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

Approaching the equinox

Hard to believe we are nearly at the end of June but I have noticed a decline in bird song as the parents are feeding young and too busy to entertain us. I have had some good sessions at WOW and a boat trip to the Gobbins from Bangor. Not much walking along the coastal path due to a sciatic related muscle problem in the hip area. Hopefully it is on the mend and I will be able to get out and about a bit more. It is getting to be a bit frustrating not being able to walk 3 or 4 miles without thinking about it. I still managed to add Manx shearwater and house martin. Here are a few shots from WOW. Star bird was a male garganey closely followed by arctic terns. There are still non-breeding black-tailed godwits around while shovelers are going into eclipse plumage. My fellow volunteer John Fraser got a good shot of the garganey, thanks to him for permission to use it. 

John Fraser's garganey shot

My garganey shot

Arctic tern

Arctic tern

Black-tailed godwit

Common terns getting jiggy-jiggy

Common terns 

Eclipse shoveler

Obligatory Med gull

Shelducklings

The Gobbins trip gave good views of the seabird colonies and peregrines, plus lesser black-backed gulls which appeared to like egg and onion sandwiches as they followed the boat back to Bangor

Gobbins walk from the sea

Looking for peregrines

Kittiwakes and guillemots

Homeward bound

All lesser black-backs

What's not to like?

2022

142: Arctic tern

143: Garganey

NDCP

58: Manx shearwater

59: House martin

WOW

71: House martin

72: Arctic tern

73: Little egret

74: Garganey

75: Manx shearwater

Island hopping - 3 - Rockabill

 Another day another island. This was a 4 hour trip out of Malahide to Rockabill and Lambay which are in Dublin Bay. They contain significant seabird colonies on Ireland's east coast. Rockabill in particular is a haven for the rare roseate tern (1700+ pairs) with common (1600+) and arctic terns (55) as well as kittiwake(200) and black guillemots (60). It is off limits to people but we had special permission for a small group to land for a couple of hours. The island is only the size of a football pitch and has a lighthouse and accommodation which is used by Birdwatch Ireland wardens from May to September when the terns are present. It is an exhilarating place to go as you are surrounded by the sight, sound and smell of seabirds. You are also under attack and need a reasonable hat and old clothes as you may be shat upon (I was). Forget long lenses, you don't need them, as the terns are seen close up and personal. For once the point and shoot camera and the phone did the job. Lambay Island has a gannet colony plus the usual guillemots, razorbills, puffins, cormorants and shags. We cruised off the cliffs but did not land. We did however see fallow deer and wallabies which are on the island. There is an excellent one hour documentary about Rockabill on Vimeo which is well worth a watch as it will fill in a lot of background and give views which I will never get. 

Rockabill on Vimeo

https://vimeo.com/462712696

I am only going to post a few photos, I took far too many on the grounds that I might not be back. As one of the other guys said, his computer will crash and die when he goes to edit everything he has on his Canon set up. 

Roseate tern

Black guillemots

Lighthouse

Common tern nest, 2 eggs & 2 chicks

Kittiwake ledges

Roseate tern boxes

Roseate tern

Common tern

Common tern and chick

Rockabill

Gannet colony on Lambay

Common tern nest on top of the wall

Under attack!!

I will hopefully catch up on the patches and general birding in a further post, but felt the islands deserved their own space as the three trips were equally memorable in their own way. Rathlin for peace and solitude, Islay and Jura for the sea eagles and Rockabill for the most amazing tern spectacle I have ever seen or am ever likely to see. 

It can't be June already!!

The year gallops on apace and there is still birding to be done and migrants to chase. WOW has opened up and there has been a very welcome return to Thursday mornings with added social distancing and masks, but the coffee is nice. I am now up to 64 at WOW as I catch up with stuff I have missed like redpoll, willow warbler, blackcap, sedge warbler, greenfinch and house martin. There was also an unexpected pink-footed goose and a curlew sandpiper as well as returning arctic terns. Some attached photos will give you a flavour of a very pleasant Thursday morning. 

BHG chicks

Posing black-headed gull

Shelduck

Shoveler

Take off & landing area

Arctic tern

Tern raft, only out a week and nearly full

Pied wagtail fledgling

Mute swan and 4 cygnets - doomed to not fledge!!

Arctic terns

Arctic tern

Arctic tern

Common tern

The coastal path has added swift and swallow to the list, but is otherwise quiet. Locally the 2021 list struggles on with pheasant, sedge warbler, whitethroat, whimbrel and arctic tern picked up locally, curlew sandpiper and pink-footed goose at WOW and a splendid male hen harrier in the Antrim Hills.

 I  added kestrel, red grouse, goosander and water rail while in England. A walk up Winter Hill a local beauty spot near Bolton started off with a calling cuckoo and for the next two hours it was a constant backdrop to the walk. At one point we had the calling cuckoo, a singing skylark and a red grouse calling as it flew. This was one of those litttle happy moments which will stick in the mind long after all else has gone. I have not seen a kestrel in Northern Ireland this year and struggle to remember the last one I saw and where - I think it was two years ago on Black Mountain.

 In the last day or two we went a-twitching to Woodburn for osprey and Craigantlet for rose-coloured starling - brief/distant views and no pictures unfortunately.

I have done a couple of dawn choruses. The Quoile Pondage produced 41 species and red deer. Highlight was the sheer number of singing warblers. I also did an early start round Elton Reservoir near Bury which was different in that I had a calling tawny owl in daylight at 0630 plus all the usual warbler songs including whitethroat, cetti's and sedge warbler. I was also looking at a lapwing chick alerted by one of the parents seeing off a couple of gulls. While watching the lapwing chick a water rail walked across behind it- happy days!!

Red deer at Finnebrogue on the Quoile

Swimming from the island in the river

Magic!!

2021      

118: Sedge warbler

119: Curlew sandpiper

120: Whitethroat

121: Pink-footed goose

122: Whimbrel

123: Hen harrier

124: Arctic tern

125: Kestrel

126: Red grouse

127: Water rail

128: Goosander

129: Pheasant

130: Osprey

131: Rose-coloured starling

NDCP  

60: Lesser black-backed gull 

61: Swift

62: Swallow

WOW     

54: Common tern  

56: Willow warbler 

57: Blackcap 

58: Sedge warbler 

59: Curlew sandpiper 

60: Pink-footed goose

61:House martin

62: Greenfinch

63: Arctic tern

64: Redpoll