Post Lesvos inertia

No blog of late as there hasn't been a lot to report. WOW has been very quiet and I have not done a lot of walking along the coastal path. The mild temperatures mean less garden birds and I haven't even put the bulk of the feeders out yet. I will wait until it gets a lot colder.  Having said that the Irish garden bird survey kicks off in 2 weeks. The lists have not moved a lot and like last year I think I will miss my "targets". At present I am in the following position with only 7/8 weeks of the year left.

    WOW target is 100 -  presently on 87

    North Down is 70 -  presently on 61

I added mistle thrush to the North Down patch - the first in nearly two years - but the surprise sighting from a recent walk was a little grebe swimming just off the rocks. This was a totally unexpected tick and the first time I have seen a little grebe on the North Down patch. It is one of those birds I never expected to see as the habitat is all wrong. Clearly the "Anything can turn up anywhere" maxim kicked in here. It also was relevant to the little egret in the Long Hole - another patch first. It has been reported to me, but I kept missing it as I went when the tide was wrong. This week the tide was falling and low, and there it was. That was two new patch ticks on two successive days. 

WOW has remained static but a recent trip to England added ring-necked parakeet and mandarin duck. I again managed to miss dipper despite visiting two sites where I had seen them in the past. I missed dipper last year and a recent amble along the Sixmilewater at Antrim also failed to produce the goods. It is becoming a bogey bird again this year. The attached phone pictures were the best I could do for the parakeets and the mandarin. 

Ring-necked parakeets

Ring-necked parakeets

Mandarins and mallards

The proposed development at D3 has not yet started in earnest so here is a shot from the back gate of WOW looking down the river. Apparently that will not be accessible once the cruise liner terminal is completed, the existing path will only go as far as Hide 2. 

I'll finish with a nice sunset from the coastal path at Stricklands to cheer us all up and a view over the reserve at Castle Espie from the coffee shop! 

2024

177: Wryneck

178: Ring-necked parakeet

179: Mandarin duck

NDCP

58: Rock pipit

59: Mistle thrush

60: Little grebe

61: Little egret

WOW

87: Sanderling