Christmas floods and bird-spotting: buzzards, barn owls, cormorants, lapwing, herons and LOTS of water

It has been an exceptionally wet and windy December and the floods are up. Fields as far as the eye can see have been transformed into lakes.

This is great news for the cormorants as they swim through the water hunting for trout that have strayed over the flooded riverbanks (a gang of them have taken up positions atop a dying ash tree opposite our kitchen window where they dry their wings in the promise of sunshine and spy on unsuspecting lunch items below).

Flocks of lapwing are also enjoying the winter feast and we've spotted a heron or two as well as the usual swans. On Christmas Eve-Eve I was lucky enough to catch a rare and spectacular close-up view of one of our local buzzards and on Christmas Eve itself our two beautiful barn owls appeared out of their nest box and flew up the road, right past our house. What a wonderful treat.

There was rather a lot of birdsong in the River Field this afternoon - robins and blackbirds, I suspect, among others - and the fantastic sound of gushing floodwater as it raced through the hedgerows and under the roads from one field to the next. I would love to find a way to record it. Must hit up Chris Watson for some tips...

Confused buds

Raindrops on roses... or is it willow?

Rescuing an injured sparrowhawk

On Wednesday evening, I got a call from my neighbour Michael. He'd picked up an injured sparrowhawk on the side of the road in Co. Carlow. It was dozy and ruffled and sitting in a box in the footwell of the front passenger seat of his van, and he wasn't sure what to do with it.

Having no clue myself, I rang Jimi Conroy - our local Conservation Ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service - for a bit of advice. "Don't bother trying to feed him," I was told. Apparently, there is little nutritional value in raw meat. "He needs some roadkill, with a bit of fur or feathers. Put him in a box overnight, and bring him to the vet in the morning first thing." 

Michael (above), being a forester, had to be on the other side of the country by dawn, so I was entrusted with care of the bird overnight and transporting him to the vet in the morning. When he arrived, we took him out of the box and he sat on Michael's finger for a while, before spreading his wings and doing a lap of the kitchen. He seemed exceptionally tame. We weren't sure if this was because he was used to humans and had maybe escaped from a falconer, or if he was just stunned, or maybe poisoned. There were no obvious injuries on his body other than two damaged tail feathers, which fell out, and no markings or rings on his legs.

Once we'd had a good look at "Pigeon" (his name, chosen by Michael's son Liam, aged 5) and taken a heap of photos (no flash of course), we settled him into his accommodation for the night (below).

The next morning, I took him to the vet, where we were met by Jimi Conroy (below). After a brief inspection, Jimi concluded that he was in reasonably good health (to determine this, he felt for the breast bone with his finger. Either side of it there was a good muscle mass, indicating health. If he was weak, it would have felt bony). Jimi then took him off to a local falconer to be rehabilitated and released.

Here I am with "Pigeon" :)

Unfortunately, it's not all good news; yesterday Jimi received the following text from the falconer: "He hasn't eaten and he's sleeping a lot of the time, his balance isn't great so I'd say it's a head injury, but he's a lot better than he was. I have a pigeon in the freezer, if I can get him to eat that he might be ok. He's actually a big male. A bit of luck is all he needs now."

It wasn't what I'd been expecting to hear. He'd seemed so healthy! But it seems appearances can be deceptive with birds - the poor thing was in such shock that he might not recover. At least now he's in the best hands possible. And whatever the case, he has a far better chance of survival than if Michael hadn't picked him up off the side of the road. I'll keep the blog updated with news of his recovery. In the meantime, please send your best good vibes to Pigeon the Sparrowhawk - he needs them!

UPDATE: 26th February 2013 - Pigeon the sparrowhawk has made a great recovery and is being released into the wild today. Thanks to Michael, Jimi and the falconer (whose name I don't know) for their part in this success story!

Bird Hide!! (*so cool!*)

Earlier this year, the Inchbeg Fishing School was generously awarded a grant by the Veolia Environment Community Fund to develop the field as a resource for environmental education in the local community. The company's water management division, Veolia Water, is headquartered in Kilkenny.

                                        The beautiful bird hide! Any suggestions for a name?!

New Barn Owl Box

Paddy made this AMAZING owl box. It's going up on a post as soon as the field is dry enough to get a tractor down there. We've got a 5ft hole and a 20ft larch ESB post for the job. Can't wait :)

                                                               Paddy with the owl box

What I spotted this week...

...nature nerd alert! It's been an especially good week for encounters with creatures so here's a list:

little egrets flying, spent salmon leaping, dog otter swimming, black cormorant diving, a hen harrier perching, fiiiive gold rings! oh, wait - excuse that last bit... :P

(ps: major props to my new super-bargain North Face jacket and shearling mittens, which have made the whole spotting business infinitely more snug.)