Saturday 23 February 2013

Sunday 3 rd March outing to Dundalk Bay

Photo by Michael Mc Nulty. 

A car outing to Dundalk Bay will take place on Sunday March 3rd. Meet at Dundalk Docks at 12 noon. If you wish to car share from Bailieborough please meet at the Market Square at 10.45am. Best to bring a packed lunch and to wrap up well. The outing should last a few hours approx but if you are making your own travel arrangements then you will have the option of leaving a little earlier if necessary. If you have not visited the area before and you are not sure of the location of the docks then please contact me by email or at 086 8336675 to arrange a meeting point in Dundalk.

The black tailed godwit pictured above in its beautiful summer plumage was photographed by branch member Michael at our outing there last March.

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Presentation by Breffni Martin in Bailieborough on 21 February

A talk by Breffni Martin of the Louth branch of Birdwatch Ireland took place on Thursday last in the Business Centre, Bailieborough. Breffni spoke about the waders and wildfowl of Dundalk Bay. As well as giving us many useful wader and wildfowl ID tips he also spoke about the amazing journeys undertaken by many of these birds annually to and from their breeding grounds.  A special mention went to the bar-tailed godwit- a satellite-tagged godwit had been recorded travelling from its breeding grounds in Alaska to its wintering grounds in New Zealand in just over 8 days! (Visit this link to read this  amazing story here)
He also told us of the importance of Ireland as a wintering location for geese and wading birds including brent geese that breed in the Arctic Tundra and black-tailed godwits that breed in Iceland. We hope to see these species along with many others when we make our return trip on March 3 to Dundalk Bay. Thanks to Breffni for a very informative and enjoyable presentation.



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