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 😂"
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