Bird News Sunday 19th January 2025

A Glaucous Gull was at Portstewart Head this morning. (Stephen Riddell).

Both Black Redstarts were on the beach at Killough this morning. (David Stirling)

ThefemaleRing-necked Duck was still on Corbally Reservoir outside Portrush. (Michael Latham).

A Great White Egret was to the east of Emerson's sandquay at Ardmore, Lough Neagh. (Garry Armstrong).

A male Lesser Scaup was on Mill Lough, Bellinaleck, Co. Fermanagh. (Wilton Farrelly).

A Continental Cormorant at the south end of Lough Beg…already in breeding plumage with a full white ‘bonnet’. Also four Great Egrets and 24 Ruff. (David Steele).

A 1st winter Little Gull was at Portmore. (Conor McCoy). The Great White Egret was also present. (Andrew Upton).

The Green Sandpiper was still at Clea Lakes. (Hugh Thurgate).

14 Carrion Crows, 7 hybrid grey crows, 91 Hooded Crows and 3 Rooks from Castle Island hide, Quoile Pondage; also c.200 Greylags, c. 200 Dunlin, 16 Pintail, Woodcock and Water Rail. (Chris Murphy, Doris Noe).

The male and female Goosanders were still off Glynn in Larne Lough. (Dakota Reid)

Lesser Scaup, Wilton Farrelly.

Ring-necked Duck, Michael Latham.

Goosanders, Dakota Reid.

Bird News Saturday 18th January 2025

The Avocet was not seen today.

The female Ring-necked Duck was still at Corbally Reservoir, Portrush (Martin Deehan)

A Merlin was the best at Portmore (Nathan Gilbert)

A first winter Iceland Gull is at Kerrykeel, Co Donegal (Derek Brennan)

Two Black Redstarts are still in Killough (Chris Murphy)

A Green Sandpiper was at Clea Lakes (Hugh Thurgate)

Red-throated Divers, Carnlough, Michael Latham:

Yellowhammer, Inch, Donegal, Christine Cunningham:

Bird News Friday 17th January 2025

 The Avocet is still at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve this morning. (Phillip McHaffie). The bird was still present this afternoon. (Katy Bell).

A Black-throated Diver was still off Carnlough and 2 Goosanders were at the Randalstown River. (Chris Hamilton).

There are now 2 Black Redstarts around Killough pier and Ropewalk. (John Scovell, Chris Murphy).

The Ring-necked Duck is still at Corbally Reservoir outside Portrush. (John Clarke).

Great Spotted Woodpeckers are still at Rowallane Gardens outside Saintfield, inside the Pleasure Grounds and in the woods outside to the west across the Listooder Road. (Tim Davis).

Avocet, Rod Gillan.

Bird News Thursday 16th January 2025

3 Goosander (male and 2 female) on River Maine at Slaght near Ballymena (David Steele).

Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in Ormeau Park, Belfast this morning (Ben Dilworth).

Avocet still at Belfast Lough WoW RSPB Reserve (David Stirling / Derek Polley).

Chiffchaff along the railway line near the University of Coleraine (John Clarke).

Black Redstart along quay at Ropewalk, Killough (Anne Feltham). Merlin also in harbour (David Stirling).

Drake Ring-necked Duck again Knockninny, Derrylin, Co Fermanagh (Ronan Owens).

Bird News Wednesday 15th January 2025

The Avocet was still at RSPB WoW this morning (Kenneth Brewster). It was still present early afternoon (Theo Campbell).

A Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Rowallane (Tim Davis)

A Chiffchaff was at the Discovery Centre, Oxford Island (Ed O'Hara)

Avocet, Paul Hunter:

Chiffchaff, Ed O'Hara:

NIRSG Conference 2025 - Booking now open

We are delighted to announce that booking is now open for the NIRSG Conference 2025, which will be held on Saturday 22nd February at the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen. 

We have an exciting lineup of speakers covering local, national and international raptor ecology and conservation, including Dr Allan Mee speaking on his work with White-tailed Eagles, Dr Shane McPherson speaking about his work with Crowned Eagles and David Anderson speaking about his work with Ospreys. It is set to be a great day. 

 The conference fee is £30 and can be booked through the following link https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/NCN94MQWRHKEE or by scanning the QR code below, also see flyer attached.

 

After booking please contact me via email (raptorofficerni@gmail.com) to confirm your booking and provide any details of dietary requirements. 

We look forward to seeing you there,

Dr. Eimear Rooney, 

Raptor Officer, 

NI Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group

Bird News Tuesday 14th January 2025

An Avocet is at Belfast Lough RSPB WoW reserve. (Brian Douglas).

The Iceland Gull was still at Carnfunnock. (Mervyn Campbell).

A Peregrine and the Brambling were at Oxford Island. (Ed O'Hara).

The Great White Egret, a Peregrine and a Merlin were at Reedy Flats. (Ed O'Hara).

The 2 White-tailed Eagles were still at Inch in Donegal this morning. (David Hill). 

The White-billed Diver may have ben seen again today at Carnlough, 2 Black-throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver were also present. (Stuart McKee).

A single Twite was on the Esplanade at Hollywood. (Tony Ridgeway).

Brambling, Ed O'Hara.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Ed O'Hara.

White-tailed Eagles, David Hill.

Avocet, Lilian Ferguson.

Bird News Monday 13th January 2025

The male Brambling is back at a private garden, Ballynahatty Road,  Belfast. (Dave Allen)

Two White-tailed Eagles and the Great White Egret are still at Inch, Co Donegal (Theo Campbell / Chris Ingram)

The Brambling was still at Oxford Island. There was no sign of the Lesser Scaup (Ed O’Hara)

Four Mediterranean Gull were at Cloughy Beach, Co Down (Ronan Owens)

A Red-throated Diver was in Dargan Bay (Steven Farquhar)

Golden Plover, Rod Gillan:

Bird News Sunday 12th January 2025

Drake Lesser Scaup still off Croaghan Hide at Oxford Island NNR, also 6 Greater Scaup (Garry Armstrong).

4+ Great Spotted Woodpeckers Rowallane (Kevin O’Grady).

Merlin at Myroe, also 30 Yellowhammer (Martin Deehan).

2 Slavonian Grebes Macedon looking towards Giants Park (Stuart McKee).

2 each of Black-throated & Great Northern Divers, also Red-throated Diver and 6 Common Scoter off Carnlough (Gerard   McGeehan / Shirley Dunlop).

Green Sandpiper most days for last month near Diamond Road, Dromore (Chris Rankin).

Dipper, Michael Latham:

Linnet, William Smiton:

Bird News Saturday 11th January 2025

A male Goosander was at the back of the Discovery Centre at Oxford Island, a male Lesser Scaup and a hybrid resembling a Lesser Scaup were off the Croaghan hide. (Garry Armstrong, Ed O’Hara, Clifford Sharpe).

A Red-throated Diver and 2 Scaup were off Kinnegar shore in Belfast Lough. (Stuart Cossey).

The Great White Egret was still at Portmore Lough RSPB. (Michael Latham).

A Slavonian Grebe was off Ballymacran bank in Lough Foyle. (Steven Farquhar)

Water Rail, Ryan Holgate.

Bird News Friday 10th January 2025

A female Brambling is in a private garden Poyntzpass Co. Armagh. (Joe Devlin)

The hybrid Ring-billed x Common Gull is still at Millisle (George Gordon)

Purple Sandpiper, Portrush, Rod Gillan:

Bird News Thursday 9th January 2025

A Brambling still frequenting the junction of Ballynahatty and Edenderry Roads this morning (John O’Boyle).

Drake Goosander still at Ballycastle on the River Margy beside the golf club restaurant (Tomas Hand).

35+ Common Snipe an unusually high total in the small estuary near Sainsbury’s, Fort George, Derry (John Spottiswood).

Male & female Bramblings in a private garden in Ballynahatty Road, Belfast (Dave Allen).

1+ Brambling with large Chaffinches flock to rear of house at Rowallane Gardens, Saintfield with 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming on Plantation Road to rear of gardens (Ian Young).

Great Spotted Woodpecker in Chimera Wood, Helen’s Bay (Gary Gray).

6 Pink-footed Geese still at Nutgrove near Seaford from Farranford Road. The Spotted Redshank was feeding in the channel running through Dundrum South Inner Bay (David Nixon).

6 Goosander at Randalstown (Tony Dodds).

Goosander, Tomas Hand:

Great Northern Diver, Juliet Fleming:

Bird News Wednesday 8th January 2025

Great Northern Divers were in Portrush at the Coastal Zone and the Harbour. Also 30 Purple Sandpiper were present (Julie Fleming)

A Brambling is visiting a garden in Antrim (Mark Smyth)

A high count of 100+ Siskins were at Ulster University, Coleraine (John Clarke)

Fielfare, Redwing and Song Thrush numbers have increased significantly in this cold snap.

Redwing, Douglas Gamble:

Footage of Birds for Childrens Series - Lough Neagh

 https://roninfilms.tv/ are currently producing a children’s TV series for Irish language children’s broadcaster, Cúla 4. This series follows various stories situated around children and their interests. 

In one of the episodes we follow a young boy who has a keen interest in animals and in particular, birds. In this episode we would like to focus on human responsibility for habitats and a key element of this would involve Lough Neagh. 

We wondered if anyone in this group would have any high-quality video clips of birds on the lough, particularly before the algae bloom, but also more recent clips. We could also work with still photographs, in fact, it would be great to get both. We would really like to showcase the wildlife on the lough. 

For further information, please feel free to email me: donal@roninfilms.tv 

Kind regards, 

 Dónal

Bird News Tuesday 7th January 2025

A male Brambling is visiting a bird feeder on the Lagan riverbank at Edenderry.

A male Goosander was on the River Margy beside the golf course in Ballycastle. (Tomás Hand)

Goosander, Tomás Hand:

Fieldfare, Alan Fitzsimmons.

Sean Ronayne in Belfast @ CQAF

Sean Ronayne is appearing in Belfast as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Sean’s film Birdsong and his book Nature Boy are inspirational for anyone interested in our local birds. Tickets are available at:

https://cqaf.com/nature-boy-by-sean-ronayne/

Bird News Monday 6th January 2025

4 Twite in mixed flock with Linnet and 3 Purple Sandpipers with the Turnstone at Whitehead (Kevin Kirkham). 

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker in garden near Hillsborough (Garry Wilkinson).

Great Spotted Woodpecker heard at Lagan Meadows (Mel O’Hagan).

Blackcap, William Smiton:

Bird News Sunday 5th January 2025

The White-billed Diver has been looked for this morning, so far without success.

The female Ring-necked duck was still at Corbally Reservoir. (Chris Hamilton)

The first winter Iceland Gull was still at Tweed‘s port (Gerard McGeehan)

Two Black-throated Divers where in Waterfoot Bay (Michael Latham)

A Purple Sandpiper was at Whitehead and a Brent Goose at Lough Mourne (Ian Enlander)

Two male Goosander were at the mouth of the river at Waterfoot but flew off. The Pink-footed Goose was with the feral Greylags (Steven Farquhar)

Black-throated Divers, Michael Latham:

Icleand Gull, Michael Latham:

Bird News Saturday 4th January 2025

A White-billed Diver was on the Antrim coast. Found about 13.40 moderately close inshore along the rocky coast at Galboly (about a mile north of Garron Point). Watched for c.30 minutes during which time it drifted offshore and became distant in the outermost part of Red Bay then finally seen in flight in the outer bay and lost to view in the direction of Cushendun. (David Steele).

The Brambling was still at the middle carpark at Oxford Island. (Ed O'Hara).

The Great White Egret and 2 Ruff were at Inch in Donegal. A White-tailed Eagle was on the castle and causeway. (Martin Deehan, Theo Campbell).

The Brambling is still at Edenderry, feeding with Chaffinchs along the roadside. (Sean Gibson).

5 Slavonian Grebes were off Macedon Point in Belfast Lough. (Dermot Hughes).

The Snow Goose, Todds Canada Goose and 2 Cackling Geese were still among 800 Barnacles at Dunfanaghy in Donegal. (Derek Brennan).

A Carrion Crow was at the hide at the Quoile and a Sandwich Tern was at Ardglass Harbour. (Aaron Long).

The Great White Egret was still at Portmore Lough RSPB. (Michael Latham).

A Merlin and a Great Northern Diver were off the hide at the Barmouth. (Mel O'Hagan).

A Carrion Crow was visiting a garden in Islandmagee. (Robert McDowell).

The Spotted Redshank and a Red-throated Diver were in Dundrum Inner Bay. (Mike McLaughlin, David McCreedy).

A boat trip into Dundrum Bay produced 1 Red-throated Diver, 2 Great Northern Diver, a flyby Long-tailed Duck and several hundred Common Scoter. (Aaron Long).

A Swallow was on a farm on the Loanends Road just off the Seven Mile Straight. (Gregory Heaney).

White-billed Diver, David Steele.

Spotted Redshank, David Clarke.

Spotted Redshank, Mike McLaughlin.

Purple Sandpiper, Rod Gillan.

Bird News Friday 3rd January 2025

2 Bramblings still at junction of Edederry / Ballynahatty roads (Aaron Long).

80-90 Greenfinches at 4pm pre roost gathering in trees behind KFC at Lisburn Omniplex yesterday (Leia Giesel).

Goosander at mouth of River Carnlough. Slavonian Grebe at Glynn. Twite at Sandy Bay. Black-throated Diver still from Carnlough. 2 Great Northern Divers and 25 Purple Sandpipers from Portrush (Martin Deehan).

Great White Egret Ardmore Road shoreline, Lough Neagh 100m east of Emerson’s sand quarry (Clifford Sharpe).

Female type Ring-necked Duck back on Corbally Res (John Clarke).

2000+ Golden Plover at Newtownards Floodgates in field near flying club (Bob Watts).

Ring-necked Duck, John Clarke:

Kingfisher, David McCreedy:

Brambling, Aaron Long:

Bird News Thursday 2nd January 2025

Two Chiffchaff were at the rear of hide 2 at RSPB WoW (Ronnie Doggart / Derek Polley)

The Great White Egret was off the Croghan Hide, Oxford Island. A Brambling was also at the middle car park (Garry Armstrong)

A Black-throated Diver and 2 Great Northern Diver were at Carnlough (Aaron Long \ David Nixon \ Philip McHaffie)

2 Brambling were still around Edederry/Ballynahatty roads junction, Co Down (Dermot Hughes)

A male Hen Harrier was in the western Sperrins (Anna Warwick)

The Pink-feet were still with the Barnacles at Portmore (Juliet Fleming)

The Cattle Egret was still at the Creagh, next to the A6 at Toome (Nigel Moore)

The drake Ring-necked Duck was seen again at Lough Beg (David Steele)

75 Purple Sandpiper were on Rathlin (Ric Else)

A ring tail Hen Harrier was at Magilligan (Martin Deehan)

A drake Ring-necked Duck was at Knockninny, Co Fermanagh (Ronan Owens)

The Brambling was back in the garden at Whitehead (Cameron Moore)

Great White Egret, Portmore, Juliet Fleming:

Brambling, Cameron Moore:

Hen Harrier, Anna Warwick:

Bird News Wednesday 1st January 2025

2 Slavonian Grebes off Glynn in Larne Lough. (Aaron Long, Sean Gibson).

The redhead Goosander was still off Kinnegar shore in Belfast Lough and a Jack Snipe was by the airport. (Stuart Cossey).

A Short-eared Owl and a Merlin were at Ballyquitan. (Richard Weyl).

2 Black-throated Divers were at Carnlough. (Michael Latham).

The hybrid Ring-billed x Common Gull and 14 Purple Sandpipers were at Millisle. (Jeff Higgott)

The Bonaparte's Gull was on the shore opposite Ballygally Castle. (Jeff Larkin).

A Velvet Scoter was in Larne Lough. (Michael Latham).

A Carrion Crow and 6 Sandwich Terns were at Portaferry. (Jeff Higgott).

The Green Sandpiper was still at Creightons Green Reservoir and 3 Pinkfeet with Greylags at Whinny Hill. (Wilton Farrelly, Bob Watts, Philip West).

6 Crossbills were at Aghmakane Wood. (John Spottiswood).

The 1st winter Iceland Gull was at Sandy Bay in Larne. (Ivan Quail & Nicky Lynn).

A Mediterranean Gull was at Whitehead. (Gerard McGeehan, Shirley Dunlop).

6 Pink footed Geese were with Nutgrove Whooper and Greylag flock near Seaforde, seen from Bucks Head Road. The Spotted Redshank was at the high tide roost in Dundrum South. (David Nixon).

A pair of Long-tailed Ducks were on Belfast Lough off Greenisland. (Roger Woodward).

Pinkfeet, David |Nixon.

Bonaparte's Gull, Michael Latham.

Velvet Scoter, Michael Latham.

Bird News Tuesday 31st December 2024

Late news from Sunday of a Swallow along the beach at Groomsport east of the harbour (Tom Ennis).

Cattle Egret still viewable from the A6 at Toome at the same site as yesterday (Dave Weir).

Adult Bonaparte’s Gull and 1st winter Iceland Gull present at Tweeds Port this afternoon at high tide (Ian Young).

Drake Ring-necked Duck with the Tufted Duck flock this afternoon at Lough Beg (David Steele).

Chiffchaff in Bangor West killed by a cat (Richard Weyl).

Drake Goosander and a Red Kites at Corbet Lough this afternoon (Jeff Higgott).

Bird News Monday 30th December 2024

The Spotted Redshank was still at Dundrum Inner Bay. Newcastle Harbour had 5 Purple Sandpiper, 4 Red-throated Diver and only 20 Common Scoter (Michael Latham)

A Cattle Egret was viewable from the A6 at Toome, from this location (Steven Farquhar): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1bph9kgu8LLMU5Qg8

A Red Kite was at Tullymurry, between Clough and Downpatrick (Hugh Thurgate)

The Green Sandpiper was again at Creightons Green Reservoir in the Holywood Hills. Portmore Lough - had 2 Pinkfeet & 5 Barnacles with the Greylags, the Great Egret & an impressive Starling murmuration this evening. (Jeff Higgott)

Spotted Redshank and Greenshank, Michael Latham: