Ravenous wheatears (The Valentia island trip)

Apparently it has been 18 days since I posted, oh well...I have been on holidays to the remote Western side of County Kerry on Valentia island where I stayed for a week to explore the local bird life and wildlife in general. I had intended a trip to the Skellig islands but alas weather conditions and timing got in the way. Still, my findings more than made up for that. 

First off one of the local attractions here is the so called Tetrapod walkway, a well preserved trail of footprints made by one of the first amphibian creatures to walk on land. It’s estimated to be a whopping four hundred million years old and is one of the oldest footprint sites on the planet. Pretty nifty! 

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Valentia is a haven for gulls, this time only great black backed, herring, lesser black backed and kittiwakes where present but I’d imagine that in Winter it gets pretty easy to spot some of their rarer cousins. (Herring top in white, great black backed bottom)

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In the higher areas I had hoped to find and photograph a wheatear. This personal favourite of mine is an undeniably stunning little bird with its black, grey and creamy contrasts. 

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Indeed the rocky areas had an abundance of them. The pair pictured here strayed into my area when a fledgling crash-landed nearby prompting frenzied attempts to lure me away by both parents. A very entertaining experience. The wheatear is a member of the trush family and is comparable in size to a large robin.

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It’s smaller but more colourful cousin the Stonechat could also be found here in the hedgerows and particularly near the lowland bogs.

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In keeping with the theme of small songbirds I managed to find an unusually social sedge warbler which unlike most warblers posed (albeit at a distance) for the camera (below).  Grasshopper warblers too where unusually abundant but entirely unwilling to be photographed. At least I saw one for once!

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On the mountain and the bogs Skylarks (top) where everywhere singing as is their trademark far up in the sky. Meadow pipits (bottom) too where easy to find especially in the bog areas. 

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Last but most definitely not least I discovered 2 pairs of ravens on the island which after noticing my presence started mocking me and flying overhead in what was both a dazzling and slightly nerve wrecking display of crow like power. The raven is the largest European songbird with a wingspan of up to 1.5 meters and a body length of about 65cm. Truly an impressive bird!

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More Valentia stuff tomorrow!