Summer's end

A couple of trips to both the Lough and Atlantic pond offered up some very photogenic birds lately. Highlight amongst them was the little egrets at Atlantic pond which have burst forth into the world like an eruption of white fluff. The photo below is crap, but that’s because they were far away, you get the idea!

One of the parents was as usual a little bit more obliging as it fished by the edge of the water. Here’s my best attempt at catching it fly, land and then walk next to the water. If you’ve read this blog before you probably know that this egret is called Monty. :D

On a much sadder note I haven’t found any evidence of the little grebes breeding at Atlantic pond this year, the only nest easily viewed from the edge of the pond seems to have been taken over by a moorhen pair. Last year I sighted at least 6 young grebes but this year only adults??

Anyway, plenty of young crows around at the moment, as you can see from the scruffy magpie and hooded crow below, the rook is looking a little better. 

Bit of a boring blog entry? Maybe, but we did at least have fun watching and feeding the rather massive population of shedding mallards! Also next week, back to Ballycotton, weather permitting!

Lesser black backed gull, wishes he could keep his summer tuxedo, alas, its already started to fall apart

Oh and a robin...