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Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe and the Middle East, also known as the European Dipper or just Dipper. The species is divided into several subspecies on colour differences, especially of the pectoral band. The Dipper of Great Britain and Ireland is known as the "Brown-Bellied" Dipper (C. c. gularis), while the Irish race is Cinclus cinclus hibernicus.

The Dipper is a rotund, short-tailed bird, dark above and white-breasted, closely associated with swiftly running rivers and streams or the lakes into which these fall. The Dipper often perches bobbing spasmodically with its short tail uplifted on the rocks round which the water swirls and tumbles.

It acquired its name from these sudden dips, not from its diving habit, though it dives as well as walks into the water. It flies rapidly and straight, its short wings whirring swiftly and without pauses or glides, calling a shrill zil, zil, zil. It will then either drop on the water and dive or plunge in with a small splash. From a perch it will walk into the water and deliberately submerge, but there is no truth in the assertion that it can defy the laws of specific gravity and walk along the bottom.

A bike discarded in the Tolka River in Griffith Park near Dublin city centre is used as a perch by a local Dipper. The recent rains have pushed a lot of leaf litter and other debris into the bike. It is a shame how we treat our river systems in Ireland (and elsewhere).

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (Uria lomvia) is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae).

The thick-billed murre and the closely related common guillemot (or common murre, U. aalge) are similarly sized, but the thick-billed still bests the other species in both average and maximum size.

Adult birds are black on the head, neck, back and wings with white underparts. The bill is long and pointed. They have a small rounded black tail. The lower face becomes white in winter. This species produces a variety of harsh cackling calls at the breeding colonies, but is silent at sea.

They differ from the common murre in their thicker, shorter bill with white gape stripe and their darker head and back; the "bridled" morph is unknown in U. lomvia – a murre has either a white eye-stripe, or a white bill-stripe, or neither, but never both; it may be that this is character displacement, enabling individual birds to recognize conspecifics at a distance in the densely packed breeding colonies as the bridled morph is most common by far in North Atlantic colonies where both species of guillemots breed. In winter, there is less white on the thick-billed murre's face. They look shorter than the common murre in flight. First year birds have smaller bills than adults and the white line on the bill is often obscure, making the bill an unreliable way to identify them at this age. The head pattern is the best way to distinguish first-year birds from common murres.

The thick-billed murre is distributed across the polar and sub-polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere where four subspecies exist; one lives on the Atlantic and Arctic oceans of North America (U. l. lomvia), another on the Pacific coast of North America (U. l. arra), and two others that inhabit the Russian arctic (U. l. eleonorae and U. heckeri).[15][16]

Thick-billed murres spend all of their lives at sea in waters which remain below 5°C, except during the breeding season where they form dense colonies on cliffs. They move south in winter into northernmost areas of the north Atlantic and Pacific, but only to keep in ice-free waters.

Brünnich's guillemot is a rare vagrant in European countries south of the breeding range. In Britain, over 30 individuals have been recorded, but over half of these were tideline corpses. Of those that were seen alive, only three have remained long enough to be seen by large numbers of observers. All three were in Shetland - winter individuals in February 1987 and November/December 2005, and a bird in an auk colony in summer 1989. The 1989 and 2005 birds were both found by the same observer, Martin Heubeck.

The species has been recorded once in Ireland, and has also been recorded in the Netherlands. In the western Atlantic, they may range as far as Florida, and in the Pacific to California. Before 1950, large numbers appeared on the North American Great Lakes in early winter, passing up the St. Lawrence River from the East coast. Such irruptions have not been seen since 1952. (wikipedia)

A throwback to a trip around Svalbard pre-COVID. An adult Brunnich's Guillemot flying over the fast ice around Svalbard.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the Western Cattle Egret and the Eastern Cattle Egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world.

It is a stocky white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season which nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Unlike most other herons, it feeds in relatively dry grassy habitats, often accompanying cattle or other large mammals, since it catches insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations of the Cattle Egret are migratory and others show post-breeding dispersal.

The adult Cattle Egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency or disturbance from other large birds. This species removes ticks and flies from cattle, but it can be a safety hazard at airfields, and has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases. (wikipedia)

A lone Cattle Egret keeping some cattle company in the fields surrounding Tarifa, Spain.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The Common Gull (Larus canus) is a medium-sized gull which breeds in northern Asia, northern Europe and northwestern North America. Adult common gulls are noticeably smaller than the herring gull and slightly smaller than the ring-billed gull. It is further distinguished from the ring-billed gull by its shorter, more tapered bill, which is a more greenish shade of yellow and is unmarked during the breeding season. The body is grey above and white below. The legs are greenish-yellow. In winter, the head is streaked grey and the bill often has a poorly defined blackish band near the tip, which is sometimes sufficiently obvious to cause confusion with ring-billed gull. They have black wingtips with large white "mirrors". Young birds have scaly black-brown upperparts and a neat wing pattern, and grey legs. They take two to three years to reach maturity. The call is a high-pitched "laughing" cry. (wikipedia)

This is an adult Common Gull in breeding plumage sitting on its nest in a tree! They breed on the coast and inland in the west of Ireland, from Dingle to Malin Head, with most colonies in Co. Galway, Co. Mayo and Co. Donegal. Inland it can breed on islands in lakes where it has declined. The species is declining in Ireland as a breeding bird, like those of inland breeding Black-headed Gulls, which have been attributed to predation by American Mink, reaching previously safe nesting areas (per Birdwatch Ireland). This photograph was taken in Reine, in the Lofoten Islands in Norway. The nest was in a tree in the front garden of a house there!

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The White-eyed Gull (Ichthyaetus leucophthalmus) is a small gull which is endemic to the Red Sea. Its closest relative is the Sooty Gull. It is one of the world's rarest gulls, with a population of just 4,000 - 6,500 pairs. The species is classed as Near Threatened by the IUCN; human pressure and oil pollution are deemed the major threats. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus.

The white-eyed gull acquires adult plumage at two to three years of age. Juvenile birds have a very different plumage—chocolate brown on the head, neck and breast, and with brown, broadly pale-fringed, feathers to the upperparts and upperwings, and a black tail. In their first winter, birds acquire greyer feathering on their head, breast and upperparts; the second-winter plumage is closer to that of the adult, but lacking the hood.

A distinctive feature of white-eyed gull at all ages is its long slender bill. This is black in younger birds, but in adults it is deep red with a black tip. The legs are yellow—dullest in younger birds, brightest in breeding plumaged adults. The eye itself is not white; the bird takes its name from white eye-crescents, which are present at all ages. (wikipedia)

I saw quite a few White-eyed Gulls when I was travelling along the coast of the Sinai peninsula. This was taken near Nabq, South Sinai. What a bird!

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys), also known as the black-browed mollymawk, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae; it is the most widespread and common member of its family. It breeds on the Falklands, Islas Diego Ramírez, and South Georgia. In the Pacific Ocean it breeds on Islas Ildefonso, Diego De Almagro, Islas Evangelistas, Campbell Island, Antipodes Islands, Snares Islands, and Macquarie Island. Finally in the Indian Ocean it breeds on the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island, and McDonald Island.

It is a medium-sized albatross, at 80–95 cm (31–37 in) long with a 200–240 cm (79–94 in) wingspan and an average weight of 2.9–4.7 kg (6.4–10.4 lb). It can have a natural lifespan of over 70 years.

Until 2013, the IUCN classified this species as endangered due to a drastic reduction in population. Bird Island near South Georgia Island had a 4% per year loss of nesting pairs, and the Kerguelen Island population had a 17% reduction from 1979 to 1995. (wikipedia)

It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since I travelled to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, The South Shetland Islands and Antarctica. This was taken on Saunders Island, part of the West Point Island group of Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The bird just landed right in in front of us and walked up to us to check us all out. Incredible experience.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

A very foggy morning when I popped down to Cobh for the day to visit my parents. I always loved the fog in Cobh when I was growing up. It always provided a sense of calm. I regret now that one cannot hear the fog horn that would have sounded out from the lighthouse at Roches Point, at the mouth of Cork Harbour.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Kosmo Foto 100 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

In Lockdown Level 5 in January 2021 and all is quiet on the way into the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin.

Taken with a Leica M4-P and a Leica Elmar 5cm f2.8 lens on Kodak TMax 400 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

A temporary dwelling along the side of the National Concert Hall, Hatch Street in Dublin city. The tent was there for a couple of weeks before being moved on. There seems to be an increase in tents on the streets of Dublin during the COVID pandemic.

Taken with a Leica M4-P and a Summarit 35mm lens on Kodak Portra 400 colour film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The Great Palm House in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin. Lovely structure. Going for the Accidentally Wes Anderson look.

Taken with a Leica M4-P and a Summarit 35mm lens on CineStill 800T colour film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

A quick stroll to take a break from work and the quiet streets of Dublin in December 2020 belie the menace about to spring up in the new year. This road is on Ranelagh Road with a view of the dome of the Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners Roman Catholic church in Rathmines. The dome was built in Glasgow and was believed to have been destined for a Russian Orthodox church in St Petersburg prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Kosmo Foto 100 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

In Lockdown Level 5 in January 2021 and an overnight flurry of snow dusted the paths, seats and grass of the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin. A welcome relief of the tedium for the kids.

Taken with a Leica M4-P and a Leica Elmar 5cm f2.8 lens on Kodak TMax 400 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Christmas 2020 in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown, when I could go to the galleries and museums. The government made a complete balls of it though. This is the Joe Caslin piece, Finding Power, in the National Gallery, Dublin. A favourite space and piece.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Ilford HP5 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Christmas 2020 in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. The government made a complete balls of it. St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Dublin, decked out very tastefully.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Ilford HP5 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
Winter in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. A piece of street art commending and applauding our frontline workers during these COVID times. Taken in Ranleagh, Dublin.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Kosmo Foto 100 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Autumn in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. Seems that restrictions haven't stopped the graffiti kings! Outside a shop in Ranleagh, Dublin.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Kosmo Foto 100 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Autumn in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. A mostly-empty Dublin Bus meets a mostly-empty LUAS tram on Dawson Street, Dublin city centre.

Taken with an Olympus XA on Kosmo Foto 100 black and white film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Autumn in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. The city centre was quieter under Level 3 in September than it was in December. Luke Kelly was singing to no one in particular that day I was strolling through town.

Taken with a Canon A1 and a Yashica Auto Yashinon 5cm f2 lens on Kodak ProImage 100 colour film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Autumn in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. Not even that could prevent Japanese Knotweed from invading the basement gardens around Fitzwilliam Square!

Taken with a Canon A1 and a Yashica Auto Yashinon 5cm f2 lens on Kodak ProImage 100 colour film.

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

Autumn in Dublin during Level 3 lockdown. The city centre was quieter under Level 3 in September than it was in December. The outcome of not clamping down on Christmas revelries is the worst outbreak of COVID on the planet in December 2020/January 2021. Phone lines criss-crossing across the houses.

Taken with a Canon A1 and a Yashica Auto Yashinon 5cm f2 lens on Kodak ProImage 100 colour film.