Bird News Saturday 15th November 2025

The Lesser Yellowlegs was still on Rathlin. A Snow Bunting, Woodcock and 11 Purple Sandpipers were also present (Ric Else / Hazel Watson)

The Ruddy Shelduck remain at Kiltonga, Newtownards (Michael Latham)

15+ Mediterranean Gulls were at Cloughey (Bob Watts)

Two Grey Plover were at Barr Hall Bay, Co Down (Bob Watts). Another Grey Plover was at Dundrum Inner Bay (Mel O’Hagan)

Two Great Northern Diver were at Newcastle Harbour (Chris Rankin)

A Merlin was at Rinagree, Portstewart (Richard Donaghey)

The first winter Harlequin Duck remains at Port Arthur beach, north west Donegal.

Ruddy Shelduck, Michael Latham:

Bird News Friday 14th November 2025

The Lesser Yellowlegs is still on Rathlin near the Rue Pont lighthouse (Ric Else / Hazel Watson).

The 1w Drake Harlequin is still at Port Arthur, Donegal (Tom Garner).

The 6 Ruddy Shelduck are still present near the weir at Kiltonga NR, near Newtownards and present since at least Sunday 9th November (Juliet Fleming).

Ruddy Shelducks, Garry Wilkinson (1 & 2), Juliet Fleming (3), Stephen Maxwell (4):

Bird News Thursday 13th November 2025

 The six Ruddy Shelducks are still at Kiltonga outside Newtownards. (Bob Watts).

Bird News Wednesday 12th November 2025

 The six Ruddy Shelducks are still at the weir at Kiltonga outside Newtownards. (Aaron Long).

The Glossy Ibis and 200+ Bar-tailed Godwits were at Myroe. (Ian Dickey).

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was near the bridge in Victoria Park. (Bernard Parniewicz).

Four Slavonian Grebes, a Long-tailed Duck and two female Common Scoter were off Macedon Point in Belfast Lough. Another Slavonian Grebe was off Whiteabbey. (Dermot Hughes, John O'Boyle).

The Harlequin Duck was still north of Port Arthur in Donegal. (Declan Murphy).

Two Purple Sandpipers and a Sandwich Tern were at Donaghadee. (Bob Watts).

A juvenile American Golden Plover was at Inch in Donegal. (Theo Campbell).

A male Brambling was at the beach near Killard. (David Stirling).

Two White-rumped Sandpipers were still at Myroe. (John Spratt).

Great White Egret seen along the shore at Ardmore Point from the Croghan Hide at Oxford Island. (Steven Fyffe).

A Snow Bunting, Merlin and 5 Purple Sandpipers were on Rathlin. (Ric Else  & Hazel Watson).

Bird News Tuesday 11th November 2025

 The 6 Ruddy Shelducks are still at Kiltonga outside Newtownards this morning. (Ian Young).

The Harlequin Duck is still at Port Arthur in Donegal. (Chris Murphy).

Bird News Monday 10th November 2025

A Swift species was seen at Dunseverick Pool at 8.30-45 this morning then lost flying east towards Dunseverick Harbour (Patrick Barton)

The Harlequin Duck was still around the pier at Port Arthur in Donegal. (Brian Haslam).

The Brambling was seen again this morning in a garden near Annahilt. (Garry Wilkinson).

The Brambling was still at Oxford Island this morning. (Stevie Brennan).

There was no sign of the Barred Warbler at Kearney. (David Stirling).

Six presumed escaped or released Ruddy Shelducks were at Kiltonga. (Alastair McLean).

The Marsh Harrier was at Portmore. (Mel O'Hagan).

A late Arctic Tern and a Woodcock were on Rathlin. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

Bird News Sunday 9th November 2025

Brambling on feeders in a garden near Annahilt (Garry Wilkinson).

2 Taiga Bean with Greylag Geese at Dooey, Donegal (Trevor Ellery).

Barred Warbler still at Kearney in the willows / brambles 20 feet from the P parking arrow on the right (Chris Veale).

Harlequin still just south of Port Arthur Pier showing very well (Paul Lynch).

Great White Egret at Inch but no sign of Bitterns this morning (Mark Stewart). Bittern again from platform mid afternoon (Leia Getty).

Drake Mandarin at Broadwater, Moira (Andrew Upton).

3 Pinkfeet, a ringtail Hen Harrier and a Great White Egret at Lough Beg (Godfrey McRoberts).

Brambling on bird table in Bangor garden (David Miller).

3 Waxwings at Churchfield Road, Ballycastle (J. Friers).

Snow Bunting still present at Rinagree (Richard Donaghey).

Glossy Ibis at Islandmagee (Ricky Clarke).

Glossy Ibis still at Myroe Levels (Mervyn Guthrie).

The Long-tailed Duck was still in Victoria Park. (Paul Hunter).

The Great White Egret was still at Dundrum Bay North along with 1,500 Golden Plover. (Maurice McNeely, Andy Carden).

Snow Bunting, Rodney Gillan:

Bramblings, Garry Wilkinson & David Miller:

Glossy Ibis, Mervyn Guthrie:

Long-tailed Duck, Paul Hunter.

Bird News Saturday 8th November 2025

Yesterday on Rathlin, there was no sign of the Lesser Yellowlegs or the Bonapartes Gull. A few Chiffchaff were present. (Stuart McKee)

The Snow Bunting was still at Rinagree, Portstewart this morning. (Stephen Riddell)

The first winter drake Harlequin Duck is still present at the north end of Port Arthur Beach, Derrybeg, Co Donegal (Kieran Fahy)

A Marsh Harrier and a Hen Harrier were at Portmore RSPB (Michael Latham)

A Bittern was pictured from the platform at Inch, Donegal (Malcolm Riddell) Update: there are now two Bitterns at Inch per Serlas Anderson, Kevin McLaughlin and Malcolm Riddell. One of the Bitterns was seen again late afternoon (John Cusack)

The Spotted Redshank was still at Dundrum Inner Bay (Mark Getty)

The drake Lesser Scaup and a drake Red-crested Pochard are at Portmore (Garry Armstrong)

A Barred Warbler was at Kearney Co Down. The bird was in the brambles / willows on the right hand side before reaching the toilet block (Wilton Farrelly)

A Great White Egret was at the Quoile (Pual Megaghy)

4 Pink-feet were with Greylags just north of Greyabbey (Wilton Farrelly)

A Glossy Ibis and one White-rumped Sandpiper were at Myroe (Richard Donaghey)

As well as the Bittern, Inch also had a Lesser Yellowlegs, American Golden Plover and a Great White Egret (Derek Brennan)

At least 10 Curlew Sandpiper were at the Ardilea wader roost, Dundrum Bay (David Nixon)

Bittern, Malcolm Riddell:

Barred Warbler, Wilton Farrelly:

Bittern, Searlas Anderson:

Snow Bunting, Stephen Riddell:

Glossy Ibis, Richard Donaghey:

Bird News Friday 7th November 2025

The Snow Bunting is still at Binevenagh, approximately 200 metres before the lake. Another Snow Bunting is outside Portstewart. (John Clarke).

70 - 80 Bar-tailed Godwits and 10 Knot were at Myroe, yesterday up to 200 Bar-tailed Godwits were present. (Ian Dickey).

A White-rumped Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper at the Bann Estuary from the hide. (John Spottiswood).

Snow Bunting, John Clarke.

Bird News Thursday 6th November 2025

Adult White-rumped Sandpiper still north end of Myroe Levels (John Spottiswood ).

Great White Egret from Croaghan Hide and Brambling still at Oxford Island NNR (Bob Watts).

Pallid Swift Shore Road, Dundalk then flew towards Soldiers Point (Fergal Stanley / Brian McCloskey).

Ring Ouzel on Rathlin, in scrub behind the Manor House. Also Crossbill, Hen Harrier, Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaffs (Ric Else / Hazel Watson).

Harlequin still just north of Port Arthur, Donegal (Brian Porter et al).

2 Taiga Bean and 3 Pinkfeet at Dooey, Donegal (Brian Porter et al).

29 Sandwich Tern at Portaferry including a juvenile (Hugh Thurgate).

Late Swallow at Downpatrick (Chris Murphy).

2 Black-throated Divers still at Carnlough (ad and imm), also steady movement of Kittiwakes south (Dermot Hughes).

Snow Bunting on Binivenagh on the rough track to the lake on top (Jimmy Christie).

Bird News Wednesday 5th November 2025

 The Harlequin Duck was still north of the pier at Port Arthur in Donegal. (Sean Pierce).

A White-rumped Sandpiper and a Cattle Egret were at Lough Beg this afternoon. The Slavonian Grebe and Great Northern Diver are also still present. (David Steele).

The two Taiga Bean Geese were still at Dooey between Dungloe and Portnoo in Donegal. (Robert Vaughan)

A Brambling was seen again at Oxford Island. (Mark Magee). 

A Chiffchaff was on Rathlin. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

A Barn Owl was seen over the dual carriageway at Cloughmills. (John Clarke).

Bird News Tuesday 4th November 2025

A Russian white-fronted Goose was at Inch, Donegal. 100 Pink-feet and 5 Ruff were also present. (Theo Campbell / Chris Ingram)

The Lesser Yellowlegs was still present on Rathlin (Ric Else / Hazel Watson)

Two Snow Bunting were at Ramore Head (John Clarke)

18 Mediterranean Gulls were at Cloughy beach. The best at Barr Hall Bay were 3 Goldcrest (Bob Watts)

The Bonapartes Gull was still on Rathlin (Ric Else)

A single Cattle Egret was at Malin Beg, Donegal (Andy Ellard)

Unusually a Whooper Swan as at Lurgan Park lake (Garry Wilkinson)

The Long-tailed Duck was still in Victoria Park this afternoon (Alan Fitzsimmons)

We have received a report of purposeful disturbance of Whooper Swans by a Quad bike at Broomhedge / Flatfields area outside Lisburn. Please forward any pictures or details that you may have of this incident.

There are seats available for this Saturday's boat trip to Islay. Contact Jim Wells on -07856235144 for more details

Snow Bunting, John Clarke:

Long-tailed Duck, Alan Fitzsimmons: