Distant dodgy ducks

 Yes, indeedy, on a weekend tip-off, I had a go at scanning for a pair of long-tailed ducks yesterday evening, as it had become sunny and calm. They had been seen from Cloghna Head at the other end of the beach, which is about 2ish km away....

Took a while, but I picked them up in the end. Hardly giving themselves up but they looked the part, honest guv! The ID was clinched when they upped and flew miles out to sea as it got closer to dusk, to roost in deeper water, as previously documented by Hope-Jones (1979). #ScienceInaction

In other news the gull-billed tern is still alternating between sitting on its humph in a field beside kilkeran lake or else pouncing on eart-worms up in the ploughed field. Here's the best pic that I've managed of it.

A gull-billed tern yesterday

Onwards and upwards - the dugbirds will be back soon!

Mystery solved

Yes indeedy, although the patch has been largely dead for the first couple of months of 2024, the lake finally turned up the goods!

The weekend before last I was checking the lake and briefly glimpsed a bird in flight that I couldn't nail. The nearest I got was possible ross's gull. But thats the sort of bird news that you really don't want to be putting out so I convinced myself it must have been a funny med gull.

Fast forward a week, and I was checking the lake again and saw a bird on the shore that again I couldn't identify. This time, I was leaning more towards forster's tern but it didn't really add up. So I drove down the road for a closer look. It wasn't there. Went back home and scanned again from the Majik Patio (tm). There it was again, with a handful of black-headed gulls, with which it was a comparable size, though different jizz. Back down the road but it wasn't there. Again.

Then I saw it flying around - it was a tern and looked all light grey above - the wings, mantle, rump and tail were all the same shade of light grey, with white around the sides of the neck and a slight mask behind the eye. It landed, and I could see the legs were dark and the bill was chunky and dagger-shaped and all-black. By the process of elimination based on its size and features, it gradually dawned on me that it had to be an adult winter gull-billed tern. Result! Although, sadly not a patch tick, having had one in the same place back in July 2023.

The bird flew up to a nearby ploughed field and hawked around a bit before returning to the lake, always remaining pretty distant and I wasn't able to get anything better than piss-poor record shots. Luckily Old Spoons jammed into it nice and close flying from the ploughed field back to the lake the following day....

Cracker!

the gull-billed tern yesterday

My first contender for New Old Snowy for 2024 too - all good! 

Every Little Helps

 So, that's January out of the way... and February kicked off with yet another year-tick (#YAY). A distant but nonetheless fine example of a first winter Little Gull sitting amidst the Herring Gull roost on Rabbit Island yesterday elicited a satisfying "Fux sake. Jammy c**t" out of Seppy, which is always a good sign.

Crap phone-to-scope photo... cracking early year-tick

The patch flew along in January, in fairness, fuelled by some very handy lingering birds from December (here's looking at you, Ring-necked Duck, Scaup, Goldeney, Cattle Egret and... drumroll... Slavonian Grebe). A Coot on the lake towards the end of the month was another welcome addition, and a full-fat patch tick in the form of a superb redhead Goosander on Squince Lagoon was pure gold.

Is this Seppy's bird from Kilkeran a few weeks back?

All of which January japery takes me to a healthy 89 species for the year, or 71.01% in real currency. Which is great... but leaves very little scope for tickage until the migs start rolling in (I hope). Onwards!

Full Fat Ahoy!

 Yes indeedy - there I was, carefully scoping the gull flock on the lake for anything decent at all, when all of a sudden I noticed a big, cigar-shaped duck type thing flying around - Goosander ya bas! Amayzing! Lost it behind the annoying pine tree and couldn't pick it up again, but a quick scoot down the road to check more closely didn't reveal any further sign. Total jam - just happened to be in the right place at the right time! That plus the pair of wigeon this am moves me up to 73 or 52.02% for the year - first full fat patch tick since the pink-footed goose last October - now on 226 for the Galley list, which is the most important list of the lot!

The Return of Reg

 Yes indeedy - everyone's favourite showbiz policeman Reg Hollis has stepped out of retirement, indeed at the same time as stepping into retirement! Confused? Don't worry, the net result will be Reg out front at the end of the year, most likely with New Old Snowy also in the bag. Still, hopefully a bit of additional competion will lead to all the other competitors giving it 110% to try and upset his dastardly plans!

Reg eagerly puts out the news of his Green-winged Teal that he's found already on patch this year....

Best get back out there lads!

All Hail Lord Bushveld

 Yes indeedy, the 2023 patch challenge has finally drawn to a close, even though its been sewn (stitched?) up since about mid-July. Lord Bushveld has somehow managed to join Sepp Blatter in the exclusive Three-time Winners club, with a fine final score of 112.22%. Congratulations, and look out for the Golden Mallard (worth at least £50 on ebay) arriving in the post sometime around June 2024!

Herewith are the 2023 final scores, in order to allow eternal reviewing and scrutiny....

Some scores, yesterday

Top marks to Basil Faulty for being "best of the Irish", even though he's Welsh and fair play (if thats not a step too far) to Sepp Blatter for managing to make the podium yet again, despite everything. Last and indeed the least said the better, commiserations to the Proclaimers who were forced into a DNF* due to mid-year laptop failure in combination with general ineptness. Hopefully they'll be able to get it together again for 2024.

Happy New Year to all contenders and faithful blog followers (if there even are any?) - the 2024 competition is now open! Worth a moment of contemplation to consider that this is the 20th year of the original patch challenge competition! How cool is that?

*Did Not Finish

That was the year that was...

 That was the year in which Longhaven recorded its highest ever total, finishing on a mighty 135 species for the patch, smashing the previous highest by a whole 9 species.

Best birds of the year were undoubtedly:

1st - Semi-palmated sandpiper

2nd - green winged teal.

3rd - Taiga Bean goose

A whole plethora of patch firsts this year included an array of waders: little ringed plover, curlew sandpiper, little stints, purple sand and of course the semi-p.  Other full fat patch ticks included rather shamely little egret and sooty shear'. 

Notable absences included yellow-browed warbler and both grey wag and siskin both of which I vaguely remember getting but never properly recorded, so they're not on the list.

So that's it for 2023.  Another year slides into the record books and another one begins.

Good luck every one hope the patch rares will be plentiful.

Final scores on the doors for 2023 - 135 species, 112.22%.

Happy days

Bushveld