Spring migrants

I have enough photos and enough birding to justify another post. It is coming in two parts, what is happening at WOW and what is happening in the garden and along the coastal path. First what about the title?? Well it is January 21 and I have seen four birds I would normally be looking for in March or maybe April:

January 2 a sandwich tern in Killyleagh

January 9 a gannet at Carnalea

January 17 a chiffchaff in Strickland's Glen

January 21 a lesser black-backed gull at Carnalea

It seems that climate change is giving species a chance to hang around over winter. Add to this the success of little egrets and increasing sightings of glossy ibis and great white egrets, plus the loss of ring ouzel and Bewick swans and the lower counts of overwintering northern ducks like goldeneye and pochard and I think we have the evidence from nature that things are changing. 

Let's move on to WOW. I have added quite a few birds to this year's list. Millet has encouraged birds to come closer to the windows and the feeders have added small passerines. The summary at the end gives an update on where we are, including the fine second winter Iceland gull which turned up this week. It was one of 11 new birds for 2023 including robin, dunnock and mute swan!!

Roosting curlew

Coot

Wigeon

Black-tailed godwit

Teal (F)

Teal (M)

Large white duck?

Hiding with the shelduck

With herring gulls, must be an Iceland gull. 😎

The coastal path has been walked (or limped) quite a few times and the garden has been well watched to see what garden birds can go on the Irish Birding garden bird survey. Again the summary at the end shows where we are and a few photographs give a flavour of what I have been seeing.

Four of these

Two very wary hooded crows

Just one song thrush

Only two goldfinch

Fieldfare

Maximum of nine blackbirds

Male blackcap - there is also a female.

I think I am slightly ahead of last year as I was around the mid 80s in January. The two patch lists are on par and as per normal I am well over 50% of the target in the middle of January. It just gets harder as the year rolls on!! Onwards and upwards as God willing I have a trip to England to look forward to.

2023

80: Twite

81: Lesser black-backed gull

82: Gannet

83: Black guillemot

84: Purple sandpiper

85: Red-throated diver

86: Grey wagtail

87: Chiffchaff

88: Iceland gull

89: Goldcrest

90: Raven

91: Guillemot

NDCP

23: Coal tit 

24: Gannet

25: Oystercatcher

26: Dunlin

27: Rock pipit

26: Ringed plover

29: Shag

30: Eider duck

31: Redshank

32: Common gull

33: Pied wagtail

34: Song thrush

35: Collared dove

36: Purple sandpiper

37: Black guillemot

38: Great black-backed gill

39: Red-throated diver

40: Great-crested grebe

41: Moorhen

42: Long-tailed tit

43: Wren

44: Chiffchaff

45: Lesser black-backed gull

WOW

38: Rook

39: Brent goose

40: Jackdaw

41: Rock pipit

42: Lesser black-backed gull

43: Dunlin

44: Meadow pipit

45: Common gull (all on January 12th)

46: Little grebe &

47: Pochard (on January 14)

48: Iceland gull

49: Goldcrest

50: Raven

51: Mistle thrush

52: Song thrush

53: Goldeneye

54: Eider

55: Guillemot

56: Mute swan

57: Grey heron

58: Dunnock

59: Robin (all on 19 January)