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And then there were 5!! With the average clutch size being 4 - 5 eggs and sometimes as many as 7 it will be interesting to see if our Sand Martins in Burrow 19 read the books :-) Follow all the action live 24/7 on: youtube.com/channel/UCXj8k…

Thomas Wallenda, reserve volunteer and photographer took this super photo of a Lesser Yellowlegs just outside the Scrape Hide yesterday evening. A cousin of our Redshank, this is a bird that should be in North America, heading for the Arctic.! Thanks for sharing Thomas! :-)

Lesser Yellowlegs HarpersIslandWetlands .Co.Cork 1/5/25

The lesser yellowlegs closing in on a surprised shelduck at Harper's Island. HarpersIslandWetlands

Good night from our new parents at No 19 and from their new neighbours at No 21. What a difference a couple of extra weeks of decorating makes to the coziness of the burrows! 😴🌙💤

Important Notice - There will be no access to the looped trail until further notice, to allow for essential maintenance works to be completed. The two hides remain accessible from 7am - 9pm daily. We hope to have full the site open again for all very soon!

Our living lawnmowers are back for the summer! These horses keep our wet meadow in tip top shape for pollinators and our wetland birds, and they also keep the invasive saltmarsh grass species Spartina anglica in check. Aren't they great!

It's all go at no 21 and no 19. We have 2 one week old chicks growing fast at no 21. All going well, our chicks should be ready to fledge in 10-12 days. Meanwhile over at no 21, 5 eggs have been laid over the past 5 days. We hope to have chicks here in about 2 weeks! 🐣 🥚 🐣

It looks like we are sticking at 5 eggs at no 21, meanwhile the chicks at 19 are becoming more independent every day 🐣 🐣

With two hungry young chicks in the nest how do you keep it poop free? From when you are born you instinctively produce poop and peep together in a mess-free sealed bag (faecal sac) and drop it outside the nest for mom or dad to remove 😊

Our 2 chicks at no 21 are growing so quickly now, they have almost caught up with their parents. Meanwhile, over at no 19, believe it or not, there is a very attentive parent hidden under that cloud of feathers incubating 5 tiny eggs. We hope to see chicks here in about a week.

There is lots of activity now at the Sand Martin burrows, with the first batch of very hungry chicks at the entrances ready to fly any day now, including the two at no 21. Well worth a visit to see the action from the Borrow Dyke Hide. Cork County Council BirdWatch Ireland

And here is our first glimpse of two teeny chicks, when the parent dashed out for about three seconds to retrieve a feather for the nest! 🐣🐣

A rare visitor to Harper's Island Wetlands - 2cy Bonaparte's Gull, all the way from America. The black beak and pink legs helping to distinguish it from the local Black-headed Gulls. Nice find by mark shorten #phonescoped HarpersIslandWetlands