Keep on keeping on

This will update both patches before a planned trip to Northumberland and Bolton to add all sorts of goodies I can't get locally.

I have added eight to the North Down list - garden goldcrest, Carnalea black guillemot and Ballyholme brent geese, but a visit to the Long Hole to look for rock pipit turned up a most unexpected addition to the patch list in the form of a single twite. I noticed a small bird feeding on the small weedy, stony beach between the Long Hole and the back of the North Pier - not rock pipit as it had a stubby finch bill so having ruled out redpoll I was left with linnet (expected) and twite (a long shot). I got good close views and bingo, it's a twite. 

A female sparrowhawk also had the decency to land in the garden and do a bit of preening - it didn't get a meal. I finally added rock pipit and also picked up an offshore red-throated diver on one of my many visits to look for the kingfisher which has graced the Long Hole for three years but I fear it has finally gone. Stricklands produced the expected grey wagtail on the lower pond so I have now seen most of the species I expect to see at the start of the year. 

Twite at the Long Hole

WOW continues to have high water levels despite the sluice being open. Apparently the sluice drains into a storm drain which takes the water towards the channel. However in times of heavy rain (like 2026) the run-off from the road pushes back up the sluice and pushes the water into the reserve. The key is to anticipate a period of heavy rainfall and close the sluice. Clearly it is not as simple as open the sluice and let the water out, plus the sluice needs frequently dredged, cleaned and raked to remove all the detritus trying to get out and gumming up the works. The resulting high water levels means that the reserve is not as favourable for small waders. I did manage jackdaw and ringed plover at Kinnegar so it is not all bad.

Old friend from April 2021

New Stena ferry

Swan pair, we hope they don't stay

Male gadwall

As well as goldcrest and twite (see above) I finally saw a treecreeper in a friend's garden close to Castle Park in Bangor, Having not seen one in all of 2025 it was a bit unexpected  to see one in a suburban garden. What was even more bizarre was to see one land in a tree in front of me in Antrim Castle Gardens the very next day  while I was using it for cover to watch a small flock of lesser redpoll bathing in a puddle!!  I finally added pheasant by nearly running over a splendid male near Ardmillan whilst out looking for fieldfares which are still off the list. 

2026
80: Goldcrest
81: Twite
82: Treecreeper
83: Lesser redpoll
84: Pheasant

85: Red-throated diver

86: Grey wagtail

NDCP

43: Black guillemot

44: Goldcrest

45: Brent goose

46: Twite

47: Sparrowhawk

48: Grey wagtail

49: Red-throated diver

50: Rock pipit

WOW

58: Knot

59: Jackdaw

60: Ringed plover

The North Down patch

Oh you lucky people, instead of once a month you get two in a week as I try to update the local patch which also includes a few 2026 birds I didn't see on New Years day. That includes this little beauty which pitched into the garden two days in a row.

Jay on the bird table

I didn't get jay on the local patch last year and it is a couple of years since I had one in the garden. A few days later three greenfinches turned up at the feeders. It is at least two years since I've had a garden greenfinch and the last one was a single male only seen once. It seems the cold spell has some benefits for the garden birder. The cold spell also encouraged a song thrush to feed in the garden and I then realised I had two of these, one in the apple tree and one on the grass.  These along with three blackcaps (2 female and a male) and three bullfinches (2 male and a female) were the standout birds in early 2026. The supporting cast were much as last year - chaffinch, goldfinch, linnet, robin, dunnock, blackbird, woodpigeon, collared dove, magpie, hooded crow, starling, herring gull, blue, coal, great and long-tailed tits. All obviously feature in the Birdwatch Ireland garden bird survey which is now in its sixth week - that means we are almost half way through the winter as it runs for 13 weeks. To date I have not seen jackdaw in the garden and my house sparrows have disappeared as well. Hopefully they will drop in during the next seven weeks. 

Greenfinch via the phone waved at the scope - the camera was on charge!

Camera shot

Blackcap (F)

Blackcap (M)

Song thrush

Coal tit

Linnet

Blue tit

Goldfinch & Chaffinch

Bullfinch

The coastal path and a walk towards Ballyholme  has added a few of the usual suspects - cormorant, turnstone, eider duck, common gull, black-headed gull, jackdaw, pied wagtail, oystercatcher, redshank, dunlin, ringed plover, purple sandpiper, shag, house sparrow, rook and a wren on the top pond in Stricklands Glen.  A walk to Carnalea added moorhen, great black-backed gull, lapwing, grey heron and a razorbill in Smelt Mill Bay. All expected apart from the razorbill. Currently puts me on 42 for the patch. I will wrap that up for now and do another post on the WOW patch which got off to a solid start with 51 species.

2026

65: Tufted duck

66: Blackcap

67: Bullfinch

68: Coal tit

69: Jay

70: Linnet

71:Rock pipit

72: Ringed plover
73: Purple sandpiper
74: Coot
75: Moorhen
76: Snipe
77: Black guillemot
78: Razorbill

North Down patch

42: Razorbill

2025 Round the Lough

Daffodil on January 1st, same as two years ago!! 

Usual start to the new year with a yomp round Strangford Lough starting at the Flood gates outside Ards and heading south to the ferry at Portaferry. It was a fine cold clear morning with a brisk wind as we waited for the light to improve. First birds were black headed gulls closely followed by oystercatcher, curlew,  little egret, redshank, lapwing, pied wagtail, herring gull, greater black-backed gull, magpie, hooded crow, and blackbird.  We moved south and picked up shelduck, brent geese, woodpigeon, rook and jackdaw but like last year saw no pintail at all in their usual spot at the Maltings. The next stop at Anne's Point added teal, wigeon, shoveler  greenshank and black-tailed godwit in the saltmarsh followed by a flock of greylag geese in a field nearby. Kircubbin added house sparrow, meadow pipit  starlings, stonechat and eider duck before we continued south towards Bishop's Mill and a gentle stroll for collared dove, chaffinch, bullfinch and a common gull on the salt marshes. We continued round the shore aiming for the 1115 ferry and only added cormorant to the list followed by shag, black guillemot, turnstone and two northern Atlantic common dolphins which hang out around the slipway. David got a good photo off the ferry as it pulled out.

Coffee stop (and loo) in Strangford and then to Castleward Bay for gadwall and shoveler, Great Dam for linnet and tufted duck and finally to the Quoile Pondage nature reserve which involves lunch in the hide and an amble towards the yacht club - no bufflehead or barrow's goldeneye this year!! 

View from the hide (David Miller)

View from the Coal Quay (David Miller)

When we opened the shutters in the hide we were pleasantly surprised as there were birds everywhere in large numbers. It was a nice change from previous years when we struggled to find birds, possibly the high tide on the Lough (it was full in by this stage) had pushed stuff onto the reserve but we stopped speculating and started eating and looking. In no particular order we had mallard, wigeon, teal, goldeneye, 60+ pintail, little grebe,  great-crested grebe, greylag geese, mute swan, little egret, grey heron and then two large flocks of waders lifted - lapwing and golden plover. We also had redwing in a nearby field, so all in all a nice lunch break, especially when a jay flew across the road in front of the car and we spooked a suicidal pheasant by the side of the road. Then round to the Castle and the feeders which added blue, great and coal tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, robin, wren, dunnock  and moorhen.  By this time it was 2.30 and we reckoned we would have light till after 4 so we cracked on north to Killyleagh and the set-aside field which had been so productive in the previous two years. Unfortunately it had been ploughed up and sown in grass so no finch flocks. By now we were struggling to add new species and we headed to Whiterock where we had four thrush species in one field - blackbird, redwing, mistle thrush and song thrush plus snipe hiding in the seaweed. North again to Castle Espie (flyover buzzard) and a falling tide with lots of ducks, waders and geese including a large flock of knot. By now the light was dropping fast and we cut out and drove for home resigned to a day with no coot. David was inspired to drop in to Kiltonga en route and there was a coot round the viewing platform - bringing the grand total to 64 for the day. 

January 2nd saw a cold clear day at WOW and I was able to get out and do three hours birding with Ronnie Doggart a fully paid up member of the Thursday club. We started at Kinnegar then scoped the Lough from the Concentrix car park before visiting Hide 1, Hide 2, down to the channel and then back to base. Got off to a good start with 53 species including a few hard to get/unexpected species and 9 2025 ticks I missed the day before. The 9 additions to the 2025 list are in red.  All the usual suspects were present and correct on the reserve - little grebe, shelduck, shoveler, wigeon, gadwall, teal, mallard, curlew, lapwing, redshank, black-tailed godwit, coot, moorhen, magpie, hooded crow, woodpigeon, black-headed gull, herring gull, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, stonechat, wren, dunnock, robin, chaffinch, goldfinch, blackbird, and starling, Unexpected additions were goldcrest, mistle thrush, song thrush, fieldfare and redwing on the far bank and two chiffchaff feeding behind Hide 2. Scoping the lough added red-throated diver, red-breasted merganser, eider, great-crested grebe, cormorant,  black guillemot, guillemot and three razorbill.  Kinnegar added oystercatcher, bar-tailed godwit, knot, grey heron, ringed plover, turnstone, rook, jackdaw, common gull, and great black-backed gull while tufted duck were on the sewage works. 

The North Down patch including the garden got off to a slow start as I was out and about as you can see. To date there are 16 garden birds and 16 from the coastal path. I'll do a write up on that next time as I think there are enough ramblings and lists to go through - and a distinct lack of pictures to break up the text. 

2025
64 on 1st January from round the lough
9 on 2nd January from WOW
74: Blackcap in the garden
75: Dunlin along the Seacliff Road

76: Grey wagtail on the seaweed at Strickland's bay

77: Long-tailed tit in the garden

78: Purple sandpiper along the Seacliff Road

WOW

53 as outlined above

NDCP

32 - details soon!

Post surgery malaise

Well, we're done and dusted and making good progress on the hip surgery. Happy to sit behind a scope but still too early to go looking for exotic birds. I can't drive for 6 weeks and although Tanya is happy to scoot round Bangor, Ards and East Belfast, Portmore Lough, Glenwherry and Oxford island are a bridge too far. The garden has produced linnet and bullfinch and flyover swifts. WOW has also provided swifts and common terns as well as a pair of nesting Mediterranean gulls and a couple of arctic terns. There was also a very distant wood sandpiper last week. We agonised over it and ruled out lots of waders but I called it in to NIBirds as a "possible" and Bob Watts hot-footed over and confirmed it. Good photos were at a premium but there is one here:

https://nibirds.blogspot.com/2024/05/bird-news-thursday-16th-may.html

Probably the most interesting "sighting" was when the Merlin App said it had picked up a mistle thrush from the back garden. I haven't seen one of these on the patch in the last two years and despite looking round the area I couldn't see one, so it will remain a mystery. I fired off a few shots last week just to keep the blog ticking over so here we go. The three ducks were sitting in front of the observation room and there were about 20/30 terns scattered around the reserve, one of which came over to pose. 

Shoveler

Mallard

Gadwall

Med gull

Common tern

Arctic tern

2024

132: Swallow

133: Swift

134: Common tern

135: Arctic tern

136: Wood sandpiper

NDCP

54: Lesser black-backed gull

WOW

67: Swallow

68: Swift

69: Common tern

70: Arctic tern

71: Wood sandpiper

Pre-surgery catch-up

The surgery has been coming, as limited mobility kicks in and I had to bite the bullet and go for it. We are talking a double hip replacement. Hopefully I will be back in action before all the spring migrants have passed through so it is just right to do a quick update of where we are now. 

We will start at WOW which has been slow to drag itself out of winter. All seven winter ducks are still around, although teal and wigeon numbers are in single figures. Water levels are as high as I have ever seen them so waders are limited to black-tailed godwits with small numbers of anything else. Spring migrants are not hanging around in their rush to get north. Mediterranean gull numbers are well down from the 5 pairs of 2023, to one or two calling individuals. We suspect last years bird flu has had an impact. A pair of gadwall have been showing very well in front of the observation room and there have been up to 400 black-tailed godwits round the reserve so we are always checking for rings. I managed a walk to hide 2 by arriving early one day and had wren and blackcap in song. I also saw a common sandpiper and a swallow - both firsts for 2024 as well as WOW.

Gadwall(M)

Colouring up nicely

The lonely Med gull

Common sandpiper

The garden  is still pulling in finches including linnets. I was playing with the Merlin App and it registered linnet. I thought "Well that's a mistake", and one landed on the feeder thirty seconds later. The feeder is still being emptied every 3/4 days, so birds are still feeding.

Linnets

Chaffinch

Bullfinch

House sparrow

Goldfinch

The coastal path also added a few ticks one afternoon. I drove down, parked up, walked to a bench and set the scope up with the aim of waiting for a sandwich tern which I normally see in mid March. The sandwich tern duly flew past but I also added guillemot, razorbill, gannet and lesser black-backed gull as well. 

Next stop Dublin and there may well be a spell of radio silence. I should be able to put up a few photographs of the feeders even if I don't get anywhere else for a while. 

2024

128: Wheatear

129: Razorbill

130: Sandwich tern

131: Common Sandpiper

132: Swallow

NDCP
50: Razorbill
51: Gannet
52: Guillemot
53: Sandwich tern
54: Lesser black-backed gull

WOW

63: Mediterranean gull

64: Wren

65: Blackcap

66: Common sandpiper

67: Swallow

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