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Blast From The Past Finds - Stilt Sandpiper

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In 2003, I moved to Cork for a 6 month student placement at Lough Beg, on the west side of Cork Harbor. I instantly fell in love with the county, and the estuary beside work wasn't too shabby a spot to have to hand, allowing me to see some good birds such as over summering Little Gulls, a Sabine's Gull, and finding 5 Roseate Terns roosting on the mud (they were considered quite the county rarity at the time, but it soon became apparent that this was a regular location for this species in late summer). On the 6th of August I had my scope with me 😞 intending on doing some birding after work.  The tide was low, which was perfect for roosting terns and gulls, as well as small waders. Scanning through the numerous Sandwich Terns and Black-Headed Gulls produced several Mediterranean Gulls of various ages, which was typical. There were also quite a few fresh in Dunlin and Knot. Continuing to pan left, my scope fell upon an unusual wader towards the far side of the mudflat, up to it...
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Blue-Winged Teal - Blast From The Past Finds

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Blue-Winged Teal is a true "birder's bird" especially when you find them as juveniles in some far flung western location.  I first saw Blue-Winged Teal in Dublin, at the North Bull Island, a bird that would prove to be a regular winter occurrence for many years. Blue-Winged Teal - Bull Island - Robert Vaughan September 12th 2010 My first self found bird popped up at Shannon Airport Lagoon after a great weekend of seawatching at the Bridges of Ross. After two days of seawatching, good numbers of Leaches Petrels , decent numbers of Sabine's Gulls , Grey Phalaropes , the odd Black Tern and a couple of Wilson's Petrel whilst seawatching, and a Buff-Breasted Sandpiper on the headland itself, I was feeling pretty good on the drive back to Cork. I decided to stop into Shannon Airport Lagoon to, it being a bit to early to jump on the Mallow road.  Just a minute or two on site, and my attention was drawn by that "Teal wanting to be a Pintail" appearance and...
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Laughing Gull - Blast From the Past Finds

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Clonakilty, Cork, 2005. My first self found Laughing Gull, I somewhat detailed here . 2005 was an incredible year for Laughing Gulls (and Franklin's Gull) with unprecedented infuxes of both in the late autumn. However, with Laughing Gull it was notable that several individuals occurred in the early Summer. I had ticked my very first Laughing Gull just a week prior, in Cork city. It was quite a fortunate occurrence. Living in the city center at the time, I was actually at home at lunch time on a weekday, a very rare event, when the news came out there was a Laugher on the Lee just a few streets over. I grabbed my bins there and then and ran across. A fantastic, unexpected tick. Laughing Gull - Cork City - June, 2005 Laughing Gull was a mega at that time in Ireland.  So when I sat down at the red benches in Clonakilty a few days later, and laid eyes on a Laughing Gull...I fully expected it to be the same individual! Having watched the Cork City Bird for some time, I quickly made the ...
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Lesser Yellowlegs - Blast From the Past Finds

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Lesser Yellowlegs is one of my favorite American species that turns up in Ireland. There's something about them, that clean, sleek and elegant appearance when compared to their Redshank cousins that's just brilliant whilst simultaneously being key to their search image and ID. As part of a series of posts on past finds, thought I'd jot down all the stories on birds I enjoyed finding, beginning with 'legs. Rogerstown, Co. Dublin, 2003 My first self found Lesser Yellowlegs turned up on the inner estuary at Rogerstown, found from the south hide. I was living in Cork at the time, on student placement at Lough Beg, and I was on a weekend visit home to Dublin. I took some time to get in some birding with the family on August 21st. It had been a dismal day as myself, my brother and father worked all the way from Louth in a southerly direction.  We were seeing absolutely nothing of interest and Conor was grumbling about going home early. However I pushed us onwards, saying we...
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