What Bird this.

sheesh

sorry if this is out of order but I saw this near Tralee during the week


do we have egrets in ireland? hadn't seen them before.

jmkennedyie

Not out of order at all. From the black beak and the hint of yellow feet it's a Little Egret. They have recently settled into Ireland, and are working their way up the country from Cork and Kerry. In the last year there was an influx of Cattle Egret too, and we also get the very occasional Great Egret.

sheesh

Thanks. there seemed to be a pair of them I have loved to get a proper picture of them cool looking bird.

Run_to_da_hills

sheesh wrote: »

sorry if this is out of order but I saw this near Tralee during the week


do we have egrets in ireland? hadn't seen them before.

I have seen these things around farmlands in west Clare I thought they were seagulls . I posted a picture taken from Google images of similar as I didnt have a camera at the time. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055225806&highlight=seagulls

Roen

Little Egret alright, they've been on the coast of Waterford here since the early 90's. They're absolutely stunning to see up close, unfortunately I never managed to get near enough for my longest lens to get a truly great shot of one






If the pics are too big let me know and I'll chop em down to size.

donalglackin

there great shots a bit big for m screen but they look great. you can see egrets in dollymount as well i saw a good few there the other day.

DéiseGirl

Fantastic pictures Roen

tiny-nioclas

hi all, theres loads of egrits around west waterford aswell, i see them every day in the canal in dungarvan and off the bridge on the youghal raod just outside dungarvan.

Roen

tiny-nioclas wrote: »

hi all, theres loads of egrits around west waterford aswell, i see them every day in the canal in dungarvan and off the bridge on the youghal raod just outside dungarvan.

If you go walking along the Connigar you'll see loads of them and herons too. It's a great walk I have to say, no end of wildlife to be seen there.

jmkennedyie

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I have seen these things around farmlands in west Clare I thought they were seagulls . I posted a picture taken from Google images of similar as I didnt have a camera at the time. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055225806&highlight=seagulls

Within the last year - not exactly sure when - there actually was a surprising set of Cattle Egret sightings in the country. They typically hang around farm animals in fields whereas the Little Egrets hang around water. Other differences include bill colour etc. . So maybe you saw the pioneers of a future Cattle Egret colonisation of Ireland...

Occidental

There's a small group of Little Egrets on the Roscommon side of Lough Ree for the last year, so looks as if they are spreading.

tiny-nioclas

yeah roen its a lovely walk, long enough though! i live in that part of waterford myself, beautiful place, theirs some ravens appearing around here lately aswell.

dh0661

Roen wrote: »

Little Egret alright, they've been on the coast of Waterford here since the early 90's. They're absolutely stunning to see up close, unfortunately I never managed to get near enough for my longest lens to get a truly great shot of one

Great pictures, what kind of camera do you use, or is the long lens the trick ?. I have tried to take close up pics around Tralee bay, but they always seem distant.

Roen

dh0661 wrote: »

Great pictures, what kind of camera do you use, or is the long lens the trick ?. I have tried to take close up pics around Tralee bay, but they always seem distant.

Hi,
it's a 20D with a 300mm f4 L on it.
And I know your pain. The only was I got those shots was by sitting down at the waters edge amongst some tufts of grass and letting the egrets walk toward me from about 300 metres away. Two were feeding and the larger one was only intent on putting the run on the other two. If it wasn't for that they would have seen me and been on their way.

As it is the files are quite heavily cropped and as such would probably only print to about 7 x 5" or so

I'm afraid unless you're really, really, really lucky you just have to be prepared to spend a hell of a lot of money on equipment and invest a lot of time to get great nature shots. Unfortunately I just don't have either

dh0661

Roen wrote: »

Hi,
it's a 20D with a 300mm f4 L on it.
And I know your pain.

Thanks for all that info Roen, but as I'm only an hobby armature photographer (mostly for family events), I'm afraid all that technical data is lost on me, very painful.
I do hope that you will get all the equipment you hope for, seeing that your up to speed with all the gadgetry etc., and once again beautiful photos.
Keep up the good work, I hope it goes well for you.

artieanna

They are stunning pictures Roen, the contrast between the inky blue sea and the pure white of the birds is stunning.

Wow:eek: