Saturday 16 March 2024

Citizen science and garden birdwatching

Returning home I was back at WOW with high water levels and 6 ringed black-tailed godwits to look at. The reserve is still in a late winter stage with all seven ducks, flocks of roosting waders and singing robins. To date the only sign of spring is an increase in the number of black-headed gulls coming to the two nesting platforms. Mediterranean gulls have been noted, but not by me. The list remains at 59 as I have mopped up all the winter species I can reasonably expect. 

The ringed godwits are all part of the ringing programme at the reserve in April 2021. Some have been noted away from the reserve in Whitehouse and Kinnegar as well as a few records from Wales. All part of the great citizen science project which is vey satisfying to take part in. Thanks to Gareth Platt who keeps an eye on our sightings.






The garden has also hit a late winter stage with fewer birds at the feeders and the last week of the Irish Garden bird survey which runs for the three winter months. Basically much like last year with all the expected species. Excitement this year was provided by a single jay, single treecreeper, 5 blackcaps, 4 siskins, 6 linnets and two redpolls. I managed 30 species over the 13 weeks of the survey and blackbird was again the most numerous on the list. I was able to add sparrowhawk to the list and could have removed a woodpigeon as when I returned from England this was the sight which greeted me in the garden. 

The high tide roost on Seacliff Road finally produced patch ticks of purple sandpiper and dunlin. Today a swallow and a common tern were reported at WOW which is a tad early for both species. Seems that climate change has kicked in following the warmest February on record. 



Female siskin

Long-tailed tit

Male siskin

Female siskin at the niger feeder

While I was in England there were a couple of tasty birds in and around Portmore Lough so we took a run up to have a look. They were both seen well. The great white egret is now a regular visitor to Northern Ireland - Portmore has had 5 this winter. Cattle egret is also a more regular visitor and this one had attached itself to the only cow on Brankins Island Road which made it easy enough to find but not as easy to photograph as it kept hiding behind it in the reedy sedge.  
Cattle egret hidden behind the hedge close to the road.

Great white egret is easier to see

House sparrows

Cattle egret further away but still hard to see

Tree sparrow
Next week we are off again to Bolton to cover the taxi runs as the grand-children are in school. Hopefully we will be able to take in the odd bird reserve!!

2024
117: Nuthatch
118: Cattle egret
116: Great white egret

WOW
59 Eider duck

NDCP
43: Goldcrest
44: Dunlin
45: Purple sandpiper

Saturday 9 March 2024

Northumberland birdathon and other bits from England.

 A ten day trip to England always gives a few birding opportunities and this year was no exception. My birding pal David and I have been doing this for more years than we care to remember and have fallen into a predictable pattern starting at a reserve at Linton Lane and heading north until the light fails. 

Linton Lane is a "flash" - a pond of water surrounded by reeds and rough pasture caused by subsidence. It required a bit of an effort to get there as there had been a lot of rain and the approaches were flooded I was using a couple of sticks which were sinking into four inches of mud. However the effort to get there was rewarded as we were quickly seeing birds in the water and around the shores. We started with mute swans, mallard, tufted duck, gadwall, shoveler,  wigeon, pochard, coot, herring gull, black-headed gulls, little grebe, carrion crows, grey heron, wood pigeon and then a gorgeous barn owl which drifted over the hide and flew across the reeds in front of us. This was followed by a buzzard sitting on a distant pylon and a female marsh harrier slowly quartering the far shore and pushing about 200 teal out of the reeds into the water. Back to the car and we added robin, chaffinch, blackbird, song thrush, magpie, pheasant and grey partridge before driving to the Queen Elizabeth II Country Park.


Linton Lane

This is an interesting site with good birds on the water but there is also a mob of ducks and geese in the car park coming to be fed by well meaning locals who roll up with pan loaves, rolls and baguettes. We quickly added greylag geese, Canada goose, moorhen and common gull in the car park, but the most unexpected bird was a single whooper swan in the middle of the bread feeders. The lake gave us  goldeneye, cormorant, great crested grebe and red-throated diver. 

Whooper swan
Onwards past Woodhorn Flash an our first sightings of pink-footed goose and then through Lynemouth to hit the coastal road to Cresswell and Snab Point. The tide was fully in at this point so the flooded fields contained stonechatredshank, lapwing, curlew and oystercatcher. The high tide meant that small waders were absent but we did pick up great black-backed gullfulmar, eider duck, shag and common scoter out to sea. 

Our next stop was Cresswell Pond which is another "flash" but as it is only 100 m inland it is good for waders, ducks and all sorts of other goodies. We had a lot of wigeon, lapwing, coot and moorhen, but were amazed to see 17 Mediterranean gulls on the water as well as shelduck, red-breasted merganser, little egret, dunlin, ringed plover  and turnstone. The walk down to the hide is usually good for small stuff but this year there were no feeders so we only saw wren, starling and chaffinch.  

Cresswell Pond

Mediterranean gulls

The next leg to Druridge has a dune system on one side and farmland on the other side. There is usually a finch flock around the feeding areas for the cattle so we picked up on goldfinch, linnet, 3 grey partridge, pied wagtail, rook, jackdaw, magpie and a single skylark. A local birder asked us had we come to see the hooded crow. We laughed and said no, not really, we get them in the garden. Two minutes later the hooded crow did a flypast and got added to our list as well as being added to my Northumberland list. He also advised us that Druridge Pools were inaccessible without wellies, so after a cursory look and a nice female kestrel we headed for Widdrington where we saw 14 red-legged partridge and a nice wee house sparrow flock. 

East Chevington

We continued north to East Chevington and the new hides but the lake only held wigeon, tufted duck, mute swans, greylag geese, cormorants. lapwings and goldeneye, nothing to quicken the pulse so it was on to Druridge Bay Country Park, lunch and the feeders. It took us a while to find them as they have been moved but once we got our eye in we added quite a number of passerines to the list -  coal tit, blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, tree sparrow, dunnock, bullfinch and eventually a willow tit. Next stop was Hadston Scarrs and then into Hauxley Nature reserve and another feeding station which added reed bunting, siskin and greenfinch to the list. By this time the light was dropping, cloud was piling in and rain had set in so we had a quick look at  the beach south of  Amble,  the Amble estuary, (golden plover) and sped back to the QE II CP for a last look for the redhead smew which we had missed earlier - unfortunately we missed it again. 

Coquet Island from Low Hauxley


Feeders at Druridge Bay but no woodpecker.

Reed bunting (F)

My lack of mobility meant that sanderling didn't make the list and we somehow managed to miss collared dove, but we ended up with 75 species including 9 additions to the 2024 list. All in all a cracking day, beautiful scenery, friendly locals stunning birds and it was all we hoped it would be. 


The scenic route to Bolton added black grouse at Langdon Beck and Richard's garden turned up a nuthatch on the feeders and a calling tawny owl in the nearby woodland. Pennington Flash was a bit disappointing as the main feeding station was flooded and the smaller one was overrun with grey squirrels. It did however have at least a dozen reed buntings - the most I have seen anywhere for a long time. 
Pennington Flash, view from Pengy's hide

Reed buntings

Reed bunting

2024:
106: Pochard
107: Barn owl
108: Marsh harrier
109: Grey partridge
110: Mediterranean gull
111: Skylark
112: Red-legged partridge
113: Willow tit
114: Reed bunting
115: Black grouse
116: Tawny owl
117: Nuthatch

WOW
59: Eider duck, managed to miss this last time out!

NDCP
43: Goldcrest

Tuesday 13 February 2024

The Home Bargains fat balls edition

 Like all other garden birdwatchers I feed a variety of foods over the winter. I mainline on sunflower hearts with two feeders, one of which is squirrel proof. I also feed niger seed, fat blocks, suet pellets and kibbled peanuts on hanging feeders. Every morning I scatter mealworms and a groundseed mix from Vine House Farm - robin and friends mix if you are interested - not cheap but it all gets eaten and there is no mess. I have recently been feeding out of date mince pies but these are quickly snapped up by the herring gulls. Like most folk I bought a tub of suet balls from a local store, some were eaten quickly others had to be broken up eventually and scattered on the ground for the crows and pigeons. My son was feeding his birds on Home Bargains (HB) fat balls and they seemed to be disappearing at a rate of knots so I decided to try them as well. The difference was astonishing - they went like hot cakes, so now I only put one in the suet feeder and top up with different ones. I quickly noticed that no matter where in the feeder I placed the HB suet ball the birds always went for it first. Observation shows that all four tit species, and blackcaps go there first. If the magpies, rooks, hoodies and jackdaws appear they also do the same. Even the blackbirds which do not usually bother with the suet feeder as they can't really hang on for long will have a go at it. Evidence is below.

The HB variety is one from the top and is clearly a different colour!

Great tit and blackcap

Blackcap (F)

Blackcap (M)

Blue tit

Jackdaw

HB have also started selling suet blocks and they appear to use the same recipe so these are also going fast.  They are a different colour, they contain black sunflower seeds, and they do smell different and before you ask, no - I haven't tasted them!! Comments welcome as to why birds go straight to the HB fat balls first. 

Recent patch additions are goldcrest in the garden plus lesser black-backed gull, knot and robin at WOW

2024
105: Redpoll

WOW
56: Lesser black-backed gull
57: Robin
58: Knot

NDCP
43: Goldcrest





Sunday 11 February 2024

Day trip to Cairnryan

You read it correctly, I took a day trip to Cairnryan with the NIOC and a minibus tour of birding sites in and around Stranraer. The logistics involved a 0520 alarm, meeting at the Stena terminal at 0630, the 0730 sailing to Cairnryan and then various stops in and around Stranraer to look for raptors and seabirds. We finished at a harrier roost at dusk (1730) before heading back for the 1930 ferry to Belfast. I arrived back in Bangor at 2230 17 hours after leaving. 

Thanks to the NIOC and Gary Wilkinson  (for organising and driving). Despite my lack of mobility I was well looked after and the nature of the trip meant I could take a full part as there wasn't a great deal of walking involved. Bird wise we started on the ferry at first light, then drove round Loch Ryan with various stops at viewpoints where we could set up scopes and scan. With 13 ace birders on board as well as me, we didn't miss much. I decided to forget about the digi scoping and just enjoy the birds. There were plenty of photographers aboard and hopefully they will post on the J Birds Facebook page, when they do you will get a link to view them. Here's a few shots from the phone

Lunch stop at the Wig, scopes still primed for action

White Loch, Castle Kennedy

Broadstone Road viewing Loch Ryan

I managed 66 species on the day and definitely missed at least 10 spotted by others in the group, such as robin and pied wagtail. The list included 16 year firsts and three to add to my Scotland list. Difficult to pick a bird of the day when we saw 6 raptors (4 red kites, 2 buzzards, 3 hen harriers, 2 peregrines, 2 sparrowhawks and a kestrel) and 6 geese. (brent, barnacle, white fronts, pinkfeet, Canada and greylag). However two golden plovers and two grey plovers at the Wig were beautifully lit by a low winter sun and it would be difficult to go past these birds for top spot. Mind you four common scoters less than 50 m from the shore was a good spot as well. 

Back in the local patches there has not been anything to add to the WOW list. The ringed black-tailed godwit appeared again but the bird feeder in the garden came up trumps with a pair of siskins and a pair of redpolls on successive days. I genuinely can't remember the last time I saw either of these in the garden, certainly not last winter. I usually pick them up on the feeders at WOW but haven't seen any this winter. Traditionally they pop up on feeders in February/March when natural food is running out so there is still time to see them at WOW. The attached photos were a bonus as I have been setting the digiscope stuff up to get photos of the garden birds for this blog, and this week it came up trumps. Both of these guys will count towards the Irish Garden Bird count as well. There are three weeks to go and still time for the bullfinch to drop in. 

Greenfinch - never more than one

Siskin (M)

Linnet

Jackdaw

Siskin (F)

Redpoll (F)

Chaffinch & Redpoll (F)

2024
87: Purple sandpiper
88: Siskin
89: Fulmar
90: Gannet
91: Golden plover
92: Kestrel
93: Red kite
94: Scaup
95: Common Scoter
96: Peregrine falcon
97: Great northern diver
98: Grey plover
99: Pink-footed goose
100: Canada goose
101: Barnacle goose
102: White-fronted goose
103: Woodcock
104: Hen harrier
105: Lesser redpoll

WOW
55: Great black-backed gull


NDCP
40: Greenfinch
41: Siskin
42: Lesser Redpoll


 


Saturday 27 January 2024

It's still January

 Came across this little poem which I thought summed up where we are this month:

       Thirty days hath September,

        April, June and November,

        Unless a leap year is its fate

        February has twenty-eight

        All the rest have three days more, 

        Excepting January

        Which has six thousand one hundred and eighty - four.

Anyway the evenings are stretching out and we have only had one cold spell here in balmy Bangor. Cold spells  are designated as such if my pond freezes over. This happened on four mornings last week. The local Bangor patch has added a kingfisher at the Long Hole and a greenfinch turned up on the feeder. The coastal path added ringed plover, common gull and pied wagtail. Here's a selection of garden visitors including one of the 5 herring gulls which fly round waiting for out of date mince pies. Other birds will take the crust and the crumbs when they are broken up but the gulls are quickly in and swallow them whole. It's nice to see the song thrush in the garden, I don't get too many and it is a regular visitor as are the house sparrows

Long Hole Kingfisher

Mrs Blackcap

Collared dove

Coal and blue tit

Mr & Mrs house sparrow

Mr Blackcap

Song thrush

Herring gull

Blackcap

WOW continues to rack up species as you would expect in a new year. I am now up to 55 for the RSPB patch  having added 15 species including linnet, wigeon and stonechat. The full list is below. 

I promised a report on the ringed black-tailed godwit which was ringed as an adult female in April 2021. It has been resighted 10 times since then, six times at WOW,  once at Whitehouse Lagoon on the north side of Belfast Lough, once on Kinnegar beach and twice at Island hill which is at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It has not been seen in Iceland where it should go to breed. Some of the other birds ringed in the same catch have popped up in North Wales and Norfolk but this individual has not been re-sighted outside Northern Ireland.  

The buzzard is a regular visitor and hunts a range of prey but last week it perched up with something different. It took us a long time to work out what it was but it turned out to be a single glove which had been left out by one of the volunteers who do work on the reserve. The picture is awful, but be assured it is one of our gloves. 

Moorhen

Mallard pair

Ringed godwit - history above.

Teal

Red-breasted merganser

Buzzard and glove.
Little grebe

2024:
85: Ringed plover
86: Kingfisher
87: Purple sandpiper

WOW:
41: Long-tailed tit
42:Dunnock
43: Gadwall
44: Buzzard
46: Pied wagtail
46:Dunlin
47: Song thrush
48: Stonechat
49: Wigeon
50: Rook
51: ringed plover
52: Linnet
53: Robin
54: Meadow pipit
55: Great black-backed gull

NDCP:
36: Pied wagtail
37: Ringed plover
38: Kingfisher
39: Common gull
40: Greenfinch