Slieve Beagh Fires

A huge fire in the Slieve Beagh SPA has destroyed at least two active Hen Harrier nests. This is an absolutely devastating blow for the species in Northern Ireland. One of the NIRSG volunteers watched the adults fly around one of the sites in confusion and shock as the flames came closer, with the female only abandoning the nest completely in the final minutes.

There have also been many other fires, some ongoing, and there have been potentially other Hen Harrier pairs lost too. This is the single worst time of the year for this to happen. Also imagine all the other 100s or 1000s of nests in which small birds were about to fledge, or second clutches of eggs had been laid as well as the other fauna. These have all been destroyed.

In the National Hen Harrier Survey 2016 there were only a maximum of ~50 pairs in Northern Ireland, of which only 8 pairs were successful in fledging young. The nesting and hunting habitat for hen harriers in Northern Ireland is disappearing and the situation is more dire than any of us had imagined. This latest blow is heartbreaking.

It is thought that the fires are being started deliberately. If you have any information on who may have done this then please contact the PSNI. See also:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39849848

You can also hear Marc Ruddock talk about the Hen Harriers on Good Morning Ulster this morning at 2:14:48 on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08pgcqf#play

NIRSG. 

Bird News Monday 8th May

Late news from yesterday was of a Cuckoo just south of Lowry Hill outside Bangor. (Kenneth Davies).

One of the Dark-bellied Brent was still on Kinnegar ahore in Belfast today, see picture below. (Rod Gillan).

The Marsh Sandpiper was still at the Swords Estuary this evening - viewable from the north side of the Estuary.

This evening the 1st summer Little Gull was briefly over Kinnegar sewage works. Also a Kestrel and 2 Dark-bellied Brents were seen (Daniel Newton)

Thanks to Wilf Swain for the picture of the Oystercatchers, to James O'Neill for the picture of the Cuckoo and to Rod Gillan for the picture of the Dark-bellied Brent Goose.

 

 

 

Bird News Sunday 7th May

The two Avocets were still present at RSPB WoW (Daniel Newton / Garry Armstrong) The birds were still present this evening. (Ronald Surgenor)

A Black Tern was seen to fly from Sandy Bay, Larne out past Islandmagee at 1:30 (Kevin Kirkham-Brown)

Two dark-bellied Brent were still at Kinnegar (Gary Armstrong / Daniel Newton)

Cuckoos were at Murlough Reserve (John Moore) and at Marble Arch Caves, Co Fermanagh (Karen Elliott)

The Marsh Sandpiper is still at the Swords Estuary, seen from the Dog Kennels this morning and still present this evening. Thanks to Dave Fox for this pic:

Thanks to Linda Thompson for this pic of the Avocets:

Bird News Saturday 6th May

The two Avocets are back at RSPB Belfast WoW (Daniel Newton). One of these birds was ringed in Germany in 2010.

Two dark-bellied Brent along with 14 pale-bellied Brent were at Kinnegar shore this morning (Daniel Newton)

A 1st summer Little Gull was seen along the north down coastal path at Seahill (Ronald Surgenor)

Two light-bellied Brent & three dark-bellied Brent at Dundrum inner. A Cuckoo was also at Murlogh (Kevin Kirkham-Brown)

A Marsh Sandpiper was at the Swords Estuary, Co Dublin (Victor Cashera)

Swifts are now widely reported. Many thanks to everyone who has been reporting them.

Osprey best at Lough Beg this morning. (David Steele).

Thanks to Terry Hanna for the picture of the Whimbrel.

 

Bird News Friday 5th May

Three dark-bellied Brent were at Kinnegar Shore (Daniel Newton).

The juvenile Dark-bellied Brent was still at Dundrum South Inner Bay as were 10 Light-bellied birds. (David Nixon).

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Gosford Forest Park. Good numbers were in Markethill today. (John Anderson)

An Osprey was at the south end of Lough Beg this afternoon (Davy Hunter)

Four Swifts were over Carrickfergus (Gerard McGeehan)

A Garden Warbler was at Lusty Beg, Lower Lough Erne (Dot Blakely).

2 Swifts were over Avoniel Leisure Centre on Belfast. (Daniel Newton).

3 Swifts were in Church Square in Banbridge this evening. (Karen Elliott).

On Rathlin the first Swifts of the year arrived this evening (at least 2). The first Whitethroats arrived on the 3rd, with at least 4 present that day. Otherwise fairly quiet at the moment. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

Brents at Kinnegar shore: The numbers have increased and there are now 12 Brents:- 2 Dark-bellied adults, 6 Pale-bellied adults, 4 Pale-bellied first-summers. The new arrivals could be a family group (Adult pair plus 4 young). (Tom Ennis).

Thanks to Michael O'Dwyer for the picture of a Stonechat.

 

Bird News Thursday 4th May

An immature White-tailed Eagle was at Boa Island, Lough Erne this morning. No wing tags were seen. (Kerry Leonard / Michael Stinson)

At Kinnegar shore on 3rd May and again today 4th May there were 6 Pale-bellied Brents and 2 Dark-bellied Brents. (Tom Ennis)

At the Belfast Harbour Reserve there were estimated to be circa 100 Common Terns. (Stephen Maxwell / Tom Ennis)

A Cuckoo was at Murlough, Co Down (Brian Douglas)

Yesterday a Great Spotted Woodpecker and 2 Cuckoo were at Glenoo Mountain, nr Fivemiletown Co Tyrone (Colin Bell)

A Swift was at Cloughfern, Newtownabbey. (Jim McKeown)

There are two places left for Saturday's boat trip to Ailsa Craig. Contact Jim Wells on 07856235144 for more details.

Many thanks to Wilf Swain for this pic of a Grey Heron:

Bird News Wednesday 3rd May

Continuing with the Dark-bellied Brent sightings, one adult was with 19 Light-bellied birds at Mill Quarter Bay in Strangford Narrows. 39 Whimbrel were at Kilclief. (David Nixon).

A Barn Owl flew along the hard shoulder of the A26 on outskirts of Ballymena from direction of Ballymoney at 1.20 am. (Rod Gillan).

Two Little Egret were feeding together at Whitehouse Lagoon. (Jim McKeown).

A 2nd year Iceland Gull was flying around the North East corner of Rathlin. Also good numbers of Wheatears present and a Collared Dove which is unusual there. Yesterday a sub-adult Glaucous Gull flew past Torr Head. (Colin Guy).

Thanks to David Steele for the picture of the Little Ringed Plover from yesterday.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese, recent sightings

Interestingly in the last few weeks, there have been quite a few records of dark-bellied Brent Geese (eg Killough, Dundrum and Kinnegar). This seems strange as there are now only very small numbers of light-bellied Brent Geese accompanying these birds. Our light-bellied Brent are heading to Svalbard, Greenland and north-east Canada and nearly all have departed. However where are the dark-bellied birds going? Their breeding range is northern and western Siberia so why are they turning up on the western extremities of Europe at this time of year? Thanks to those who have highlighted this movement. Any feedback or further sightings are welcome.

Dark-bellied Brent Goose with Light-bellied Brent Goose, Kinnegar - Ronald Surgenor:

 

 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Dundrum, David Nixon:

Bird News Tuesday 2nd May

A dark-bellied Brent Goose was still at Kinnegar Shore this morning. (Ronald Surgenor)

A Little Ringed Plover is at Paddy's Dubh, Lough Beg (Davy Hunter)

2 singing Reed Warblers were at Blacker’s Rock, Lough Neagh, Co. Tyrone. Also present were 1 pr of Scaup, 1 pr of Goldeneye and 15 Pochard (13 males and 2 females). (Godfrey McRoberts)

Yesterday afternoon an Osprey flew past the shore at Holywood, heading east out of Belfast Lough. (Suzanne Belshaw)

2 Whitethroat were at Whitehead (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop). One was also at Murlough, Co Down (Philip McErlean)

Two Dark-bellied Brent, an adult and juvenile (not together) were at Dundrum South Inner Bay. Only 37 Light-bellied Brent were seen in the bay. (David Nixon)

The first summer Little Gull was at RSPB WoW (Daniel Newton)

A drake Garganey was at the Kinnego Hide, Oxford Island (Thomas Campbell)

An Iceland Gull was at Seapark, Greenisland (David Stirling)

Today at Kinnegar Shore were 4 Light-bellied Brent Geese, 3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese & 7 "Icelandic Type" Golden Plovers. At RSPB WoW were circa 30 Common Terns and 2 Sandwich Terns (Tom Ennis)

At least two more Whinchat (making it 4 birds in total) were seen today on Rathlin (Ric Else and Hazel Watson)

Whimbrel are currently very widespread and been reported in good numbers.

Thanks to John Moore for this pic of a

Great Skua (Bonxie) off Rathlin, John Moore:

Drake Garganey, Thomas Campbell:

Osprey, Suzanne Belshaw:

Bird News Monday 1st May

A Whinchat was on Rathlin to-day, plus a few more  this evening (Ric Else, Helen Watson)

Also on Rathlin are a female Redstart and a Yellowhammer (Neal Warnock). Further news from Rathlin include a Great Skua and a Grasshopper Warbler.(Kevin Kirkham)

The Ring-necked Duck was still at The Quoile but there was no sign of the Long-billed Dowitcher (Garry Armstrong)

An untagged Red Kite was seen near Portaferry (Richard Weyl) Another Red Kite was seen over Murlough NR.(Angus Kennedy)

No sign of the Dotterel at Myroe to-day, our thanks to David Hill for the update.

Two dark bellies Brent were at Kinnegar shore this evening (Daniel Newton)

There will another boat trip to Ailsa Craig tomorrow (Tuesday). Please contact Jim Wells on 07856235144 for details.

Common Tern - Lilian Cummings

Whitethroat - Chris Easton.

Bird News Sunday 30th April

A Dotterel is at Myroe Levels (Neal Warnock)

A Tree Pipit was on Rathlin Island (Ric Else / Hazel Watson)

Fanad Head had a female Lapland Bunting, 23 White Wagtails, 32 Whimbrel, 20+ Greenland Wheatears and 40+ Long-tailed Ducks in summer plumage (Wilton Farrelly)

The Long-Billed Dowitcher was still showing at The Quoile this morning. The Drake Ring-necked Duck was also present. (Philip West \ Tony Donaldson \ Cecil Smyth)

An Arctic Tern was at RSPB WOW along with 50 Common Tern and an adult Ring-Billed Gull. The first summer Little Gull was also present (Daniel Newton)

A Wheatear (Greenland race) and Reed Warbler were at Copeland Bird Observatory this morning. (CBO) The third Redstart of the weekend was also seen later on.

Three dark bellied Brent, a Sanderling and 10 Dunlin were at Kinnegar shore (Stuart McKee / Daniel Newton)

A Greenland Wheatear was at Fairhead (Ronald Surgenor)

A Cuckoo was at Kinramer, Rathlin Island this evening (Richard Else)

A Swift was over Boucher Road, Belfast (Gerard McGeehan) 

Thanks to Neal Warnock and Cecil Smyth for todays pics. You can see other bird pics at www.nibirdpics.blogspot.co.uk :

Long-billed Dowitcher, Cecil Smyth:

Dotterel, Neal Warnock:

Long-billed Dowitcher, Tony Donaldson:

Bird News Saturday 29th April

The Little Gull & adult Ring-billed Gull were still present at RSPB WoW along with 4 Common Terns, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, & a pair of Gadwall. A Reed Warbler was also near the Hide 2 along the track (Kevin Kirkham)

The Long-billed Dowitcher is showing at the Quoile from the Castle Island Hide (Daniel Newton / Garry Armstrong)

2 Redstarts, a male and a female, a Sedge Warbler, 14 Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff and 5 Wheatear were on Copeland Island this morning (CBO)

The drake Ring-necked Duck was seen again at the yacht club end of The Quoile (Garry Armstrong)

A pair of Twite were feeding along the front at Ballycastle, close to the Shorebird Cafe (Clive Mellon).

A Grasshopper Warbler heard this afternoon at Stoneyford, in the meadows marsh area to right of lake just before houses in the village. (Noeni Bryars & Suzanne Belshaw).

A Great-spotted Woodpecker was at Brackagh Bog, Portadown. (Steven Fyffe).

The dark bellied Brent Goose was at Killough. At Killard were 3 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Wheatear and Whimbrel (Gerard McGeehan, Shirley Dunlop, Carol Gillespie, Ray Bennett)
  

Thanks to Michael Latham for the picture of the Belfast WoW Little Gull, to Wilf Swain for the picture of the Cuckoo, to Cecil Smyth for the picture of the Black-tailed Godwit and to Linda Thompson for the pictures of the Mediterranean Gull and the Redpoll:

 

Bird News Friday 28th April

The Long-billed Dowitcher was still off the hide at the Quoile this morning. (Tony Donaldson).
(The bird however has not been seen early afternoon or late evening)

A wing tagged immature White-tailed Eagle was at Camlough Lake this morning, last seen heading away south east. (Joe Devlin).

An Osprey was seen flying north at the north end of Lough Beg at Newferry this morning. ( Gareth Bareham and Laura Smith).

An adult Ring-billed Gull and 1s. Little Gull were still present at RSPB WoW Belfast at 4pm (Daniel Newton)

Cloughfin Port on the Gobbins coast of Islandmagee this morning had 14 Whimbrel  and 1 'Greenland' type Wheatear. (Ian Enlander)

Rathlin Island had... 1 Iceland Gull still here, another Grasshopper Warbler (near the East Light this time), 2 Sandwich Terns, 2 Common Sandpipers, 9 Whimbrels, 23 Black-tailed Godwits.(Richard Else)

A Whimbrel was on the Blackhead coastal path, Whithead this morning. (Christine Beggs)
3 Swift were at Lurgan (Stephen Foster)

8 Whimbrel, 10 Sandwich Tern and a Common Sandpiper were at Belfast Harbour Lagoon (Dot Blakely)

Bann Estuary had 1 Little Gull, 22Whimbrel,165 Golden Plover,400 Dunlin,100 Sanderling and a Pergrine.(Hill Dick)

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Knockmany Forest, Co. Tyrone (Anon)

20 Common Crossbills were today at Keady Mountain near Limavady before flying high to the west. Also 20+ Greenland- type Wheatears. (David Steele)

Thanks to Tony Donaldson for the picture of the Long-billed Dowitcher and to Christine Beggs for the picture of the Whimbrel.

Bird News Thursday 27th April

The Long-billed Dowitcher is still off the hide at the Quoile this morning, see pictures below, the Ring-necked Duck and Ruff were also still present. (Tony Donaldson).

There was no sign of the Avocets at RSPB Belfast Lough reserve up to 12.30. A Ring-billed Gull, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, the Little Gull and a Common Sandpiper were present, a Swift also flew through. (Derek Polley/Ian Enlander).

A singing Reed Warbler was at Kinnegar, a Common Sandpiper was also present. (Ian Enlander).

There were approx. 1500 Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Sanderling on the beach at Magilligan Point this morning. Also small numbers of Whimbrel at Ball's Point and Ballykelly Bank. (David Hill).

On Rathlin today the first Grasshopper Warbler of the year was singing near the harbour. The Iceland Gull was still present. Also present were 70 Black-tailed Godwits (mostly on Ushet Lough), 1 Greenshank, 1 Common Sandpiper. A flock of 10 White Wagtails by Ushet Lough. 3 Redwings were still at Kinramer. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

On Tuesday an Osprey was seen in flight over Glenarm Forest. (Geraldine Seymour).

Thanks to Tony Donaldson for the pictures of the Long-billed Dowitcher, to David Hill for the pictures of the White Wagtail and the Dunlin, to Linda Thompson for the picture of the Wheatear and to Geraldine Seymour for the picture of the Osprey.

 

 

Long-billed Dowitcher Pictures

Thanks to Stephen Maxwell and Ronald Surgenor for these pictures of our rare visitor. The first three pictures are from Stephen and the second three from Ronald.

Bird News Wednesday 26th April

The Long-billed Dowitcher is still present this morning at the Quoile, the bird is to the left of the hide. A male Ruff is also present (Tom Ennis, Tony Dodds, John Edwards). The bird was still present around 1pm, along with the drake Ring-necked Duck (Tony Donaldson)

The two Avocets were still at Belfast RSPB WoW this morning (Daniel Newton). The Avocets were still present at 12:30 along with an adult Ring-billed Gull (Stuart McKee)

A drake Ring-necked Duck was at Blanketnook, Co Donegal (Michael Savage).

A Barn Owl flew over a garden near Annahilt outside Lisburn this evening. (Garry Wilkinson)

A darkbellied Brent Goose was on Rathlin (Ric Else)

 

Alisa Craig Trip:

Weather permitting there will be another trip to Ailsa Craig. This will leave Cushendall Harbour at 10.30am next Monday, May 1st. Contact Jim Wells on 07856235144 for further details.

Thanks to Tony Donaldson for the pictures of the Dowitcher and the Ring-necked Duck, to Ronald Surgenor for the picture of the Grasshopper Warbler and to Wilf Swain for the picture of the Wheatear.

 

 

 

 

Long-billed Dowitcher

A presumed Long-billed Dowitcher was seen from the Castle Island Hide, Quoile on Monday. (Tony Donaldson)

 

 

Bird News Tuesday 25th April

The Avocets were still at RSPB WOW. (Ronald Surgenor) They were still there at lunchtime (George Gordon/Graham Day) And was still present up to 7.30 at least. (Graham Moorhead).

2 adult Ring-billed Gulls and an Iceland Gull were on RSPB WoW reserve (Daniel Newton)

The Little Gull and a Common Sandpiper were at RSPB WoW (George Gordon).

This morning 44 Black-tailed Godwit were on passage in Upper Lough Erne, near Lisnaskea. Also present were a male Wheatear and 8 Whimbrel. (Sarah McCaffrey).

Yesterday 50 Whimbrel were at Ballykelly Bank. (David Hill).

A Little Egret was at Whitehouse Lagoon. (Jim McKeown).

A Brent Goose was at Cruninish Island, Lower Lough Erne (Andrew Gallagher).

A Swift flew north at Slaght near Ballymena this evening. (David Steele).

4 Whimbrel were in the Island Taggart area of Strangford Lough. (Terry Hanna) 

Thanks to Ronald Surgenor for the first Avocet picture and the pictures of the Common Sandpiper and the Little Gull, to Stephen Maxwell for the second picture of the Avocet and to Terry Hanna for the picture of the Whimbrel.