iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

@alexanderlees.bsky.social interesting paper on eBird and remote sensing in Ireland. Exponential rise in eBird usage and not a mention of BirdTrack… onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A handsome Spotted Redshank dealing with a little crab at Rosscarbery

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Harry Hussey @harryhussey.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It's hard enough to connect with birds in Cork without extending the county bounds almost to France!

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Aidan G. Kelly @agk10k.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

A few shots of the Blackburnian taken in misty conditions yesterday. Thanks to Noel Linehan & Paul Rowe for a great find & to Tony Nagle for driving us up to the garden. Seeing this bird means that I, and a few others, have now seen all 15 American Wood Warblers on the Irish List😎

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Paul Moore @birderpaul.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It took several hours of searching to connect with one of the juvenile Bairds Sandpipers at Ballycotton yesterday. So to find an adult shortly after was surprising. 1980 seems to be the last time 3 were at one site in Ireland. Finishing the day on Dursey Island merely seems bizarre by comparison.

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

1/2 This week we have been very luck to have not one but two Pectoral Sandpipers taking a well earned rest on our wetlands after being diverted cross the Atlantic while on the migration from high arctic Canada or Alaska to their wintering grounds in South America.

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Pectoral Sandpiper spent most of the time playing hide and seek in the salacornia but appeared for a few minutes @harpersisland.bsky.social

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Submitted (with Pat Smiddy) new project ‘Birds of Ireland’ to publisher. Bringing back early versions of Birds of County Cork on Amstrad WCP in the 1980s, Mac Classic in 1990s and finally published in 2020s on iMac😂 (emulators used for the screens).

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Stunning images of Baird’s Sandpiper at the Geragh, first inland record for Cork and one of the few in Ireland. Found by PK

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Arctic Skua, Med and Cory’s Shearwater and Peregrine, from finedays sea watching on Seven Heads, no Barolo photos 🥲

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BC_Gemma @bcgemma.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Sandwich Tern arriving with a sprat for its chick - they’re on a feeding stopover at Ballycotton in preparation for the long migration south. #Birds #BirdsSeenIn2026 #Ballycotton

Young Sandwich Tern on the water with an adult flying towards it carrying a sprat.

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

New lens new camera- R7 and 100-500, a shots between Barry’s and Galley Head. Sedge Warbler, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunt and Melodious Warbler

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Cape Clear Bird Observatory (CCBO) @ccbowarden.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Melodious Warbler ringed this morning.

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Female Teal with four ducklings, probably over a week old on a pond in Tipperary. Grown juvenile nearby and four more in an adjacent pond - 2-3 broods, scarce breeder in S Ireland

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

@jamierohu.bsky.social I thought BNM were out of the peat business? Or am I reading this wrong?

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Harry Hussey @harryhussey.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Found this male Southern Oak Bush-cricket on a lamp post along Sunday's Well Road, Cork city this eve (30th July). Only aware of 3 or so previous Irish records, at least 1 of which was also in Cork city. Following recent colonisation of Britain, it is perhaps likely to become established here too.

Male Southern Oak Bush-cricket. Note the long antennae, yellow dorsal stripe and lack of wings, latter excluding adult Oak Bush-cricket.

Another photo of the same male Southern Oak Bush-cricket.

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Busy, busy leaf cutter bees in the garden

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Robert Vaughan @robertvaughani.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I was delighted to be asked to contribute a few illustrations to the Donegal Bird Report, excellently compiled by Derek Brennan . 2025 was an incredible year for rare and scarce birds in Donegal with several county and Irish firsts discovered. The report can be viewed at zenodo.org/records/2124...

The Pacific Diver was a first Donegal record, and spent over a month around Glashagh Bay on Fanad. During that time it moulted from winter to summer plumage and gave a great opportunity to study the subtle differences from Black-throated.

The Harlequin Ducks were a long over due Irish first. Originally 2 were found in the harbour at Maheroarty. The birds separated after being spooked on the second day, and only one was seen again. But, that one ended up spending over 6 months in the general area, showing incredibly well.

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Recent visitors to the reserve will have noticed the rapid progress of the work by artist Peter Martin on our new mural as you enter the site. Peter hopes to have it finished in the next few weeks. We managed to film and interview Peter recently about the mural and the process involved 👇

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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

personally I think it would be good if America had organized political parties.

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Oonagh Duggan @naturenymph.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Today BirdWatch Ireland published a Restoration Plan for habitats of threatened bird species in Ireland. We identified 71,450 ha of land w/restoration potential for 52 bird species. Plus farmland habitat+ 38 locations w/colonies of an additional 10 seabirds +more. birdwatchireland.ie/nature-resto...

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Printed copies of CBR 2019-23 have and are quite pretty!

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Harry Hussey @harryhussey.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

With thanks to @sevenheads.bsky.social , I got to see this stunning Striped Hawkmoth this evening after dinner. A beautiful creature, and unexpected within walking distance of my house!

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Striped Hawkmoth, outside my house. New for me. Only about 90 Irish records, I think!

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Peony time in the garden 🪴

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Steve Rogers 🟰🟰 @runnelstone.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Manx Shearwater this morning at Pendeen Watch (9th June). Estimate around 60,000 passed the lighthouse this morning (based on one minute sample counts, up to 600 per minute).

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

The Cork Bird Report 2019-23 is published today at doi.org/10.5281/zeno... and will be here birdwatchcork.com/publications/ also. Plenty of photos, charts and tables. Cork Ringing Report and urban breeding gulls in Cork etc. Free to all, enjoy

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

We held our first BioBlitz on 21/22 May, the aim of which was to try to identify as many species in a 24 hour period as we could. The weather was not kind but you will be surprised to find out the number of species we did manage to identify. 🙏 to all those who made it possible!

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Peter Stronach @macstronach.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Are we overlooking displaying Wilson’s Snipe in Scotland?, there has been numerous summer records now in Scandinavia and Iceland but nothing here yet! - xeno-canto.org/1071315 #birdingscotland

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XC1071315 Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Nice to get out sea watching at Seven Heads again, pretty light, 4 Arctic Skua, 1 Pom, 1 Bonxi, 10 GND, stormiest, Puffins and basking sharks

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Peter Stronach @macstronach.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The Great Glen skua portal opened up today, amazing to see Long-tailed Skuas thermalling over Loch Linnhe like giant Bee-eaters up to 1000m before whizzing northeast towards Inverness! 🪶 #ornithology #highlandbirds

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

A pair of Common Tern has recently been seen displaying on our newly created island in the Borrow Dyke. Cork Harbour supports an important breeding population of this species, & it looks like we may have given them one more breeding location option 😊 #builditandtheywillcome

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

1/4 Yesterday morning we were treated to a truly fascinating presentation on, and hands on exploration of, the stratigraphy (study of sediment layers) of our wetlands.

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Coming up this Saturday 25th April at 10 am 👇meet at the Scrape Hide on the Nature Trail!!

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 22/03/2026

It's only force majeure if it comes from the Majeure region of France. Otherwise it's just a sparkling shitshow.

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Harper's Island Wetlands @harpersisland.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Our Sand Martin's are back in big numbers this am and very active at the nesting banks. This video shows the view from our outside camera this morning and our first visit to burrow 19 by a returning bird! You can check out our Sand Martin nestcams 24/7 on our YouTube channels!

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Irish Birds @irishbirds.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Closing date for submissions to the next issue of Irish Birds is 31 March. Contributions of all kinds are welcome and help build a stronger evidence base for Irish ornithology. If you’re unsure whether your material is suitable don’t hesitate to contact the editor to discuss potential submissions.

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Paul Dufour @pauldufour80.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Honored to have had the chance to visit Oxford last week (after a few days in Liverpool beforehand!). I really enjoyed meeting so many great people and sharing ideas on bird migration. I hope you enjoyed the presentation, and stay tuned for upcoming results on vagrants and bird migration! 🪶

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Two Snow Geese at Toonsbridge with the Whoopers, no Cork records so far. These might stand a chance….

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Andrew Coogan @cooganlab.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

"The University is supportive and encouraging of our staff and students engaging with AI in their studies and research" AI:

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Harry Hussey @harryhussey.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Some photos from two weeks in Senegal recently.

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Sean Cronin @seancronin1973.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Harlequin Duck, Co.Donegal, Ireland. The first record of this species in Ireland.

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

First attempt and unfinished map of Yellowhammer eBird records for Cork in 2024 and 2025 with QGIS. I am alive ….just, not easy

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Two of three Risso’s Dolphins I saw off Dursey last April were already in the IWDG catalog. Grand day watching them

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Irish Birds @irishbirds.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

⏰ Just 2 months to go until the submission deadline for the next issue of Irish Birds 📅 31 March 2026 We welcome papers, short notes and reviews on birds in Ireland. Contributions from field ornithologists, recorders and practitioners are especially welcome — queries encouraged!

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Harry Hussey @harryhussey.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Went to see this interesting gull found in Cork city yesterday by Alex Lynch. It seems most likely to be an adult Black-headed x Bonaparte's Gull, a very rare pairing and not conclusively proven anywhere as yet, as far as I can see, but with two strong candidates from Spain and France.

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Mark Shorten @sevenheads.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Really, really stuck for the last minute gift…… Birds of County Cork @waterstones.bsky.social

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