Belfast WOW

Back at WOW after three weeks to find dropping water levels and even more gull and tern chicks. Again we had over 30 species including common sandpiper and little egret. The Mediterranean gulls have moved off the island and can turn up anywhere on the reserve. At one point we saw three but a passing black back put everything up and we lost them. This happened several times, mainly with lesser black-backs but also with hooded crows and buzzard. The hoodies work in pairs, one comes in and everything lifts up to give chase, meanwhile the second one flies in behind looking for a snack in the now unguarded nests. Fortunately they have not been overly successful as the vegetation is now about two feet high and the chicks are well hidden. The estimate is at least 250 tern nests on the reserve.

Med gull

Common sandpiper

2017
199: Black-necked grebe
 

Bangor West

66: Raven
  
Belfast WOW
89: Little egret

A two owl day

 

The grand tour of Scotland and England was mainly a family trip but I managed to squeeze in a couple of half days in the field. The ferry across produced a lot of Manx shearwater, gannet and guillemot. Scotland was as expected but produced some nice views.

Swallow

Swallow

The Kelpies

Falkirk Wheel

Druridge Bay and Widdrington

On Saturday July 8^th I went looking for spoonbills at Widdrington and little owls at Druridge. Anything else was a bonus. Cresswell was too high for waders and I moved on to Druridge Pools and got whooper swan, wood sandpiper, little ringed plover and blackwits. The owl site at Druridge gave three good birds but no owls. There was however a juvenile green woodpecker sitting on a fence where the owl was supposed to be. Then I checked the field behind me and had two red-legged partridge in the wheel tracks of a large barley field.  A check on another owl site produced a bird on the wall which turned out to be a yellow wagtail. The spoonbills were a no show at Cresswell, Druridge and Widdrington, and appeared to have moved on as I also checked these sites the following evening at dusk. I also saw yellowhammer, skylark, whitethroat and sedge warbler in a list of 56 species. It is some time since I have birded this area in summer so it was a nice change to sit in the heat and have long clear nights.

Saturday also saw a quick visit to the all singing all dancing new Hauxley reserve which seems to have become goose central, they really will have to do something about the sheer numbers of greylag and Canada geese. I had a quick look round and was glad to see new feeders close to the centre, but had no time to walk the new circular route.

Sunday saw a quick trip to St Mary’s lighthouse which had a flock of 25 golden plover flying in off the sea. I then decided to try Druridge again at dusk having had advice from Bird Forum as to where I should be looking and BINGO – two little owls showing well as they say. Thanks to the two other birders who were there and helped me along even though I spooked one of the owls as they were trying to photograph it. I said I would go on to Cresswell and try for the barn owl only to be told it was flying around the fields behind me!! BINGO – a two owl day!!

Clearly I need to visit again in the summer as I added 5 birds to my NE list – little owl, wood sandpiper, green woodpecker, red-legged partridge and yellow wagtail. I have a very clear memory of going to Cresswell in 1994 to look for yellow wagtail rather than watch the World Cup final between Italy and Brazil. I didn’t miss any goals as it was a 0 – 0, but I didn’t get the wagtail either. Never mind, 23 years later it’s in the bag and on the list.

Bawtry

The plan was to look for honey buzzard at Clumber Park but they haven’t been seen there recently and appear to be no longer breeding. The park itself is wooded and pleasant but the main area round the house was wall to wall people and huge numbers of Canada and greylag geese. Like Hauxley – they have a problem.  A quick about turn took us to Potteric Carr a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve on the outskirts of Doncaster with breeding bittern. Like so many urban reserves it is an oasis in a sea of concrete and is well worth a visit if you are in the area. You can take as long as you like as there is an exit system operating once the reserve closes – remember to leave your car outside the car park which is locked. We managed a couple of hours in late afternoon and were rewarded with marsh harrier, green sandpiper, avocet, singing chiffchaff and black-necked grebe. 

Bolton

Nothing untoward in Bolton but I had a look at my list when I got home and discovered that in seven years of occasional visits I have not recorded peregrine, curlew, house martin, rook, grey wagtail or meadow pipit!! Some of these are probably omissions others need to be looked for. Either way I need to get out more instead of playing with the grand children – only joking Freddy.

Belfast RSPB and North Down  unsurprisingly report no change.

2017

192: Manx shearwater

193: Yellowhammer

194: Skylark

165: Green woodpecker

196: Red-legged partridge

197: Little owl

198: Barn owl

199: Black-necked grebe

Bangor West

66: Raven
  
Belfast WOW
88: Wood sandpiper

July stagnation

Not been a lot to say recently as ticks are harder to find and the spring rush has tailed off into summer. Now is the time to get the optics serviced ready for the autumn reverse migration. We are off to England soon, so hopefully something will turn up en route in Scotland, Tyneside, Bawtry or Bolton. Meanwhile a quick summary of late May, June and very early July.

The North Down patch is stuck at 66, hopefully I can still make 70 but I have got most of the expected species. The pool at the top of the Glen produced a little surprise in the form of breeding mallard.

Belfast WOW added blackcap and wood sandpiper. The black-headed gull chicks are everywhere and we have 10 or 11 Mediterranean gull chicks as well as the first common tern chicks. There are broods of mallard, moorhen, coot, shelduck, goldfinches and greenfinches. The mute swans did not breed and have flown off.

All common terns

.....or gulls

Moorhen feeding

Non breeding blackwit

Failed breeder on the way back?

 Some brightly coloured godwits have popped up recently and it is possible that they are failed breeders who have returned early. As you can see last Thursday was a bit wet and the NE wind was hammering the rain into the windows making observation a problem. This combined with less than average light and a low tide meant waders were at a premium. Nevertheless we still managed over 30 species including sand martins. We think these are from the colony at Kilroot and we are keeping our fingers crossed that they might look at our sand martin bank!! Passing motorists had to take avoiding action as the swallows and house martins were hunting up and down the road at ground level. Every visitor commented on the numbers and height at which they were hunting.

Rathlin Island on Saturday gave up 35 species in dull wet weather. We went to the West Light and the RSPB reseve and then walked to the harbour. Some notable omissions on the list might necessitate a visit in August but I was able to add puffin, great skua and kittiwake. Mistle thrush was a bonus otherwise the list was as expected. We were treated to a tractor rally - 14 of them had driven up to the reserve. Three were local the rest came over on the ferry as day trippers!!

Tractor rally

West light

Guillemot central

Puffin - a 2017 tick

Harbour view - just.

In the 1980s I ran trips to Rathlin to see the birds and we used an open boat called the St Martin. I needed 20+ people to fill the boat an off we went with Peter McCurdy sitting at the tiller in the stern. The crossing itself was an adventure never mind the birds and at that time we marvelled at seeing buzzard and chough. Then along came the MV Canna and the open boat was a thing of the past. Now the Canna has been replaced as well by the Spirit of Rathlin which segregates cars and people. I came across the St Martin on the beach in Church Bay and as you can see the years have not been kind to her and I felt a twinge of regret for the old days when crossing to Rathlin was not for the faint-hearted. Then I remembered being seriously seasick a couple of times on the St Martin and recalled Ecclesiastes 7:10 " Do not say ' Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." 

St Martin

2017
188: Wood sandpiper

189: Kittiwake

190: Great skua

191: Puffin

Bangor West

66: Raven
  
Belfast WOW
87: Blackcap

88: Wood sandpiper