Black-necked Grebe still at Reen Pier

 Black-necked Grebe, Reen Pier, 18th January 2015 (David O'Connor).

Iceland Gull, Reenard Point 19th January 2015 (David O'Connor).

Glossy Ibises and more

Glossy Ibises, Murrioch, near Ballydavid, 16th January 2016 (Cate Ni Dhomhnaill).

Ring-billed Gull, TBWC, 16th January 2016 (Ed Carty).

Three are now three 'ring-billeds' present in and around the Wetlands Centre, though the highest count in Kerry was of 13 at Blennerville in April 1986.

Ring-billed Gull, TBWC, 16th January 2016 (Ed Carty).

Ring-billed Gull, TBWC, 16th January 2016 (Ed Carty).

Common Sandpiper, Scraggane Beach, 15th January 2016 (Michael O'Clery).

American Wigeon, still at the Inny

American Wigoen, Inny Estuary, 16th January 2016 (Pat McDaid).

American Wigoen, Inny Estuary, 16th January 2016 (Pat McDaid).

Kumlien's Gull again, Tralee

Kumlien's Gull, Tralee, 15th January 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

Kumlien's Gull, Tralee, 15th January 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

The same bird from last week (see post below)

Yellow-browed Warbler, Ross Castle

Yellow-browed Warbler, Ross Castle, 9th January 2016 (Davey Farrar).

This is the first winter record for Kerry of this tiny Siberian Warbler, though perhaps not as surprising is the location, the stream at Ross Castle, Killarney, where in recent years 50+ Chiffchaffs and at least 7 'Tristis' or Siberian Chiffchaffs have wintered. 3 Tristis and about 30 Chiffchaff are currently at the site, despite the floods in the area and the unusually mild winter so far.

Despite their small size, Yellow-broweds migrate huge distances, with birds from northern Siberia wintering on the NE Indian subcontinent, SE Asia and Taiwan, so this tiny bird is really on the 'wrong' side of the world. The nearest breeding grounds to us are around the Ural Mountains and Pechora River in Russia, a straight line distance of at least 3,500 km (2,200 miles).

Breeding range (yellow) and wintering areas (blue) of Yellow-browed Warbler. (from HBW Alive).

Kumlien's Gull, Tralee

An excellent candidate for a Kumlien's Gull, seen briefly today in Tralee.

Kumlien's Gull, Tralee, 5th January 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

Kumlien's Gull, Tralee, 5th January 2016 (Kilian Kelly).

More Iceland and Glaucous Gulls have been popping up around Kerry and elsewhere around Ireland  in the past few days, so perhaps there might be more of these enigmatic 'White-winged gulls' to be found... or rather, 'Not-quite-white-winged, rather brown-washed primaries gulls'... Not sure that name will catch on.

Barnacle Goose at Blennerville

Barnacle Goose, with Brent Geese, Blennerville, 31st December 2015 (Hubert Servignat).

Quite possibly the same bird which appeared alone and exhausted at Black Rock in October (see post HERE), then appeared healthy and well with the Brent Goose flock at Carrahane a week or so later. About 150 Barnacle Geese are currently wintering on the Magharee Islands, the highest number there in well over a decade.

(live) Little Auk and Slavonian Grebe at Reen Pier

Some further goodies to add to the Black-necked Grebe and Glaucous Gull seen off Reen Pier today.

Little Auk, Reen Pier, Ballinskelligs Bay, 31st December 2015 (Pat McDaid).

Slavonian Grebe, Reen Pier, Ballinskelligs Bay, 31st December 2015 (Pat McDaid).

Happy New Year to all birders in Kerry, and here's to some great birds in 2016.

Day-flying Barn Owl near Caherciveen

Although you will see documentaries with footage of Barn Owls gliding around meadows in sunlight, these will not have been filmed in Ireland. Rather, this is most likely to be in Britain where hunting in daylight is much more frequent.

In Ireland, a day-flying Barn Owl is a much rarer sight and often a sign of a bird in trouble. This bird below hunted for at least an hour over rough fields and bog, in mid-afternoon today, near Caherciveen. Chances are that, with the recent incessant heavy rain and strong winds, this bird was close to starving, and was forced to try and take advantage of a rare lull in the weather to hunt.

(with thanks to Annette O'Leary and Pat McDaid).

Barn Owl, near Caherciveen, 30th December 2015 (M.O'Clery).

Often, it is not long before a day-flying Barn Owl will attract the unwanted attention of mobbing crows. In the photo below, the owl is not in flight, but adopting a 'threat posture' by drooping both wings and holding its' head bowed in order to look larger and intimidate the nearby Hooded Crows.

Barn Owl with a nearby mobbing Hooded Crow (M.O'Clery).

See this video clip for more...

Day-flying Barn Owl, in flight, and threat posture (M.O'Clery).

The risk of this bird venturing out during daylight might well have paid off, as it was seen diving into tall grass after prey. Hopefully it caught something tasty.

Barn Owl diving into long grass for prey (M.O'Clery).

Little Auk in early December

Unlike the recent Little Auk rescue (see post below) this one was less fortunate. It was found dead by Chris Nelms on 8th December at 5pm, in sand dunes behind Reenroe beach, Ballinskelligs Bay.

Dead Little Auk, Reenroe, 8th December 2015 (Chris Nelms, with thanks to Pat McDaid).