In Otter news

I’ll be honest, of the 55 or so species (you better be right Wikipedia!) of mammal in Ireland I have seen maybe ten and only managed to photograph a couple. Here in the city, as you might imagine, we are a little short on creatures such as Sika deer and Pine marten so finding these species on my limited time and transport is near impossible (bring on the Summer). 

 Go a little more coastal or rural though and you have a significant chance of finding Otters. These large Mustelids are one of the least hated animals in Ireland at the moment, their playful and inquisitive nature endear most of the people that they share ground with and aside from that they feed primarily in fish, a habit that keeps them generally out of human conflict. Heck maybe it’s just the fact that they are rather entertaining! Just look at the video below (not mine, random vid, hope they don’t mind the embed).

To find otters, estuarine areas are probably easiest. My preferred area is Clonakilty bay where I have spent extensive time exploring and encountered otters nine times. Not bad considering I wasn’t looking for or expecting to find them. Otters live inland too but apparently are shyer, I think maybe this has something to do with coastal otters being well used to flocks of large and aggressive gulls circling and mobbing them for fish. Once you’ve had a great black backed gull (wingspan 1.7m) lunge at you you’re probably not going to be afraid of a long haired dude with a camera.

Here in Ireland we are quite lucky because we apparently have one of the highest concentrations of common otter anywhere in Europe, a pretty awesome statistic if you consider that we usually have the lowest concentration of or completest lack of most European species! 

Early mornings are the best time to find otters, they like the peace and quiet of not having too many people around I guess! The mentioned gull mobbing are also a handy way of finding them since these large birds circle the poor otter and can be seen from quite a distance, a gang of gulls is always worth investigating. The oddest thing about these guys seems to be that once you do spot them they usually start watching you right back instead of running off. This mother and littleuns is the perfect example. She was unaware of my presence at first, but after she noticed me she just watched me for about five minutes before strolling off. An encounter that made my day!

I am not sure if we have otters here in the city but I am guessing that the answer is yes, the area of waterlogged fields and ponds across from the Lee river fields seems ideal; if it’s quiet enough to have kingfishers then I am sure otters exist too. Further research to come!

In other news! Nothing new in the past few days but I did get some interesting shots of the ‘everyday’ birds.
Also, added a page for the UCC bird list (Here) or on the Sub-page toolbar to the right!

My favorite Pied wagtail shot to date!

Some experimental closeups of the Grey heron. Monsters of the water, I actually saw one eat a baby duck yesterday

Mute swan.

Greenfinch, my best shot to date but I'm still not happy with it!

A hooded crow at UCC, looking a bit grumpy!

A Dunnock (?) I think its a dunnock but it looks odd somehow, I'm guessing its newly fledged!

Residents and seasonal regulars

As I haven’t much time to compose a post today because of heavy study I thought I’d throw up some shots of the everyday birds that are almost unavoidable anywhere in the city. The commonest of birds vary at different times of year but many stay around all year. 

First then are the pigeons; three species can commonly be found in the city, the domestic rock pigeon (picture at top of post), the woodpigeon (below) and the collared dove (bottom).  All three are relatively easy to spot with the domestic pigeons preferring concrete environments and the Peace Park, the woodpigeon present at almost every grassland and tree location and the collared doves wandering randomly from tree to tree.

In summer the air is alive with the chatter of barn swallows (left), these small but extremely fast songbirds can be very entertaining to watch, though a bit of a nightmare to photograph! The closely related house martin and sand martin can also be seen around the Lee canals but is less common. Swifts, another aerodynamic insectivore can also be seen up in the sky but actually isn’t related at all, their wings are more sickle shaped then swallows. 

In winter when the swallows and swifts have migrated away they are replaced by vast flocks of black headed gulls (top) which are joined by common gulls (bottom). Both of these species can be quite approachable and can be lured over by food offerings to within inches especially in places like the Lough and the North Mall canal!

Slightly less common are lesser black backed gulls (below) and herring gulls, these gulls are somewhat shyer then black headed gulls but can none the less often be approached.

See you next time!

Also thank you to http://drimnaghbirdwatch.blogspot.com for adding a link back to my blog, its much apreciated!

UCC songbirds

University College Cork (UCC) may at first seem largely devoid of life but on closer examination it reveals a surprising variety of wildlife. The river, stone walls, trees, bushes and short grass areas all provide ideal habitat for several small songbirds as well as some bigger species.

The best hotspot for life on the UCC grounds is the river walk which can be accessed by taking a right just past the main gates, here overhanging willows and a variety of other tree species provide ideal refuge for many robins which can easily be spotted looking for food, feeding chicks and singing on branches, these robins are quite approachable and are undoubtedly drawn to the nearby restaurant where they can scavenge for tidbits. (robin of the day!, right)

Alongside the robins live numerous chaffinches which can be easily viewed amongst the branches! 

Another attraction, perhaps the most significant of all is the presence of several mistle trushes (below). These large trushes are much bigger than the closely related blackbirds and song trushes that can be seen around the city, they have slate grey backs and a harsh urgent calls and can be seen regularly looking for food around the fields. I have never seen such an abundance of them as I have here, one day I found eleven of them in one area. These birds can be hard to find and go largely unnoticed but are quite worth pursuing. An Irish nickname for them is ‘storm cock’ because they have a tendency to sing from treetops during rain showers. 

Pied wagtails (top) and Grey wagtails (bottom) can also be found along this path, both birds are closely related but the pied is a lot more common, the grey is harder to spot and generally sticks only to river banks. It’s worth seeking out as its yellow plumage is quite a sight! The pied wagtail in contrast is extremely common and at least one can usually be seen on the fields and paths of UCC at any given time.

 

The rocky part of the river walk with its overhanging vegetation provides ideal habitat for several species of tits such as the great tit below. These entertaining birds can also be seen at the bird feeders around campus. 

 

Other species of interest that I have seen here are bullfinches (left) and greenfinches (right) and gold crests (bottom) which remain camouflaged most of the time but can occasionally be seen amidst the leaves, a bird worth pursuing, it’s also Ireland’s smallest bird.

The four most common crow species of Ireland can all be found around campus as well. Magpies are easy to find with their bold colours and loud agitated calls whilst jackdaws roam most of the grassy areas. Rooks and hooded crows occasionally join them as well especially if there is food to be scavenged. A visit to UCC is guaranteed to turn up at least two of these species if not all four! (rook below)

Seal the Deel

Below is a picture of one of the more interesting sights I’ve seen recently, it’s a seal wrestling a large (over a meter long) elongated fish, probably a particularly large common eel or a ling, the seal seemed to be having some trouble overpowering the trashing fish and kept surfacing every minute or so to continue its battle. Unfortunately the weather, the seals distance and my camera skills did not add up to give me a pride worthy shot! Still, worth keeping for posterity.

 

 

I also decided to make my weekly visit to the Atlantic pond and Cork Lough which revealed great numbers of young birds. Mallards, coots, moorhens and domestic greylags all have chicks in the water attracting the ooh’s and aah’s of onlookers. The mallard chicks in particular are everywhere at the moment, in fact it’s hard not to step on them (please don’t, it’s not nice).

Saturday was an especially lucky day as I found two grey herons and a little egret all posing perfectly along the bank and seemingly unbothered by my presence and the presence of a cerebrally challenged teenage girl who decided to try chasing them off with an umbrella. The little egret is usually very shy and unapproachable but today showed a change in behaviour by staying put. I named him Monty (the nearby heron is called Python). 

I managed to get some pretty good close-ups of Monty but unfortunately his snow white plumage, the lighting and the rippling murky water all messed up my shots, they turned out greyer then I had hoped and lacking in detail. Still, could be worse! Note the yellow feet, I’m not sure why this evolved; perhaps they appear like water plant stalks to passing fish? 

Note also, the size difference between Monty (back) and Python (front), the grey heron truly is an underrated bird with its massive wingspan and spear like bill!

In other parts of the city I finally managed some half descent shots of a dunnock, not full framed but none the less good for a bird that spends most of its time hiding from me.

It should be noted that it’s a bad idea to approach too closely or photograph a nest, many species are highly sensitive to human contact so it’s best to stay at a respectful distance.  In fact I believe it’s illegal to photograph a bird on a nest.

Robin of the day!

Butterbugs

I must admit, I’ve never been much of a fan of insects, arachnids and other creepy crawlies. It’s not because I dislike them or run away from them but rather the fact that I could never see or catalogue them all. A group like birds is manageable; there are 2 species of Sparrow in Ireland and 2 species of wagtail etc... Insects however have over a million described species worldwide. So many species are discovered yearly that it seems a task implausible to catalogue them all. In short, I have no way to read about or photograph or see all of them or even a fraction of them, consequently I ignore the list that could never be finished and concentrate on groups with less species.

Recently though, I saw this tiny blue butterfly (above) which turned out to a holly blue and I decided to do some research, turns out Ireland really doesn’t have that many butterfly species. I found this great website with its helpful list and started pointing the camera at some more species http://www.irishbutterflies.com. It will never be as big an obsession as birds but it is none the less quite entertaining. The white butterflies, peacock, small tortoiseshell and speckled wood seem to be quite common in Cork city and who knows, I may just find the rest as well!

The two red ones I’ve found, small tortoiseshell (right) and peacock (below) are both relatively easy to find and can be seen commonly on the UCC grounds and in Fitzgerald Park. I’ve spotted a red admiral too in Fota but have yet to spot (or photograph) one in the city centre. Fingers crossed!

Speckled woods are also very common and reveal a surprisingly intricate wing pattern despite their brown colouration. I see a lot of them on the Lee river walks but can be found in most of the city’s green zones.

Finally several species of white butterfly can be found around the city, the green veined white seems to be the most common (below) and is the only species I have positively identified other then the orange tip. More pics coming soon!

Some random flies, no idea what they are. 

 

Robin of the day!

Blarney

Today I’ll venture outside the city to the town of Blarney which lies about twenty minutes drive (or bus ride) outside Cork city. The castle within its grounds is world renowned and visited by rather a lot of tourists yearly who like to get their picture taken whilst they kiss a stone. No I’m not mocking the place I’m just poking fun at a tourist industry that adds a somewhat whimsical dimension to genuine archaeology (I understand the need for reservation and safety, but adding concrete floors to a castle, really!?). Ahem...anyway, this place is not just a castle but also has a large wooded area that surrounds it full of interesting creatures.

The presence of a large lordly house and extensive gardens make the whole place feel like a miniature model version of Killarney national park. Plenty of rooks, jackdaws, hooded crows (below), magpies, rock doves and wood pigeons to be found all around the place this time of year.

Additionally an impressive amount of songbirds can be found enjoying the scattered trees of the gardens. Robins, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, blackbirds, song trushes, house sparrows and linnets can all be seen regularly around the grounds and can be quite approachable. The aged walls of the castle too allow for tree creepers, goldcrests and tits to nest (blue tit on right).

Again, like Killarney, the grounds are surrounded by a mixture of farmland and woodland with various paths running through them. The forest path is quite an enjoyable twenty minute stroll, (not sure why the sign says an hour and a half ??) and has an impressive variety of vegetation including deciduous, pine and even some very fancy looking ferns. These trees are filled with the sounds of songbirds going about their routines, especially robins and blackbirds but also the occasional blackcap warbler (left). Notably a lot of rabbits live in the forest and can regularly be glimpsed from the path.

The forest eventually opens out to a small lake surrounded by forestry. This time of year only the occasional moorhen, heron, warbler or mallard can be seen from the lakes limited access points but an impressive number of insect species can be seen here.  Several species of butterfly and damselfly can be seen here and are so common that photographing them is relatively easy. 

 

The forest and lake walk can be done as one circular journey which takes about an hour to complete, it may not be the largest place but the fact that it’s close to the city, its picturesque views and its varied flora and fauna certainly make it worth visiting for a photograph or two or just a day in the sun!

 (Please note, bird photographs weren't actually taken in Blarney but are rather indicative of actual sightings)