The grand tour

 A bit like Victorian nobility jaunting round Europe, Tanya and I jaunted round Northern England. Not a lot of bird pictures, some scenic shots but lots of year ticks. 

We will just go chronologically starting with a red kite along the A69 near Castle Douglas. Northumberland was very family orientated but I was still following the local WhatsApp group and the spotted redshank was still at Bothal Pond. Nice little spot which also added two early swallows (April 4th). Following family stuff we had an afternoon at Washington WWT. I have not been there for a long time so it was basically a new adventure and we did the circuit of the wild bit away from the captive birds. Spring was in the air and Merlin was greatly in use as there was a lot of birdsong. We saw over 40 species including multiple chiffchaffs, 3 goosander, a self found spotted redshank, singing blackcaps, 5 stock doves at the feeders, 12 avocet on the wader lake and a nice comma butterfly. 

Cowslips were rampant at Brockholes LWT reserve

Comma

Visits to Hadrian's Wall and Alnwick Castle were basically bird free apart from a falconry display at Alnwick where Harris hawks and a Lanner falcon were the main attraction. I am ambivalent about captive birds of prey but the Lanner falcon could seriously shift!

Wall at Housesteads

Inner Bailey at Alnwick

The next stop was south to Bawtry to catch up with friends and we had a morning in the Idle Valley Country Park. I had not been there since 2019 but it was a warm sunny morning, birdsong was rampant and we listed 35 species including 5 cattle egrets, multiple chiffchaffs and blackcaps, first willow warblers of the year, a singing whitethroat which popped up nicely for a view  and a singing garden warbler which I actually picked up myself from the song, saw briefly and had  confirmed by Merlin. Oh happy day! Then on to Bolton via a birdless M62 and finally heard the local tawny owl from the bedroom window. Next day we had a frustrating walk with the dog as we heard three calling nuthatches but failed to get a good view of any of them. I next spent over an hour at the Elton Reservoir feeders with a brief walk between showers. This gave all the usual suspects at the feeders  including parakeets plus 2 jays hanging on to the suet feeder AND a heard and seen nuthatch. I have never seen jays at any feeders before and their feeding method seemed to be to hammer the suet as much as possible before they fell off and hopefully knock some suet to the ground for eating. A second visit to Elton for an evening walk gave sand martins, swallow and a nice reed bunting but not the hoped for swifts seen there earlier in the day. That was that, as family duties meant there were no more bird trips and no more year firsts.

Now guaranteed at Elton

Lurking jay

Awful photo on the phone through the windscreen but it is a jay trying to eat suet!

Back home  and a morning at WOW added wheatear, common sandpiper, willow warbler and blackcap to the lists. There were also at least ten Mediterranean gulls around and a recent count produced around 400 black-headed gulls and 30+ lesser black backs who are already predating mallard chicks. Surprisingly we found all of our seven wintering ducks including a couple of teal, but it is getting to the stage of finding something that is not a BHG. Finally a swallow over Bangor and a church walk round Ballymacormick Point added a singing sedge warbler in the gorse and a couple of house martins over Groomsport. 

Moorhen

Black-headed gull

Passing shoveler

Spot the Med gull

Spot the kestrel in Lancashire

Ballymacormick Point - somewhere in there was a sedge warbler.

2026 

124: Dipper

125: Red kite

126: Spotted redshank

127: Swallow

128: Avocet

129: Garden warbler

130: Whitethroat

131: Willow warbler

132: Cattle egret

133: Tawny owl

134: Nuthatch

135: Common sandpiper

136: Wheatear

137: Sedge warbler

138: House martin

NDCP patch

55: Lesser black-backed gull

56: Swallow

Belfast RSPB patch

66: Dunnock 

67: Willow warbler

68: Blackcap

69: Common sandpiper

70: Wheatear

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

Better to be lucky than good

Before exciting dipper news, a quick update on the Bolton trip. I was able to get a trip round Elton Reservoir and came up with 29 species including Canada goose and ring-necked parakeet which are "English" ticks and a female kestrel which I should get at home. As most of you will know they are becoming increasingly rare and more difficult to get in Northern Ireland. It is nearly two years since I have seen one at home. 

The following day we were able to visit Pennington Flash which has an excellent bird feeding station and I had hopes of adding to the 2025 list. The Flash delivered with nuthatch, reed bunting, stock dove, willow tit, great spotted woodpecker and goosander. These are all regulars at the reserve, but not always seen in one visit. What was unexpected was not one but two great white egrets which gave excellent views from one of the hides. All in all a good hour's work, 37 species and a nice bowl of leek and potato soup in the café. 

Phone shot at Elton

Phone shot again

Pennington Flash great white egret and grey heron - another phone shot!

Finally got a trip to Burton Mere RSPB before heading home and added 32 species including Egyptian goose and yet another great white egret! 

Burton Mere great white egret

Black-tailed godwits

Burton Mere RSPB

Since our return, the North Down patch has added a soaring sparrowhawk and a singing greenfinch. WOW has also been quiet with nothing to get the pulse racing until this week when the Iceland gull finally had the decency to drop in on a Thursday morning and a whimbrel popped up on the grass bank at the back. As usual too far away for a good image so you are getting my usual "record shot" as well as a nice godwit and a view of the black headed gulls on the island starting in to their whole breeding routine. This week however the team put a stop to that with a deterrent scheme to try and stop the gulls nesting, so that the island is available for the later arriving terns. So far it seems to be working. 

Last week

This week

Nothing in the centre

Blackwit

Spot the Iceland gull

There it is!!

Definite lack of black on the primaries and tail.

A trip to Craigavon gave good views of a ring-necked duck along with 56 pochard all but three of them male!! No photos I'm afraid. The initial sighting was too far away and I didn't fancy lugging the scope round the one and a half mile walk for a closer view. You will have to make do with a nice scenic view of the northern balancing lake. 

I also managed a walk along the Divis trail as well, a walk I have been unable to do for quite some time. We had a sunny day, beautiful views over Belfast and two additions to the 2025 list - skylarks chasing and singing and 4 ravens doing what ravens do when the weather is good - chasing, rolling, playing and calling. As per usual I heard them before I saw them. 

Belfast from Divis viewpoint

The dipper then I hear you ask? After two years of dipping out (groan) with multiple visits to the Sixmilewater at Antrim, the Threemilewater at Mossley and five different spots in and around Bolton where I recorded Dippers in the past, I finally nailed one on the River Tonge ten minutes walk from base in Bolton in a spot I hadn't previously checked. I went back twice to try and get a photograph and it wasn't there!! Typical birding mantra - right place right time or as Gerry Murphy used to say on a Thursday morning at WOW, "Better to be lucky than good" 

NDCP

48: Kingfisher

49: Greenfinch

50: Sparrowhawk

WOW

69: Long-tailed tit

70: Iceland gull

71: Whimbrel

89: Kestrel

90: Canada goose

91: Ring-necked parakeet

92: Nuthatch

93: Stock dove

94: Reed bunting

95: Willow tit

96: Great white egret

97: Goosander

98: Great-spotted woodpecker

99: Dipper

100: Egyptian goose

101: Ring-necked duck

102: Iceland gull

103: Skylark

104: Raven

105: Whimbrel

2024 wrap up

Christmas was spent in Bolton which gave the chance of a dipper - again!! Four walks at four sites which have dipper yielded nothing. There was a Caspian gull only five minutes drive away at Moses Gate Country Park. I visited four times but failed to see it. There were two reasons for this, firstly there were up to 60 large gulls, mainly herring gulls and a smattering of lesser black-backed and secondly I really wasn't sure what I was looking for. I thought I had it but thanks to Howard Vaughan (ace birder from Lesvos - remember?) it turned out to be a first year herring gull. I did see a nice kingfisher and some goosanders however so all was not lost.  It eventually moved on so I didn't have to visit on Christmas Day. A walk along the Irwell at Elton reservoir failed to find a dipper but did turn up a water rail preening out in the open along the canal. Not an easy bird to see as you all know but hey - right place right time! That pushed me up to 181 for the year. Richard's garden had treecreeper, nuthatch and two goldcrests in the same sycamore tree which augurs well for 2025. 

Withins reservoir in the mist

First year herring gull at Moses gate

....and again!!

Goosanders at Moses Gate

.... and again.

The two local patches stayed where they were in late November, well below the target.  However two late December strolls down Stricklands and west to Carnalea finally delivered mallard and curlew on the 29th and grey wagtail on the 31st.  My lack of mobility in the spring contributed to some missed birds but other seem to be the result of changing circumstances. The Bangor patch missed out on swallow and house martin - they simply weren't about in the places I expect to see them.  Swallows bred in Abbey Street in Bangor and house martins along Princetown Road but both have not bred this year. I haven't seen jays in Stricklands this year and I have not had a flyover raven. I think reed bunting and whitethroat have gone as well from the coastal path and the mild winter put the kibosh on redwing and fieldfare appearing in gardens. 

There were no reported curlew sandpipers in WOW this year and I have also missed out on redpoll, siskin, reed bunting and bullfinch on the feeders at WOW. I also failed to find willow warbler, chiffchaff and sedge warbler at WOW - mainly due to lack of mobility in the spring.

I genuinely think there are fewer migrants around and they have a harder time travelling with human interference and changing climate. A blogger from the South coast of England used to see thousands of migrants crossing from France in the 1970s and 1980s, now he is recording hundreds. All in all a bit depressing and I hope the trend can be reversed for future generations of birders. Then again who thought we would see little egret in Rathmore Road and have buzzard as a garden tick or expect to see great spotted woodpeckers in Castle Park?

Next year kicks off with the annual "Round the Lough" on New Years Day and a visit to WOW on January 2nd. That will kick start 2025 with the ongoing Irish garden birdwatch to start the local patch from the comfort of the house. Have a happy and prosperous New Year and a bird filled 2025.

2024

181: Water rail

NDCP

63; Stonechat

64: Mallard

65: Curlew

66: Grey wagtail

91: Goldeneye

Nearly there

I thought that the next blog would be the 2024 wrap-up, but there has been enough activity in the last four weeks to justify a wee top up before Christmas. 

WOW has been very quiet indeed with varying numbers of ducks and waders. Highlight was two of our "Class of 21" black-tailed godwits popping up again. They have been mainly seen at WOW, but have also been picked up at Kinnegar, Upper Strangford Lough, Whitehouse Lagoon and Dargan Bay. They have not been seen between March and August when presumably they are in Iceland breeding. I also got a millpond day at Kinnegar and was able to add goldeneye, common scoter and red-throated diver to the list. A red-head goosander was also cruising off Kinnegar for about a week- I finally got it on the 4th attempt in a downpour. 

The last three photos are pictures from the camera screen in the centre. If there is an interesting bird on the larger island you can get the staff to focus on them, zoom in and take a phone shot. 

Mallard & teal

Wigeon pair

Ringed godwit

Ringed godwit

Gadwall

Gadwall & mallard - note the size difference.

Shelduck and coot

The North Down patch added lapwing and stonechat to the list. The Irish garden birdwatch started and is now into its fourth week. Highlights in the first week were bullfinch (1),  blackcaps (3), goldcrest (1), song thrush (1) and linnets (2). Another interesting addition was a herring gull which is a regular visitor and is not fazed by someone opening the door and shouting at it. Other than that it is the usual suspects with blackbirds being the commonest species - anything up to eight depending on the time of day.

Blackcap (F)

Blackbird

Linnets & Chaffinch

Finally a few shots from the Bolton trip in October which I forgot about, they were all taken in Richard's garden in what might best be described as challenging light conditions if you are Digi-scoping from the bedroom window.

Sometimes birds are "discouraged"

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Nuthatch

2024

180: Goosander

NDCP

61: Little egret

62: Lapwing

63: Stonechat

WOW

87: Sanderling

88: Goosander

89: Red-throated diver

90: Common scoter

91: Goldeneye