bird day

T'he main one is a dipper.Exactly the third time I have seen one - 35 yrs ago in Scotland, 6 years ago in Yellowstone in winter, and this year at Glendalough. I had not taken the long lens not expecting to see anything as this was not a good birdi spotting trip. Walking over a bridge to get to the monastic site I almost fell over as it was right there in the stream , in the sun . And my 300 zoom lens across the parking lot in the car. I didn't think I could still run. Surprise!
The extras are some of the birds I did get to see , some of them at a distance: a robin at Powerscourt, a song thrush at the Burren, hooded crow, jackdaw and Eurasian curlew at Westport.