The Belcarra Yellow-crowned Night Heron

January 24, 2025  •  Leave a Comment

Belcarra is a small village in Co. Mayo with a rich history. In Irish birdwatching circles, it is now forever known as the village where Ireland's first Yellow-Crowned NIght Heron was found in the autumn of 2024. 

A9_06438A9_06438YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo

The bird was noted in the area for some weeks before a local asked a friend of theirs what the bird could be. That person happened to be a prominent birdwatcher based on Dublin. Pandemonium ensued. Luckily, another well-known Wicklow-based birdwatcher was nearby and checked out the veracity of the record...and the rest, as they say, is history. Such an amazing discovery and a very beautiful bird. I finally gave in after the bird was there a few weeks and drove the 3 hours from Dublin across the country to arrive at dawn in the Co. Mayo village. Within 10 minutes of searching for the bird, I heard a call from the roof of the local community centre and there was the heron peering over at me. I spent the next 5-6 hours watching and photographing the bird. It was a worth the twitch.

A9_05394A9_05394YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo A9_06441A9_06441YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo

This was also the first time twitching a big distance to see a decent rare bird since I switched from Canon to Sony. I used a Sony A9II with a Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens. 
 

A9_05923A9_05923YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo A9_06452A9_06452YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo A9_06554A9_06554YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo A9_05708A9_05708YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo A9_06159A9_06159YCNH Yellow-crowned Night Heron Belcarra Mayo


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