The boys are back in town
So, here we are, 2018, many years since I last kept a blog. I'm not sure how long this one will last, either, but here goes anyway.
On editing my dormant Blogger profile, it was amusing to see how much had changed and how much had stayed the same since I wrote the initial blurb. I suppose I was in denial, somewhat, when I said that I was a 'recovering ex(?) nationwide twitcher', as, while that's far from all that I am, I do travel the length and breadth of Ireland if a prospective Irish tick is found. That happens all too rarely these days, though, and I'd get bored very quickly if I was only waiting for the next tick.
Since my last spell of blogging, I have gotten quite into sound recording, which certainly adds another dimension to time spent in the field. I must confess that there is a degree of the listing instinct involved, insomuch as I am acutely aware of which common species I am missing recordings of, or which particular vocalisations of species I have already recorded I still lack...I've only heard Eurasian Jay song once, for example, in February 2011 or so, and I'd quite like to sound record that if I ever get a chance. But recording any bird is interesting, even if it's something like a European Blackbird's crystallised song: leaving aside any scientific benefits of recording this, it is just such a beautiful and evocative sound in its own right, as many bird songs and calls are. Even large gull long calls!
While I don't have the money or the sheer dedication to twitch every last Western Palearctic rarity...hats off to those who do...I have started to selectively go for good birds within the region where this can be done relatively cheaply. Usually, they provide a perfect excuse for some enjoyable general birding also...I doubt I'd ever have gone to Denmark in December were it not for a Siberian Accentor/Northern Hawk-owl double whammy, but the Rough-legged Buzzards, Taiga Bean Geese, Great Grey Shrike, Shore Larks, Caspian Gull and Caspian-like hybrids and so on were all very enjoyable in their own right as well.
There aren't the same opportunities to look through numbers of large gulls here in Ireland as there were just 12 years ago, with most rubbish tips now closed and devoid of gulls and the continuing decline in fishing activities. The irony of the collective knowledge having progressed so much, while we no longer get a chance to use it as much, isn't lost on me, but large gulls are still with us and, indeed, some of the rarer large gulls seen in Ireland have been found in the last few years.
While I'm far more a birder than a photographer, and regularly forego trying to get record shots of a rarity if it's in any way elusive or distant and others have pics already...Sardinian and Wilson's Warblers both come to mind straight away...I do now own a D-SLR and I do enjoy getting nice images where possible of birds common and rare. Common Gull flight pics, I admit, are a niche interest, but it keeps me engaged during the winter if there's nothing more notable around.
A rather typical adult canus, from 2016. I could list the reasons why, but I figure that anyone interested enough in racial identification of the 'Mew Gull complex' will already own the excellent Dutch Birding 38:1, the entire issue comprising of a definitive paper on the subject by Peter Adriaens and Chris Gibbins. And if you have an interest, and don't own a copy, then get one!
So, let's see how this goes...
On editing my dormant Blogger profile, it was amusing to see how much had changed and how much had stayed the same since I wrote the initial blurb. I suppose I was in denial, somewhat, when I said that I was a 'recovering ex(?) nationwide twitcher', as, while that's far from all that I am, I do travel the length and breadth of Ireland if a prospective Irish tick is found. That happens all too rarely these days, though, and I'd get bored very quickly if I was only waiting for the next tick.
Since my last spell of blogging, I have gotten quite into sound recording, which certainly adds another dimension to time spent in the field. I must confess that there is a degree of the listing instinct involved, insomuch as I am acutely aware of which common species I am missing recordings of, or which particular vocalisations of species I have already recorded I still lack...I've only heard Eurasian Jay song once, for example, in February 2011 or so, and I'd quite like to sound record that if I ever get a chance. But recording any bird is interesting, even if it's something like a European Blackbird's crystallised song: leaving aside any scientific benefits of recording this, it is just such a beautiful and evocative sound in its own right, as many bird songs and calls are. Even large gull long calls!
While I don't have the money or the sheer dedication to twitch every last Western Palearctic rarity...hats off to those who do...I have started to selectively go for good birds within the region where this can be done relatively cheaply. Usually, they provide a perfect excuse for some enjoyable general birding also...I doubt I'd ever have gone to Denmark in December were it not for a Siberian Accentor/Northern Hawk-owl double whammy, but the Rough-legged Buzzards, Taiga Bean Geese, Great Grey Shrike, Shore Larks, Caspian Gull and Caspian-like hybrids and so on were all very enjoyable in their own right as well.
There aren't the same opportunities to look through numbers of large gulls here in Ireland as there were just 12 years ago, with most rubbish tips now closed and devoid of gulls and the continuing decline in fishing activities. The irony of the collective knowledge having progressed so much, while we no longer get a chance to use it as much, isn't lost on me, but large gulls are still with us and, indeed, some of the rarer large gulls seen in Ireland have been found in the last few years.
While I'm far more a birder than a photographer, and regularly forego trying to get record shots of a rarity if it's in any way elusive or distant and others have pics already...Sardinian and Wilson's Warblers both come to mind straight away...I do now own a D-SLR and I do enjoy getting nice images where possible of birds common and rare. Common Gull flight pics, I admit, are a niche interest, but it keeps me engaged during the winter if there's nothing more notable around.
A rather typical adult canus, from 2016. I could list the reasons why, but I figure that anyone interested enough in racial identification of the 'Mew Gull complex' will already own the excellent Dutch Birding 38:1, the entire issue comprising of a definitive paper on the subject by Peter Adriaens and Chris Gibbins. And if you have an interest, and don't own a copy, then get one!
So, let's see how this goes...
