Bird News Sunday 31st December

Yesterday a Goosander was at Corbet Lake and 2 were at Lough Island Reavy. (Joe Furphy)

Two Twite were seen at railings on the Seacliff Road, Bangor. (Helen Clarke)

There are now three 1st winter Iceland Gulls in the field near the Causeway Hotel (Colin Guy)

The drake Smew was still at Inch, Co Donegal. Malin Head had 600 Barnacle Geese, an adult Iceland Gull, Merlin 2 Great Northern Divers, a Red-throated Diver (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop)

A male Brambling was visiting a garden at Glenwherry, Ballymena (Greg Moorehead)

We would like to thank all contributors and blog users for their sightings, pics and news throughout 2017. We do wish everyone a happy new year and happy birding in 2018.

Thanks to Greg Moorehead for this pic of the Brambling, feeding with Chaffinches and to Wilf Swain for the Little Egret: