Don't tell Boris - I escaped!!

This is lockdown edition number 5 but I sneaked out of my local area and exercised at Kinnegar and Airport Road to see if I could hear a willow warbler and I heard at least three in the Kinnegar scrub. I also added bullfinch and common tern. Although WOW is still locked up it was nice to walk along the Airport Road and see how things were going. The winter ducks are gone and the black-headed gulls are nesting as the terns arrive. Birdsong filled the air, as well as willow warbler there were blackbirds, blackcaps, wrens, great tits, dunnocks and a song thrush. There were also at least three singing greenfinches, a sound I no longer hear around home. They are common on the WOW feeders so hopefully they are doing well. My spirits were uplifted and my mental health received a boost.

Locally the twice weekly walk round the local golf course came to an end this week but not before I had a singing whitethroat near the 9th tee in a patch of bramble. Swifts appeared overhead in the garden and swallows over the Marina. The garden is noticeably quieter and there are fewer birds around. My garden lockdown list is firmly stuck on 29. Dunnock remains the commonest bird with jackdaw, magpie, woodpigeon, starling and coal tit. The jackdaws have a nest in a blocked chimney and are frequent visitors. Gulls and crows pass overhead but finches are scarce and house sparrows occasional. Few bird photos I am afraid, mainly nice views of the coast and a few of the usual suspects in the garden. The garden bird photos were taken at breakfast as we sat in the garden. By sitting quietly the birds were quite unconcerned as long as we didn't move too much. In Ulster-Scots terms my favourite is the hedgeling or shufflewing which is so descriptive of the bird.

Look how early we are up!

Black guillemots in the Marina

View from the ninth

Sally picker, sally wren or willow wren in the garden, it was calling and moving and being followed by a youngster.

Croodlin doo, quest or wild pigeon

This is a blue wren, field sparrow, futtock, grey robin, hedgeling or shuffle wing.

A pair of slaters, snowburds, stares or stuckys

Caff or whitewing

Male whitewing or caff

Blackskull

Pink, Corney of the cap, or goldspring

Coal tit, can't imagine it didnt have an Ulster-Scots name!!

Finish off with a nice one of our back garden which I have sent off to be made into a jigsaw. This is how we pass the time in lockdown. To date we are on number 14, mainly 1000 pieces with a few 500 pieces thrown in for light relief. We are getting quite good at them and have a jigsaw station in the dining area with three tables to put all the pieces out. We also do the odd wasgij for fun. Google it and see what you think!! Hopefully we will have a few more trips out and a few less jigsaws and wasgijs.

2020
127: Swift
128: Whitethroat
129: Willow warbler
130: Common tern

Bangor West
64: Swift
65: Whitethroat

Belfast WOW
68: Bullfinch
69: Willow warbler
70: Common tern

Lockdown edition part 4

Basically more of the same with fewer birds in and around the garden. It is reaching the stage where there is not a lot visiting the feeders as there is more food in the parks, fields and gardens. I think I only get a few adults topping up their own appetites with suet pellets, fat and sunflower hearts. I only have a couple of feeders up (sunflower hearts and fat balls). The garden list hasn't moved for two weeks despite searching the skies for swifts, swallows and martins. Here's the latin name for these birds. Six I knew (sad), two I had to look up. Interesting seeing the dunnock (prunella modularis) at the feeder. I think it is because it is cheap sunflower hearts from B&M which have lots of tiny bits in rather than whole seeds. My thinking is that some bits are so small the dunnock can eat them. I had to clean the feeders if they got wet, as the bits/dust clogged the feeder and I ended up winnowing the sunflower hearts before I re-filled the feeder. Note to self next year - buy decent hearts and try not to save money.

Pica pica

Erithacus rubecula

Fringilla coelebs

Sturnus vulgaris

Prunella modularis

Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Carduelis carduelis

The coastal path is essentially the same as it gives the same birds with a few minor variations on each walk. The birdsong remains stunning but I have missed song thrush and greenfinch from areas they used to sing from, although there were two song thrushes on the golf course this morning and a mistle thrush as well. We also got a good look at a fox before it saw us and dived into a bramble patch and disappeared.  Blackbirds, dunnocks, wrens, blackcaps, robins and chaffinches dominate the songsheet with occasional excerpts from blue, great and coal tits. The chiffchaff and blackcaps are singing in the glen. Sandwich terns are around but I am still waiting for common or arctic to turn up. With WOW closed I don't have the heads up from Chris as to when they have arrived. I have at last added swallow to the list as well as a male and female reed bunting along the coastal path. This morning saw a patch gold megatick for West Bangor when 7 shelducks flew west up the coast. I have never seen shelduck on the North Down patch  and they became bird number 91 on the patch list. They are common at WOW in winter but let's not dwell on past glories.

Next post we'll look at a few Ulster-Scots bird names for a bit of light relief. 

2020
125: Razorbill
126:Swallow

Bangor West
60: Razorbill
61: Swallow
62: Reedbunting
63: Shelduck

Belfast WOW
67: Red-throated diver (Stalled since March 19th)

Lockdown edition part 3

At least I don't have to think of catchy titles for a while. The weeks roll by with a bit more garden birding and a few coastal walks. The coastal path has added gannet, chiffchaff and razorbill, birdsong continues to be a joy and the walk back up through the Glen has provided good views of jay, long-tailed tit and a singing blackcap or two as well as a singing chiffchaff. The garden turned up chiffchaff and goldcrest again as well as all the usual suspects plus an overflying sparrowhawk two evenings in a row and another run through in the afternoon. The little solar powered water feature attracts birds to drink and bathe so the scope sits focused on it. Here are a few shots from the last week. We have had no rain for a month so water in the garden is attracting birds.

Two dunnocks playing chase

Goldfinch

Mr Blackbird

Mrs Sparrow

Mr Sparrow

Bathtime

Bathtime

Bullfinch (m)

That's the garden sorted, now for the coastal path.

Looking west last weekend

High tide waders

Windy day today

Common gull

2020
125: Razorbill

Bangor West
60: Razorbill

Belfast WOW
67: Red-throated diver (Stalled since March 19th)

Lockdown edition part 2

Getting a bit like Star Wars or Police Academy as we move into week four of garden birding, short walks and no willow warblers. Not a lot to report except the garden lockdown list has moved to 26 as a chiffchaff and a goldcrest moved through quickly. If I had gone to do a bit more of the jigsaw I would have missed them. Gannet turned up off Carnalea and the digiscoping set up in the garden gave some nice pictures of common visitors.

If you can't name all these you are in diffs as a birdwatcher. Until next time, keep safe and good garden watching (apart from short periods of exercise).

2020
124: Gannet

Bangor West
55: Curlew
56: Jay
57: Sandwich tern 
58: Gannet
59: Chiffchaff

Belfast WOW
67: Red-throated diver (Stalled since March 19th)

Lockdown edition part 1

How many parts of this are we going to have? This week we have managed to walk the coastal path four times in eight days and it has been different every time tidewise and weather wise making it an interesting walk. We had a warm sunny day, a cloudy still day with a millpond sea and two cold windy days with a choppy sea. I managed to add two patch ticks in the form of curlew and jay. WOW is off limits and I think like most other birders I will be well short of any target I try for. The Patchwork Challenge website is closed as well till the lockdown finishes. The coastal path however is still accessible for our daily exercise as it is a short walk from the house,  and with luck I can reach the 70 or so I aim for every year. One walk gave the unusual site of an eider in the Marina along with a more expected black guillemot.  I finally heard a long-eared owl, well off patch mind you, but nice to hear it on a calm still evening. I also heard a chiffchaff in the local country park - within walking distance - so that cheered me up.

Eider chilling in the marina

Black guillemot

Recently I combined my daily exercise with a dawn chorus so I set off at 6.10 and walked along the coastal path and back. Well worth it as I got 31 species including the first sandwich tern of the year, sparrowhawk, brent geese, turnstones and a host of singing birds. There were wrens everywhere closely followed by dunnocks, blackbirds, robins and chaffinches. The highlight songster was a singing linnet. 

I have seen better sunrises

From the deserted golf course

2020
121: Long-eared owl
122: Chiffchaff
123: Sandwich tern

Bangor West
55: Curlew
56: Jay
57: Sandwich tern

Belfast WOW
67: Red-throated diver (Stalled since March 19th)