Beautiful evening last night for another stint at Kilcoole.
Niall had sent out an email saying Hooded Crows and Rooks were becoming a big problem and the presence of a few more people might help deter them from the colony, so after a highly nutritious dinner (fried egg on toast, you can't beat it), I set off down the N11 and met S down at Kilcoole carpark.
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| Kilcoole beach, you can see why it's popular with walkers. |
Because it was such a lovely evening, loads of people were out walking and loads of people = a sky free of HC's and Rooks.
I stepped into the hide anyway so Niall could go and eat some dinner and S took a walk further down the beach.
After about 15 mins, I noticed all the Terns lifting in alarm. I stepped out to see what they'd seen wot I hadn't, but nothing seemed to be around in the air, but then Jason and Riona pointed out 3 bottle nosed dolphins swimming right in front of us towards greystones. Amazing sight, especially in the strong evening sun. They were swimming really close in near the beach, closest I'd ever seen. Niall and Jason had seen them swimming south earlier in the day and Jason reckons they might be living/ feeding in the sea between Greystones and Wicklow - maybe for the rest of summer.
Everything in the colony is still going well. 2 new nests and an arrival of 20 more adult Little Terns.
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| Colony News 24/05/11 |
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| Little Tern, Kilcoole |
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| Little Tern |
There were also lots of Swallows around again, not as many Swifts, Ringed Plover, Oystercatchers and some Manx Shearwaters, Gannets and Cormorants out at sea. Didn't see any divers again, but there were some RTD's and GND's seen today. I think Niall also saw an Artic Skua, Long tailed skua and a Storm petrel too.
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| Reed Bunting (male), Kilcoole |
Whilst standing with J and R, R spotted something moving in the fields west of the colony...
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| See it? |
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| See it? |
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| Fox. At the mo J said it hasn't ventured near the colony and seems to be sticking in the same area. Unfortunately, once it starts getting closer to the colony, there'll be trouble. |
Something to look forward to eh?
I'll end the post with a cheery Skylark who was making a right racket singing from the ground.
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| Skylark, small in size, x-large on noise. |
