Check out this post to the IBN this evening from Mark Shorten:
Escabeche of turtle dove with cod and low temperature
egg
Sorry for the long subject line but I am a little bit worked up today. I
received in the post today from the Spanish Embassy my regular copy of
Spain Gourmetour. This is a very high quality Food and wine mag. which
usually features some of the best in Spanish food and chefs. I get a
copy being in the food business.
Any way I was a bit surprised to see a recipe for Escabeche of turtle
dove with cod and low temperature egg. Now it sounds and looks fab
(lovely photos) but do they really need 4 turtle doves. The restaurant
featured goes thro about 1,000 doves a year. Cannot remember the last
time I saw turtle dove here( memo to Spanish turtle doves do not go near
Toledo).
The next recipe is Gazpatcho water with marinated thrush, which only
needs 4 thrushes. It is reassuring to know that "thrushes in Extramadura
feed on olives, which makes their meat tasty and firm". No wonder we
don't eat them here as they feed on snails and slugtox.
I am trying not to be too much of a hypocrite ( I am not a huge fan of
hunting but am in general not against it) but I feel my northern
European sensitivities being are being offended by hunting of turtle
doves and song thrushes in 2010.
Happy eating
Mark
IBN-L@listserv.heanet.ie
Remind you of anything?
http://nibirds.blogspot.com/2010/07/chamber-of-horrors-4-competition.html
Friday 23rd July News
Very little bird news today. Two Long Eared Owl were near Barnetts Demese, River Lagan yesterday evening. Its the weekend so good chance something will show up.
Laughing Gull - 2nd summer still present at Marina Ballycastle Co.Antrim
Bird news is posted early tonight because Andrew is away to the Bahamas for three weeks!!He got a late deal apparently. I gave him a cheque for £3000 for the bird reports on Monday although the printers have been on saying they haven't received it... Hmmhmm!
I am out early tonight as well to try and win the £3000 jackpot at the Rollerdrome Bingo, its probably the only way members will get their copy of the bird reports. Should be in with a very good chance as i am bringing my lucky seagulls foot. If i don't win we will have to increase membershps to £50 per year which will still be very good value.
Anyway there are no seagulls in the Bahamas so i don't care. Possibly the only gull he could see while he is there is this one pictured above! I knew i could slip in another image of the Laughing Gull while he was away!! The editing of this blog is seamless. Expect more images of the dark backed black headed gull this weekend, thats if its still about, what with the delights of Ballycastle fast food outlets why would it go anywhere else?
Now it's the weekend it's either time for a beer....
.....or a gallon of wine!
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Laughing Gull - 2nd summer still present at Marina Ballycastle Co.Antrim
Bird news is posted early tonight because Andrew is away to the Bahamas for three weeks!!He got a late deal apparently. I gave him a cheque for £3000 for the bird reports on Monday although the printers have been on saying they haven't received it... Hmmhmm!I am out early tonight as well to try and win the £3000 jackpot at the Rollerdrome Bingo, its probably the only way members will get their copy of the bird reports. Should be in with a very good chance as i am bringing my lucky seagulls foot. If i don't win we will have to increase membershps to £50 per year which will still be very good value.
Anyway there are no seagulls in the Bahamas so i don't care. Possibly the only gull he could see while he is there is this one pictured above! I knew i could slip in another image of the Laughing Gull while he was away!! The editing of this blog is seamless. Expect more images of the dark backed black headed gull this weekend, thats if its still about, what with the delights of Ballycastle fast food outlets why would it go anywhere else?
Now it's the weekend it's either time for a beer....
.....or a gallon of wine!
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Wednesday 21st July News
Sanderling - 88, Ballykinler Beach, Co.Down
Little Egret - 4, Dundrum Inner Bay South Co.Down
Little Egret - 4, Dundrum Inner Blackstaff River, Dundrum, Co.Down
Common Sandpiper - 17, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Co.Down
(thanks to Tony Dodds for all of the above sightings)
Whinchat - 1, male, Antrim Hills
Buzzard - 1, moulting adult, Antrim Hills
Kestrel - 1, adult, Antrim Hills
Reed Bunting - 2, Antrim Hills
Thanks to Danny Boyd for these shots of Common and Green Sandpiper taken yesterday at Belfast RSPB.
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Little Egret - 4, Dundrum Inner Bay South Co.Down
Little Egret - 4, Dundrum Inner Blackstaff River, Dundrum, Co.Down
Common Sandpiper - 17, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Co.Down
(thanks to Tony Dodds for all of the above sightings)
Whinchat - 1, male, Antrim Hills
Buzzard - 1, moulting adult, Antrim Hills
Kestrel - 1, adult, Antrim Hills
Reed Bunting - 2, Antrim Hills
Thanks to Danny Boyd for these shots of Common and Green Sandpiper taken yesterday at Belfast RSPB.
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
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Industrious Birds
Thanks Ed O'Hara for this next series of photos. This Sand Martin colony found itself on the
ground due to landslide and is now at ground level.Luckily this is an
active
Quarry in the Belfast area and access is limited to employees only.
Alicante Butterflies, Dragonflies and Damselflies (part1)
.jpg)
Tristan Reid.jpg)
Tristan Reid
One of the highlights of the trip to Alicante was the numbers of Damselflies, Dragonflies, Butterflies etc. The one pictured above is a rarity!! It is called a Banded Groundling and is a recent colonist from North Africa. We saw this one at Pego Marsh Oliva. Many thanks to Tristan Reid for these photos.
Thanks again to Brian Nelson for the following:
Thanks again to Brian Nelson for the following:
Banded Groundling Brachythemis leucosticta was found
in
2009 to be actually two species Brachythemis impartita and Brachythemis
leucosticta.
The distributions are mostly exclusive with impartita the one in west
Africa
and Africa north of Sahara and also now southern Europe. The common name
is now
Northern Banded Groundling.
Dijkstra K.-D. B. & Matushkina N., 2009.
Kindred
spirits: “Brachythemis leucosticta”, Africa’s most
familiar dragonfly, consists of two species (Odonata: Libellulidae).
International Journal of Odonatology, 12 (2): 237-252
Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper (photos)
More bird photos this time sent by Ian Dickey and none of the three of them are off a Laughing Gull. I will have to slip a picture of the Laughing Gull in somewhere! There are two pictures of a Green Sandpiper and one of a Common Sandpiper, ive mixed them up a bit so you have to guess which is which! Thanks to Ian as always.
Alicante Bird Pics (part3)
Squacco Heron (Chris Baines)
Slender Billed Gull (Chris Baines)
Little Ringed Plover (Chris Baines)What goodies do we have for you today!! Three common birds of the region and beautifully captured here by Dumfries and Galloways top marksman Chris Baines!
White Tailed Eagle
Hi folks,
Just to let you know that satellite tagged male White-tailed Eagle (Star) from the Kerry re-introduction project has moved from Upper Lough Erne to Lough Neagh on 17/7 and was near Morrow's Point (J078628) at 1200 on 18/7 and Ardmore Point (J023642) on 19/7. This isnt very far from where the WTE was presumed shot back in October.
Derek
Just to let you know that satellite tagged male White-tailed Eagle (Star) from the Kerry re-introduction project has moved from Upper Lough Erne to Lough Neagh on 17/7 and was near Morrow's Point (J078628) at 1200 on 18/7 and Ardmore Point (J023642) on 19/7. This isnt very far from where the WTE was presumed shot back in October.
Derek
Alicante Bird Pics (part2)
I am away a week and Andrew doesn't post any pictures of chickens which completely shocked me and i am back a day and hey presto its back to the chickens!! Thanks to Andrew for a great job while i was away.
Did anyone else notice that Paddy our Physic Cephlapod correctly identified when and where on this thread http://nibirds.blogspot.com/2010/07/mega-scoop-by-niba.html Yes if you look closely he has predicted Treecreeper in Co.Down (most people thought it was Wallcreeper he was predicting but that would be plain stupid!) and hey presto a Treecreeper was found in Donard Park Newcastle. Clever Paddy! Its outside our scope this being a Northern Ireland Blog but Paddy also predicted a Leach's Petrel off Galley Head last weekend so it appears Paddy has a 100% success rate. The hat trick is on!
Anyway another Spanish picture this time one of mine! And yes you have guessed its an Audouins Gull not one of those hard to identify adults but a nice brown speckly one!
When animals attack 2!
We're maybe being a bit hard on you with all this gore but shock tactics seem to work. Here's another dose just to remind you of the murderers all around that outnumber you by billions to one.
Blackfly Aphis fabae -one of the most deadly creatures we have encountered on our travels around the garden (if you're a row of broad beans). Indiscriminate in their carnage - these pernicious creatures are rumoured to have links to maoist terrorists.
I don't really know what to do with artichokes but I do know that ants like to set up stall in the middle of the globe. Totally unacceptable, they think they can just march in there and claim squatters rights. Add to this the fact that they 'farm' the aphids on the artichokes for honeydew and they are quickly losing brownie points with me. If it goes much further than this I might have to delete them from my Facebook account.
This one nearly made me cry - when starlings attack your cherry tree. Utterly callous - mindnumbing when you think that each of these could have grown into a cherry tree, in this sense it's prunus genocide. The NIBA is sending a representation to the United Nations to raise this issue.
We all like to be friends to the environment so here's a organic non chemical way to treat pests - feed them to the horde!
On the other hand - you don't want to mess with this lot. Once I have them trained up I'll be unstoppable.
The NIBA - sharing bird information and gardening tips plus pictures of moths and dead things, we cover all bases.
Next: When Bacteria Attack! (there's some interesting mould on the cheese I found at the back of the fridge)
Moths on the Wing 21st July
This photograph was sent to us by Dan Bailie - a Buff Footman Eilema depressa.
Alicante Bird Pics (part1)
I would like to thank my co-horts on this trip Chris Baines, Chris Hinds and Tristan Reid for the use of their photos on the following feature, over the the next few weeks we will post a selection of photos from the trip. We will also be doing a section of photos of Dragonflys, Butterflys and anything else that we seen. A selection of crowd pleasers first!
White Headed Duck (Chris Baines)
.jpg)
Avocet chick (Tristan Reid)
Red Necked Phalarope (Chris Hinds)
White Headed Duck (Chris Baines).jpg)
Avocet chick (Tristan Reid)
Red Necked Phalarope (Chris Hinds)
Tuesday 20th Juy News
Common Sandpiper - 5, Seagahan Dam but no sign of yesterdays Little Ringed
Plover
- although hard to cover the whole Dam, big place by all accounts.
Green Sandpiper - 1, Belfast Lough RSPB, Co. Down (Ian Dickey)
Common Sandpiper - 17, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North, Co. Down
Greenshank - 5, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North, Co. Down
Little Egret - 4, Dundrum Inner Bay South, Co. Down
Black Guillemot - Newcastle, Co. Down by Ed O'Hara
I have to admit to laziness - nothing new there, another one of those things we do best. Here's the id for Dave and Orcilla Hadrick's dragonflies from Cyprus. Thanks to Brian Nelson for confirmation - I got 50% of them right!
Below: Probably Epaulet Skimmer Orthetrum
chrystostigma - "solely on the
basis of
the slight waisting on the abdomen a feature of this species and not the
other
possible Cypriot species (coreulescens, brunneum, taeniolatum). To be
certain
you need to see the base of the wings or sides"
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- although hard to cover the whole Dam, big place by all accounts.
Green Sandpiper - 1, Belfast Lough RSPB, Co. Down (Ian Dickey)
Common Sandpiper - 17, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North, Co. Down
Greenshank - 5, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North, Co. Down
Little Egret - 4, Dundrum Inner Bay South, Co. Down
Black Guillemot - Newcastle, Co. Down by Ed O'Hara
I have to admit to laziness - nothing new there, another one of those things we do best. Here's the id for Dave and Orcilla Hadrick's dragonflies from Cyprus. Thanks to Brian Nelson for confirmation - I got 50% of them right!
Scarlet Dragonfly Crocothemis
erythraea
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Red Kites
Five Red Kite chicks have hatched in NI this year and the total number of birds released in to the wild is now 80.
This is the first breeding in Northern Ireland in over 200 years. However does anyone know for sure that Red Kites previously bred in Ireland? Feedback appreciated!
The late Willie McDowell viewed the status of Red Kite in NI as follows:
The early history of the Red Kite in Northern Ireland is somewhat confused by the indiscriminate use of the term "Kite" for a number of commoner species such as Common Buzzard and Hen Harrier.
Nevertheless, Thompson was inclined to believe that on at least four occasions the species had been seen at Glenarm Park, Antrim, Shane's Castle, Antrim (twice) and by William Ogilby in Co. Londonderry. All these occurrences where in the 1830s (Thompson 1838, 1849).
In any case there appears to be enough documentary evidence from elsewhere in Ireland to be fairly confident that the Red Kite was a breeding bird in Northern Ireland (D’Arcy 1999).
From this time the Red Kite remained unrecorded in Northern Ireland until one was seen by A. Hillis on 17th December 1951 near Milltown, Co. Down (Deane 1954).
Source, 'A History of the Birds of Northern Ireland", W McDowell (unpublished).
The news story is at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-10690274
This is the first breeding in Northern Ireland in over 200 years. However does anyone know for sure that Red Kites previously bred in Ireland? Feedback appreciated!
Red Kite
Milvus milvus
by Joe Devlin, Ardilea, Dundrum Inner Bay North,
April 2010
The late Willie McDowell viewed the status of Red Kite in NI as follows:
The early history of the Red Kite in Northern Ireland is somewhat confused by the indiscriminate use of the term "Kite" for a number of commoner species such as Common Buzzard and Hen Harrier.
Nevertheless, Thompson was inclined to believe that on at least four occasions the species had been seen at Glenarm Park, Antrim, Shane's Castle, Antrim (twice) and by William Ogilby in Co. Londonderry. All these occurrences where in the 1830s (Thompson 1838, 1849).
In any case there appears to be enough documentary evidence from elsewhere in Ireland to be fairly confident that the Red Kite was a breeding bird in Northern Ireland (D’Arcy 1999).
From this time the Red Kite remained unrecorded in Northern Ireland until one was seen by A. Hillis on 17th December 1951 near Milltown, Co. Down (Deane 1954).
Source, 'A History of the Birds of Northern Ireland", W McDowell (unpublished).
The news story is at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-10690274
Shock News!!
We're going to get accused of lying again but be prepared for a shock - the Northern Ireland Bird Report is being printed as we speak. We're not lying, honestly! Members should receive their copy free in the post shortly after delivery. For those of you who want a copy - £10 (blame the Royal Mail but that's cheap for such a sought after publication). For that price you may as well become a member!!
On hearing the news this Grey Heron chartered a boat to Derek's house - it's intending to camp out in his garden to get the first copy (pic - Ed O'Hara)
On hearing the news this Grey Heron chartered a boat to Derek's house - it's intending to camp out in his garden to get the first copy (pic - Ed O'Hara)
Wheeker!
We seen this amazing creature during the visit to Alicante and its one of these things that the photograph doesn't do justice too. What is it? We don't know so if anyone does please let us know. But i called it a Wheeker which is exactly what it is!!
Update:
Thanks to Alan Horan for helping us get closer to identifying this beastie - it is a species of Spoonwing or Nemopterid.Apparently one of the characteristics noted in the field when it was seen was that it appeared to be 'dancing' - reminiscent of a Madeiran Petrel dancing over the crest of a wave.
Double Update!
Thanks to Brian Nelson for the following:"The insect featured today is probably Nemoptera bipennis. It certainly occurs in Spain although there may be other species."
Green Sandpiper
A Green Sandpiper has been found at Belfast Lough RSPB Reserve (I.Dickey)
There should be lots of photos from Spain in the coming weeks as my birding compatriots photographed and identified everything that flew, crawled or slithered!! Well nearly everything!! Here is a picture of one of the special birds of the region a Red Necked Nightjar. We seen 18 of these amazing birds.
Late News:
A Green Sandpiper was seen at the Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North on 8th July by Dan Bailie
Late News:
A Green Sandpiper was seen at the Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North on 8th July by Dan Bailie
Moths on the Wing - 20th July
Another one from Ian Graham - a Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria
Monday 19th July News
Common Sandpiper - 12, Blackstaff River, Dundrum Inner Bay North, Co. Down
Thanks to Joe Devlin for these shots of todays Little Ringed Plover - 1st record for Co. Armagh
Here's some more of Ed O'Hara's pics from yesterday (when the sun was still about)
Grey Wagtails
Because we've got nothing better to do here's the long-awaited results to our Chamber of Horrors Competition Special - top prize a meal for two at Chez Veale Evening Bistro. With over 1200 entries this has been one of the most successful competitions we have ran to date - people have really showed enthusiasm when it comes to eating our native fauna.
The answer? The eardrum of a Sperm Whale. Yes, that's right the eardrum of a Sperm Whale (part of it anyway)! Unfortunately for us over 1000 people got this right and unless we want to bankrupt Chez Veale we can't offer any prizes this time but we will put all the names in a hat in a draw for 6 months membership to the NIBA.
Here's a picture of what we have to look forward to over the coming week. The Northern Ireland climate - the real reason behind hundreds of years of emigration (that and the fact not many rare birds turn up)
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Chamber of Horrors 11
Another pic from Deborah Cohen - we're not ordinarily fans of seafood but who could resist this lovely looking bit of sushi?
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