Rosscarbery Family Day Sunday 8th July 2012

Once again, lucky with the weather during this wettest of summers, twenty people turned up at Rosscarbery, including three families, to enjoy a stroll along the estuary for a couple of hours.

After an informative talk about the importance of the estuary for birdlife, the group had plenty of time to watch the adult cob and pen Mute Swans looking after their very healthy six cygnets.  There were originally eight so the parents have done well.  With eight Little Egrets and four Grey Herons also present, there was plenty of opportunity to observe the different hunting techniques used.  A good variety of gulls were on the mudflats so we got a chance to compare the different sizes and markings of Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls; a good introduction.

Our winter visitors are already starting to return from their northern breeding grounds so the group got to see Black-tailed Godwits (Icelandic race), Redshanks and Curlews.

It was soon time to walk back, have one final look at the cygnets and reflect on what had been a very pleasant few hours watching and learning about some of the birds that use the estuary at Rosscarbery.

Bird species list:

1	Mute swan	Cygnus olor
2	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
3	Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
4	Oystercatcher	Haematopus ostralegus
5	Black-tailed godwit	Limosa limosa
6	Curlew	Numenius arquata
7	Redshank	Tringa totanus
8	Greenshank	Tringa nebularia
9	Common gull	Larus canus
10	Herring gull	Larus argentatus
11	Lesser black-backed gull	Larus fuscus
12	Greater black-backed gull	Larus marinus
13	Black-headed gull	Larus ridibundus
14	Wood pigeon	Columba palumbus
15	Swallow	Hirundo rustica
16	House martin	Delichon urbica
17	Pied wagtail	Motacilla (alba) yarelli
18	Song thrush	Turdus philomelos
19	Blackcap	Sylvia atricapilla
20	Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybitus
21	Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris
22	Magpie	Pica pica
23	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
24	Rook	Corvus frugilegus
25	Hooded crow	Corvus cornix
26	Little egret	Egretta garzetta
27	Grey heron	Ardea cinerea