Good start to the new birding year with the traditional "Round the Lough" trip from dawn to dusk. This year we started at the flood gates in Ards, went south to Portaferry, crossed to Strangford and then headed north until the light faded at Killyleagh. We tallied 72 species, dipped out on a few we should get and had a few birding highlights en route.
Dawn at the flood gates was spectacular on a clear cold morning with ice on the car park. The highlight there was a large lapwing flock. Other highlights included synchronised fishing from 25 or more red-breasted mergansers in Castleward Bay, 2 Slavonian grebes in Greyabbey Bay south, 2 carrion crows at Strangford, a female pochard and three whoopers at the Quoile and a finch flock of 300+ near Killyleagh . This was largely made up of linnets and goldfinch but also contained, tree sparrow, house sparrow, reed bunting, chaffinch and yellowhammer. The icing on the cake was a sandwich tern at Killyleagh in fading light. There's a list at the end which is there for my records, but feel free to have a browse.
Th local patch - garden and coastal path - added blackcap(garden) and kingfisher(Long Hole) plus all the usual suspects to start the year. Dunnock was the first bird seen.
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| Lapwing at dawn |
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| Rising tide at the Flood Gates |
David (rustic bunting) Miller managed some bird shots as well as a few nice scenes so here are a selection.
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| Buzzard |
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| Yellowhammers |
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| Yellowhammers |
WOW on Thursday added 4 to the 2023 list and got the patch off to a 38 start including buzzard, sparrowhawk, snipe, knot and both godwits.
I also took a run up to the Waterworks in Belfast and finally managed to see two ring-necked parakeets which have drifted in over the winter. Not only a 2023 tick but a Northern Ireland first and a Co Antrim first as well. Flushed with success we went on to Whitehead for a spot of lunch and added twite.
2023: Great-crested grebe, little grebe, Slavonian grebe, cormorant, shag, grey heron, little egret, mute & whooper swan, greylag & brent geese, shelduck, mallard, pintail, teal, shoveler, gadwall, wigeon, tufted, eider, goldeneye, merganser, pochard, buzzard, moorhen, coot, oystercatcher, lapwing, ringed plover, knot, dunlin, turnstone, snipe, black-tailed godwit, curlew, redshank, greenshank, herring, common, black-headed & great black-backed gulls, sandwich tern, wood pigeon, collared dove, meadow & rock pipit, pied wagtail, dunnock, robin, stonechat, mistle & song thrush, blackbird, fieldfare, redwing, blue, coal & great tit, carrion & hooded crow, rook, jackdaw, magpie, starling, house & tree sparrow, chaffinch, goldfinch, bullfinch, linnet, reed bunting and yellowhammer. (72)
73: kingfisher
74: blackcap
75 Sparrowhawk
76: long-tailed tit
77: greenfinch
78: bar-tailed godwit
79: Ring-necked parakeet
80: twite
NDCP: dunnock, wood pigeon, magpie, herring gull, robin, blue & great tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, blackbird, fieldfare, redwing, jackdaw, rook, starling, hooded crow, blackcap, black-headed gull, turnstone, cormorant, kingfisher, brent goose, coal tit. (23)
WOW: Oystercatcher, lapwing, black -tailed godwit, snipe, curlew, moorhen, coot, sparrowhawk, buzzard, mallard, wigeon, tufted, shelduck, teal, shoveler, woodpigeon, hooded crow, greylag, magpie, black-headed gull, herring gull, blackbird, pied wagtail, goldfinch, chaffinch, linnet, blue tit, redshank, great tit, long-tailed tit, greenfinch, great black-backed gull, gadwall, ringed plover, turnstone, knot, bar-tailed godwit, rook. (38)
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