Bird News Thursday 11th September 2025

Juvenile Bairds Sandpiper still present at flooded field Myroe also 14 Curlew Sandpipers and a Glossy Ibis flew over (Martin Deehan / Pat Hull). Also 2 Little Stints (Tony Dodds). No sign of the Bairds Sandpiper in the afternoon (Richard Donaghey). Bairds Sandpiper again this evening also a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and 4 Glossy Ibis (Daniel Newton et al).

17 Glossy Ibis at Lough Beg this morning, flew off in direction of Church Island about 820am (Mark Getty).

Fly-over of 7 Glossy Ibis 2 miles East of Banbridge earlier this morning heading South West(ish) Towards Loughbrickland /Poyntzpass direction. Checked Loughbrickland lake but no sign (Mike McLaughlin).

6 Curlew Sandpiper at Dundrum Inner Bay (David Clarke).

Swift at Aghanloo, Limavady (Paula Campbell).

At least 27 Glossy Ibis at Lough Beg this morning, also 2 Black Terns, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank and Garganey (David Steele).

A Balearic Shearwater was seen from the ferry half way between Belfast and Cairnryan. (John Spottiswood).

A pale Arctic Skua and immature Black Tern were off Swinely Point, Carnalea this afternoon. (Philip Watson).

Osprey this afternoon just north of Ballyhenry Bay / Portaferry (Jonny Andrews).

Little Stint at Kinnegar Shore (Jim Wells). Also a juvenile Black Tern and Bonaparte's Gull this evening (Stuart Cossey).

Adult Roseate Tern Portaferry, Strangford Lough (Hugh Thurgate).

8 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Ruff, 2 Common Sandpiper 2 Black Tailed Godwit and 12 Dunlin were at Lough Mourne near Carrickfergus (Stuart McKee).

Short-eared Owl still at the Bann Estuary (Stephen Riddell).

Osprey, Jonny Andrews:

Curlew Sandpipers, David Clarke & Stuart McKee:

Short-eared Owl, Stephen Riddell:

Bird News Wednesday 10th September 2025

 A juvenile Baird's Sandpiper was at Myroe this evening. (Dean Jones). The count of Curlew Sandpipers was up to 24 this afternoon along with the 2 Little Stints and 3 Glossy Ibis, a Little Ringed Plover was at Ballykelly and 15 Mediterranean Gulls between the 2 sites. (Matthew Tickner).

A Hoopoe has been in a garden in Portaferry for two days. (Facebook per Dave Weir).

A Curlew Sandpiper and 6 Ruff were at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve. (Daniel Newton). A Little Stint was also present. (Gerard McGeehan).

The 3 Glossy Ibis, at least 4 Curlew Sandpipers and a Peregrine were at Myroe this morning. (Stephen Riddell).

An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull was at Penny Burn in L'Derry. (John Spottiswood).

An Osprey was over the east end of Myroe this afternoon. 19 Curlew Sandpipers and 2 Little Stints were with the Ringed Plover and Dunlin flock. (Dean Jones).

19 Glossy Ibis and a juvenile Marsh Harrier were at Lough Beg this evening. (David Steele).

An Osprey flew over the Bann Estuary heading towards Articlave. (John Clarke).

An Osprey was at Clea Lake this evening. (Hugh Thurgate).

A Mediterranean Gull was on the River Lagan in Belfast. (Mel O'Hagan).

The Short-eared Owl was seen again at the Barmouth this evening. (John Spottiswood).

4 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers were on Carnlough beach this evening. (Jeff Larkin).

A Sabines Gull and a Black Tern were seen off Rathlin. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

Glossy Ibis, John Spratt.

Curlew Sandpiper, Stephen Riddell.

Glossy Ibis, Stephen Riddell.

Mediterranean Gull, Mel O'Hagan.

Bird News Tuesday 9th September 2025

A Glossy Ibis is at Myroe (Stephen Riddell)  There could possibly be two birds as singles were seen at the east and west ends of Myroe (Philip McHaffie / David Nixon)  Three Glossy Ibis were seen together at the east end of Myroe late afternoon, a Whimbrel was in the stubble fields. (John Spratt)

A Curlew Sandpiper is in front of the hide at the Bann Estuary (Martin Deehan)

3 Black Tern and a Little Stint are off the platform at Inch, Co Donegal (Derek Brennan)

An Osprey was on the mudflats at the Bann Estuary (John Clarke / Philip McHaffie / David Nixon)

5 Arctic Skua were off Garron Point this evening (David Steele)

The best at RSPB WoW this evening were 7 Ruff (Michael Latham)

2 Black Terns were seen off Myroe this evening (John Spottiswood / Martin Deehan)

A dark phase Arctic Skua was at Magilligan (Philip McHaffie / David Nixon)

4 Curlew Sandpiper were at Myroe (Philip McHaffie / David Nixon / John Spottiswood)

A Barn Owl was seen last night near Coleraine (Mark Smyth)

A Green Sandpiper was at Clea Lake, Co Down (Hugh Thurgate)

A Grey Phalarope was in Tory Island harbour  a Corys Shearwater was also seen (Michael O’Clery)

Glossy Ibis, Stephen Riddell:

Osprey, Bann Estuary, John Clarke:

Bird News Monday 8th September 2025

25 Twite at Portballintrae, 2 at Ramore Head (John Clarke).

Swift over Galgorm garden this morning (Richard Gray). 

4+ Sooty Shearwaters and 2 Arctic Skuas from Rathlin yesterday (Ric Else / Hazel Watson). Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper today (Neal Warnock).

4 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and Merlin at Myroe (David Hill). 

15 Ruff and a Whimbrel at Belfast Lough WoW Reserve this evening (Wilton Farrelly).

2 White Wagtails at Lough Beg for their 4th day (David Steele).

2 Ospreys at the Barmouth this evening (Enda McAuley / Patrick McCullough). Also Short-eared Owl and 2 Curlew Sandpipers (Richard Donaghey).

Curlew Sandpipers, Merlin, Peregrine, David Hill:

White Wagtails, David Steele:

Bird News Sunday 7th September 2025

The Curlew Sandpiper was still at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve this morning. (Daniel Newton).

Yesterday a Barn Owl was seen near Ardress West in Co. Armagh. (Julie Hillman)

The Osprey was still at the Barmouth this morning, there was no sign of the Glossy Ibis. (Brian Hegarty).

Garron Point. 08:00 - 10:00. had 1 Leach's Petrel, 1 Sooty Shearwater, an Arctic Skua (dark phase),1 adult Sabines Gull, 1 Great Northern Diver, lots of Kittewake, not too many Manx Shearwaters. (Chris Veale).

A Swift was over Carmean, Moneymore yesterday. (Godfrey McRoberts).

18 Ruff and a Whooper Swan were at the east end of Reedy Flats. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara).

6 Curlew Sandpipers and 5 Ruff were at Lady Bay. (Garry Armstrong).

A Short-eared Owl was off the hide at the Barmouth. (John Clarke).

7 Curlew Sandpipers, including an adult in partial summer plumage, 2 Little Stints and a single Ruff at Myroe. (Jeff Larkin).

3 Little Gulls, an adult and 2 juveniles and a pale morph Arctic Skua were off Magilligan Point this evening. (Jeff Larkin).

Short-eared Owl, John Clarke.

Bird News Saturday 6th September 2025

Seawatch at Ballyquintin point 0820-0950: Dark phase Arctic Skua, 450+ Sandwich Terns, 3 Common Scoter (Wilton Farrelly / Bob Watts).

Curlew Sandpiper at Belfast Lough WoW Reserve, also 2 Common Scoter off Concentrix cap park (Daniel Newton).

4 Curlew Sandpiper Myroe (Michael Latham).

14 Ruff at Lady Bay (Garry Armstrong).

Wood Sandpiper roosting with Redshank Kinnegar Pools (Stuart Cossey). Moved to Kinnegar Shore early afternoon (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop et al).

2 Arctic Skuas off Portstewart Strand (Stephen Dunbar).

A few Arctic Skuas chasing Sandwich Terns Magilligan Point (Michael Latham).

Glossy Ibis in front of the hide Bann Estuary (John Clarke). It is worth noting that today there has been a large influx of Glossy Ibis into Ireland.

4 Arctic Skua were off Grey Point (Richard Weyl)

Garron Point this afternoon up until 7pm had an adult Sabine’s Gull (with a feeding flock offshore), two Leach’s Petrels (both after 6pm), 100+ Storm Petrels, 17 Sooties, 6,000+ Manx Shearwaters, five Arctic Skuas, one Great Skua, 15 Arctic Terns, five Red-throated Divers and three Common Scoter (David Steele)

Common Scoter, William Smiton:

Glossy Ibis, John Clarke:

Curlew Sandpipers, Michael Latham:

Bird News Friday 5th September 2025

Female Nightjar found at Fintona, Co Tyrone was taken into care at Doolittles Wildlife Rescue near Ballymena and presumed released back into the wild yesterday.

7 Ruff at Belfast Lough WoW Reserve (Chris Hamilton).

Ruff, Whimbrel and 2 Mediterranean Gulls on the Bann Estuary (John Spottiswood / Dennis Weir).

Portstewart pelagic produced Leach’s Petrel, dark phase Arctic Skua and 15 Storm Petrels (Jim Wells et al).

Bloody Foreland, Co Donegal 0745-1045 produced 72 Cory’s Shearwaters, 10 Sooty Shearwaters, 514 Manx Shearwaters , 3 Storm Petrels, Great Skua, 4 Great Northerns Divers (Ralph Shepard).

Wheatear at Dunseverick Harbour (Patrick Barton). 

Nightjar, RFCA NI:

Bird News Thursday 4th September 2025

 Yesterday 2 Ruff were on the west shore of Lough Neagh in Co. Tyrone. (Joe Proudfoot, Joe Doolan).

A Green Sandpiper and a Hen Harrier were at Kebble on Rathlin this morning. (Ric Else, Hazel Watson).

A Pectoral Sandpiper, 3 Curlew Sandpipers and a Little Stint were on the turf fields at Myroe. (Martin Deehan).

3 Curlew Sandpipers, 9 Ruff, the adult Little Ringed Plover and a Kingfisher were at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve. (Derek Polley, Bob Watts, Tony Dodds).

An adult Mediterranean Gull was at Kinnegar sewage works. (Bob Watts).

2 Great Skua and an Arctic Skua were chasing terns at Magilligan Point. (Martin Deehan).

An Osprey was seen again at the Barmouth. (Alwyn Spence, Noel Daly).

The Pectoral Sandpiper, 2 Little Stints and 7 Curlew Sandpipers were at Myroe this evening. (John Spottiswood, Stephen & Donna Riddell).

A dark phase Arctic Skua was off Kinnegar shore and 2 Ruff at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve this evening. (Wilton Farrelly)

Bird News Wednesday 3rd September 2025

A Bonaparte’s Gull was found at Kinnegar Shore early evening (Daniel Newton). It subsequently moved on to the sewage lagoon.

The Spoonbill was still at RSPB WoW (Daniel Newton)

The Greenish Warbler is still on Tory Island and was in song this morning (Derek Brennan). A Pied Flycatcher was west of the harbour this afternoon (Andy Ellard)

The Curlew Sandpiper was still at RSPB WoW (Gerard McGeehan)

Two juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, one juvenile Little Ringed Plover, Spoonbill at Wow also from WoW, a juvenile Arctic Skua was seen flying down the channel past the Stena ferry and out to sea (Stuart McKee)

A Curlew Sandpiper was at Kilclief, Strangford (Dermot Hughes)

The Bann Estuary had one Osprey, 4 Mediterranean Gulls  2 Arctic skua and 20 Brent were off Ramore (Matthew Tickner)

A seawatch from Rathlin this evening had an adult Sabine's Gull, 4 Sooty Shearwaters, 3 Arctic Skuas, Great Skua, Red-throated Diver and 3 Arctic Terns (Ric Else)

3 Curlew Sandpiper were at RSPB WoW this evening (Michael Latham)

Greenish Warbler, Derek Brennan:

Whimbrel, Castle Ward, Richard Caves:

Bonaparte’s Gull, Aaron Long:

Bird News Tuesday 2nd September 2025

The Spoonbill continues at Belfast Lough Reserve (Daniel Newton). Curlew Sandpiper and 4 Ruff this evening and Swift over Kinnegar (Stuart Cossey). 

The Greenish Warbler remains on Tory, Co Donegal (Anton Meenan). Little Auk from the Tory ferry (Billy Miskelly / Sean Gibson).

3 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Ruff and Clouded Yellow from the sea wall near the sewage works, Newtownards (Ian Enlander).

Adult Sabine’s Gull from 0830-1000 seawatch off St John’s Point, also 7 Common Scoters, 5 Brent Geese and a modest movement of Manx Shearwaters, auks and divers (Philip Watson).

Juvenile White-tailed Eagle at Inch Lake, Co Donegal also Marsh Harrier still present, 2 juvenile Black Terns, 18 Ruff (Theo Campbell / Chris Ingram).

Swift and Wheatear at Giant’s Causeway (Kate Porteous).

Ruff and Mediterranean Gull on Rathlin (Ric Else / Hazel Watson).

Wood Sandpiper briefly before flying off and Swift over Lough Beg (David Steele).

19 Ruff at Lady Bay (Sean Gibson).

8+ Arctic Skuas, 18 Brent Geese at Grey Point 1805-1955 (Wilton Farrelly / Bob Watts).

5 Brent Geese Ballygally Beach (Paula Campbell).

Lots of Skua action at Magilligan Point including several Arctic Skuas, a Great Skua and several Whimbrel (John Clarke).

Curlew Sandpiper, Ian Enlander:

Bird News Monday 1st September 2025

 The Spoonbill is still at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve this morning along with 10 Ruff. (Joe Sweeney, Missy Zepeda).

Two Swifts were over the M2 between Antrim and Belfast. (Alan Fitzsimmons).

Yesterday a Swift was over Galgorm in Ballymena. (Richard Gray).

A Swift was over Ballygally on the Antrim coast this afternoon. (Paula Campbell).

There was no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper at Lady Bay, 2 Ruff were at Portmore. (Sean Gibson).

Garron Point for a couple of hours this evening in moderate southwesterlies had a single Great Skua and 60+ Storm Petrels, the ‘Stormies’ mostly heading north offshore, one every couple of minutes or so, a few lingering, also Brent Geese on the move, total 150 flew south. (David Steele)

Bird News Sunday 31st August 2025

2 Ospreys still at the Bann Estuary (Garry Armstrong et al).

Greenish Warbler still on Tory, Donegal for 3rd day (Anton Meenan).

Spoonbill and several Ruff still at Belfast Lough WoW Reserve (Daniel Newton). Also Peregrine there (Michael Latham / Derek Polley)

St John’s seawatch 0830-1030 produced Storm Petrel, 3 Great Northern Diver, 3 Common Scoter (Chris Veale).

7+ Arctic Skuas (3+ pale, 4+ dark), Great Northern Diver Magilligan Point (Garry Armstrong / Wilton Farrelly / Bob Watts / Philip West / Daniel Newton / Sean Gibson).

2 Curlew Sandpiper, 10+ Mediterranean Gulls at Myroe. c60 Brent Geese, Ruff and Whimbrel at Ballykelly (Garry Armstrong, Daniel Newton et al).

Green Sandpiper Shaws Bridge, Co Armagh (Joe Devlin).

Garron Point from 1250-1850 in strong southerlies had one Leach’s Petrel, four Storm Petrels, one Sooty, 5,000+ Manx, five Arctic Skuas, four Arctic Terns, five Common Terns, 54 Sandwich Terns and 35 Brent Geese (David Steele)

This evening, the Pectoral Sandpiper and 25 Ruff were at Lady Bay (John Cusack)

Swifts at Castlerock, over M2 and 2 at Ballykelly (Bob Watts et al).

First summer Mediterranean Gull, Antrim Marina, Gareth Platt:

Spoonbill, Michael Latham: