Round the Lough delivers

Quite a lot to update since the last post. The Bangor West total stands at 40 with a walk along the coast delivering many expected species including purple sandpiper, red-throated diver and most amazing of all brent geese in the car park at Seacliff Road. A sparrowhawk in the garden is always nice even if it didn’t hang around for a photo.

Grazing in the car park

Not fazed by cars

Looking for a family space?

Belfast WOW kicked off with 39 species including peregrine, snipe, bar-tailed godwit and three twite, a patch first and a first for my reserve list. 

The annual list starter round Strangford Lough was delayed until January 13^th, but it  turned up 67 species including little egret, merganser, goldeneye, kestrel, greenshank, kingfisher, redwing, fieldfare, goldcrest, jay, redpoll and tree sparrow. Some views to look at, any of the interesting birds were too hard to digiscope and I was too busy listing to photograph the common stuff.  

Sunrise at the Flood Gates

Quoile pondage

Sunset at Kircubbin

I also did a trip to Whitehead to collect twite (again), black redstart and ring-billed gull. The latter in Carrick was too tempting to drive past. Too wet and dull for photos.

Bangor West

Wren, linnet, house sparrow, rook, oystercatcher, redshank, eider, cormorant, lapwing, red-throated diver, black guillemot, razorbill, brent goose, ringed plover, dunlin, turnstone, purple sandpiper, great black-backed gull, common gull, starling and 40: sparrowhawk.

Belfast WOW

Cormorant, grey heron, shelduck, wigeon, gadwall, teal, mallard, shoveler, sparrowhawk, buzzard, peregrine, moorhen, oystercatcher, lapwing, knot, dunlin, snipe, barwit, curlew, redshank, turnstone, black-headed gull, common gull, herring gull, woodpigeon, pied wagtail, wren, dunnock, robin, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, magpie, hooded crow, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, redpoll. and  39: twite.

2017

Wren,  linnet,  house sparrow, song thrush, mistle thrush, oystercatcher, redshank, eider, cormorant, red-throated diver, lapwing, black guillemot, razorbill, brent goose, ringed plover, dunlin, knot, turnstone, purple sandpiper, great black-backed gull, common gull, sparrowhawk, shelduck, wigeon, gadwall, teal, shoveler, peregrine, moorhen, golden plover, snipe, curlew, barwit, twite, little egret, little grebe, great-crested grebe, pintail, tufted duck, goldeneye, red-breasted merganser, kestrel, pheasant, coot, kingfisher, rock pipit, greenshank, redwing, fieldfare, goldcrest, tree sparrow, carrion crow, shag, black redstart, ring-billed gull, blackwit,  and 86: reed bunting