - Coronation plantation and Bilberry woods
No Newts - anywhere
Chaffinches (galore) - everywhere
Goldcrests - Bilberry woods
No Dippers - at the boulders Coronation plantation
Meadow pipits - everywhere
Skylarks - everywhere
Red Squirrel - running along the ground Coronation plantation
Siskins - flying over Coronation plantation
Swallows - everywhere
Sika deer - side of Gravale

Later on my own
Stonechat (male chick) along the side of R759 going back home
Kestrel - Sallygap
Spotted flycatcher nest - Bilberry woods
Cuckoo again, possibly 2 of them at Coronation plantation
20 Crossbills - Bilberry woods
Wheatear - Military rd towards Laragh
Grouse calling (great sound) in a completely different area of Sally gap, going towards Laragh

I'm afraid my photos from yesterday aren't up to much, weird blurring on most of them, didn't manage one of the Whinchat or Cuckoo or Red Grouse, and all the ones of the Crossbills are far away and blurry.
Mind you after such a good weekend of sunshine - who really cares.
Not me.
Fo'sho.

These are the bilberry woods which are along military road going towards Laragh from Sally gap, you can't miss them if you keep a look to the left. If you're here mid summer there'll be loads of people hunched over the bushes filling their boots with bilberries. I don't know the official name of the woods so for now, they're Bilberry woods. The Crossbills were in the trees near the road to the right and also in the middle of this picture. The cuckoo was flying around trees to the left of this picture, and did a display flight above. There's an old unused animal pen to the left and it landed on the fence and sat for a while.

Female crossbill, Bilberry woods, Military rd, Wicklow. May 26th 2012

Female Crossbill, Bilberry woods, Military rd, Wicklow

Spotted flycatcher feeding a wasp to a juvenile

Meadow pipit, Military rd, Wicklow

Skylark, Military rd, Wicklow

Wheatear, Military rd, Wicklow

Irish Hare, Military rd, Wicklow. It was here where I heard the unmistakable call of a Red grouse (going up towards Luggula)

I stopped to take a photo of the River Liffey glistening along the R759

And heard an unusual tsk, tsk, tsk from the gorse below

Hopeful looking plumage

We seek him here, we seek him there.. Stonechat- a few years ago in dangerous decline, which always makes it great to see one, especially a juvenile

Thanks loads to Niall Keogh for organising the day and for answering all our questions, thanks to the other birders who spotted and named birds I otherwise wouldn't have seen.

Thanks also to Sinead Cummins who gave a really interesting talk on upland birds on Thursday in Kilcoole, she set our sights high for what was possible to see around Wicklow, so it was pretty special to see most of the birds she mentioned, plus her favourite (of many) Stonechat.
My own highlight was the Cuckoo.
You're in the middle of nowhere, sitting next to a glistening, babbling River Liffey, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the air is pure fresh, it's quiet and you can see around you for miles and miles; then you hear a real life cuckoo.
Not the sound of next door's cuckoo clock through the walls, not a playback sound from an app - an actual real life cuckoo - calling, a few hundred metres away.
Magical.

Iwebs Feb 2012

Iwebs Feb 2012 was the toughest so far.
We started counting about 9.45am from the wooden bridge,  everything was hunkydory, moved to the main road and the amount of birds where we had just been seemed to have quadrupled.
We count them pre high tide roost which can result in mis counts as the birds keep jumping up to steer clear of the rising water, which meant re-counts and re-counts again.
This tide seemed to have them more active than usual too, plus I'm slow counting my species anyway, so I was getting a tad frustrated, and I didn't even have to count the small waders which kept lifting for Sinead and Jerry!
Plus, I find the huge expanse we have to cover with no markers difficult.
PLUS, I've graduated onto counting 9 species now: Oystercatchers, Brent geese, Black headed gulls, Curlew, Greater black backed gulls, Common gulls, Herring gulls, Herons and Shelduck, tbh, my head was errrwrecked.
Anyhow, the counts were done and the coffee was downed by 1pm.

I wanted to go to Wicklow again so planned to take the east toll road from Clontarf to go via bootytown, the N11 and down to Wicklow that way.
Except that didn't happen.
Something similar to this did:
(this is footage from Rosslare port, Co Wexford- and yes, he does do a pee in the middle of the road, bonus points if you spot the 2nd guy doing the same in the bushes!)



I'm going to blame the Magnificent signage rather than my lack of brain cells for what happened, but I ended driving through the port tunnel in the completely opposite direction (going North towards the airport) and having to get back South via the M50, €6 in tolls to go the wrong way later and I was finally on the N11 and eventually around Sally Gap area by 3ish.

Road near Lough Dan, Co Wicklow, Feb 11th 2012

Foggy Wicklow colours

Coronation plantation, Co Wicklow, Feb 2012

Several Ravens around Coronation plantation, Co Wicklow

River Liffey in its infancy, running through Coronation plantation, Co Wicklow

Apart from the calls of the Ravens and the calls of a pair of Great tits I didn't hear (or see) anything else, and I did sit down, stay quiet and listen.
I would have liked to have stayed much longer but it was getting dark and I had to make my way back.

Coronation Plantation, Wicklow

Took a drive out to the Coronation plantation in Wicklow today.
Temp in Drimnagh was 7º, Temp at Sally Gap was 2º, drips of water had frozen into icicles.
There was no snow except for a dusting on the top of some of the highest points. Amazing scenery up there, but I only had my big lens so no landscapes here I'm afraid.

The River Liffey, Coronation plantation, Wicklow

Usually a good spot for Dippers

Coronation Plantation monument. I looked at the inscription but it was very worn away and in parts unfinished, there was a date that started 18 but didn't finish (assumed 1831, William iv Coronation, which is when these Scots Pines were planted).

Cold snap after an incredibly mild few months. Wicklow, Feb 5th 2012, 2º

I walked up through the heather to the top, it was near desolate except for some Sika. Sika Stag - antlers re-growing

More Sika, Wicklow mountains. Sika are non native - they're Japanese deer imported for Powerscourt estate originally

Found this down next to the river on a mound of grass (that's a 20c coin, no comments on exposure please).

The whole skeleton of this animal was on the ground - no idea what it was, I just know it's not a rat - if it is, I'm leaving.

Out of the corner of my eye I kept thinking the black in the sky was a Raptor.

But it's the top of the RTE transmitter on Kippure mountain.

Should have lightened this, but shows you how dark the day was - There's a Red Squirrel in there if you look closely.

It was a quiet day - which was really nice - every time I stopped to listen, there wasn't anything much to hear - birdwise or anything wise.
Just the river and the wind.
I did hear, then saw a Wren. I saw where a Greater spotted woodpecker had made holes in a tree and I heard what I think was a Great tit. Other than the pellet there were no other Raptor signs and I didn't see any Red grouse around the plantation or south of the Sally Gap which I had been hoping for.
Oh, several Ravens in flight in this area.