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).

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:

Bird News Monday 3rd November 2025

The Long-tailed Duck remains at Victoria Park, Belfast (Mel O’Hagan).

The Bonaparte’s Gull remains on Rathlin also a Chiffchaff (Ric Else / Hazel Watson).

Bird News Sunday 2nd November 2025

The 2 Black-throated Divers were still in Carnlough Bay and at least one Twite was among a mixed, mobile flock of finches. (Jeff Larkin).

A Snow Bunting was on Rathlin this morning. The Bonaparte’s Gull was also still present. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

The Harlequin Duck is still at the north end of Port Arthur beach in Donegal. (Michael Latham).

A juvenile Great Northern Diver is on Lough Beg. Also at Lough Beg the Slavonian Grebe, Spotted Redshank and at least four Great White Egrets, also 15 Pinkfeet continuing by the A6 at Toome (David Steele).

A male Lesser Scaup is off the hide at Portmore. (Garry Armstrong).

The Long-tailed Duck was still in Victoria Park this morning. (William Smiton).

The Lesser Yellowlegs is still at Rue Point on Rathlin. (Birdguides).

No sign of the Bean Geese around Inch, 52 Pinkfeet and 10 Barnacles in fields to the south of the lake. 3 Scaup on the lake, and a redhead Goosander and male Brambling at Blanket Nook. (Richard Gray).

Two Curlew Sandpipers were still at Ardilea lagoon in Dundrum Inner Bay north. (Richard Caves).

Long-tailed Duck, William Smiton.

Long-tailed Duck, Jeff Silver.

Harlequin Duck, Michael Latham.

Curlew Sandpiper, Richard Caves.

Bird News Saturday 1st November 2025

The Lesser Yellowlegs is still on Rathlin. 10 Purple Sandpiper were also present (Ric Else / Hazel Watson)

Two Great White Egret, a female Greater Scaup and Arctic Tern were off the Croaghan Hide, Oxford Island (Garry Armstrong)

5 Curlew Sandpiper were off Ardilea, Co Down. There has been no sign of the Black-crowned Night Heron this morning (Ivan Quail / Nicky Lynn)

A Long-tailed Duck is at Victoria Park, Belfast (Bernard Pariewicz) The bird was showing from the bridge at the north east end this afternoon.

The immature male Harlequin Duck is still off Port Arthur Beach, north west Donegal (Juliet Huggins)

Two American Golden Plover and two White-rumped Sandpiper were at Myroe (John Clarke)

A Snow Bunting was along the road to the fish factory at Rinnore, Fanad (Daniel Maloney)

A Hen Harrier and Peregrine were at Portmore (Kenny Moore)

A Greenland White-front flew past Ramore Head  30+ Purple Sandpiper were also present (Jonny Rosborough)

A second winter Yellow-legged Gull was on Newcastle beach (Mel O’Hagan)

The Bonapartes Gull was seen again today on Rathlin (Ric Else)

A Spotted Redshank was in the channel at Dundrum Inner Bay South (David McCreedy/ Clifford Sharpe / David Nixon)

A ring-tailed Hen Harrier was at Lough Beg (Warren McConnaughie)

Wintering Blackcaps have been reported from a number of locations today.

Greenland White-front, Jonny Rosborough:

Yellow-legged Gull, Mel O’Hagan:

Long-tailed Duck, Michael Latham:

Spotted Redshank, David McCreedy:

Bird News Friday 31st October 2025

No sign of the juvenile Night Heron this morning at Ardilea (Sean Gibson / Aaron Long). Negative early afternoon (Stuart Cossey).

The Harlequin is still north of Port Arthur Beach, Donegal (Stuart McKee).

Brambling at Oxford Island NNR (Stevie Brennan).

Female Marsh Harrier from the Castle Island Hide, Quoile (Ewan McKenzie).

Female Hen Harrier at Portmore Lough (Jim Wells).

Great White Egret at Lough Beg (Jim Wells).

Long-tailed Duck with merganser at Green Island, Dundrum (Stuart Cossey).

15 Pinkfeet with Whooper Swans by the A6 at Toome (David Steele).

Pinkfoot and 3 White-Rumped Sandpipers at Myroe (Jonny Rosborough / Mervyn Campbell).

4 White-rumped Sandpipers at Myroe in drainage ditch; 3adults and a juvenile (Patrick Barton).

Great Spotted Woodpecker at Castlewellan Forest Park (Anne-Marie Smyth).

Brambling, Stevie Brennan:

Bird News Thursday 30th October 2025

The juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron was still around the pond along the coastal path at Ardilea. (David Stirling). The bird was still showing up to midday. (Richard Caves, David Nixon).

Three Pomarine Skuas went south past St John's Point at 2.30 this afternoon. (Chris Murphy).

The male Goosander was at the Inver River in Larne Lough. (Cameron Moore).

Yesterday the two White-rumped Sandpipers were still in the channel at Myroe. (Birdguides).

Black-crowned Night Heron, Richard Caves.

Goosander, Cameron Moore.