Cygnets in Bantry harbour, at Last!

In September, I reported the fact that there had no Mute Swan cygnets been seen.
Since then i received sightings of cygnets in Bantry Bay, in Glengarriff and in Ballylickey. So when we booked our annual break in the Maritime Hotel in Bantry for 3 days, I had high hopes of seeing one, because the hotel is situated right above the harbour.

Well, I spotted eight healthy cygnets and although there were some senior cygnets among them, with a lot of white already showing, we noticed that there was always an adult with them.

Mute Swan cygnets, Cygnus olor
cygnets playing ball?









Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix,


Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus


Redshank, Tringa totanus

migrant Carrion Crow among my Corvids?

We have been having Rooks, Jackdaws and Hooded Crows visit our garden since we moved here, 9 years ago. Rooks and Jackdaws are social birds and go and feed together, after scuots have sourced the best restaurant in the area. Hooded Crows on the other hand are solitary birds; they will wait on a roof, and come in once the action has diminished a little.

The island of Ireland has these members of the Crow (Corvid) family: Rook, Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, Magpie, Jay and Chough.
The Carrion Crow has not reached the SW yet. There might be some in Ulster or on the East Coast, closest to the UK/Europe mainland.

Autumn does bring all kind of migrant to this little corner however and I've seen a notable increase in the Corvids feeding here since late summer/autumn.

What surprises me however, is that Carrion Crows are not known as sociable birds, so what are they doing among a flock of Rook and Jackdaw?
I think that as migrants they mix and mingle with any other flock of Corvids where they can be almost sure of being led to places where food is in a good supply.

Carrion Crow, Corvus corone?




Here you can see the difference in the faces of these two Corvids:
Rook, Corvus frugilega:



As you can see, the two are totally different and one could not be mistaken for the other.

: Live Geese being plucked for your duvet

Do you know the origin of the feathers inside your duvet or quilt?


If you are looking for a new duvet or quilt with nice Geese down, you might think IKEA would be a good place to have a look? Well you'd best look somewhere else, or decide on an extra blanket.
IKEA is the first retailer to stop the sale of Geese down, after an undercover investigation on the way Live Geese are being plucked in the most horrible conditions.
Swedish Television and Four Paws showed images of how rough the birds are being handled, and how the skin is just torn off, often creating big wounds which are stitched without sedative.

Just read this and you will probably as angry as I am at this moment.

Elsewhere on their website the Four Footers reported in August this year, that1.5 million Geese have been saved in Hungary from this kind of treatment, thanks to an EU ban.

I will be sleeping sound again underneath our blanket, sure that no birds have been stripped of their coat. (If only I could get to sleep so easily!)