@alexanderlees.bsky.social interesting paper on eBird and remote sensing in Ireland. Exponential rise in eBird usage and not a mention of BirdTrack… onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Mark Shorten
@sevenheads.bsky.social
Birder, Cork county recorder, co author Birds of County Cork,
A handsome Spotted Redshank dealing with a little crab at Rosscarbery
It's hard enough to connect with birds in Cork without extending the county bounds almost to France!
A few shots of the Blackburnian taken in misty conditions yesterday. Thanks to Noel Linehan & Paul Rowe for a great find & to Tony Nagle for driving us up to the garden. Seeing this bird means that I, and a few others, have now seen all 15 American Wood Warblers on the Irish List😎
It took several hours of searching to connect with one of the juvenile Bairds Sandpipers at Ballycotton yesterday. So to find an adult shortly after was surprising. 1980 seems to be the last time 3 were at one site in Ireland. Finishing the day on Dursey Island merely seems bizarre by comparison.
1/2 This week we have been very luck to have not one but two Pectoral Sandpipers taking a well earned rest on our wetlands after being diverted cross the Atlantic while on the migration from high arctic Canada or Alaska to their wintering grounds in South America.
Pectoral Sandpiper spent most of the time playing hide and seek in the salacornia but appeared for a few minutes @harpersisland.bsky.social
Submitted (with Pat Smiddy) new project ‘Birds of Ireland’ to publisher. Bringing back early versions of Birds of County Cork on Amstrad WCP in the 1980s, Mac Classic in 1990s and finally published in 2020s on iMac😂 (emulators used for the screens).
Stunning images of Baird’s Sandpiper at the Geragh, first inland record for Cork and one of the few in Ireland. Found by PK
Arctic Skua, Med and Cory’s Shearwater and Peregrine, from finedays sea watching on Seven Heads, no Barolo photos 🥲
Sandwich Tern arriving with a sprat for its chick - they’re on a feeding stopover at Ballycotton in preparation for the long migration south. #Birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #Ballycotton
New lens new camera- R7 and 100-500, a shots between Barry’s and Galley Head. Sedge Warbler, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunt and Melodious Warbler
Melodious Warbler ringed this morning.
Female Teal with four ducklings, probably over a week old on a pond in Tipperary. Grown juvenile nearby and four more in an adjacent pond - 2-3 broods, scarce breeder in S Ireland
Found this male Southern Oak Bush-cricket on a lamp post along Sunday's Well Road, Cork city this eve (30th July). Only aware of 3 or so previous Irish records, at least 1 of which was also in Cork city. Following recent colonisation of Britain, it is perhaps likely to become established here too.
I was delighted to be asked to contribute a few illustrations to the Donegal Bird Report, excellently compiled by Derek Brennan . 2025 was an incredible year for rare and scarce birds in Donegal with several county and Irish firsts discovered. The report can be viewed at zenodo.org/records/2124...
Recent visitors to the reserve will have noticed the rapid progress of the work by artist Peter Martin on our new mural as you enter the site. Peter hopes to have it finished in the next few weeks. We managed to film and interview Peter recently about the mural and the process involved 👇
personally I think it would be good if America had organized political parties.
Today BirdWatch Ireland published a Restoration Plan for habitats of threatened bird species in Ireland. We identified 71,450 ha of land w/restoration potential for 52 bird species. Plus farmland habitat+ 38 locations w/colonies of an additional 10 seabirds +more. birdwatchireland.ie/nature-resto...
Printed copies of CBR 2019-23 have and are quite pretty!
With thanks to @sevenheads.bsky.social , I got to see this stunning Striped Hawkmoth this evening after dinner. A beautiful creature, and unexpected within walking distance of my house!
Mark Shorten@sevenheads.bsky.social · 4mo agoStriped Hawkmoth, outside my house. New for me. Only about 90 Irish records, I think!
Striped Hawkmoth, outside my house. New for me. Only about 90 Irish records, I think!
Manx Shearwater this morning at Pendeen Watch (9th June). Estimate around 60,000 passed the lighthouse this morning (based on one minute sample counts, up to 600 per minute).
The Cork Bird Report 2019-23 is published today at doi.org/10.5281/zeno... and will be here birdwatchcork.com/publications/ also. Plenty of photos, charts and tables. Cork Ringing Report and urban breeding gulls in Cork etc. Free to all, enjoy
We held our first BioBlitz on 21/22 May, the aim of which was to try to identify as many species in a 24 hour period as we could. The weather was not kind but you will be surprised to find out the number of species we did manage to identify. 🙏 to all those who made it possible!
Are we overlooking displaying Wilson’s Snipe in Scotland?, there has been numerous summer records now in Scandinavia and Iceland but nothing here yet! - xeno-canto.org/1071315 #birdingscotland
XC1071315 Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
xeno-canto.org