Bird News Monday 31st August

A Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper is on Kinnegar Pool. (Jeff Larkin)

Another juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was at the Bann Estuary (Neal Warnock)

A Merlin and Hen Harrier were in the Antrim Hills (Michael Latham)

The Marsh Harrier was again at Portmore Lough (Brian Redpath \ Bill Guiller)

The Spoonbill was again seen, from Longfield Point. Myroe had 2 Curlew Sandpiper and 1000+ other waders (Derek Brennan)

Marsh Harrier, Brian Redpath:

Marsh Harrier, Bill Guiller:



Bird News Sunday 30th August

The Spoonbill was still on Lough Foyle near Greysteel, 2 Mediterranean Gulls were at Ballykelly. (Jeff Larkin)

4 Slavonian Grebe, a Ruff and another 2 Mediterranean Gulls were at Myroe but few other waders were present. (Jeff Larkin / Gerard McGeehan/ Shirley Dunlop / Carol Gillespie).

Between 7.30 and 10.30 Myroe had 3 Curlew Sandpipers, 4 Ruff, 4 Wheatear and a Peregrine. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara, Daniel Newton).

A Marsh Harrier was at Portmore Lough reserve.(Michael Latham)see pic below.

Our thanks to everyone who over  the last few days have reported Brent Geese, thousands of birds have arrived back on Strangford Lough.  



Bird News Saturday 29th August

Circa 250 Brent Geese were at Castle Espie this morning.(Ross McIlrath)

3 Great Skua, 1 Pomarine Skua, 2 Arctic Skua, 6 Red throated Diver and 253 Brent Geese were seen between 8 am and 4 pm from Blackhead Lighthouse, Belfast Lough.(Paul McCullough)

Antrim Hills produced a Hen Harrier and 2 Red Grouse.(Michael Latham).

In Donegal 2 Ruff were at Inch Lake and another Ruff at Blanket Nook. (Richard Hunter).

A Peregrine was hunting over Ballynacor on the south shore of Lough Neagh. (Ed O'Hara).

A single Common Sandpiper and a Raven were at Lady Bay, Lough Neagh. (Kevin Kirkham).

At Rhanbuoy Park in Carrick 2 Common Scoter were with a large raft of Eider. A single Sanderling was with a small flock of Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Turnstone at Sandy Bay in Larne. (Kevin Kirkham).

Our thanks to Douglas Gamble for this pic of freshly arrived Brent Geese at the Maltings, Strangford Lough, to Michael Latham for the Red Grouse picture to Kevin Kirkham for the picture of the Sanderling with a Dunlin and to Juliet Fleming for the picture of the Common Terns.








Bird News Friday 28th August

A Spoonbill is at Lough Foyle, between Longfield Point and Ballykelly (Theo Campbell)

47 Brent Geese were seen passing Ramore Head this morning (Richard Donaghey). Another count of 110 (same location) was also reported (Colin Guy). A flock of 37 were also at Kinnegar Shore, Belfast (Daniel Newton)

Ramore Head 09:30-12:00 had 2 Arctic Skua. Lady’s Bay, Lough Neagh has 2 Ruff. Oxford Island had the Black Tern and 2 Common Sandpiper ( Ed O'Hara/ Comghal McQuillan)

33 Little Egret were in Killough, a site record.(Chris Murphy) 

Myroe had 3 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Ruff and 17 Med Gulls. Magilligan had juv Little Gull, 3 Arctic Skua, 2 Great Skua, and 350 Brent at Ramore this evening.(Neal Warnock) 

Our thanks to Thomas Campbell for this marvellous shot of a Peregrine, you can see more of Thomas photo's on the NIbirds pic blog.



The Natural History of Cape Clear

For anyone who has visited Cape Clear, you may be interested in this new book by Steve Wing. It can be purchased at the web address below. For those in NI, Steve will try to arrange a collection of the order from the CCBO for NI recipients, so when checking out, if you select Ireland as your region, you will get an option to collect at the CCBO. If you select this, we will endeavour to get a delivery to NI.

https://puma-flatworm-42cf.squarespace.com/  


Bird News Thursday 27th August

A Black Tern was at Kinnego Marina this morning 9am, see picture below. (Ciara Laverty & Peter Harper).

Black Tern, Ciara Laverty:

Great Northern and Red-throated Divers, Thomas Campbell:




Bird News Wednesday 26th August

6 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Ruff and 8 Med Gulls (inc 1 juv) were at Myroe today. (Neal Warnock).

3 escaped/released female or immature Mandarin Ducks were at the Ecos Park in Ballymena. (Jeff Larkin).

Killough today had a juvenile Roseate Tern, adult Peregrine, 2 White Wagtails, 4 Wheatears and 23 Little Egrets. (Chris Murphy).

Yesterday a Great Spotted Woodpecker was visiting a garden in Edenderry, Belfast. (Aidan Devlin).

Thanks to Lindsay Hodges for the picture of the Meadow Pipit and Cuckoo and to Neal Warnock for the picture of the Sanderling:




Bird News Tuesday 25th August

Copeland Sound between 3:00-4:00pm had an Arctic Skua, seven Storm Petrel, three Puffins, one Red throated Diver, 100+ Kittiwake, four Whimbrel and two Common Sandpiper (Billy Miskelly)

A seawatch at Ramore Head in the ‘wrong’ wind direction this afternoon had 1200+ Manx per hour, 8 Sooty Shearwaters, 48 Storm Petrels, 8 Great Skuas, 1 Pomarine Skua & 19 Arctic Terns (Neal Warnock)

At St John’s Pt between 9am and 10am: 5,000 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas, 650 Kittiwakes, 100 Sandwich Terns; also 3 White Wagtails (Chris Murphy)

Ten Ruff and two inland Turnstones were at Mullagh, Lough Beg, this afternoon. (David Steele)

Purple Sandpiper, Portrush, Juliet Fleming:

Bird News Monday 24th August

Groomsport marsh had 3 Curlew Sandpipers and 7 Sanderling. 2 Long-tailed Duck were off Ballymacormick Point. (James Rooney).

Fanad Head, Donegal had 350 Sooty Shearwaters, 500 Manx and three Great Shearwater in calm conditions feeding on fish getting pushed to the surface by a pod of Dolphins (Stuart McKee)

3 Wheatear were today at Ballyhalbert Harbour, 2 of which were Greenland (Derek Polley)

Bird News Sunday 23rd August

A Semi-Palmated Sandpiper is at Myroe this morning and also 3 Curlew Sandpipers (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara)

Two Ruff and a Roseate Tern were at RSPB WOW this morning. (Daniel Newton)

A Whooper Swan was at Dundrum.(Michael Latham)

A Kingfisher was seen at the Billy Neill playing fields.(Derek Polley)


Our thanks to Michael Latham for the photo of the Whooper Swan. Also to Ed O'Hara for the Wheatear seen at Myroe..Bottom pic is of a Great Skua off the Maidens taken by David Galbratth.






Bird News Saturday 22nd August

 Lough Beg this morning had 4 Ruff, a Garganey, 2 Pintail and 7 Gadwall. (Richard Hunter).

A 1 hour seawatch at Fanad Head in Donegal had 110 Sooty Shearwaters, 4 Storm Petrels, 3 Great Skua and an Arctic Skua. A Curlew Sandpiper was on the beach at the fish facvtory. (Wilton Farrelly).

Belfast WOW reserve this morning had a single Roseate Tern, 2 Ruff, a Whimbrel and 2 Knot. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara, Daniel Newton).

Seawatching from the Rue on Rathlin this morning produced 1 adult Pomarine Skua, 2 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Skuas and 5 Storm Petrels. (Ric Else & Hazel Watson).

A Yellow-legged Gull was at the bottom of Bay Road in Larne. (Ed Simpson).

3 Great Northern Divers were off Newcastle promenade this afternoon, a Sanderling was also present. (Kevin Kirkham).

Laby Bay, Lough Neagh had 6 Ruff and 3 Common Sandpiper. (Michael Latham).

Along the north coast Myroe had 2 Curlew Sandpipers and a Ruff, the Barmouth had 2 Ruff and Ramore Head had 2 Arctic Skua's and a Bonxie. (Neal Warnock).

Thanks to Michael Latham for the picture of the Ruff and to Neal Warnock for the pictures of the Curlew Sandpipers and the Ruff:





Bird News Friday 21st August

Lady Bay, Lough Neagh this morning had 2 Green Sandpipers, 9 Ruff, 8 Common Sandpipers and 7 Ringed Plover. (Ed O'Hara)

Belfast WOW: 1 Roseate Tern, 1Ruff and a Greenshank (Dave Peers)

St Johns Point between 7am - 8am had 12 Arctic Tern and a Arctic Skua.(Chris Murphy)

One Sooty Shearwater was off the West Light, Rathlin Island. (Ric Else/Hazel Watson)

An Osprey was seen flying from Lough Macnean Upper to Lough Macnean Lower at Belcoo, Fermanagh. (Richard Gray)

Bird News Thursday 20th August

At RSPB WoW, still present were the Curlew Sandpiper, 3 Ruff, Sanderling and 18 Knot (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop / Derek Polley)

3 Red-throated Divers, 40-50 Manx shearwaters, and a Great Northern Diver were at Portmuck, Islandmagee (Cameron Moore)

In an exceptionally strong movement of seabirds off St John’s Pt many thousands of Manx Shearwaters passed all day peaking at 5,000 an hour between 1pm and 2pm. Also seen: 1 Great Skua and 1 Roseate Tern (Chris Murphy)

Sparrowhawk, Cameron Moore:

Bird News Wednesday 19th August

A Roseate Tern and juvenile Curlew Sandpiper are at Belfast WOW Reserve. (Jeff Larkin)

Bird News Tuesday 18th August

A Green Sandpiper was along the River Main at Slaght near Ballymena early this morning. (David Steele)

A Roseate Tern, 2 sanderling and 2 Ruff were off Hide 2, Belfast RSPB WoW (Ade Fox)

A Great Skua was off the lighthouse at Whitehead, along with 600+ Manx Shearwater (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop)

A high count of 150 Tree Sparrows we’re visiting a garden in Banbridge (Mike McLaughlin)

The Rose-coloured Starling was still at Rossnowlagh (John Spratt)




Bird News Monday 17th August

 The Spotted Sandpiper was seen again at Castle Espie WWT. (Zoe Anderson).

The Rose-coloured Starling was still at Rossnowlagh (Paul Keogh)

Bird News Sunday 16th August

 Belfast RSPB WOW reserve this moring had four Roseate Terns, three adults and a juvenile, two Ruff and a Common Sandpiper. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara, Daniel Newton).

A Sanderling was at Kinnegar shore. (Gerard McGeehan, Shirley Dunlop).

A Whimbrel was at Whitehouse Lagoon in Belfast. (Kevin Kirkham).

Thirty Six Ruff, mostly juveniles were at Mullagh, Lough Beg this afternoon. (David Steele).

Roseate Terns and Ruff from WOW, Sanderling from Kinnegar shore and thanks to Lindsay Hodges for the picture of the Common Sandpiper and Comghal McQuillan for the picture of the Wheatear:







Bird News Saturday 15th August

 A Roseate Tern and two Ruff were at Belfast RSPB WOW reserve this morning. (Daniel Newton).

The two Green Sandpipers and four Common Sandpipers were at Lady Bay, Lough Neagh this morning. (Garry Armstrong)

The Spotted Sandpiper was still showing today at Castle Espie (Stuart Rosell).

A Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Knot and Purple Sandpiper were at Kinnegar, Belfast Lough this afternoon. (Kevin Kirkham).

The Rose-coloured Starling was still at Rossnowlagh in Donegal.

Bird News Friday 14th August

This morning the two Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers were at Lady Bay, Lough Neagh. (Ed O'Hara).

A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was at the mudflat area at the entrance to Ballymacormick Point, Groomsport. (James Rooney)

An adult Rose-coloured Starling is at Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal (Brad Robson).

Our thanks to Thomas Campbell for the photo's of the Oystercatchers and the Gannet and also to Juliet Fleming for the Common Sandpiper.  




Bird News Thursday 13th August

The Spotted Sandpiper was still at Castle Espie this morning on the freshwater lagoon south of the Brent hide. It was best seen from the ramp up to the hide, feeding along the shore of one of the islands (Derek Polley).

16 Ruff, 13 of them juveniles, were at Mullagh, Lough Beg this evening. (David Steele).

Thanks to Mike McLaughlin for the picture of the Eiders:


Bird News Wednesday 12th August

The Spotted Sandpiper was seen again this morning from the Crannog at Castle Espie. (Ed O'Hara)

Lough Beg this afternoon had three Garganey in the southwest corner, an Osprey (a different individual to the one seen several times in July and on 4th August) and 15 Ruff including at least one juvenile (David Steele)

Spotted Sandpiper, Ed O'Hara:


Bird News Tuesday 11th August

The Spotted Sandpiper is proving elusive but still present this morning at Castle Espie (Stewart Rosell / Lucy Mortlock). The bird was still present of the Brent Hide early afternoon.

A Rosy Starling is at Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal.

Spotted Sandpiper, Brian Halligan:



Bird News Monday 10th August

The Spotted Sandpiper was still at Castle Espie in the pool to the south of the Brent hide. It was rather elusive disappearing behind the islands. (George Gordon). The bird was still present late afternoon (Guy Hamilton / Tom Ennis)

Bird News Sunday 9th August

The Spotted Sandpiper was seen again off the Brent Hide although it has been elusive this morning (Gerard McGeehan/ Shirley Dunlop) Bird still present at 16.15.(John Spottiswood) .

A count of 21 Little Egrets at Larne Lough this afternoon.(Kevin Kirkham)

A Great Skua flew across Millquarter Bay this afternoon.(Ian Jackson)

The past two days there has been a Green Sandpiper at Killymuck on the west shore of L Neagh, plus a Whimbrel and 9 Common Sandpiper today.(James O'Neill)

The Spotted Sandpiper photo's kindly sent in by Ian Enlander(top) and Comghal McQuillan(bottom)

 

Bird News Saturday 8th August

The Spotted Sandpiper is still at Castle Espie this morning (Billy Miskelly). The bird was still present up to 7.30pm. (Nigel Moore, Shirley Dunlop, Gerard McGeehan,Kevin Kirkham, Garry Wilkinson)

For current Covid restricted access arrangements to Castle Espie, please see https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie# 

 Bookings for access can be made at https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie/bookings/ When on site, please maintain social distancing and wear a face mask when in enclosed spaces eg hides.

A Pectoral Sandpiper was at Lady Bay, Lough Neagh. (Ed O'Hara, Comghal McQuillan)

3 adult and a juvenile Roseate Tern were at Kinnegar shore this morning. (Garry Armstrong)

A Ruff, 2 Sanderling and 6 Knot were at RSPB WoW (Gerard McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop)

Thanks to Daniel Newton and to Nigel Moore for the pictures of the Spotted Sandpiper, to Comghal McQuillan for the picture of the Pectoral Sandpiper and to Michael Latham for the picture of the Roseate Tern:
                                                             Daniel Newton
                                                             Nigel Moore



Bird News Friday 7th August

A Spotted Sandpiper is at Castle Espie this afternoon. See picture below. (Mark Wigglesworth) For current Covid restricted access arrangements to Castle Espie, please see https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/castle-espie#

When on site, please maintain social distancing and wear a face mask when in enclosed spaces eg hides.

Three Roseate Tern are at RSPB WoW - 2 adults, 1 juvenile. (Daniel Newton).

A Storm Petrel was among a steady passage of Manx Shearwaters, Gannets, Sandwich Terns, Kittiwakes and Auks at St John's Point. (Warren Fowlds)

Green Sandpiper 1 over Portmore  Lough RSPB Reserve this afternoon (Brad Robson)

Thanks to Mark Wigglesworth for the picture of the Spotted Sandpiper and to Daniel Newton for the pictures of the Roseate Terns:
 




Bird News Thursday 6th August

This morning a Mediterranean Gull on the beach near Newcastle. (Danny Bailie)

A juvenile Cuckoo was near Glenullin, Co Derry. (Lindsay Hodges)

Thanks to Lindsay Hodges for the picture of the juvenile Cuckoo with its Meadow Pipit foster parent, to Dick Glasgow for the picture of the Blackcap and Thomas Campbell for the pictures of the Arctic Skuas and the Sanderlings :