The Irish 230 Club - IR230

To encourage a bit more bird finding, we are establishing the IR 230 club, a club for Irish birders who have found 230 species (or more) wild birds on the island of Ireland.

The Club aims to promote the skill of finding birds in Ireland. It is intended as a fun and different way of looking at lists, and must not be seen as excessively competitive.

There are many definitions of what constitutes a find. The purpose of these rules is...well...to be honest...to circumvent the inevitable arguments that occur on what counts as a find! 😉 

Inevitably, the situations in which people find birds are complex. Therefore the IR 230 Club must work on the principles of honesty and genuine surprise.

Becoming a member of the IR 230 club is easy. Simply place an IR 230 club banner onto your digital avatar, if you have reached that total on your self found list. You can also join our IR 230 Facebook group. 

Rules:

1. The geographical limits of all bird finds are the entirety of the island of Ireland, it's offshore islands and it's entire economic sea territory.

Give or take...

2. It doesn't matter what Irish list you use. It's up to you. 

3. The discovery of a bird must be a genuine surprise. Therefore, if your find doesn't constitute an original observation, you must have been unaware of it's presence.  

4. A re-find must come as a genuine surprise. A re-find will invariably involve a local or national rarity. If there is a sufficient gap in time or place, then it can be counted as a find. And when it comes to Ireland...that requires a lot of common sense...when a Double-Crested Cormorant can go unreported for weeks or even months from the same small lake...ye know yourself, like.

5. All species which breed commonly in Ireland can be classed as found without the principle of "genuine surprise" applying (Rules 3 & 4). All other rules of the IR 230 Club still apply; in other words, these species must still have been found and identified by yourself. 

A list of rare breeding birds which can also be counted in this way is given in Appendix 1 at the end of the rules. This is due to these species being so sedentary and restricted in their geographical range and habitat that finding them away from their well known breeding areas would be very difficult or perhaps cause undue disturbance. All other species have to be found away from known breeding areas by the normal finding rules of the IR 230 Club.

6. Under normal circumstances, the person who finds a bird will have discovered it and correctly identified it. However, more than one person can find a particular bird if any of the conditions in Rules 7, 8 or, 9 are met.

7. If the person who discovers the bird does not identify the bird to the correct species, he or she must have ruled out all but the principal confusion species to count it as a find (within reason. I.e. if you see a Sub-Alpine warbler drop into a bush and flag others attention to it, that find is yours from that point on, whether it turns out to be Western, Eastern or, heaven forbid, Moltoni's. If however, you just saw "some warbler", others can then be involved). At that point, the person (or persons - see Rule 9) who, having seen the bird, first correctly identifies it, may also count it as a find. 

8. More than one person can claim to have identified a bird if they vocalise or otherwise indicate that they have arrived at the correct identification more or less simultaneously. Honesty is paramount when deciding if the utterance given in the excitement of a find constitutes a correct identification.

9. More than one person can claim to have identified a bird if the identification evolves over a period of time. In these cases, the persons claiming this record as a find must all fully contribute to the identification of the bird.

10. In order not to cause undue disturbance to certain species, birds can be counted as found if detected on call or song. I.e. a bird such as Corncrake or Quail, if found singing, does not require to be seen to be counted as a find.

In short...self found listing requires a lot of common sense.

Rare/Scarce breeding species which can be found without the principles of genuine surprise applying (see Rule 5).

Corncrake

Roseate Tern

Little Tern

Bearded Reedling

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Red Kite

White-Tailed Eagle

Grey Partridge

Garden Warbler 

Contact us on Twitter, Facebook or privately to receive your IR 230 banner.

Best Find Of 2023 Competition

As many will be aware, we run a monthly poll on the best bird found by a member of the group, with the winners of these monthly votes going forward to an Annual poll on the best find of the year. 

The Irish Rare And Scarce Bird News Group is delighted to announce that the Annual poll for 2023 will be sponsored by Swarovski Optik and by Robert Vaughan Illustrations

#seetheunseen

The winner of the Annual Poll will receive a pair of Swarovski 8.5x42 EL Binoculars 

We are sure neither Swarovski or the now famous EL range of binoculars need any introduction, considered by many to be one of the best optics manufacturers, and best models available for decades now.

2nd place will win an original painting of their bird by the excellent Robert Vaughan Illustrations

As the best find competition is associated with tangible prizes, it's important to note that contenders for the poll must be verifiable (i.e verifiably photographed, video recorded or well twitched. Shouldn't be a problem, generally the biggest, best twitched birds tend to capture the imagination and receive the most votes.)

As with our other competitions, we also ask that birders drop news of their find in good time here in the group to qualify, in the spirit of instant rare bird information sharing for which this group was established. 

Any draws, be it in the monthly polls or the final annual poll will be decided by vote among the admin team.

Should any winner be a co-find, people will simply have to work out a way to share prizes, however favor is obviously given to the finder who reports the news here in the group.

Download the Band app and Join Ireland's Best Rare Bird News group HERE

Good Bird Finding for 2023.

2022 Annual Report

Our first Annual Report, covering the year 2022, is now available to download HERE.

Packed with Sightings, Photographs and Accounts from across the year.

It's a pleasure to be able to output a year of valuable Rare Bird News Data back to birders in Ireland in a format we hope all enjoy. 

Best Find Of The Year Competition

As most of you will be aware, we run a monthly poll on the best bird found by a member of the group, with the winners of these monthly votes going forward to an Annual poll on the best find of the year. 

The Irish Rare And Scarce Bird News Group is delighted to announce that the Annual poll will now be sponsored by Vortex Optics (through Gowen & Bradshaw ), Opticron (through Birdwatch Ireland)and Robert Vaughan Illustrations.

The winner of the Annual Poll will receive a Pair of Viper 8x42 HD Binoculars.

Vortex Optics are an excellent optics brand with superb binoculars and scopes to suit any budget, from the entry-level Crossfire range, up to the excellent Razor range, all of which come with a Lifetime Warranty.

2nd place will receive a pair of Opticron Discovery WP PC Mg 8x42 binoculars

https://www.opticron.co.uk/our-products/binoculars/discovery-wp-pc-binoculars/discovery-wp-pc-mg-8x42

Opticron are a long established optics company with another excellent range of Binoculars and Scope models to suit a range of budgets.

3rd place will win a painting of their find by the excellent Robert Vaughan Illustrations , one of Ireland's premier bird artists.

As the best find competitions are now associated with a tangible prize, it's important to note that contenders for the polls must be verifiable (i.e verifiably photographed, video recorded or well twitched). Shouldn't be a problem, generally the biggest, best twitched birds tend to capture the imagination and receive the most votes.

As with our other competitions, we also ask that birders drop news of their find in good time, in the spirit of instant rare bird information sharing.

Good Bird Finding.

- The Admin Team

PhoneSkope Competition

The Irish Rare And Scarce Bird News Group is delighted to announce that, thanks to PhoneSkope, through to the end of 2023, we will be running a phonescoping competition here in the group.

The best Rare/Scarce Bird Find News Post, which includes a phonescoped image or video each month will win a Phonescoping kit (phonecase and adapter for their scope) from Phoneskope. 

DSLR, Bridge Camera or Back of the camera photos do not apply.

Here's the rules:

1. The post must qualify as News. The aim and spirit of this group is to share rare bird news with as many members as want rare bird news, as quickly as possible. If we detect entrants are dropping news elsewhere, but only dropping news here 20 mins later/later that day/the next day etc because they remember there's a prize to be won, the admins will take a dim view of that entry.

Rarity/Scarcity is defined by the group's own species list available below.

2. The Rarity/Scarcity must be a find (A new bird, or a genuine surprise relocation, we will go by the famous Punkbirder Rules on that one). In the unlikely event that the bird in question is a dreaded co-find...work out a way to share the prize, though favor, obviously, will be given to that person dropping the news.

3. You can add an image or video after the fact. If you find a bird, drop your news in the group's main page in good time as per rule 1, you can always add any image or video later by editing your post. If you ever need help figuring out how to edit a post don't hesitate to contact admins.

4. It's a bit of fun. The image or video doesn't necessarily have to be an award winning magazine shoot.

5. Tag your entry with the hashtag #phoneskope . This helps admins to find entries later. If you would be so good, if posting the image or video on twitter or instagram, tag the group (@irsbg1) with the same hashtag #phoneskope for extra visibility.

6. Every month we will hold a poll on the competition entries, with the collated photos/videos. The poll will take place on the first of each month. 

7. To diversify the competition, you may only win a monthly poll once. A winner of a PhoneSkope monthly poll will then be excluded from competing in subsequent months.

8. Any potential ties will be decided by vote within the admin team (with any admin contestants recusing themselves from the vote). 

9. Should there be no available entries in a month, that month's prize will be held over and the competition extended an extra month.

10. The prize covers a phone case and adapter kit. Shipping and customs costs are the responsibility of the recipient winner.

Download the Band app and join at the link above.

Happy PhoneSkoping and good birding!

Egyptian Vulture in Roscommon - An Interview with Owen Murphy

On New Year's Eve the Irish Birding community was shocked with the mega news that Ireland's first Egyptian Vulture, originally found during the summer in Donegal by Irish Rare And Scarce Bird News Group member, Shane Farrell, was still in the country, refound in Roscommon by another group member, Owen Murphy. 

The news dropped on our fledgling News Platform (typical birding journalism pun alert 🤦) with a photo and GPS location, and was instantly flagged as a mega notice in the group and engines started all over the country.

We chat to man of the hour, Owen Murphy, about the entire experience.

How and when did you get into birding?

"Birdwatching since I was a child. Got my first pair of Tasco binoculars from Santy in around 1986. Was a member of the Athlone branch of the IWC for a number of years then which was great. Various trips to Bull Island, Wexford Slobs etc were great for a young birdwatcher."

You were an early member of the Irish Rare And Scarce Birding Group on Facebook. Did you find it useful? Did it help you progress in birding at all?

"I have found the group extremely useful and the members knowledgeable. Reading reports of rarities and vagrants is certainly helpful and encourages one to get out the bird guide and brush up one's knowledge on particular species as and when they are mentioned."

You've found a few Rarities over the years as a member of the Facebook group, but obviously the Egyptian Vulture is next level stuff. Tell us about how the find went down.

"I was travelling out the Roscommon Rd from Athlone, en route to grabbing a couple of hours birdwatching around Lough Fuinshinagh and the west Coast of Lough Ree. Some fairly decent flocks of Duck and Waders around at the moment. As I was driving I noticed a bird in flight a long distance off, across a fairly open dairy farm. Had a couple of glances and said to myself I better pull over fairly quickly. I had the binoculars on the passenger seat and got some shock when I put them up. Had a nice but broken view of the bird as he flew across this particular farm and up over a line of Beech trees that have a local Rookery. He caught the Crows attention as well as mine!! I managed to grab the camera and get a very grainy image or two from distance. Unfortunately the main Roscommon Rd is fairly busy and the bird looped back behind me. Last I saw he was heading in a NW direction that lined up roughly with Lough Fuinshinagh. So I Wi-Fi'd my pictures to the phone and sent them on to a few friends and this group. So the news was out within 5 minutes of my first sighting. I failed to connect with it again."

You were an early adopter of the new Irish Rare And Scarce Bird News platform. How have you found it so far, and did you find it easy to report your sighting?

"Like any new platform/app it is slightly different to use. But with a little bit of time spent navigating it, the different groups and sections become apparent. I had no trouble reporting the sighting. The platform itself is more complex than the Facebook version in my opinion, but it offers so many nice advantages which make the switch worthwhile."

How did it feel to find that bird and drop the news like that?

"Finding a bird like that is obviously a huge excitement for a birdwatcher. And to find it in the area where I work is a real bonus. In saying that, I am the type of birdwatcher that gets huge pleasure from watching a Hen Harrier hunting, or seeing a nesting Lapwing or Curlew , etc. But finding an Egyptian Vulture is definitely a great buzz."

Lastly... You are of course going to refind it again and pin it down for the masses...right? 😉

"Oh I have made attempts to refind in the last couple of days, but to no avail. As soon as I refine my search methodology I'll let you know 😂"

A New Way Of Sharing Rare Bird News

A Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays To All

Lesser Scaup by Brian McCloskey

If someone had said to you 5 years ago that Ireland would need a news group that could handle hundreds of people, most we suspect would have shook their head in disbelief and perhaps even laughed at the notion.

4 years on from the (separate) start of both the Irish Rare And Scarce Birding Group on Facebook and a news group on Whatsapp, we are all now faced with the reality that the number of people who want access to instant rare bird news is not so insignificant as we might have previously thought.

At the outset of the Facebook group, one of the goals was to encourage more people into birding, and over the course of 4 years we have seen that take shape, as new faces have taken an interest.

However, some weeks back we learned for the first time that Whatsapp, in it's default setting, is limited to a number of 256 members and that the National news Whatsapp group was full to this capacity.

There are of course, several alternative platforms which can very naturally accommodate more people than this and so we feel that, as well as making a move to include more people, the time has come for an upgrade in the platform used for the purpose of sharing rare bird news.

We do also understand the annoyance some can feel at having to download and learn a new software or application though, and so we are providing this introductory posting to hopefully alleviate any concerns that may be out there.

First and foremost, the platform we are using is called Band and you can find the permanent group link here:

https://band.us/@irishrareandscarce

The platform is web based and you can use it both from your desktop browser or as an app for your smartphone.

Obviously, for bird news on the go, and for bird reporting purposes from the field, we recommend that you download and use the smartphone app, but it does mean that those who might still be logging on to their computer at the end of a day's birding can also access the platform.

Joining is exceptionally easy, with multiple quick options at your disposal, including joining with your existing Facebook or Google accounts.

Basic view

When you tap into the app home screen (under the house symbol) the group will be displayed as above. Tapping on this icon will bring you to the main page.

In the main page, rare bird posts can be displayed as newest first, or via most recently commented upon. Newest first is the more useful option in terms of bird news, but you can easily toggle between views if you wish.

Tapping this view icon switches you between thumbnail view (best for quick and concise scrolling of news posts) and the full image view.

We have put in place a number of filters via hashtags (see above), which then allow you to filter the feed further.

You can filter the sightings by mega, rare or scarce status, or by county. 

We believe the membership will find these filter functions extremely useful as the group is populated with reports.

Guidance

To assist all members, we have provided a few instructional posts which explain how the main functions of the platform work.

These can be found under the instructions hashtag filter. Admins are also on hand if anyone needs further assistance.

Notifications

Most people do not want a constant barrage of notifications. We understand this and it is one of the main reasons we have selected the Band platform.

Using Band, a single post can be used to simultaneously disseminate the news posting, any and all media you may wish to attach (including images, video or sound files) and embedded GPS locations, all in the one posting, where as in a standard messaging app, relating all such information would mean multiple notifications being received. 

A post you make can be edited at any time, meaning that if you wish to add any media to a sighting subsequent to posting news you can easily do so.

As a further bonus, all visual media can be uploaded in its original quality, meaning you won't have the quality of your photos or videos reduced. Could come in handy for a tricky collaborative ID some day.

A single posting, with image and sound recording, combined with a GPS location. 1 post. 1 notification.

All posts can be edited at any time, so media and updates can be added to your news post after your day's birding, or you can just correct those always annoying autocorrects.

For those who wish to reduce their notifications further, the platform gives you a wider range of control over which notifications you receive.

For the big birds, the megas, the group will publish these as a notice to all members.

This means that those who may only wish to be notified of megas, can essentially turn most of their notifications settings off, avoiding notifications on the more routine rarities.

A More Inclusive System

We are asking birders to use the in-app GPS system to provide a location on every rare bird news post (though we understand that some people find this kind of thing difficult, so it's obviously not mandatory).

The ability to share your location from out in the field, without having to go to a separate app and copy a link, makes giving the exact location for a bird easier than ever. 

We believe this really helps to make birding more inclusive and easier to access, especially for newcomers. It only takes a second, but helps everyone and is a very easy habit to develop.

Bird News For All

We are committed to bird news for all birders on the island of Ireland. We view this as a clean slate and invite all birders out there to join and participate. We have recruited both a team of Admins (which we hope to expand further in due course), and volunteers to manage and cultivate county chatrooms (again, we hope to expand our group of volunteers further).

All are welcome and we look forward to (hopefully) seeing your rare bird news in the group soon.