Rathlin and the Gobbins

 As promised, here is an update from two trips Rathlin Island and the Gobbins by boat. We spent three days on Rathlin and did three walks - Craigmacagan, West light to the harbour and Roonivoolin/Rue Point. Weather was ideal and views were superb. Totalled 63 species in three days including cuckoo and sparrowhawk - both firsts for Rathlin - corncrake, puffin, great skua and wheatear. I had a look back at previous Rathlin visits and noticed a few changes over the years since my first visit in 1981.

Lapwings used to be regular  in good numbers, but seem to have gone

Spotted flycatcher around the church is a memory

Chough have vanished

Swifts no longer come over to feed

Haven't seen kestrel for some time, but then haven't seen them anywhere else either.*

Goldfinch now regular

Tits are hard to see/find

Corncrake has returned

Great skua now established

Buzzards do not seem to be as widespread as they once were

It is still a magical place to visit so here are a few scenes to savour and whet your appetite for a visit. Best to book the ferry ahead of time, the days of turning up and getting across are like choughs and flycatchers - long gone

Fulmar nest

West light

Mill Bay seals

Mill Bay

Roonivoolin cliff walk

Rue Point common gull

Rue Point

Church Bay

Rue Point

Ally Lough

The weather held for the Gobbins trip from Bangor, courtesy of Jim Wells. We had all the usual suspects including peregrine falcon. My shots are mostly scenic, but I have put a link to the Facebook site J Birds - Birding by Boat where the good photographers have posted their usual range of stunning images.  Look for Albert Boyle, Paul Hilton and Stephen Gorman in particular.

* We saw a kestrel at the Gobbins, first I have seen in Northern Ireland this year, there is a photo on Paul's JBirds post

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jbirds/

Blackhead

Fulmar

Guillemot

Auks and kittiwakes

Razorbill

Shags

Muck Island

I also managed to add Manx shearwater to the 2023 list and the North Down patch. Setting sun, warm evening, mill pond sea, coastal path and spotted six shearwater about 400m out - magic as the following pictures show.

2023

145: Manx shearwater

NDCP

66: Manx shearwater

WOW

83: Kittiwake

It's been a while!

Suddenly realised it has been well over a month since the last blog. Had no idea the year was galloping on. We're off on our travels again so thought it was a good idea to do a round up of what has happened since April. It's a bit long, so grab a coffee!

Firstly the garden and coastal path have added a few expected additions including a bullfinch in the garden - the first this year! I have also added swallow, common tern, meadow pipit, greenfinch, swift, linnet and house martin. 

WOW has also added a few expected birds - swift, house martin, swallow, common tern, arctic tern, wren, ruff and an unexpected kittiwake. The common tern numbers have reached 220 and there are 1000+ black-headed gulls and at least 5 pairs of Mediterranean gulls. Waders are scarce and while there are still 5 duck species numbers are greatly reduced. Unfortunately bird flu has appeared again mainly among the black-headed gulls and as I write this the reserve has been closed. 

Gadwall

Shelduck

Shoveler

New camera being installed

Don't stop or you will sink

Blizzard of gulls

Black-headed gulls, Mediterranean gulls and common tern on nesting platform

Pair of tufties, 

Egg thief - story below

New tern platform in place.

Terns taking to the temporary platform which was pulled out on Tuesday

Kittiwake

Black-headed gull chicks

The egg thief shot is from the back of John Fraser's camera. The two tufted ducks, came ashore and the female laid an egg. No nest, no fuss, then they ambled off and left it making no attempt to defend or brood it. The hooded crow was in very quickly to grab it and fly off. 

The 2023 list has slowly ticked up, boosted by a trip to the Antrim Hills and Rathlin. I added swift, common and arctic tern at WOW, a cuckoo in the Antrim Hills, whitethroat at Orlock, sedge warbler at Lough Beg and Rathlin added corncrake, puffin, great skua, water rail and wheatear. 

Cuckoo (phone shot)

Rathlin hawthorn

Corncrake country

I'll do another post with some nice landscapes from Rathlin and the Gobbins. Not so many bird shots as I don't have the good camera, then it's back to Bolton and a mega holiday involving passports. 

2023

133: Swallow

134: Swift

135: Common tern

136: Whitethroat

137: Arctic tern

138: Cuckoo

139: Sedge warbler

140: Corncrake

141: Puffin

142: Great skua

143: Water rail

144: Wheatear

NDCP

57: Sandwich tern

58: Swallow

59: Common tern

60: Meadow pipit

61: Greenfinch

62: Swift

63: Linnet

64: House martin

65: Bullfinch 

WOW

75: Starling

76: Swift

77: House martin

78: Swallow

79:Common tern

80: Arctic tern

81: Wren

82: Ruff

83: Kittiwake

Spring at last (and migrants)

I think we have finally left winter behind and are looking forward to the increasing temperatures and the flood of migrants heading our way. The coastal path added lesser black-backed gull and sandwich tern, while WOW pitched in with a sandwich tern and a sand martin or two. Comber turned up a hoopoe which had seriously overshot and took two visits to get a not very good photo. Another record shot I hear you say? Then it was off to England for family time and two walks round Elton Reservoir which is my go-to birding site when I am in Bolton. 

I have a few from WOW over the past few weeks, nothing startling but some of interest to those who like bling.

Pintail

Black-tailed godwit just starting to colour up

       

Ringed black-headed gull
(Courtesy of John Fraser)

2LC3
(Courtesy of John Fraser)

                                       

Shoveler

Flotilla of tufties

Ringed godwit

Well into breeding plumage

Pair of posing Mediterranean gulls

The godwit was one of over 20 ringed at WOW in April 2021 and has been re-sighted here regularly. The young black-headed gull was ringed in S Scotland last year and this was the first re-sighting. Also finally got a starling, willow warbler, blackcap and a grey plover. I have seen grey plover at WOW before but not recently and it remains a not very common species at WOW. I have absolutely no idea how I got to April 20 without picking up starlings. Could have missed them earlier in the year but when I realised they hadn't been seen and starting looking they just weren't there. 

The hoopoe pitched up in a cemetery in Comber and gave good views. Unfortunately it was harassed a bit by photographers and became a bit flighty. I went twice and stayed well away so the photographs are not the best, but hey, it ticked three boxes -  County Down, Northern Ireland and 2023. Could have added it to a UK or British Isles list if I had them, but I don't.

Initial view was distant

Closer but behind a bench

Walking away!

Closer in

At this point the camera battery packed in - should have charged it but forgot. 

I managed two walks round Elton reservoir - see first photo - during Easter week and both walks added spring migrants to the list. Willow warbler and chiffchaff were common and I finally added house martin and swallow - one of each. I also managed to see a great spotted woodpecker on the nut feeder at Elton and then heard one drumming in the area six days later. Elton has had a run of good birds recently but it's a matter of right time right place, and the alpine swift had moved on. The second photo shows the River Irwell just below Elton, the third photo shows "The dip" and on a warm misty morning I was listening to song thrush, blackbird, robin, dunnock, chiffchaff, great tit, goldfinch and willow warbler all topped off with a drumming great spotted woodpecker - magic!!

Elton Reservoir

River Irwell

Birdsong in the Dip

2023

124: Glaucous gull

125: Fulmar (omitted from the Islay trip)

126: Sea eagle

127: Golden eagle

128: Hoopoe

129: Sand martin

130: Willow warbler

131: Great spotted woodpecker

132: House martin

133: Swallow

NDCP

56: Lesser black-backed gull

57: Sandwich tern

WOW

70: Sand martin

71: Sandwich tern

72:Grey plover

73: Blackcap

74: Willow warbler 

75: Starling

Islay (Again)

What keeps pulling me back to Islay? It takes me three hours to get there, and three hours to get back and I get 6 hours on the island. The boat is fast and generally comfortable although it can be a tad choppy occasionally. This trip had three hours of wet and windy weather before it cleared up and the raptors took to the air. That is the draw every winter, 35000 wintering geese and a raptorfest. This year I logged 50 species including twite, barnacle geese, white-fronted geese, hen harrier, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle little egret and pintail. The boat journey had gannet, kittiwake, razorbill, guillemot, black guillemot and red-throated diver. As usual I am depending on David Miller for good photographs  or pointing you at the JBirds - Birding by Boat Facebook page where you can drool over the photographs taken by people who have a good camera and know how to use it. Gary Gray and Albert Boyle were on my boat and they snapped what I was watching. Check out the link and scroll down to find the photographs. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jbirds/

Here are my photographs  (Last three) and David's photographs (all the rest).

Note angle of horizon to the boat!!

Barnacle geese

White-fronted goose

White-tailed eagle (juvenile)

Loch Gruinart reserve

Port Ellen

Ardnave Point

Rain, what rain?

The trip added the following to the 2023 list, but obviously left the two local patches as they were! Will I go back to Islay for yet another visit? Of course I will, we didn't get the chough. 😞

2023

125: Golden eagle

126: White-tailed eagle