Autumn solstice check in

Hard to believe the year is now three quarters of the way through, the nights are drawing in and the winter visitors are on their way or have recently arrived - brent geese, whooper swans and pink-footed geese. The patch birding has slowed to a crawl and I have only added curlew sandpiper to the 2025 list. 

The North Down patch is marooned on 63 with very little chance of reaching the 70 target. Best I can do is a picture of a stunning sunset from the top room window looking west.

The WOW patch can still raise the pulse rate on the odd occasion, but still remains 3 short of the 100 bird target. I added curlew sandpiper this year after drawing a blank last year. Three turned up at the very back for about a week. We also had a brief glimpse of a kingfisher and a pair of flyover ravens. The final addition was a gannet scoped from Kinnegar which was closer to Whiteabbey than Holywood, but hey - if you can see it while standing on your patch it counts. 

I have tried to connect with the influx of glossy ibis and black terns but have not succeeded. A few days in Donegal didn't add any new birds to the list but it did however add 3 species to the County list - black-tailed godwit, bar-tailed godwit and Canada goose. The Canada goose was seen at Inch levels in  a flock of several hundred feral geese split between Canada and Greylag. I had no idea there were large feral flocks in that area. 

Whooper swan (Credit to Ivor Greer)

Inch levels from the hide

As well as several hundred geese there were 6 whooper swans and several pochard which seemed to be a trifle early for winter arrivals. They looked more like they had remained over the summer which threw me completely. Comments on this welcome, particularly if you are familiar with the Inch levels and have first hand knowledge. We picked up bits and pieces en route but nothing stunning or worthy of a photograph. 

Glenveagh Castle was bird free apart from chaffinches INSIDE the café feeding on food scraps and crumbs.

Lovely walk along an old railway line below Muckish which needs re-visited in spring. It was also bird free although a Force 6 breeze didn't help.

Pollet Great Arch had a couple of stonechats on the way down and small families of meadow pipits. 

There were also fulmar, gannet and Manx shearwaters off Fanad Head but I really was not best equipped for a three hour sea watch and I suspect my travelling companions would have rebelled at the thought. 

2025
144: White wagtail
145: Curlew sandpiper

NDCP

63: Greylag goose

WOW

93: Peregrine falcon

94: Curlew sandpiper

95: Gannet

96: Raven

97: Kingfisher

It's been a while

It's been a while since I did a post and there's a couple of reasons for this. First I've been a bit busy with family across the water and secondly there hasn't been an awful lot to report on. We will take it a patch at a time.

The local patch has thrown up both guillemot and razorbill which are expected this time of year close to the coast. I also picked up the feral flock of greylag geese doing a fly round from Ward Park

WOW has had a few good birds of late including a long expected great white egret. I have been predicting one of these for at least three years but as fate would have it, it turned up while I was in Bolton and did not stay long enough for me to connect. I did connect with little egret and white wagtail and also had a fleeting glimpse of a young peregrine falcon which has been hanging around trying its luck. Exciting things are happening at D3 and this week they took down our shiny new fence and blocked off the back gate. This was planned work and the ponies will be back when the work is finished and the gate re-instated. 

No entry!!

This was it in July

Ruff - one of 14

Different ruff

Common tern

Lapwing

Lapwing

The 2025 list is crawling up into the 140s but most possibilities have been hoovered up so it is a matter of being a bit lucky or getting put on to something which has been spotted by someone else. I can tell you now the bogey bird of 2025 is treecreeper. I have spent quite a few pleasant walks wandering round likely wooded areas but so far I have not been lucky, and with treecreeper you need that bit of luck. I can see me doing laps of Castle Park in Bangor between now and December looking for droppings on a roosting site in a nice coniferous tree. 

I went owl hunting up Druridge Bay in Northumberland and managed a barn owl. The hoped for little owl has either gone or was in hiding but I did see two red-legged partridge while doing a three point turn in a farm gate. I also had a tawny owl hooting away very close to Richard's house in Bolton. It was actually in the big poplar tree at the bottom of the garden but try as I could I was unable to actually see it. I got a recording on Merlin but cannot see anyway of getting it on here from my phone.

Cresswell Pond at dusk

Grey heron at Randalstown courtesy of David Miller

Roe deer at Druridge Pools which were bone dry

2025
142: Red-legged partridge
143: Barn owl
144: White wagtail

NDCP

61: Guillemot

62: Razorbill

63: Greylag goose

WOW

91: Little egret

92: White wagtail

93: Peregrine falcon

Summer update

Realised it's been a month since a post and although things are moving slowly I am due in Cavan and Bolton in a week or two so it will be a while between posts if I don't do a wee update now. Since the last post I have added a few birds and had a couple of trips to islands - I like islands.

WOW has been quite busy, is still holding water and tern breeding is in full swing. We have common terns, sandwich terns and a few arctic terns. The spoonbill is still there after 6 weeks and we have also had at least 5 common sandpipers, greenshank, knot, dunlin, ruff and a long staying little ringed plover. Work continues on D3 and there is now an information board. The old jetty has gone as has the oil boom. Not sure what will happen if there is an oil spill, but as they say in work - "Not my problem". 

D3 information board

WOW from the sluice Gate

There are 4 common sandpipers in this shot. If I had tech skills I would put a little arrow on them, but I don't!!

Sleeping shoveler

Common sandpiper

The coastal path hasn't produced much of note  but I have had a couple of additions with a calling raven overhead and a fly by common tern 

Two days on Rathlin added corncrake and great skua. The former was a nice surprise, the latter sort of expected at a very windy seabird centre which closed at 1.00pm the day we were there.

Standard Rathlin view

A boat trip to the Copeland Islands and a trip round the observatory on a warm clear evening was very educational. I was last there 10 years ago and it was great to make a return visit. Bird wise it was a bit disappointing as we only has single shearwaters, a couple of gannets, one puffin in flight and a brief stock dove in flight. The company was good and it was good to get an amble around and an update on the goings on from Wesley Smyth who gave us a tour. 

Heading out from Bangor

The landing

The observatory

Return sunset

Sorry there aren't a lot of birds to look at, but there are some nice views.

2025
138: Manx shearwater
139 Little ringed plover

140: Corncrake

141: Great skua

NDCP

58: Gannet

59: Raven

60: Common tern

WOW

88: Spoonbill

89: Manx shearwater

90: Little ringed plover

More spring goodies

We are now well into June so it is time to post an update before I lose all track of what I saw and where I saw it.

We will start local as there have been three additions to the local patch -  swift, Manx shearwater and gannet. The main reason for this is that the garden is in full leaf, birds are harder to see and I haven't walked the coastal path as much as I would like.

WOW continues to throw up surprises. We had 6 pairs of breeding Mediterranean gulls, and the sandwich terns have over 50 nests and now there are chicks - easily seen on the camera. It also served up a greenshank, ruff and 2 male garganey in mid May  plus arctic terns.  When I returned in early June one garganey was still there and this week we had two firsts for WOW - a Canada goose and a spoonbill. Obviously the spoonbill was the centre of attention as there is a feral flock of Canada geese in Strangford Lough. The spoonbill was feeding well outside Hide 2 and roosting at the back of the reserve so the photos are not good. At one point it was sitting on the trestle outside Hide 2 so I went round there only to find it had flown off to the back of the reserve. Oh how we laughed (not)!! I had 34 species this week including all 4 swift/hirundines, 5 ducks, 5 gulls and 5 waders. 

Spoonbill - no doubt

Better than a flyover

Please come closer

Oh look it's at Hide 2 - run!!

Garganey and black-tailed godwit

Garganey

Garganey

Shelduck family

Shelduck family

Arctic tern

Arctic tern

I also got to England (again!!) and we had a day at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. This added 6 birds which are not native to Northern Ireland or very hard to get a look at: Cetti's warbler, reed warbler, marsh harrier, marsh tit, sedge warbler and a flyover spoonbill which I got really excited about until I went to WOW last week. We were also told there were ospreys feeding and there is a nest for them according to the notice in the café.

Osprey cam

Well look at the ospreys, they have changed into a pair of greater black-backs with three chicks and we never did see the osprey (or hobby or bittern). Never mind it was a good day out with a nice lunch in the café and an oystercatcher nest with a single chick. 

        

Oystercatcher nest at Leighton Moss

Locally I added fulmar kittiwake and puffin on a round Rathlin boat trip, a mandarin duck on the river at Broughshane and a flyover red kite at the Quoile Bridge near Downpatrick. 

Mandarin duck

Finally there is this little chap which hit a window in Carnalea, was rescued, revived and released by my birding pal David Miller. We thought it might be a twite but then sanity took over and we went for a fledgling linnet.

2025

124: Carrion crow (from February!!)

125: Kittiwake

126: Fulmar

127: Puffin

128: Ruff

129: Garganey

130: Mandarin duck

131: Sedge warbler

132: Cetti's warbler

133: Reed warbler

134: Marsh harrier

135: Spoonbill

136: Marsh tit

137: Red kite

138: Manx shearwater

NDCP

55: Swallow

56: Swift

57: Manx shearwater

58: Gannet

WOW

83: House martin

84: Greenshank

85: Ruff

86: Garganey

87: Canada goose

88: Spoonbill

Spring migrants arrive

 As you guys all know April and May are the months to be out and about. Last year I wasn't out and about but this year things are much better. 

Bolton at Easter was a brilliant family time and birding had to take a back seat, however I was able to squeeze in the odd twitch and a few walks.  I finally got to Rochdale and the peregrine falcon  was spotted on the town hall. Unfortunately they are not breeding there this year so it's a bit hit and miss. There is a web site with a camera trained on the nest but mostly it is empty as the falcons are breeding elsewhere in the town but occasionally the male pitches in and you might be lucky. They also have their own Facebook page. 

https://www.rochdaletownhall.co.uk/conservation/falcons

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

Rochdale town hall

Phone shot I'm afraid, peregrine is sitting on the wee buttress down from the top.

Elton Reservoir had singing willow warbler and a nice walk. We went to Formby beach to paddle and build sandcastles and got gannet offshore, and on the way home detoured to Marshside RSPB for common sandpiper and pink-footed goose. (I also managed to miss a little ringed plover and a spoonbill).  A trip to Martin Mere only added a wheatear flying across the road. The reserve itself didn't offer a lot as you know from the previous post. We finally heard a tawny owl on the last night having missed it in February. I am also adding in carrion crow which was seen in February but escaped the list!

Back home and the coastal path finally turned up sandwich tern but also a singing whitethroat. Not an annual event but it was nice to see one again. I also got a swallow one evening hunting over Main Street in Bangor having not seen one at all last year. 

WOW had lots of  interesting birds as the breeding season got underway. The Mediterranean gulls are back in force with at least 4 pairs and possibly five. The little gull was still there into its fifth week. The most interesting observation concerns the sandwich terns. Normally we see the odd one or two early in the season but they don't stay. This year we have had over 30 who look like they are settling to breed (displaying, pair bonding, mutual feeding and mating). This follows on from the 60+ we had roosting at the end of the summer in 2024. We think they have re-located from Cockle Island in Groomsport which has been tern free so far this year. High tides seem to have washed out the nests last year so we think the terns have voted with their wings and moved to WOW. Common and arctic terns have both arrived and we have had the full suite of sand martin, house martin, swallow and swift hunting overhead. The wooded areas are full of singing birds and I added willow warbler and blackcap in the trees behind Hide 2.  Finally we also had a common sandpiper feeding in front of the window plus all the resident birds nesting. 

A trip up to Glenwherry for cuckoo drew a blank but we came back via Capanagh Wood and the Starbog Road and bingo, cuckoo seen and heard. A tidy spring list and there is still three weeks to go. 

Black-tailed godwits are colouring up nicely

Shovelers are sleeping

Mediterranean gulls on the platform

Sandwich terns on the platform

Nesting coot

Common sandpiper

The two shots of the nesting platform are screen shots taken from the camera on the platform as they are too far away for reasonable photographs. The camera is focused on a Mediterranean gull nest and it is giving good views of the pair. Hopefully the sandwich terns will breed as well.

2025
110: Little gull
111: Willow warbler
113: Gannet
114: Pink-footed goose
115: Common sandpiper
116: Wheatear
117: Tawny owl
118: Common tern
119: Swift
120: Whitethroat
121: Arctic tern
122: Cuckoo
123: House martin
124: Carrion crow (from February!!)

NDCP

52: Meadow pipit

53: Whitethroat

54: Sandwich tern

55: Swallow

WOW

75: Little gull

76: Willow warbler

77: Blackcap

78: Common tern

79: Swift

80: Swallow

81: Common sandpiper

82: Arctic tern

83: House martin