Sunday 5 April 2015

PWC2015 at Kilcoole: January-March update

After a delayed start to the patch birding New Year, I eventually made it down to the Kilcoole area on 11th January for my first full day and was greeted instantly by a #patchgold Dipper along the Newcastle Sea Road stream, the first I’ve seen here in about 10 years!! This single bird later became part of a pair which moved extensively up and down the stream during February but with no sign of them since I guess they have found a quieter spot upstream to breed.

Dipper

The other highlight of the year so far in this area was the continued presence of Tree Sparrows around a farmyard along the sea road. A single bird was first found here in March 2014 by Stephen McAvoy during the Wicklow County Bird Race which was duly twitched soon after by myself as it was a most sought after patch tick. Delighted to report that the Tree Sprog numbers at this site have risen to a mighty 15 this year! Will keep an eye on them this Spring and hopefully confirm breeding.


Tree Sparrow

Not stopping there, the farmland around Newcastle Sea Road was very productive this winter for other passerines adding a single Fieldfare and some Redwing on day one, both good to get that soon on the scoresheet as they are highly unpredictable here. I later ended up with a flock of 20 Fieldfare and 12 Redwing in the field just inland of East Coast Nature Reserve (ECNR) in March. The stubble field beside the entrance to Newcastle Airfield held a consistent flock of 60 Reed Buntings, 15 Yellowhammers, 40 Linnets, 15 Greenfinches and 30 Meadow Pipits throughout the winter thanks to the planting and overwintering of game cover/crop. An impressive flock of c.70 Stock Doves was present in stubble fields at Kilcoole on 6th February and it was encouraging to see pairs present in suitable habitat on the patch later on in the Spring also.

Both Lesser Redpoll and Siskin have been thin on the ground along the east coast this winter and I’ve only had two records of each from the patch (normally good numbers at ECNR). I once considered Grey Wagtail a scarce bird down here but have already amassed 10 records so far this year with a regular bird on the wet mud/cattle dung pools near the entrance to ECNR. A male Blackcap present on the feeders at ECNR in late January was possibly the first ‘proper’ winter record I’ve had on the patch. No sign of any Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the wood at ECNR during my searches there (only Treecreeper to add to the list) despite two sightings so far this year by other observers but I was intrigued by the presence of a hybrid Carrion x Hooded Crow near the usual Hoodie nest site there in mid-March. Might have to keep an eye on that and see what shenanigans are going on locally (and more importantly see if there are any pure Carrions to year tick!). The first Skylarks in song were recorded along the dunes at Kilcoole on 8th February during the Wicklow County Bird Race.

Very pleased to see two soaring Red Kites off in the distance to the south of ECNR during a BirdWatchIreland Wicklow Branch outing there on 24th January (only patch ticked them back in September 2014). The overwintering 2nd calendar-year female Marsh Harrier was seen twice in January and once in February. The first successful overwintering bird at this site to the best of my knowledge (have had records of them into November before but not thereafter). A single ringtail Hen Harrier showed well in front of the main hide at ECNR on 6th February, presumably the same bird most often reported down towards Broad Lough during the winter. Displaying Sparrowhawks were present at their traditional breeding site through March and it was a case of Buzzards aplenty with the highest single count relating to nine soaring over farmland and hills inland of the patch on 21st March. No more than one Kestrel was seen on the patch in a given day, continuing their drop in numbers here since the severe run of winter storms in January 2014. An adult and a 2nd calendar-year Peregrine were keeping the waders and wildfowl of the marsh on their toes through February and March.

Seawatching was pretty quiet but recording Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake and Black Guillemot from the get go in January was good, especially for Black Guillemots as it took me until April to find them last year! The undoubted highlight was a Great Skua (Bonxie) flying north out to sea from Kilcoole train station platform on 11th January. It was quite distant but actively chasing Kittiwakes. My first winter record on the patch. Numbers of Red-throated Divers, Shags and auks sitting/feeding offshore have been below average, but a southbound movement of 1,250 Guillemots in three hours on 28th January was notable. A Great Northern Diver offshore from Newcastle on 16th March was most welcome as I thought I was going to go the first winter half of the year without seeing one.

Flood levels on the marsh were pretty low through much of the winter resulting in reduced numbers of certain species like Teal, Lapwing, Golden Plover and Black-tailed Godwits. The Light-bellied Brent Goose flock, which peaks in March, was only half its normal size also, but I still managed to get a Dark-bellied Brent Goose out of them, just about keeping up its annual status here. The presence of leftover potatoes in the field inland of Webb’s lagoon provided rich feeding for the Icelandic Greylag Geese and Whooper Swans throughout the winter which was fantastic to see. A real benefit to them with such a rich source of food along with grazing, fresh water and roost sites all in close proximity (highlighted by the fact that the Whooper flock rose to 89, the highest here in years). Both the Barnacle Goose and feral Canada Goose from 2014 stayed on through the New Year and onto the 2015 list as well as several Greenshank, a Tufted Duck, a Coot and a female Pintail. The Shoveler flock on the wet grassland flashes at ECNR reached an all-time high of 81 (hopefully it won’t be long before a nice male Blue-winged Teal joins them!). A couple of trips down to look for birds grounded in Webb’s lagoon during heavy rain and strong winds paid dividends in the form of a 2nd calendar-year male Red-breasted Merganser, a 3rd calendar-year Little Gull and a single Grey Plover.


3cy Little Gull

Returning adult 'Dark Neb' Whooper Swan (centre). More info here.

Colour-ringed Oystercatcher 'PJ' from the Dublin Bay Birds Project
(ringed at Merrion Gates, Sandymount Strand in Nov 2014)

As was the case across much of Ireland, migrants were slow to get going in March with my first at Kilcoole relating to Lesser Black-backed Gulls moving north along the coast (peak count of 99 on 16th March) followed up by two Chiffchaffs in the wood at ECNR. Finished off the month of March with an enjoyable joint BirdWatch Ireland Wicklow and Dublin Tolka Branch outing to Kilcoole on Saturday 21st where we scored our target Spring migrants in the form of a Sandwich Tern day roosting in Webb’s field (species #100) alongside a 3rd calendar-year Mediterranean Gull and a female Wheatear on the beach. A great end to the first quarter of the year!

BirdWatch Ireland branch outing to Kilcoole

Kilcoole PWC2015 Stats (January-March): 102 species, 122 points, 60.69%, 18 BirdTrack lists and 1,020 BirdTrack records submitted.

Table 1. Summary counts of waterbirds at Kilcoole, Newcastle and Blackditch East Coast Nature Reserve, September 2014 - March 2015. Notes: Species in italics have yet to be recorded during PWC2015. Some I-WeBS counts from other observers likely to be higher than my own for certain species (e.g. Golden Plover) so figures given here don’t represent actual maximum totals for the site. Totals for regularly occurring gull species (BH, CM, HG and GB) relate to birds on the marsh only and don’t include those on passage/offshore.

Species
Peak Count
Peak Month(s)
Mute Swan
31
November
Whooper Swan
89
February-March
Greenland White-fronted Goose
1
October
Icelandic Greylag Goose
272
March
Canada Goose (feral)
1
November-January
Barnacle Goose
1
November-March
Dark-bellied Brent Goose
1
March
Light-bellied Brent Goose
c.550
March
Shelduck
14
March
Wigeon
849
February
Teal
397
November
Mallard
107
November
Pintail
1
October-March
Shoveler
81
February
Tufted Duck
4
November
Common Scoter
10 (on passage)
October
Red-breasted Merganser
3 (on passage)
November
Red-throated Diver
83
November
Great Northern Diver
2
November-December
Cormorant
26
September
Shag
44
February
Little Egret
10
September
Grey Heron
36
September
Little Grebe
16
February
Great Crested Grebe
2
November
Water Rail
9
December
Moorhen
4
September
Coot
6
September
Oystercatcher
13
March
Golden Plover
320
January
Grey Plover
1
March
Lapwing
347
February
Ringed Plover
13
February
Curlew
119
February
Black-tailed Godwit
192
January
Bar-tailed Godwit
1
November
Turnstone
7
September
Dunlin
55
September
Green Sandpiper
1
November
Greenshank
3
February-March
Redshank
49
November
Jack Snipe
1
November
Snipe
30
November
Sandwich Tern
23 (on passage)
October
Black-headed Gull
425
March
Little Gull
23
November
Mediterranean Gull
1
October & March
Common Gull
72
December
Lesser Black-backed Gull
99 (on passage)
March
Herring Gull
30
November
Yellow-legged Gull
1 (on passage)
November
Great Black-backed Gull
5
November
Total
3,931