Bird News Saturday 7th September

The Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail is still at Oxford Island. A Spotted Flycatcher was also there (Michael Henderson)

A Great Skua was at St Johns Point, Co Down (Chris Rankin)

Two Lapland Buntings were at the east end of Tory Island (Brad Robson)

Thansk to Mervyn Campbell for this pic of a juvenile Sabines Gull heading up Lough Foyle:

Arctic Skua chasing a Sandwich Tern, Stephen Dunbar:

Skuas

The recent westerly \ north westerly winds have seen some good seabird movements around the coast. There are four species of Skua and Thomas and Mervyn Campbell managed to get superb photographs of all four around Magilligan Point this week:

Great Skua - Thomas Campbell

Juvenile Long-tailed Skua - Thomas Campbell

Juvenile Arctic Skua - Mervyn Campbell

Pomarine Skua - Mervyn Campbell

Bird News Friday 6th September

Ramore Head this morning had 2 Leach's Petrel, 2 Bonxie and 2 Wheatear. This evening in 40 minutes there were 8 Bonxie and 6 Grey Phalarope (Dennis Weir). Between 11.30 and 4.45 Ramore had a Pomarine Skua, 6 Leach's Petrels, 8 Sabine's Gulls, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 32 Bonxie, 1 Arctic Skua and a Great Northern Diver. (Gerard McGeehan, Shirley Dunlop & Stuart McKee). This evening Ramore had a Sabine's Gull, 3 Leach's Petrel, 7 bonxie and 3 Arctic Skua (Matthew Tickner)

An Osprey and a Swift were at Lough Beg. (David Steele).

A Yellowhammer was visiting a garden in Annahilt. (Garry Wilkinson).

A Wheatear was along the coast near Pickie in Bangor. (Derek Polley).

A Long-tailed Skua was at Magilligan (Thomas Campbell) and a juvenile Sabines Gull was also seen there (Mervyn Campbell)

Thanks to Fulton Somerville for the picture of the Kingfisher and to Thomas Campbell for the pictures of the Long-tailed Skua, Bonxie and Sanderling:

Bird News Thursday 5th September

Yesterday Rocky Point, Malin Beg, Co Donegal had 85 Great Skua, 15 Arctic Skua, 2 Pomarine Skua, 14 Leach's Petrel, 13 Sooty Shearwater, 2 Sabine's Gull (juvs) and 2 Grey Phalarope. There were 11 Chough in the area and a Ruff was feeding on the headland (Stephen Foster)

A Cattle Egret was at the south end of Lough Beg this evening, it was mobile over the area but settled for a while in the southwest corner, associating quite closely with two Little Egrets. A Garganey was also seen. (David Steele)

Two Curlew Sandpipers were at RSPB WoW (Stephen Maxwell / Ian Enlander)

50 Brent Geese were seen between Castle Espie and Island hill this afternoon (Ross McIlrath)

Black Tern - Mervyn Campbell

Leaches Petrel - Mervyn Campbell

Bird News Wednesday 4th September

Ramore Head this morning from 07:00 to 11:00 had a  juvenile Long Tailed Skua, 4 Great Skua, 3 Arctic Skua, 2 Whimbrel and a Red-throated Diver (Richard Hunter)

Ramore Head had over the day (some overlap with the above) 2 Long Tails Skuas, 11 Sabines, 31 Arctic Skuas 54 Bonxies, 22 Leaches, 90 Arctic Terns, 400 Manx, 4 juv/duck Pintail and 2 Whimbrel (Stuart McKee / Dennis Weir)

Further records from Ramore later in the day were 20 Leaches, 1 European Storm Petrel, 1 Little Auk, 1 Pomerine Skua, 8 Bonxies, 5 Arctic Skua, 2 juvenile Sabines Gulls, 3 Common Tern, 2 Red-throated Diver, 2 Sooty Shearwaters and a Grey Phalarope. (Ian Enlander & Brian Sutton/Hill Dick).

The rough weather brought a Little Tern, possibly the 1st record, a Storm Petrel, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Sandwich Tern, a Red-throated Diver and large numbers of Gannets to Rathlin. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

RSPB WoW had 2 Little Stint, 3Curlew Sandpiper and 6 Ruff (Gerard McGeehan)

A Long-eared Owl was at Monea, Co. Fermanagh this morning. (Brad Robson).

Large numbers of seabirds were in Helen's Bay this afternoon including between 1,500 - 2,000 terns, mostly Sandwich Terns, hundreds of Gannets, Guillemots and Razorbills and three Arctic Skua. (Philip Watson).

5 Wheatear were along the Foyle estuary this morning. (Lindsay Hodges).

Magillifan had three Black Terns and a Leaches Petrel (Mervyn Campbell)

Thanks to Ian Enlander for the picture of the juvenile Sabines Gull and Leaches Petrels, to Lindsay Hodges for the picture of the Wheatear, to Kevin Kirkham for the picture of the Ruff and to Ric Else for the picture of the Gannet:

Bird News Tuesday 3rd September

RSPB WoW had 2 Little Stints, 2 Curlew Sandpipers and 2 Roseate Terns (BirdGuides)

The final total for Northern Ireland Peregrines for 2019 was 56 successful pairs with a total of 143 young. (NIRSG)

Thanks to Ian Jackson for this picture of a Razorbill:

Bird News Monday 2nd September

The Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail was still at Oxford Island this afternoon (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop).

The Little Stint was still at Belfast WOW reserve this evening, several Swift were also present. (Daniel Newton).

Thanks to Lindsay Hodges for the picture of the juvenile Cuckoo and to Stephen Dunbar for the picture of the Arctic Skua chasing a Sandwich Tern:

Bird News Sunday 1st September

The Little Stint, 4 Curlew Sandpipers, an adult and a juvenile Roseate Tern and 6 Ruff were at RSPB WoW this morning (Garry Armstrong/Billy Miskelly)

A 3 hrs seawatch at Melmore Head this morning had 2 Long-tail Skias, 4 Arctic Skuas,24 Bonxies, 4 Arctic Tern, 1 Storm Petrel, 3 Great Northern Divers, 2 Red-throated Diver and 5 Common Scoter. (Eric Randall)

Ramore Head this morning (0715-0915) had Leach’s Petrel and Pomarine Skua as they tracked close-in west, along with 6 Bonxies, 4 Arctic Skua and a Great Northern Diver. A Curlew Sandpiper was at Myroe. (Daniel Newton)

A Little Stint was at Kinnegar Pools this afternoon (Kevin Kirkham)

An Osprey and 12 Ruff were at Lough Beg this morning. (David Steele)

2 Black Terns and 4 Arctic Skuas were off Magilligan Point (Jeff Larkin)

A Curlew Sandpiper was at Millin Bay near Portaferry this morning. (Dermot Hughes)

The Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail was again at Oxford Island today. Circa 20 Ruff were at Lady Bay, Lough Neagh (Michael Latham)

Mediterranean Gulls seen today included a colour-ringed bird, (ringed in Germany in 2017), was at Sandy Bay, Larne, an un-ringed juvenile was at Whitehead and an un-ringed adult was on the beach at Kinnegar. (Gareth Platt). A adult Mediterranean Gull was at Whitehouse Lagoon (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop)

Thanks to Michael Latham for the pictures of the Ruff and the Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail:

Bird News Saturday 31st August

RSPB WoW had 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 10 Ruff and 5 Roseate Tern (Richard Hunter / Garry Armstrong / Wilton Farrelly)

The Little Stint was seen at RSPB WoW this afternoon (Gerard McGeehan)

The Little Stint and a juvenile Roseate Tern were at Belfast WOW this evening. (michael Latham).

East of Crawfordsburn there were 2 Arctic Skua and 2 Mediterranean gulls and a Great Skua was at Ballywalter. (Richard Weyl).

A Spotted Redshank, 3 Purple Sandpipers and 2 Ruff were among good numbers of common waders at Whitehouse Lagoon. (Kevin Kirkham).

Melmore Head in Donegal had 2 Long-tailed Skuas, 3 Arctic Skuas, 11 Bonxies, 28 Sooty Shearwaters, 15 Arctic Terns, 1 Storm Petrel, and 10 Sanderling among thousands of Manx Shearwaters. (Eric Randall)

Thanks to Thomas Campbell for the pictures of the Common Sandpiper and Whimbrel and to Michael Latham for the picture of the juvenile Roseate Tern:

Rathlin Birding Week

From Saturday 28th September to Sunday 6th October, Ric Else and Hazel Watson will be running Rathlin Birding Week. Keen birders are invited to stay on Rathlin during this potentially exciting period of the autumn migration season to help find and record birds on the island.

Budget-friendly shared accommodation is available for up to eight birders each night at the unofficial Rathlin Bird Observatory, in return for birding the island and contributing sightings. (Other accommodation options are also available on the island.)

Rathlin has already had some great birds in 2019, with rarities including Stilt Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, Cattle Egret, Golden Eagle (x2), White-tailed Eagle, Sabine's Gull (x2), Firecrest, Common Quail, Ring Ouzel (x4) and Tree Pipit (x7). With extra observer coverage we hope the autumn will prove just as exciting!

Further information and the relevant contact details can be found here: https://rathlinstickybeak.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/get-ready-for-rathlin-birding-week-2019/

Bird News Friday 30th August

RSPB WoW had nine RoseateTern, two Curlew Sandpipers, six Ruff, one Little Stint, and one Sanderling (Stuart McKee / Daniel Newton / Ryan Doggart)

The Bann Estuary today had: 1 Little Stint, 108 Knot, 1 Ruff, 3 Greenshank, c100 Common Terns - many of which were juvs, c50 Sandwich Terns- adults/juvs, 1 Wheatear, and 1 Peregrine. (Ken Perry/John Clarke/ Hill Dick)

Bird News Thursday 29th August.

The Little Stint is still present at the WOW reserve, Belfast along with 10 Roseate Tern and a juv Black Tern. (Stuart McKee/Ian Endlander/Derek Polley)

Lady Bay, Lough Neagh had about a dozen Ruff.(Michael Latham)

Our thanks to Stuart McKee for the photo of the Black Tern(foreground) and a Roseate Tern to it's left. Also to Michael Latham for this lovely pic of a Kingfisher, photo was taken at Oxford Island.

'WeBS in NI has never been more important'

For those who enjoyed Graham Appleton's article on NI waders below is a link to further information on waders in Ireland highlighting the importance of WeBS counts

https://wadertales.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/irelands-wintering-waders/

Bird News Wednesday 28th August

A Little Stint and a Curlew Sandpiper are at RSPB WoW this morning (Gerard McGeehan). Four Roseate Tern (2 adults and 2 juveniles) were also present (Stuart McKee)

A White-tailed Eagle flew over the West Light, Rathlin, towards Ballycastle (Ric Else / Hazel Watson).

A flock of 9 Black Terns passed Melmore Head in Donegal this afternoon. (Eric Randall).

An in flight flock of 48 Mistle Thrush were north of Portadown. (Brian Nelson).

Thanks to Ric Else for the picture of the White-tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Bonxie, to Stuart McKee for the pictures of the Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Roseate Tern, to Ginny McKee for the pictures of the Sanderling and the Knot and to Wilf Swain for the picture of the Black-tailed Godwit:

Wader Tales - NI

Readers of this Blog may be interested in this excellent Blog and Blog post by Graham Appleton:

https://wadertales.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/the-waders-of-northern-ireland/

Bird News Tuesday 27th August

A Green Sandpiper was on Rathlin Island (per Ric Else / Hazel Watson)

Yesterday two juvenile Whinchats were at Tullyratty Dam, Castleward Co Down (Chris Murphy)

The Bann Estuary had 2 Black Terns and 3 Ruff (Hill Dick)

Thanks to Dick Glasgow for this pic of a juvenile Wheatear:

Bird News Monday 26th August

A Spotted Redshank was showing from the hide at the Bann Estuary, a Black Tern was also present. (John Spottiswood)

2 Whimbrel where at Sandy Bay, Larne.(Kevin Kirkham Brown)

A Black Tern and a number of Storm Petrels were seen off a boat in the North Channel (Ronald Surgenor)

RSPB WoW this evening had 12 Ruff and 7 Roseate Tern (Wilton Farrelly)

Killough: some high counts among the days’ tally: 90 Roseate Terns, mostly adults and most of them ringed; 480 Common Terns, 3 ArcticTerns, 256 Sandwich Terns, c. 450 ‘pairs’ of ad and juv Razorbill/Guillemot (between coastguard and lighthouse); 54 Black-tailed Godwit, 8 Knot, 10 Greenshank, 2 Whimbrel, 31 Curlew, 172 Ringed Plover, 106 Dunlin (mostly juvs), 3 Snipe, 100 Lapwing, 254 Redshank, 20 Little Egrets and 12 Little Grebe (Chris Murphy/Doris Noe)

A Red Kite was in the Antrim Hills (Kenny Moore)

Our thanks to Andrew Poots for this picture of a Spotted Flycatcher. Also to Ronald Surgenor for  photo's of a Storm Petrel and a Black Tern.Bottom photo is off a Sedge Warbler sent in by Thomas Campbell.

Bird News Sunday 25th August

A Green Sandpiper was at the Roe Estuary (Gerard McGeehn / Shirley Dunlop / Carol Gillespie)

25 Reed Warbler were trapped and ringed on the shores of Lough Neagh (Richard Donaghey / James O’Neill).

The hybrid Ring-billed Gull was at Millisle and an Arctic Skua at Orlock Point. (Richard Weyl).

Belfast WOW reserve this evening had 4 adult and 2 juvenile Roseate Terns, 12 Ruff and 20 Knot. (Garry Armstrong).

A Hen Harrier was in the Antrim hills and a Kingfisher at Kinnegoe pool. (Michael Latham).

Thanks to Michael Latham for the pictures of the Hen Harrier and the Little Egret:

Bird News Saturday 24th August

The Long-billed Dowitcher was at RSPB WoW this morning along with 10 Roseate Terns and 10 Ruff. There was no sign of the Black Tern. Kinnegar had two Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper (Stuart McKee)

The Blue-headed Wagtail was still at Oxford Island this morning (Mick Henderson et al)

Several Reed Warblers continue to be seen around Kinnegoe hide at Oxford Island. (Michael Latham).

A single Swift was in Portadown (Fulton Somerville)

A juv-1st winter Med Gull was at Lurgan Park Lake (David Knight).

2 Ruff, 4 Whimbrel and 30 Black-tailed Godwit were at Reedy Flat this morning. (Oscar Campbell).

24 Mediterranean Gulls were at Lough Foyle. (Brad Robson).

Thanks to Mick Henderson for the first Yellow Wagtail picture, to Michael Latham for the second Yellow Wagtail picture and the Reed Warbler picture, to Alistair McLean for the picture of the Linnet, to Richard Hunter for the third Yellow Wagtail picture and to David Knight for the picture of the Mediterranean Gull:

Bird News Friday 23rd August

The Blue-headed Wagtail was still at Oxford Island this morning (Ed O’Hara)

A large flock of Brent Geese were seen arriving in to Strangford Lough (James Orr)

Lough Beg this evening had four Garganey , 19 Ruff and a Green Sandpiper . A juvenile Cuckoo was at Mullagh.(David Steele)

This evening at RSPB WoW were 22 adult Roseate Terns and 6 juveniles. The Black Tern was still there (Stuart McKee).

A juvenile Hen Harrier was on Rathlin. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson)

Our thanks to Ed O'Hara for his pic of the Wagtail.Also  to Stephen Maxwell for the photo of the Ruff.\