Animal sightings

cfitz

I was driving from Monavea towards Portlaoise yesterday and saw two animals that I didn't recognise. I wasn't really in wildlife watching mode so I my descriptions might not be great.

On the side of the road I saw an animal about the size of a rat or a smallish squirrel. It was standing on the edge of the road and as I drove past it went on to all fours and scooted into the grass. It had a really nice coat of fur - kind of brown orange colour with some white down the front. It's tail wasn't very long. For some reason I thought it looked like a young animal but maybe it wasn't. Can't think of much else now. Any ideas?

Closer to Portlaoise I saw a bird flying above me. Wingspan about the size of a crow but they were lovely brown wings. Its body was long and speckeldy white and brown. Again, any ideas?

Thanks!

neil_hosey

possibly a stoat? seems to be the most likely.

jmkennedyie

Sounds like stoat to me too. Nice one.

Re bird would need more details...even size-wise there's lots of types of crows: Ravens twice the size of Jackdaws :-). Could it have been a bird of prey? Hen Harrier? Sparrowhawk? Or for something even more exotic...rufous form of female Cuckoo?

Image 3 on http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/index.asp#

OpenYourEyes

If it had some white down the front, its probably a pine marten! Similar to a stoat, with that white patch being the most distinguishable feature

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Animal would most likely be a Stoat. A Pine Marten is highly unlikely in the location.

The bird if it seemed the size of a Gray/Hooded Crow could have been a Buzzard and the location is right for them.

cfitz

Stoat does seem to be the most likely. He didn't seem as 'long' as I would expect a stoat to be - maybe that's why I thought it looked young. There aren't any possible rodents that I could be mistaking it for? The most noticeable feature for me was the colour of it's fur - really lovely looking orange tint from it.

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Sounds like stoat to me too. Nice one.

Re bird would need more details...even size-wise there's lots of types of crows: Ravens twice the size of Jackdaws :-). Could it have been a bird of prey? Hen Harrier? Sparrowhawk? Or for something even more exotic...rufous form of female Cuckoo?

Image 3 on http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/index.asp#

Not at all similar to the bird in that link. I'm not a birdwatcher so I don't know the words to describe them! It had wings that I would associate with an eagle or an owl - not sleek like a crow. I tried to get a look at its beak but I couldn't tell if it was normal or hooked, at a guess I'd say normal.

cfitz

After a little bit more research, I'm fairly confident that the mammal was a stoat.

From looking at birdwatchireland.ie, it seems to me that the bird I saw was most likely to be either a Buzzard or a female Hen Harrier.

neil_hosey

id say the wingspan of a crow would be half that of a buzzard though....

Id have to go with a Merlin or a Sparrowhawk based on size and colour.

cfitz

neil_hosey wrote: »

id say the wingspan of a crow would be half that of a buzzard though....

Id have to go with a Merlin or a Sparrowhawk based on size and colour.

Well after looking at lots of pictures since it probably would be hard for me to remember exactly what I saw now. I'd say its wingspan was the size of a big crow - way bigger than a pigeon like. I'm no expert on crow or pigeon sizes though! It was flying about the height of 2 telephone poles above me maybe. It was rather majestic looking, it didn't use its wings too much/too fast. Suppose it doesn't matter that much - it was a nice big bird!

stevensi

Sounds good for a buzzard. They will use the wind thermals as they soar so they don't beat their wings often. They are great to see and are really becoming a more regular sight throughout the country.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

neil_hosey wrote: »

id say the wingspan of a crow would be half that of a buzzard though....

Id have to go with a Merlin or a Sparrowhawk based on size and colour.

Firstly it depends on the "crow". A jackdaw is certainly much smaller but think Hooded Crow? Or even a Raven:) A Hooded Crow has a wingspan up to 43inches. Not far off a Buzzard at 45 inches.

As the Merlin is by far our smallest bird of prey I doubt it would be mistaken for a possible Buzzard.