Sligo Bird Images - January 2010

31 January 2010: A Little Egret pictured roosting with three Grey Herons at Finned, Drumcliff Bay.

31 January 2010:Peregrine Falcon resting on a shingle bank at Gibraltar Point.

30 January 2010: Little Grebes in Sligo Harbour

25 January 2010: Female Goosander at Silver Falls car park on the Ballysadare Estuary

January 2010: Lapwing at Gibraltar Point, Cummeen Strand in Sligo Harbour

January 2010: Greenshank in the tidal channel at Gibraltar Point, Cummeen Strand in Sligo Harbour

January 2010:Oystercatcher at Strandhill

January 2010: Fieldfare in a Sligo garden

22nd January 2010: Distant shot of Little Egret at Ballyconnell Marsh

17th January 2010: These remarkable photos of a white phase Gyrfalcon at Knocklane, Ballyconnell were taken with a 55mm lens, showing how close the bird came to the observers!

15th January 2010: 'Male Star', the satellite tagged White-tailed Eagle was back at Yellow Strand again today

17th January 2010: Stonechat (top) and Greenshank (bottom) at Raghly today

14th January 2010: Drake Ring-necked Duck photographed near the crannóg on Lough Arrow today.

14th January 2010: These two metal-ringed Common Gulls winter regularly here in Sligo, one ringed as a chick in the Scottish Highlands (ET47509, top), the other from a breeding colony on Big Copeland Island, Co. Down (EG55246, bottom).

14th January 2010: Ring-billed Gull at Quay St car park, with Common Gulls nearby for comparison - presumably the same individual seen in recent weeks.

13th January 2010: Ring-billed Gull (top) and Black-headed Gull showing early development of adult breeding head colour (bottom), both at Quay St car park.

12th January 2010: Two Starlings face up to each other as a Redwing waits its turn in a squabble over food as the hard weather begins to ease. This photo was take with a remote-controlled camera left beside the bird's feeding area.

10th January 2010: Snipe in a private garden on the Inishes, Ballysadare Bay. This bird returns daily evidently having discovered that it is possible to probe in the margins along the sides of the bio-cycle waste treatment unit, where presumably some heat from the motor is keeping the frost off.

Snipe and Woodcock seem to be suffering severely from the low temperatures at the moment.

10th January 2010: Redwing pictured at Raghly today.

10th January 2010: Flock of Light-bellied Brent, with a single Dark-bellied Brent (arrow) at Raghly today

9th January 2010: Fieldfare in a Sligo garden.

All of the thrushes, including Blackbirds, are struggling badly in the cold snap, and need your help. While peanut & seed eaters are usually well provided for, these birds starve in hard weather - try offering fruit, raisins, porridge, dog food - none are ideal, but anything is a help to a starving bird. Also remember water.

8th January 2010: A male Goldeneyedisplays to a female in the Garravogue River at Doorly Park.....

8th January 2010: .....and the female follows suit

8th January 2010: Greenfinch in a Sligo garden

8th January 2010: Lesser Redpolls in a Sligo garden

8th January 2010: Redshanks feeding in the Garravogue River atBarton Smith's in the middle of town - another odd sight thrown up by the hard weather

5th January 2010: There is probably a sad story behind this huge abandoned oven-ready turkey, misguidedly dumped in Sligo harbour at the boat slipway in Quay St Car Park today. It remained untouched. Even the gulls and crows couldn't face the idea of more turkey in January it seems........

5th January 2010: Adult Ring-billed Gull at Quay St car park in Sligo Harbour today. This long-returning North American vagrant seems quite at home with Sligo's harsh winter this year

2nd January 2010: Some photos of 'Male Star', the re-introduced White-tailed Eagle in his current territory around Ballintemple. For scale, the small bird on the fence post to his left in the top image is a Magpie!

Ulrike is a photographer who lives on the beautiful Raghly peninsula in north-west Sligo - see her range of images of Sligo' (and Alaska's) scenery and wildlife at:

www.sealviewphotography.com

2nd January 2010: 'Male Star', the re-introduced White-tailed Eagle that has been in Co. Sligo since early autumn, gave good views at Ballintemple today.

2ndJanuary 2010: The Jay seen yesterday returned to a rural garden near Coolaney

2nd January 2010: Twite photographed at Raghly today

2ndJanuary 2010: The Jay seen yesterday returned to a rural garden near Coolaney

2nd January 2010: Some birds seen in and around Sligo today: The Robin was at Doorly Park, the Redwing was in Stephen St carpark, and the Grrenfinches were at Raghly

1st January 2010: More cold weather refugees, this time in the garden of Val Robus, near Coolaney - from top : Jay, Robin, Song Thrush