Bird News Tuesday 19th December

 About 100 Waxwing were in trees along Burstin Brae Road, near the junction with the Ballytober Road, Larne. A Great Northern Diver was at Carnfunock Bay. (Dave Weir).

The adult Ring-billed x Common Gull hybrid and a Carrion Crow were at Millisle. (Jeff Higgott).

There were still a few Waxwings at Hegarty's Corner outside Castlerock this morning. (David Hill).

Three Long-eared Owls and four Woodcock were at the University of Ulster in Coleraine. (John Clarke).

Waxwing, Mike McLaughlin

Ring-billed x Common Gull hybrid, Jeff Higgott

Carrion Crow, Jeff Higgott

Redwing, David Hill

Waxwings, David Hill

Fieldfare, David Hill

Bird News Monday 18th December

Mobile flock of around 15 Waxwings at Hegarty’s Corner, Castlerock at 1130 (Rosie Kane).

A ringtail Hen Harrier and a flock of 10 Twite at Long Point Wood, Lough Beg (Maria Mulholland).

Merlin at Ballintoy Harbour and 8 Purple Sandpipers at Sandy Bay (Patrick Barton).

A Great Northern Diver at Moyola Waterfoot, Lough Neagh at noon (Ciara Laverty).

A Great Northern Diver near Ram’s Bay, Lough Neagh (Emma Mulholland & Ruan McCready).

Female Brambling with the Chaffinch flock in the stubble field at Union Locks near the towpath just over the bridge heading towards Lisburn (Garry Wilkinson).

Great White Egret at The Ramper, Strangford Lough (Hugh Murtagh).

One Dark-bellied with Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Myroe this afternoon (Matthew Tickner).

Long-eared Owl, John Clarke:

Bird News Sunday 17th December

The female Marsh Harrier was at Portmore Lough. Four Great White Egret were also seen (Ryan Holgate / Seamus O’Hara)

The Long-tailed Duck and a Merlin were at Todd’s Corner, Lough Neagh (Garry Armstrong)

There was no sign of the Grey Phalarope at Portmuck this morning (Michael Latham)

At least 30 - 40 Waxwing were at Ballycraigy Road, Larne (Stephen Dunbar / Linda Thompson)

Glynn had a Slavonian Grebe. 5 Twite wee at Whitehead (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop)

The Great Spotted Woodpeckers were showing again at RSPB WoW (Daniel Newton)

Waxwings, Linda Thompson:

Bird News Saturday 16th December

A Great White Egret and a female Marsh Harrier were at Oxford Island. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O’Hara).

A female Marsh Harrier and 5 Great White Egrets were at Portmore Lough RSPB reserve. (Wilton Farrelly).

The Spotted Redshank is still in Dundrum Inner Bay. (Daniel Newton).

A male and female type Velvet Scoter were on the Holywood side of Belfast Lough near channel marker 11. (Dermot Hughes).

A Grey Phalarope was at Portmuck on Islandmagee. (Brenda Campbell)

A Brambling was in a garden in Whitehead. (Cameron Moore).

Two Twite were with Linnets at Whitehead. (Aaron Long).

Two Great White Egrets and a Red-throated Diver were at Glynn. (Alan Webster).

A flock of 70+ Waxwings are still on Ballycraigy Road in Larne. (Rufus Singh Avinash) 

A Great Northern Diver was in Portrush harbour. (Juliet Fleming).

Around 50 Purple Sandpipers were on the rocks around Ramore Head in Portrush. (John Clarke)

Flatfield outside Lisburn had 8 Pinkfeet, a single Barnacle Goose and 50 Whoopers with the Greylag flock. (Jeff Higgott).

Grey Phalarope, Brenda Campbell

Brambling, Cameron Moore

Waxwings, Rufus Singh Avinash

Velvet Scoter, Daniel Newton

Great Northern Diver, Juliet Fleming

Grey Phalarope, Aaron Long

Bird News Friday 15th December

Female Long-tailed Duck at Todd’s Corner, Ardmore this morning (Mike McLaughlin & David McCreedy).

Single Marsh Harrier and Great White Egret at Reedy Flats. 4 Great White Egret at Portmore Lough RSPB (Mike McLaughlin & David McCreedy).

A single Pink-footed Goose with Greylags at Flatlands (Mike McLaughlin & David McCreedy).

Great Spotted Woodpecker in Somerset Forest this morning (Donna & Stephen Riddell).

Approximately 12 Waxwings this morning just outside Articlave in the trees beside the river (Kenneth Gray).

Still 3 Long-tailed Ducks (2m &f), 2 Great White Egret, Spotted Redshank and 3 Hen Harriers at Lough Beg (David Steele).

A single Waxwing still on Rathlin at Kinramer presumed to be the same incredibly elusive bird now present six weeks. Also 2 adult Little Gulls this evening (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

3 Waxwings on the Carrowclare Road near the Carrowmena Activity Centre this afternoon (John Clarke & Ken Perry).

Flock of 30 Waxwings at Hegarty’s Corner, Castlerock this afternoon (Rosie Kane).

Approximately 100 Waxwings on the Ballycraig Road, Larne this afternoon (Paul Megahey).

Great White Egret, Mervyn Guthrie:

Pink-footed Goose, Mike McLaughlin:

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Leia Geisel:

Red-breasted Merganser, Alastair Maclean

Bird News Thursday 14th December

Five Great White Egret were at Portmore this morning. A Marsh Harrier was at Oxford Island (Ed O’Hara / Robert Hughes)

3 Waxwing were seen briefly in Whitehead this morning (Adam McClure)

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Glencairn. (Ivan Daglish)

The two Great Spotted Woodpeckers were showing at RSPB WoW (Derek Polley)

2 Brambling were with a mixed flock at Reagh Island, opposite Cross Island, Strangford Lough. Two Stock Doves were also present. (Dermot Hughes)

Yesterday the Green-winged Teal was seen again at RSPB Belfast (Tom Ennis)

About 40 Waxwings were still off the Old Glenarm Road, Larne (Matthew Porter)

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Hillsborough Forest (Tim Jess)

Waxwings, Larne, Matthew Porter:

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker, RSPB WoW, Derek Polley:

Bird News Wednesday 13th December

 At least 8 Waxwings were in front of the primary school in Waterfoot. (Geoff Campbell).

Anyone going to look for these birds are reminded of the sensitivities of birdwatching or photography around schools and should act accordingly.

A single male Snow Bunting was on Divis summit trail this morning. (Paul Hilton).

Two Great White Egrets and a Merlin were at Reedy Flats, Lough Neagh this morning. (Ed O'Hara).

A female Brambling is visiting a garden in Ballymena. (Jeff Larkin).

The Slavonian Grebe is still at Glenarm Marina. (Jonathan Cooke).

Purple Sandpipers are still on the shore of Belfast Lough, opposite the pond between Whiteabbey and Hazelbank Park. (Timothy Davis).

A Marsh Harrier was on the north side of Lough Beg woods. (Mark Smyth).

Around 40 Waxwings were off the Old Glenarm Road in Larne this afternoon. (Matthew Porter).

This morning approximately 100 Waxwing in loose groups were on Brustin Brae Road - main concentration around Ballycraigy Bridge, Larne. The Slavonian Grebe was still at Glenarm Marina. A male Goosander and minimum 6 Common Scoter + 8 Red-throated Diver off Glencloy car park, Carnlough The male Mandarin Duck was still at the mouth of the Inver River, Larne. (Ian Enlander, John O'Boyle + Dermot Hughes).

A Barn Owl was at Cromore Road at the University of Ulster in Coleraine. (Peter Hough).

70 Waxwings were in Ballycastle. (Irishbirding).

The two juvenile Dark-bellied Brent Geese were feeding with the large Brent flock, in one of the fields between Dundrum South Inner Bay and Murlough. They were mostly on the outer edge of the flock as the other geese were giving them a hard time! (David Nixon)

4 Twite were at Whitehead seafront. (Cameron Moore).

The Green-winged Teal was reported again at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve. 

Paul Hilton, Snow Bunting

Matthew Porter, Waxwings

Jonathan Cooke, Slavonian Grebe

Ed O'Hara, Great White Egret & Merlin

Bird News Tuesday 12th December

Late news of Night Heron reported at Six Mile Water, Co Antrim on Sunday December 10th (Tirso Fernandez via eBird).

No sign of the 1st winter Bonaparte’s Gull on Rathlin this morning (Ric Else).

Late news from yesterday of Waxwings just south of Castlerock at Dunboe Road (John McDowell per John Spottiswood).

5 Purple Sandpipers on the shore opposite the pond between Whiteabbey and Hazelbank Park (Timothy Davies).

4 Great White Egrets this morning at Portmore Lough RSPB Reserve to the far right from the viewing platform (Greg Heaney).

Bird News Monday 11th December

A 1st winter Bonaparte's Gull was on Rathlin this morning (Ric Else)

The Marsh Harrier is still at Portmore RSPB (Kenny Moore)

Two Slavonian Grebe and 4 Grey Plover were at Greyabbey Bay (Nathan Gilbert)

5 Waxwings were seen this lunchtime in a private garden in Ballyholme, Bangor (Frederick Hayward)

The Slavonian Grebe was still in Glenarm Harbour this afternoon (Ian Dickey)

A Short-eared Owl and Goosander were at Myroe (Raymond Fulton)

 A Red Kite was near Limavady (Desmond Loughery)

This afternoon Portmore RSPB had the Marsh Harrier, a Great White Egret and a Merlin (Nathan Gilbert)

First winter Bonaparte's Gull, Ric Else:

Slavonian Grebe, Glenarm, Jason Bain:

 

Bird News Sunday 10th December

A male Brambling was with Chaffinchs at the carpark at the Discovery Centre at Oxford Island. (Garry Armstrong).

A Marsh Harrier, Short-eared Owl and two Great White Egrets were at Portmore Lough RSPB reserve. (Michael Latham). Eight Pinkfeet were also at Portmore. (Garry Armstrong).

A male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers were at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve. (Stuart McKee).

A Great White Egret and a Long-tailed Duck were at Todds Corner, Ardmore on the south shore of Lough Neagh. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O’Hara, Comghal McQuillan).

A Slavonian Grebe was at Glenarm marina. (Ivan Quail, Nicky Lynn).

 A small group of Waxwings was in the hedge row opposite the entrance to the new caravan park on the Clare Road, Ballycastle this afternoon. (James Shields).

An adult winter Mediterranean Gull was at Kinnegar shore. (Stuart McKee).

A mobile flock of over 100 Waxwings were around Larne this afternoon. (Linda Thompson).

A single Twite and a Peregrine were at Magheracross. (John Clarke).

Slavonian Grebe - Ivan Quail

Brambling Oxford Island

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stephen Maxwell

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker, Paul Hunter

Waxwings, Linda Thompson

Marsh Harrier & Short-eared Owl, Michael Latham

Marsh Harrier, Michael Latham

Great White Egret, Michael Latham

Bird News Saturday 9th December

Green-winged Teal still at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW Reserve and Great Spotted Woodpecker still on feeders (Shirley Dunlop/Gerard McGeehan/Derek Polley).

Spotted Redshank at South Inner Bay, Dundrum, Murlough NNR. Also 3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese; an adult near the Moneycarragh roost and 2 juveniles together on the Murlough side of the bay (Mel O’Hagan/David Nixon).

Great Spotted Woodpecker near Mackan, Co Fermanagh (Paul Reed).

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stephen Maxwell:

Bird News Friday 8th December

The adult Iceland Gull was still at Corbally Reservoir this morning. (Stephen and Donna Riddell)

A Merlin was at Kinnegar Shore (Stuart McKee). It was then seen to take a Dunlin over Belfast Lough (Stuart Cossey)

A Green-winged Teal is at RSPB WoW (Stuart Cossey)

45 Waxwing were at Old Glenarn Road, Larne this afternoon. Please park sensibly if viewing (Matthew Porter)

A juvenile Dark-bellied Brent was with the Brent flock in Dundrum South Inner Bay this afternoon (David Nixon)

Male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers are now coming to the feeders at RSPB WoW (Stephen Maxwell)

Icelamd Gull, Donna and Stephen Riddell:

Green-winged Teal, Stuart Cossey:

Waxwing, Matthew Porter:

Bird News Thursday 7th December

 A female Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Greenshank were the best at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve today. (Derek Polley).

Bird News Wednesday 6th December

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was on the feeders at RSPB WoW (Gerard McGeehan)

A Spotted Redshank was at Whitehouse lagoon. (Emma Mulholland, Maeve Foley).

Thanks to James McDowell for the pictures of the Waxwings from near Castlerock yesterday:

Bird News Tuesday 5th December

Late news from yesterday morning of a wholly unconfirmed report of a possible Pallas’s Warbler from along Ballyheifer Road, Magherafelt, Co Derry (Birdguides).

An unspecified number of Waxwings still present at the junction of Artidillon and Glebe Roads near Articlave/Castlerock (Donna & Stephen Riddell).

Adult Iceland Gull at Corbally Res (Dennis Weir).

Great Northern Diver from the Bann Estuary hide (John Clarke).

Waxwing, Donna Riddell:

Bird News Monday 4th December

 The Waxwings remain on Islandmagee Road in Whitehead. Anyone considering going to see these birds should note that they are feeding in and a round a school and should try to visit outside school hours. and people taking pictures should be aware of the sensitivities of the site. Also it goes without saying that nobody should enter the school grounds under any circumstances. 

Late news from Friday two Whimbrel were at Ballycastle (Tomás Ó Laihim).

A flock of approximately one hundred Waxwings are in the Larne area. (Bill Guiller).

A Peregrine flew into the Larchfield Estate near Annahilt. (Garry Wilkinson).

A ring-tailed Hen Harrier was along Point Road near Kelly's Wood, St John's Point. (David Stirling).

Up to 30 Waxwings were still at Hegarty's Corner on Artidillon Road near Castle rock. (John Pudney, David Hill)

Thanks to Donna Riddell for the picture of the Redpoll and to John Pudney and David Hill for the pictures of the Waxwings near Castlerock:

John Pudney

John Pudney

David Hill

David Hill