Blackbird

St. John’s River: Cherrymount

This is the part of the river you see from the Cherrymount foot bridge.

And this is the walkway.

You can hear birds sing on both sides of the river. I love taking photographs of birds simply to acknowledge their beautiful presence, but usually I make them a part of a composition. In these blog posts I share both kinds of pictures to showcase the diversity of bird species around the St. John’s River.

Magpies check the ground for crumbs and dog kibble.

Male Blackbird and female Chaffinches: size against the numbers 🙂

Male Blackbird stares disapprovingly, and continues his lunch. Blackbirds are sexually dimorphic species – males and females look very different.

This is a female Blackbird foraging in the undergrowth.

Beautiful Siskins more likely have traveled from Scandinavia or Russia. They arrived in flock, and I spotted them feeding in the Alder tree. In the photographs below: two males and a charming female Siskin.

Of course, there is always a curious Robin.

Male Chaffinch is singing his heart out.

The walkway is beautiful, with many species of trees and shrubs.

Golden willow on the other side of the river is a delightful sight in the grey of winter.

Daffodils planted by Friends are blooming from February.

There is a little pool I always worry about. Frogs are a rare sight, and each one is precious. Tadpoles stay in a tight group when the weather is cold. It takes one thirsty dog to gulp down a whole generation.

All four Tit species can be seen around St. John’s River.

This is a Great tit.

Who wouldn’t like this funny face 🙂

Blue tit is a stunningly colourful little bird. The hue of blue is the most vibrant in the winter months.

Coal tit has a distinctive white mark on the back of its head. Like the other tits, it is a busy and cheerful bird.

Tiny Long-tailed tit is another beauty in the family.

If Robin likes to watch you openly, from a close distance, Wren will stay behind the scenes. Don’t be fooled – Wren is always somewhere there 🙂

We will meet again in two weeks. Thank you for joining the walk!

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/06/st-johns-river-confluence/

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/20/st-johns-river-sneaking-through-town/

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/05/04/st-johns-river-straightening/

www.inesemjphotography Have a wonderful weekend!

St. John’s River: Straightening

St. John’s river walk continues 🙂 You will start at Poleberry, walk along the sport grounds and Tramore Road Business Park, cross the Inner Ring road and stop at the Cherrymount foot bridge. I will leave some short captions over the photographs – you can read them as you walk. But first please watch two videos.

A video courtesy of a Friend of St. John’s River Eoin Nevins brings you back to 2007 – it shows the part of the river you have visited in my previous blog posts.

The other video is about the old Waterford-Tramore railway. The part of the cycling/walkway you are on was constructed along the line of this railway and opened in August 2015.

If you want to know more about our birds, here is a helpful link. When I struggle to identify a bird, I simply send a bird picture to Birdwatch Ireland and always get a prompt reply.

Starlings gather on the sports field netting after the sunset.

Wrens are common on this stretch of the river. They will wait until you walk past, and start singing right behind your back.

Female Blackbird is jerking her tail in annoyance: too many dogs, too many people.

Cormorant is getting ready for his fishing trip.

Cormorants can stay under water a whole minute.

A couple of very shy Moorhens settled at this stretch of the river. They are safe behind the high fencing.

After crossing the Inner Ring road, you are greeted with the bird songs. This is a great bird watching opportunity close to the city boundaries.

Dunnock on the other side of the river sings his head off. Generally shy birds, Dunnocks are seldom seen in the open space. You can read some interesting facts about dunnocks in this article.

A great singer, Eurasian blackcap, could be a winter guest from the Central Europe. Irish population of Blackcaps migrate to North Africa in the autumn.

More wrens in the bushy area. They are one of my favorite birds.

The song thrush is speckled with dark heart-shaped spots, and both male and female look similar. The male Song thrush has a loud and clear song.

You can listen to the Blackbird’s song here to compare. The bird in the picture is a female, you can hear a female song in this video, just wait a couple of seconds. These birds are very vocal, and they have a range of warning calls.

The Collared dove and Wood pigeon are common along the river walk.

This is a male Collared dove, and he is singing ( look at his throat).

Female Collared dove.

Napping Wood pigeon.

This is our winter guest Redwing, a Thrush family bird from Iceland. More pictures in my blogpost here.

Greenfinch is also a rare guest.

Goldfinches are abundant around the Cherrymount foot bridge. When they are busy, you can come up quite close.

That is it for today. We continue our walk in two weeks. More bird sighting as you move closer to the source.

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/06/st-johns-river-confluence/

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/20/st-johns-river-sneaking-through-town/

www.inesemjphotography.com Have a wonderful weekend!

Anne Valley Walk

Anne Valley Trail is one of the overlooked treasures of Waterford county. I have written about the trail before. This is what I found on my last visit.

Rushes were swaying to and fro rustling in the wind, and I noticed a tiny ladybug feasting on something that looked like a caterpillar.

Yellow dung fly sat chilling on the young fern frond. Don’t be misled by the name – adult dung flies spend most of their time hunting small insects in vegetation.

Furled fronds of young ferns look like cute little animals.

This one looks like a furry snake 🙂

Larches sport the most beautiful shade of green.

I check on every blackbird I see in case it is a Red billed chough. There is a couple of them living in the Anne Valley. I saw one last year, but it quickly disappeared in bushes before I grabbed my camera.

The blackbird is quietly following me as I walk.

Finally he shows himself for long enough to take a picture. Funny, curious bird.

Song Thrush young keep together.

This scared baby is a juvenile Robin. A clumsy dove landed on his tree and he moved closer to where I sit. I feel good 🙂

Warbler ignores me as if I don’t exist.

I took pictures of some simple but beautiful flowers.

This insect is trying to look like a wasp, but it has only one pair of wings and quite a wide waist which gives away its true identity : it is a Syrphid fly.