A drake Ring-necked Duck is with Pochard at Craigavon North Lake (Conor McCoy)
Bird News Friday 20th March 2026
A Bittern showed briefly again at Inch in Donegal, 3 Ruff and a Swallow were also present. (Chris Ingram). A 2nd Bittern was subsequentially seen in flight. (Chris Ingram, Theo Campbell).
A Brambling was at Windmill Road in Hillsborough. (Stephen Bingham, Garry Wilkinson).
A sub adult White Tailed Eagle going NNE over Springwell Forest near Coleraine. (Clive Mellon).
A single Pinkfoot was still with Greylags and Whoopers at Annadorn near Seaforde. (Maurice McNeely).
A Slavonian Grebe and a Sandwich Tern were off Kinnegar shore in Belfast Lough. (Stuart Cossey).
The Harlequin Duck is still showing well from Magheraroarty Pier, Co. Donegal (Victor Caschera).
Two adult Little Gulls still at Church Island, Lough Beg, also two Great Northern Divers and 144 Pintail. (David Steele).
Flock of eleven Glossy Ibis, Toome-end of Lough Beg at sunset, presumably same as seen on 25th February, restless but eventually settled in dense trees with egrets, so likely roosting there. (David Steele).
The Black Redstart was still at Whitehead seafront, a female Brambling was in a garden in Whitehead, there was no sign of the male Brambling. (Cameron Moore)
The adult Ring-billed Gull was at the Round "O" in Enniskillen again. (Ronan Owens).
The Oriental Turtle Dove was not seen today.
Black Redstart, Cameron Moore.
Female Brambling, Cameron Moore.
Bird News Thursday 19th March 2026
The drake Harlequin Duck was again at Magheroarty Pier this morning.
The Oriental Turtle Dove only put in a brief appearance at 5:35pm (Eric Dempsey)
3 Mediterranean Gull were at RSPB WoW (Derek Polley)
A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Castlewellan Forest Park (Shelagh Henry)
Chiffchaff are now widely reported.
Bird News Wednesday 18th March 2026
The Oriental Turtle Dove was seen again at Harmony Hill in Lisburn. (Robert Vaughan, Derek Brennan).
The Harlequin Duck is still at Magheroarty Pier in Donegal. (Peter Phillips).
2 Great White Egrets are at the rear of Nichols garage Toomebridge in a flooded field. (Philip West).
9 Snow Bunting were at Slieve Bearnagh summit, Co, Down. (Darren Ellis).
The Ferruginous Duck is still at Ballysaggart Lough. (Robert Vaughan).
The Brambling was seen again in a garden in Whitehead. The Greenland Whitefront was seen again in Steele's Point, Islandmagee. (Cameron Moore).
The Chough was seen again on Copeland, it has a blue or green ring, 2 Swallows were also present. (Richard Donaghey, James McNair).
Three Red-throated Divers were at Ballyholme Esplanade in Bangor. (Paul Hunter)
The first Wheatear of the year was at Donaghadee. (Stephen Foster).
Ferruginous Duck, Robert Vaughan.
Oriental Turtle Dove, Richard Caves.
Brambling, Cameron Moore.
Red-throated Divers, Paul Hunter.
Wheatear, Stephen Foster.
Bird News Tuesday 17th March 2026
The Oriental Turtle Dove has been seen briefly in flight early this morning at Harmony Hill, Lisburn (Garry Wilkinson / Brian Carruthers). The bird was seen again at its favoured location at 11:45 (Stephen Dunbar) and again early afternoon (Mark Stewart). The bird was still present late afternoon (Niall Mulvenna / Stuart Cossey / Mark Getty). If visiting please park sensibly and do not obstruct drives. The bird favours the tall pines and is best viewed with a scope.
Two Great White Egret are at Portmore (Alan Dickson)
The two Russian White-fronts are still at Reedy Flats (John Coveney)
A juvenile Black-throated Diver was still in Red Bay along with a Sandwich Tern (a presumed migrant). Gaboly had a Great Skua and a Manx Shearwater (David Steele)
The adult Iceland Gull was in the gull roost at RSPB WoW this evening (Daniel Newton)
Oriental Turtle Dove, Mark Stewart:
Oriental Turtle Dove, Michael Latham:
Oriental Turtle Dove, Mark Stewart:
Iceland Gull, Daniel Newton:
Bird News Monday 16th March 2026.
The Oriental Turtle Dove was seen briefly in trees on Harmony Hill in Lisburn early this morning but not subsequently. (Seamus Enright). The Turtle Dove was then seen again in the same area early afternoon, in pine trees behind the side road at Harmony Hill. (Dave Fox). The bird was still present this evening. (Wilton Farrelly).
The Harlequin Duck and 2 Long-tailed Ducks were at Magheraroarty in Donegal. (Eric Randall).
The single Pinkfoot was with 50 Greylags in a field off the Buckshead Road at Nutgrove. There was no sign of the Russian Whitefronts. (David Nixon).
A Chough was at Copeland Bird Observatory.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Castle Archdale Country Park in Fermanagh. (Sharon Spratt)
Oriental Turtle Dove, Victor Caschera.
Oriental Turtle Dove, David McCreedy:
Bird News Sunday 15th March 2026
A Oriental Turtle Dove was reported yesterday in Lisburn, in the Harmony Hill / Belsize Road area (per Chris Rankin) The bird has been looked for today but so far, without success. This would be a first record for Ireland.
The Lesser Yellowlegs was still on Rathlin (Ric Else)
A female Greater Scaup was at Oxford Island (Garry Armstrong)
The Harlequin Duck was again at Magheroarty (Robert Vaughan)
A Merlin was hunting pipits around the pier at Portballintrae (Simon Morton)
4 Snow Bunting were seen up Slieve Commedagh, the Mournes yesterday (per Stuart Cossey)
The adult Ring-billed Gull was again at the Round O, Enniskillen (Matthew Dean)
A Purple Sandpiper was at Macedon Point, Belfast Lough (Margaret Woodward)
Two Mediterranean Gulls were at WOW RSPB Belfast (Paul Hunter)
Oriental Turtle Dove (26th February):
Bird News Saturday 14th March 2026
The Harlequin Duck was in the harbour at Magheraroarty, just below carpark. (Robert Vaughan).
.JPG)
The two Russian White-fronts and two Great White Egrets were in the centre of Reedy Flats. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara).
A Tundra Bean Goose is at Inch Levels in Donegal, with Greylags at the top of the lane leading down to the Tready carpark. (Derek Brennan).
The Cattle Egret is still at Brankins Island Road near Portmore. (Birdguides).
An adult Iceland Gull was on Kinnegar shore. (Michael Latham).
Juvenile Black-throated Diver from O’Kane’s lay-by, Red Bay also six Great Northern Divers and twelve Red-throated Divers. Four Great Northern Divers another dozen Red-throated Divers and two pairs of Common Scoter from the Cushenilt lay-by opposite the salmon farm. (David Steele).
A Dark-bellied Brent was in Killough Harbour. (Chris Murphy).
Four Mediterranean Gulls were at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve this evening. (Daniel Newton).
The Greenland White-front is still at Steele's Point in Larne Lough, a Brambling is still visiting a garden in Whitehead. (Cameron Moore).
Great Spotted Woodpeckers Crom estate & Galloon jetty, 2 Great white Egret watermill, 5 female Ring-necked Ducks lake on inishmore road County Fermanagh. 1 Great White Egret Portmore Lough County Antrim. (Gerard Murray, John Cusack).
Tundra Bean Goose, Derek Brennan.
Iceland Gull, Michael Latham.
Brambling, Cameron Moore.
Greenland White-front, Cameron Moore.
.JPG)
Bird News Friday 13th March 2026
4 Goosander were still at Lough Island Reavy, Co Down (Clive Mellon)
A Great White Egret was still at Portmore (Daniel Newton)
Two Little Gulls were at Church Island, Lough Beg (David Steele)
The Cattle Egret was again at Brankins Island Road, Lough Neagh (Richard Caves)
A Dark-bellied Brent was with the Brent Geese at Newcastle (Conor Roddy)
Sand Martins and Chiffchaff are now widely reported.
Just a reminder that we will not publish raptor sightings in potential breeding localities.
Cattle Egret, Richard Caves:
Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Conor Roddy:
Bird News Thursday 12th March 2026
Two adult Little Gulls still at Church Island, Lough Beg also c.150 Sand Martins feeding in cold and wet conditions. (David Steele).
A Great White Egret was at Reedy Flats. (Conor Roddy).
Great White Egret, Conor Roddy.
Whooper Swans, Conor Roddy.
NIOC Photographic Competition Results
The final NIOC public meeting of the Spring season will be held in The Lecture Theatre, Greenmount Resource Centre, CAFRE, on Wednesday 26th March 2025 at 7.30pm sharp.
The address is on the attached poster. It is the Work of N Ireland Bird Photographers Show, when all the entries to our Photographic Competition will be shown, with the Judges comments given on each image, and the presentation of the awards.
This is always a wonderful evening and we hope you can attend. Everyone is welcome so bring a friend!
Bird News Wednesday 11th March 2026
At least 6 Crossbill were at Downhill Forrest (John Spottiswood)
The Ferruginous Duck was still at Ballysaggart Lough, Dungannon. (David Knight)
The Cattle Egret was at Brankins Island Road, near the Cattle Shed (Richard Caves)
Four Great Egret and three Sand Martin were at Portmore RSPB (Richard Gray)
A male Brambling was in a garden at Castlerock (Mervyn and Susanne Guthrie)
The drake Ring-necked Duck was still at the Lough Erne Resort (John Cusack)
Ferruginous Duck, David Knight:
Cattle Egret, Richard Caves:
Bird News Tuesday 10th March 2026
Two Green Sandpipers, River Maine at Slaght outside Ballymena, also four Goosanders including one male. (David Steele).
At least 3 and possibly 4 Great White Egrets were at Portmore. (Kevin Kirkham).
A male Ring-necked Duck was at Lough Shark Poyntzpass, Co.Armagh. (Joe Devlin).
A Yellowhammer was in The Orchard in Annahilt. (Garry Wilkinson).
Bird News Monday 9th March 2026
The Lesser Yellowlegs is still present on Rathlin (Patrick Barton)
The Harlequin Duck was again at Magheroarty Pier (Conor Foley)
Two Tundra Bean Geese are still at Dunfanaghy. A Bittern and a Great White Egret were off Inch (Conor Foley)
A Mediterranean Gull was at Mosley Dam, Newtownabbey (Garry Wilkinson)
A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker were visiting a property at Seaforde (Maurice McNeely)
Chiffchaff are now widely reported.
Lesser Yellowlegs, Patrick Barton:
Birds of Prey Reporting
With the beginning of the breeding season we will not be posting any sightings or pictures of our rare and scarce birds of prey at or near breeding sites.
Bird News Sunday 8th March 2026
Whitehead seafront this morning had 57 Red-throated and 4 Great Northern Diver flying into Belfast Lough. Also the Black Redstart still present. (Ian Enlander).
A Chough was at Orlock this morning. (Ewan McKenzie). The bird has 3 rings so may be from the Cornish reintroduction scheme.
The Harlequin Duck, 4 Long-tailed Duck and 7 Great Northern Divers were at Magheraoarty in Donegal. (Stuart Cossey).
The Ferruginous Duck is still at Ballysaggart Lough this morning. (Nathan Gilbert, Tom Saxon).
A male Garganey is with Teal in the flooded area, Lough Beg southern intake…also male Ring-necked Duck.
(David Steele).
The 2 Russian White-fronts and 3 Great White Egrets were at the east end of Reedy Flats. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O'Hara).
The pair of Mediterranean Gulls are still at RSPB Window On Wildlife this morning. (Jonny Clark)
Two ringtail Hen Harriers and two Great White Egrets were at Portmore Lough this morning. (Alan Dickson).
The Lesser Yellowlegs is still on Rathlin, and 40 Purple Sandpipers. (Ric Else).
The Bonaparte's Gull was at Sandy Bay, Larne. (Aaron Long).
Two adult Little Gulls hawking around at Church Island, Lough Beg. (David Steele).
A Carrion Crow was with Hooded Crows on the edge of Castlerock Golf Club. (John Clarke).
The Cattle Egret was near the cow shed on Brankins Island Road near Portmore. (Michael Latham).
The two Tundra Bean Geese still at Dunfanaghy, and 2 Russian White fronts at Inch levels in Donegal. (Derek Brennan).
The Bittern was seen briefly at 18.20 from the viewing platform at Inch in Donegal. (Paul McSwiggan).
A Red-necked Grebe was off the carpark at Kinnegar shore in Belfast Lough. (Stuart McKee).
|Black Redstart, Ian Enlander.
Mediterranean Gulls, Jonny Clark.
Ferruginous Duck, Michael Latham.
Bonaparte's Gull, Aaron Long.
Cattle Egret, Michael Latham.
Bird News Saturday 7th March 2026
5 Sand Martin were off the Croghan Hide, Oxford Island. A female Greater Scaup was also present. A Chiffchaff was singing at the Closet River (Garry Armstrong)
The drake Harlequin Duck is at Magheroarty Pier, Donegal (Searlas Anderson / Kevin McLaughlin)
The Ferruginous Duck is again at Ballysaggart Lough this morning, at the northern end (Wayne Greene)
The 2 Russian White-fronts and a Great White Egret are still at the east end of Reedy Flats. (Garry Armstrong)
5 Great White Egret and circa 15 Sand Martin were at The Watermill, Co Fermanagh (John Cusack / Colin Bell)
A Chiffchaff was singing along the Lagan towpath (Eric Randall)
A Drake Ring-necked Duck with a large Tufted flock at Lough Erne Hotel, Fermanagh (Wilton Farrelly)
A drake and female Ring-necked Duck were near Kilmore Jetty, Lisnaskea (Wilton Farrelly)
Lough Beg had over 100 Sand Martin and 2 Great Northern Dicer (David Steele)
A singing Chiffchaff and Grwat Spotted Woodpecker were at Ardress NT (Brian Nelson)
Harlequin Duck, Searlas Anderson:
Bird News Friday 6th March 2026
42 Purple Sandpipers were at the Coastal Zone in Portrush. (Searlas Anderson).
The 2 Russian White-fronts were still at Reedy Flat, but birds very flighty, a Great White Egret was also present. 2 Great White Egrets were at the east end of Ardmore. (Dermot Hughes).
The 11 Russian White-fronts and single Pinkfoot were still at Farranfad Road, Nutgrove, this morning. (David Nixon).
The Ferruginous Duck is still at Ballysaggart Lough, in the north west corner, also a Chiffchaff singing. (Clive Mellon).The Ferruginous duck was still at Ballysaggart Lough behind the island at 5:30pm. (Wilton Farrelly).
An adult Iceland Gull was briefly at the Bann Estuary. (John Spottiswood).
The Harlequin Duck was present again near Magheraroarty pier in Donegal. (Michael Savage).
An adult Iceland Gull and a Carrion Crow were at Belfast Water Works. (Stuart McKee).
The Black Redstart was still at Whitehead seafront. (Cameron Moore).
Bird News Thursday, 5 March 2026
The drake Harlequin Duck was still showing off Magheraroarty Pier (Theo Campbell)
The two Tundra Bean Geese were at Dunfanaghy New Lake along with two Cackling Geese. A pair of Ring-necked Duck were also present (Theo Campbell)
Yesterday 11 Russian Whitefronts and the Pink-footed Goose were at the Annadorn Road, Downpatrick. A high count of 81 Pintail were at the Quoile (Maurice McNeely)
Bird News Wednesday 4th March 2026
2 Mediterranean Gulls still at Belfast Lough WoW Reserve (Jake Grant).
3 Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Great White Egret, 7 Ruff and singing Chiffchaff at Inch, Donegal (Theo Campbell).
Harlequin still from the end of Magheraorarty pier, Donegal (Pat Pykett).
Pacific Diver still at Trá na gCloch (Pat Pykett / L Feeney).
Bird News Tuesday 3rd March 2026
Single Whooper Swan on the lake at Billy Neill CP (Derek Polley).
Harlequin still present at Magheraroraty Pier, Co Donegal. Pacific Diver present at Tra na gCloch. Black-throated Diver and Little Auk today viewed from Carrigabraghy Castle, Ballyliffin (Pat Lonergan, Killian Mullarney et al).
11 Purple Sandpipers at Ramore Head, Portrush this morning (Edmund Manthorpe).
Goosanders at Glynn (Paula Campbell).
Great Spotted Woodpecker and Woodcock at Davagh Forest, Cookstown, Co Tyrone (Godfrey McRoberts).
There are 2 seats available for the Islay boat trip on Friday 6th March. A great chance to see Chough, White-tailed Sea Eagle and Hen Harrier. Contact Jim Wells on 07856 235144 for details.
Harlequin, Pat Lonergan:
Pacific Diver, Killian Mullarney:
Bird News Monday 2nd March 2026
6 Goosander (including 3 males) River Maine at Slaght nr. Ballymena early doors (David Steele).
Ringtail Hen Harrier hunting at Portmore Lough also 2 Great White Egrets. Also Cattle Egret behind stables (Nigel Moore).
Harlequin Duck and 4 Long-tailed Duck (2 males) east of Magheraroarty Pier, Co Donegal (Pat Pykett / L Feeney).
This afternoon off Cushendun a Great Northern Diver, on Glendun River a female Goosander (Patrick Barton).
A Chiffchaff along the River Inver in Larne near the graffiti murals this afternoon (Tim Davies).
2 Tundra Bean Geese Dunfanaghy New Lake with Barnacle Geese. Male and Female Ring-necked Duck and two pairs of Goosander at Lough Fern (Pat Pykett / L Feeney).
2 Russian White-fronted Geese still at Reedy Flats with the Whooper Swan & Greylag Geese flock (Ken Simpson).
Russian Whitefront, Ken Simpson:
Bird News Sunday 1st March 2026
2 Mediterranean Gulls still at Belfast Lough WoW Reserve (Leia Getty).
The Ferruginous Duck is still at the north end of Ballysaggart Lough. (Jeff Larkin).
11 Russian White-fronted Geese still at Farranfad Road, Nutgrove, Co. Down. Also 1 Pinkfoot and 40+ Greylag (Daniel Newton).
3 Great White Egrets and a single Cattle Egret still showing well from right of the viewing platform at RSPB Portmore. (Shane Brighton).
7 Twite north of Kearney but no sign of Water Pipit (Aaron Long).
Lesser Yellowlegs still on Rathlin also 20 Twite and 40+ Purple Sandpipers (Ric Else / Hazel Watson).
Mediterranean Gull, Leia Getty:
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