As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

Least Bittern – a new species for Ireland



09/10/2019

An unusual bird was discovered by my good friend John O'Donoghue on the back lawn of his house in Farranfore, Co Kerry, at 5 pm on Monday 7 October. It was a quiet, mild evening with sunshine and a clear sky at the time of finding. The specimen was in very poor condition and could not fly, so John decided it was best to pick it up and bring it inside to save him from his dog. However, unfortunately, some 30 minutes later, it had passed on.

On Tuesday morning, John called over to me at work, across the road from his house, to show me what he had found. A Google search produced nothing even close to the bird, so I decided to make contact with Birdwatch Ireland. After some discussion with them it transpired the bird was a Least Bittern and had originated from North America – little did we know at the time the interest this small, misfortunate bird would attract.



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