Siskin

Just a quick post to log the patch 74 Siskin, a female at the feeders this morning. I wish I could have had time to look for a 75th patch tick, but unfortunately had to attend the funeral of a good friends mum who passed away last Sunday at the age of 92. Looking forward to a New Years Day trip round tomorrow. It has been a while since we did it on January 1st.

Some people are on the patch....they think it's all over. It is now!!

A last hurrah did not produce an awful lot. I have pushed the patch list up to 73 with dunlin and goldeneye. The latter popped up before Christmas in a small flock of Eider in Strickland's Bay and the dunlin finaly put in an appearance at the Long Hole.

Belfast WOW on Wednesday 30th gave 33 species including barwit, knot, siskin and 1 greenshank. Shelduck numbers were over 300. A high tide storm surge meant we could see the surface of  Belfast Lough from the observation room. Kinnegar Pool was high and empty and all the ducks on the sewage lagoon were either tufted or gadwall. It was interesting being there on a Wednesday as there is clearly a "Wednesday Club" of folk who come regularly that day in the same way as there is a "Thursday Club" the following day.

I wandered along the coastal path late on the 30th to try for a sheltering diver but no such luck. The river was in full spate and the tide was still high two hours after the peak. The wind had dropped, Frank had moved on and the patch was well worth the walk for the views alone. Bird wise there was nothing out of the ordinary except for two song thrushes foraging along a hedge.

I am running an amended patch fro 2016, dropping Castle Park and extending the coastal walk to Ballyholme Bay. I also plan to run a patch on the RSPB Belfast Harbour Reserve/Kinnegar. Next year I hope to be with the GAWA in France for Euro 2016 so the year list might get a continental boost.

Patch List:
72 Dunlin
73 Goldeneye

Redpoll

The problem at the end of the year is pushing the total up and getting birds you missed earlier in the year. Coot, moorhen and mute swan still elude me. Manx shearwater was missed in September and no diver has yet appeared when I have been walking the patch. Siskin and redpoll had not appeared so far but last Tuesday there were two redpoll on the feeders as well as a male and a female blackcap and a linnet. So the patch list has crawled up to 71. Unlikely to get much bigger now unless I am in the right place at the right time as a flock of mute swans fly over spooking a moorhen on the coast which draws the attention of a pasing diver!! One can but dream.

Belfast WOW last Thursday produced 37 species including mistle thrush, reed bunting, redpoll, barwit, buzzard, sprawk, ruff and 20 knot. Visibility was excellent and the craic was good as the regular Thursday crowd was joined by one or two others. I will definitely run it next year as a second patch.

Bangor West is being slightly altered. I am dropping Castle Park and extending my coastal walk west to Crawfordsburn and east to Ballyholme. I am allowed 3 square Km so a coastal path one metre wide gives me a 30 km walk, so technically I could walk a patch from Holywood to Donaghadee. I do however have to take in Stricklands and the garden. I will update at the end of the year unless something stunning turns up like a garden waxwing or a red kite.

Linnet

Redpoll

Patch list 71 Redpoll

Gobbins cliff walk

 Finally managed to get to the Gobbins on a cold blustery November day. We managed to dodge the showers and get back dry and all in all had a very good three hours. We went for the 1300 tour which is the last one of the winter as it is too dark for later trips. It did take the full three hours and was well worth it.  This time we had a range of seagulls, shag, jackdaw, raven and robin. the latter in a cave down at sea level. Why it was there and what it was feeding on I have no idea.

It would be challenging if you struggled with steps - 500 up and 500 down -  and the access path is very steep - about 1:4 but the thought of breeding sea birds would be a great incentive. Hopefully I will be back inMay/June.

The garden is picking up as I go back to a full range of winter feeding. Th local feral pigeons have returned in numbers and I fight a constant battle to deter them. Otherwise I have had greenfinch (6), chaffinch (10), bullfinch (1), linnet (1) and goldfinch (20+) plus all 4 tits, dunnock, robin, blackbird, song thrush, jackdaw, magpie, wood pigeon, collared dove, rook and starling. 

Belfast WOW has been very quiet of late and indeed for the first time ever I walked in and there were no birds at all in the roost spot in the NE corner. This was two hours before high tide and it didn't get much better as there were only 140 lapwing and 110 blackwit at high tide. Not an oystercatcher in sight. Highlights have been 2 ruff, 8 snipe, three mistle thrush , a first for me at the reserve. The feeders have attracted 2 coal tits and and 2 redpoll as well as a blackbird. Goldfinch and greenfinch give nice views. Despite the lack of waders I still clocked 33 species and bird of the day was mistle thrush, you don't get to say that very often. :-)

A week of WOW

Patch birding has been very slow as November has seen shortening days and a lot of rain. Mild temperatures have hung on in there but there have been a few colder spells as winter kicks in. Having volunteered to help with schools week at WOW - or Belfast Harbour RSPB Reserve as we oldies know it - I am now definitely going to add a second patch to the 2016 challenge.

Late October saw a stonechat and 2 little egret turn up giving me my 100th species at the reserve. There is always a good selection of ducks and waders and during the schools week I logged 38 species. The highlights were over 100 greylag geese, 6 whooper swans, then a single bird, buzzard virtually daily, excellent views of snipe and a coal tit at the feeders. Most visitors and volunteers rarely see a snipe but the buzzard flushed 5 and they flew towards the observation room to land and one gave excellent views to everyone including one very fortunate P5 class who happened to be there at the right time.

Buzzard on the grass

Need I say more

Whooper at WOW

 

Whooper posing outside the window

The year list went up by two thanks to a Short-eared owl at Ballymacormick and a fly past by a Jack snipe while owl watching. I saw the owl twice, once sitting still for over an hour and then sitting on an islet and making a short flight. Always a delight to see this all too rare visitor.

70 up - birds not years

Having managed nothing in September I find myself mid way through October with three patch ticks and I have reached the 70 species I thought I would be able to make. Ringed plover was expected and over 40 at the Long Hole did the job. As yet there are no dunlin with them. Whooper swan flying in to Strangford over the house was a long shot but five did just that the other morning. Fortunately I was looking in the right direction at the right time. A female pheasant bursting out from under my feet as I walked along the coastal path was the least expected of the three. I did the same walk today and was fortunate to see a peregrine flying west over the coastal path. I also saw a wide range of coastal species, meadow pipit and linnet. The eider are back in force and there are black guillemot off shore.

While at the Long Hole looking for roosting waders- oystercatcher, redshank, ringed plover, turnstone and 5 purple sandpiper - I also saw four black guillemot flying in to their nesting holes along the road, behavior I have not noticed before. They sat looking out for some time and this one was unfazed my me taking a photograph on the phone.

Winter plumaged black guillemot

The garden continues to attract a few common species but is generally quiet. I still have hopes of siskin and redpoll in the garden and hopefully a diver off the coast, anything else will be a bonus. It is too late for patch shearwater and to date no brent have been seen and mute swan, coot and moorhen remain a dream.

Patch list:
68  Pheasant
69  Ringed plover
70  Whooper swan

The autumn moon lights my way

Hard to believe the patchwork challenge is three quarters of the way there and for the first time I managed a month with no patch ticks. Partly because I have got most of what I am going to get and secondly because most of the month was spent "Rambling On". I dashed outside last week to look at a flock flying over but lost them so they remain a mystery. I am still missing mute swan, coot and moorhen.

A week in France around Nice and Vence  produced two new year ticks in the shape of a Fischer's lovebird, an escaped species which is common in and around Beaulieu, and a white wagtail. Yellow legged gulls were the default gull and this one came down to a puddle for a drink.

Yellow-legged gull

 Pennington Flash in Manchester produced a lovely nuthatch and the Wetland centre at Barnes Elms gave superb views of a hobby thanks to a bird ringiing team who put me on to it. I only caught the tail end of the ringing but it was fascinating to watch and an education for me as a birder. I have been birding almost 40 years and this was the first time I have been up close and personal with the objects of my hobby. The other feature of this site was the total lack of large aircraft heading for Heathrow which gave it a beautiful noise free quality. The blocking high meant that the flight path did not go over the reserve and we had blissful silence instead of a 747 every two minutes.


Belfast WOW last week had 32 species including 104 teal, 6 common tern, 2 coal tit and a late house martin.

London wetland

Chiffchaff

Long-tailed tit

Ruff from WOW a couple of weeks back.