Rathlin and the Gobbins

 As promised, here is an update from two trips Rathlin Island and the Gobbins by boat. We spent three days on Rathlin and did three walks - Craigmacagan, West light to the harbour and Roonivoolin/Rue Point. Weather was ideal and views were superb. Totalled 63 species in three days including cuckoo and sparrowhawk - both firsts for Rathlin - corncrake, puffin, great skua and wheatear. I had a look back at previous Rathlin visits and noticed a few changes over the years since my first visit in 1981.

Lapwings used to be regular  in good numbers, but seem to have gone

Spotted flycatcher around the church is a memory

Chough have vanished

Swifts no longer come over to feed

Haven't seen kestrel for some time, but then haven't seen them anywhere else either.*

Goldfinch now regular

Tits are hard to see/find

Corncrake has returned

Great skua now established

Buzzards do not seem to be as widespread as they once were

It is still a magical place to visit so here are a few scenes to savour and whet your appetite for a visit. Best to book the ferry ahead of time, the days of turning up and getting across are like choughs and flycatchers - long gone

Fulmar nest

West light

Mill Bay seals

Mill Bay

Roonivoolin cliff walk

Rue Point common gull

Rue Point

Church Bay

Rue Point

Ally Lough

The weather held for the Gobbins trip from Bangor, courtesy of Jim Wells. We had all the usual suspects including peregrine falcon. My shots are mostly scenic, but I have put a link to the Facebook site J Birds - Birding by Boat where the good photographers have posted their usual range of stunning images.  Look for Albert Boyle, Paul Hilton and Stephen Gorman in particular.

* We saw a kestrel at the Gobbins, first I have seen in Northern Ireland this year, there is a photo on Paul's JBirds post

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jbirds/

Blackhead

Fulmar

Guillemot

Auks and kittiwakes

Razorbill

Shags

Muck Island

I also managed to add Manx shearwater to the 2023 list and the North Down patch. Setting sun, warm evening, mill pond sea, coastal path and spotted six shearwater about 400m out - magic as the following pictures show.

2023

145: Manx shearwater

NDCP

66: Manx shearwater

WOW

83: Kittiwake

It's been a while!

Suddenly realised it has been well over a month since the last blog. Had no idea the year was galloping on. We're off on our travels again so thought it was a good idea to do a round up of what has happened since April. It's a bit long, so grab a coffee!

Firstly the garden and coastal path have added a few expected additions including a bullfinch in the garden - the first this year! I have also added swallow, common tern, meadow pipit, greenfinch, swift, linnet and house martin. 

WOW has also added a few expected birds - swift, house martin, swallow, common tern, arctic tern, wren, ruff and an unexpected kittiwake. The common tern numbers have reached 220 and there are 1000+ black-headed gulls and at least 5 pairs of Mediterranean gulls. Waders are scarce and while there are still 5 duck species numbers are greatly reduced. Unfortunately bird flu has appeared again mainly among the black-headed gulls and as I write this the reserve has been closed. 

Gadwall

Shelduck

Shoveler

New camera being installed

Don't stop or you will sink

Blizzard of gulls

Black-headed gulls, Mediterranean gulls and common tern on nesting platform

Pair of tufties, 

Egg thief - story below

New tern platform in place.

Terns taking to the temporary platform which was pulled out on Tuesday

Kittiwake

Black-headed gull chicks

The egg thief shot is from the back of John Fraser's camera. The two tufted ducks, came ashore and the female laid an egg. No nest, no fuss, then they ambled off and left it making no attempt to defend or brood it. The hooded crow was in very quickly to grab it and fly off. 

The 2023 list has slowly ticked up, boosted by a trip to the Antrim Hills and Rathlin. I added swift, common and arctic tern at WOW, a cuckoo in the Antrim Hills, whitethroat at Orlock, sedge warbler at Lough Beg and Rathlin added corncrake, puffin, great skua, water rail and wheatear. 

Cuckoo (phone shot)

Rathlin hawthorn

Corncrake country

I'll do another post with some nice landscapes from Rathlin and the Gobbins. Not so many bird shots as I don't have the good camera, then it's back to Bolton and a mega holiday involving passports. 

2023

133: Swallow

134: Swift

135: Common tern

136: Whitethroat

137: Arctic tern

138: Cuckoo

139: Sedge warbler

140: Corncrake

141: Puffin

142: Great skua

143: Water rail

144: Wheatear

NDCP

57: Sandwich tern

58: Swallow

59: Common tern

60: Meadow pipit

61: Greenfinch

62: Swift

63: Linnet

64: House martin

65: Bullfinch 

WOW

75: Starling

76: Swift

77: House martin

78: Swallow

79:Common tern

80: Arctic tern

81: Wren

82: Ruff

83: Kittiwake