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!

2024 - first impressions

Well blogs are a bit like buses - you get none for ages and then two come along at once. Clearly there is a reason for this as I am a bit OCD about lists and this is the easiest way to record how the year has started. (It could be worse I could be CDO which is worse than OCD because the letters have to be in the right order!! )

As I hoped David Miller and I kicked off 2024 with our traditional dawn to dusk birdathon round Strangford Lough. We started at the Flood Gates in Newtownards to watch the sunrise and started off the list with brent goose, oystercatcher, shelduck, lapwing, dunlin, knot, curlew, blackbird, woodpigeon, robin, starling, magpie, hooded crow, black-headed gull, herring gull, common gull, teal and little egret. We were disappointed not to find any pintail at all in an area where they have wintered for the last 30 years. A stop at Barr's Bay added a cacophony of rooks and jackdaws, a feeding greenshank and a pied wagtail, plus cormorant and shag perched on offshore rocks. The saltmarsh near Anne's Point was full of wigeon, teal and mallard plus a passing grey heron and Greyabbey bay south added mute swan, goldeneye, red-breasted merganser, great black-backed gull and great crested grebe. A stop at Kircubbin had rock and meadow pipit and a nice pair of stonechats near the yacht club as well as a mistle thrush perched up on the wires. House sparrows chirped in the bushes and eider ducks called offshore. We diverted to Abbacy and Bishop's Mill for our first walk. There is always a good mix of waders and passerines and we hit paydirt while looking for snipe with 2 snow buntings and a passing sparrowhawk. We then added dunnock, song thrush, collared dove, great tit, blue tit and chaffinch. Having said how good the river was for grey wagtail, one popped up to preen on a rock. The drive along the shore to the ferry added fieldfare and carrion crow.  We crossed the ferry and added guillemot and black guillemot from the ferry and stopped at Castleward Bay for gadwall and another greenshank. The Great Dam added greylag geese, coot and tufted duck as well as a nice wigeon flock. By this time bright sunlight had been replaced by lowering cloud and poorer light and lunch at the Castle Island hide was a welcome break. Unfortunately the Quoile has not as many birds as it once had. There were only 2 goldeneye, no tufted and no pochard, but we did get a lonely whooper swan, 5 redwings, buzzard, pheasant, a pair of ravens, little grebe, pintail and shoveler.  A walk to the Yacht Club added bullfinch,  goldcrest and wren before we drove round to Quoile Castle. The feeders added goldfinch and coal tit and then we were extremely fortunate to see the long-staying long-tailed duck at the Steamboat Quay We had looked for it down towards Castle Island, couldn't see it and decided it wasn't about and on heading off met three other birders along the path. I was getting ready to tell them it was not around when the following happened.

Me: "Are you looking for the long-tailed duck?"

Birder "Yes it's diving here in front of us"

It was showing well with a load of black-headed gulls and we had totally missed it. As the light was dropping fast we headed for Shore Road and the chance of a mixed finch flock on the set-aside field. This turned up 15 yellowhammer, with house sparrows and chaffinches  By the time we reached Killyleagh we had run out of light as the rain set in and the tide had pushed in to the Lough so there wasn't a lot of dry areas to look for birds. As in previous years we missed a few we should have got and found a few surprises - snow bunting, yellowhammer and long-tailed duck. I ended up with 71 species for the day. The most notable omissions were moorhen, both godwits, greenfinch, linnet and tree sparrow. Anyway a fine day and some good stories and memories and three photos from David Miller

From the ferry as the warm front moves east over us.

Long-tailed duck

Long-tailed duck

Since then I have added long-tailed tit, blackcap and linnet in the garden as well as a trip to Islandmagee to see waxwings.  There have been large flocks in that area and we found 15 near Ballycarry Bridge. A quick trip up to David's feeders in Carnalea added tree sparrows. The first morning at WOW in 2024 started the WOW patch with 40 and also added a few ticks to the year list - turnstone, black-tailed godwit, bar-tailed godwit, 30 snipe, moorhen, great spotted woodpecker and greenfinch. 

WOW also had a female sparrowhawk, a female red-breasted merganser as well as all the usual suspects - teal, shelduck, mallard, shoveler, lapwing, curlew, redshank, coot, woodpigeon, hooded crow, starling, great, coal and blue tit, goldfinch, chaffinch, little grebe, black-headed common and herring gull, blackbird, magpie, grey heron, while Kinnegar added oystercatcher, cormorant, greylag goose, tufted duck, mute swan, black guillemot, great crested grebe and brent goose.  

Returning woodpecker

Returning ringed black-tailed godwit*

Finally the Irish Garden Bird Survey continues and this year has put 21 birds on the North Down patch list - Blackbird, song thrush, hooded crow, woodpigeon, collared dove, jackdaw, magpie, starling, herring gull, blackcap, goldfinch, chaffinch, linnet, house sparrow, dunnock, robin, long-tailed, blue, great and coal tit and sparrowhawk (twice!!) 

An amble along the coastal path added a few species which I expected to see - oystercatcher, redshank, turnstone, moorhen, rook, eider, black-headed and great black-backed gull, brent goose, shag, black guillemot, grey heron and cormorant  but there was also a fly by red-throated diver which is a bit harder to get. That leaves the NDCP patch at 35

* I'll add a note about the ringed godwit on the next blog.

2024:
71 species from the trip round the Lough as outlined above, followed by 
72: Blackcap
73: Long-tailed tit

74: Linnet

75 Waxwing

76: Turnstone

77: Black-tailed godwit

78: Bar-tailed godwit

79: Snipe

80: Moorhen

81: Great spotted woodpecker

82: Greenfinch

83: Red-throated diver

84: Tree sparrow

WOW

40 species from Thursday January 4th as outlined above.

NDCP

35 species, 21 from the garden and 14 more from the coastal path as outlined above. 

2022 kick off

Here we go again and the early news is that the rustic bunting has decided not to be on anyone's 2022 list. It was seen on December 31st and hasn't been seen since. David and I were doing our dawn to dusk birdathon on New Years Day so we were not looking for it, but others looked in vain. 

Our trip round Strangford Lough was different this year in that we hit a high spring tide on the Lough plus a force 5/6 southerly breeze so we missed out on quite a few species we would normally get like wren, dunnock, gadwall and greenfinch. Despite the breeze the temperature of 12 degrees gave an unseasonable spring-like air to the trip. Our total of 58 was the lowest for ten years but having said all that it was a good day and there were a few goodies on the list. Top of the pile was a mixed finch/sparrow flock feeding on a weed crop specifically sown for birds. probably around 80 birds most of which were house sparrows it also had tree sparrows, chaffinches and 15 yellowhammers. I am struggling to recall the last time we saw yellowhammers on a new year list, and until 2021 when I saw two its at least 8 years since I have seen any in Northern Ireland. We also picked up two groups of whooper swans, a sparrrowhawk, a carrion crow and two lots of pintail  as well as all the usual suspects. I have tacked the list on at the end for my records, don't feel obliged to wade through it. The hide at Castle Island is still locked - apparently they do not have enough staff to maintain it!! The high tide forced the ferry to use the auxiliary slipway at Strangford and water levels a the Quoile were so high the riverside path was flooded. We also noted a daffodil in full bloom, and significant bird song in sheltered inland areas.

It's on the wrong slipway (D Miller)

Here's why, too high a tide.

Reversing out

High water on the Quoile (D Miller)

I see no birds!! (D Miller)

Yellowhammers (D Miller)

Pintails (D Miller)

A serenity of swans (D Miller)

Sparrow central - tree and house (D Miller)

Inspiration for a Wordsworth poem perhaps? (D Miller)

The garden list also kicked in with a couple of blackcaps the main attraction, although a pair of bullfinch was nice. Everything else was as expected. The garden started off the local patch with 16 and a walk round the coastal path today (3rd) added another 16. The main event was the three purple sandpipers on a little stony beach - their high tide roost was covered! I finally got a dunnock as well plus the lapwing flock has had the decency to hang around till 2022, unlike the rustic bunting. 

2022: Little grebe, cormorant, shag, little egret, grey heron, mute swan, whooper swan, brent goose, shelduck, wigeon, teal, mallard, shoveler, pintail, tufted, eider, goldeneye, red-breasted merganser, sparrowhawk, moorhen, coot, oystercatcher, ringed plover, lapwing, dunlin, snipe, black-tailed godwit, curlew, redshank, black-headed, herring, common and great black-backed gulls, wood pigeon, collared dove, rock pipit, pied wagtail, robin, blackbird, song & mistle thrush, redwing, coal, blue and great tit, magpie, jackdaw, rook, magpie, hoodie, starling, house & tree sparrow, chaffinch, goldfinch, linnet, bullfinch and yellowhammer. (58)

59: Blackcap

60: Purple sandpiper

61: Turnstone

62: Black guillemot

63: Dunnock

NDCP: Cormorant, shag, mallard, eider, oystercatcher, ringed plover, lapwing, purple sandpiper, dunlin, redshank, turnstone, black-headed, common and herring gulls, black guillemot, woodpigeon, collared dove, rock pipit, pied wagtail, dunnock, robin, blackbird, blackcap, coal, blue and great tits, magpie, jackdaw, hooded crow, starling, house sparrow, chaffinch, goldfinch and bullfinch. (34)

2018 wrap and 2019 kicks off

Not a lot to say about the end of 2018 as the lists stayed the same, no point in replicating them, they are at the end of the previous post. The disappointing sting in the tail was driving to Pennington Flash on Boxing Day and finding all the hides locked and all the feeders empty. So gutted I mooched about for 20 minutes and gave up with a list which was all common stuff plus a goosander on the main lake.

Dawn over County Down

2019 dawned clear and bright and we were able to be out on January 1st for the first time in quite a few years as my birding pal David is now retired and was not required in work. We did the west side of Strangford Lough, starting at the Quoile Pondage and working north through Killyleagh, Ballymorran, Whiterock, Castle Espie, Islandhill and finished at the Floodgates in fading light. We hit 61 species, dipped on the spoonbill but saw peregrine on two occasions - possibly the same bird - and a long-tailed duck at the Quoile.  Other notable species were pintail at the Floodgates, 1000 + golden plover, goldeneye, greenshank, red-breasted merganser and fieldfare. All in all a good start to the year.

Quoile by David Miller

Grey heron by David Miller

Whiterock snipe also by David Miller

David's arty shot of black-headed gulls at the Quoile

David's other snipe shot

Long-tailed duck (This one is mine)

Rough Island looking south for the spoonbill

Sunset at the Flood Gates

WOW kicked off with 50 species and put me half way to my 100 target on the first day! The highlight was a hunting peregrine plus linnet, redpoll and reed bunting at the feeders. This week I added another 5 including goldcrest, snipe and guillemot. Here are a few shots from the last couple of visits. None from today as the light was not at its best but it was better than it is in work!!

Gadwall pair

Mallard pair

Shovelers shoveling

I had two walks along the coastal path plus the garden so the West Bangor patch now stands at 42 - more than half way to the target of 70. Highlights were curlew (which took me till mid-October in 2018), moorhen, grey heron (both can be hard to get), sparrowhawk, guillemot, and purple sandpiper. The garden added linnet and bullfinch on the feeders and goldcrest and long-tailed tit within minutes of each other in the rowan tree while I was registering the new washing machine on the phone!! I actually managed to birdwatch for the first five days in January. Since then things have quietened down a bit and a walk along the Lagan towpath produced very little.

Tuesday saw a trip to Whitehead for black redstart and twite, while a stop at Macedon Point on the way home added red-throated diver and pheasant. The latter nearly became dinner as it exploded from the roadside across the front of the car.

2019  
82: Red-throated diver

Bangor West
42: Bullfinch

Belfast WOW
51: Buzzard
52: Snipe
53: Goldcrest
54: Cormorant
55: Guillemot

Round the Lough

Wednesday 17th was the big day and it dawned cold and icy BUT ....dry! We were intending to do the north end of Strangford as the roads were iffy after overnight snow but the main roads were clear and the side roads cleared quickly as temperatures rose. Unfortunately we were an hour late starting so we started at the Flood Gates and headed South. I was shooting in colour, not black and white but it does not look like it.

Flood Gates on a rising tide

We kicked off with lapwing, shelduck and an assortment of waders and quickly racked up numbers and species as we drove south.

Scrabo from the Maltings

Probably best to concentrate on what we did get and not on what we missed (goldfinch!!). Kircubbin gave pipits and Bishop's Mill added bullfinch. The ferry crossing was exposed and windy with few birds to see so we drove on to the Quoile Pondage which like previous years held small numbers of duck and with high water levels few waders. The key to Castle Island hide is on my car keys, unfortunately we were in David's car, so we did not delay and simply headed North to Castle Espie with 59 species recorded. Number 60 was stunning, probably the closest I have ever been to a perched kingfisher as we coasted down the lane to the pond and there it was on a branch in the stream below us. So close I nearly missed it but David put me onto it and it was no more than six feet away. It was so close I thought about a photo from the car but of course it moved!! The "hide" added another four species and we finished off with 64 for the day. Ten of these went on the 2018 list. We normally aim for a rising tide but had to make do with low tide, but the views were as good.

4.00 pm and still monochrome

The next day saw a morning at WOW and the chance to try the new camera. The old Samsung is past its best so I got an identical camera on E-Bay as it fits the adaptor on the scope. No stunning birds, just the usual 30+ species but I managed a few shots with the new set-up and was pleased with the results and the lack of fiddling about which the old camera needed.they are brighter and there is less vignetting than there was last week. Song thrush was the only new bird on the WOW patch and I also added this to the Bangor West patch along with redwing - 8 perched in a tree behind the garden!!

Green plover

Shelduck

Redshank

Mute swan

Buzzard

2018

73:Canada goose
74: Pintail
75: Pheasant
76: Knot
77: Greenshank
78: Kingfisher
79: Rock pipit
80: Fieldfare
81: Redwing
82: Raven
83: Tree sparrow
84: Golden plover 

Bangor West 
47 Song thrush

48: Redwing

Belfast WOW 
53: Song thrush