Northern Ireland Local Patch (2 Viewers)

[Derek Polley]

Was in Donegal for a couple of days and had a singing blackcap in the garden behind Glenveagh Castle. Dipped on eagles there and chough at Fanad but had 3 GNDs there starting to get their summer plumage. Migrants are on the move in England so they will be here when the wind switches into the South - next week?

 

[Derek Polley]

Blackcap singing

Had a blackcap hammering away today in my very own garden. Have had a maximum of four over the winter, 3 males and a female. There are still 2 males about arguing over food and it was probably one of them singing. Then the temperature crashed down and most bird song stopped. We need a south wind

 

[fisi7chella]

seskinore forest

Had a 2 hr stroll in seskinore forest easter monday,birds sighted were:
coal tit
blue tit
song thrush
mistle thrush
magpie
treecreeper
wren
buzzard{5}
kestrel{male}
great tit
robin
chaffinch
rook
blackbird
woodpigeon
jackdaw.
But surprisingly the most numerous bird was the GOLDCREST!!

 

[Peter Phillips]

Belfast harbour

Its probably a little late for this but I am heading to Belfast to IKEA tomorrow (well my wife is going to IKEA, I have convinced her that I would be far more useful, dropped off at the RSPB reserve on the way to IKEA and picked up later).
Anyway I would like to know if there is anything about. I will be on foot so I cant travel too far. And is there a number I can ring in case I bump into anything interesting on my travels.

I will check this before i leave in the morning. Thanks in advance.

 

[s. james]

Its probably a little late for this but I am heading to Belfast to IKEA tomorrow (well my wife is going to IKEA, I have convinced her that I would be far more useful, dropped off at the RSPB reserve on the way to IKEA and picked up later).
Anyway I would like to know if there is anything about. I will be on foot so I cant travel too far. And is there a number I can ring in case I bump into anything interesting on my travels.

I will check this before i leave in the morning. Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the late reply Peter I only checked the site there now.

Flightline is 028 9146 7408. You get reports there of any unusual sightings and can also contribute your own.

 

[Peter Phillips]

Thanks anyway.

I spent a very nice 3 hours at the RSPB Reserve in Belfast. What a fantastic place. If we could have something similar in Dundalk Bay we would be well set up!
A big thanks to Chris, the volunteer on duty who made the visit all the more enjoyable.

The best I had were 4 Sand Martin flying over the reserve and 150 Eider out in the lough.

 

[s. james]

Nice photos Peter and good to get the sand martins too.

3 stonechats at Oxford Island today. I hadn't seen the pair at Closet Meadows for a few weeks and thought they might have moved elsewhere to breed but I saw them again today. The third bird was a female up near the Discovery Centre- hopefully one of a second pair!

 

[Derek Polley]

Round Strangford today and had 4 greenshank in different places, 200 golden plover in breeding dress, lots of Brent at Kilcleif and Killard, 10 purple sandpiper in the shallows of the stream running into Kilcleif Bay and a sandwich tern at Ballyhornan. At Kilcleif we also had the 5 commonest species of gull washing in the stream outfall so we could have fun comparing them.Lots of birdsong in Castleward plus nestbuilding and 3 jays

 

[erik]

back on birdforum after a long period of absence...currently living in Portstewart, where unfortunately the migration of tourists seems to be bigger than the migration of birds, at the moment. I would like to get out there more again, but being Dutch and inlandish, not extremely at ease with all the sea and shorebirds. Are there any people that do birding trips now and then on the north coast? Would love to join once in a while! I'll be here until the end of june!

And in the meanwhile I'll keep up with this thread. BF grew tremendously!

 

[s. james]

I would like to get out there more again, but being Dutch and inlandish, not extremely at ease with all the sea and shorebirds. Are there any people that do birding trips now and then on the north coast?

There's boat trips out to rathlin island in the summer.

6 singing willow warblers today at Oxford Island and 2 singing chiffchaff.

 

[fisi7chella]

There's boat trips out to rathlin island in the summer.

6 singing willow warblers today at Oxford Island and 2 singing chiffchaff.

1 chiffchaff seen and heard in seskinore forest on monday morning.

 

[cidereduck]

That was quick.
Good to know that not all colour ringing programmes are on that website.
Waiting for news on some colour ringed Black-tailed Godwits myself. Only sent them on Sunday though.
Looking for colour ringed birds adds a bit to a day out

did you ever hear back about your ringed godwits, there were some seen at Castle Island birdhide at the weekend (i didnt see them but someone told my folks who were there)....red/orange rings apparently? maybe part of the same study?

ta

 

[Pluvius]

Was at castle island Hide today. Little Gull on far shore , an early Common sandpiper, Swallows, sand Martins, A Greenshank feeding on sticklebacks directly out of rhs of hide.As well as two snipe.

 

[Brosnabirder]

did you ever hear back about your ringed godwits, there were some seen at Castle Island birdhide at the weekend (i didnt see them but someone told my folks who were there)....red/orange rings apparently? maybe part of the same study?

ta

I got full information back on one bird. See this link for the whole story.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=107774&page=2

It turns out one of the birds was reported from Louth a few years back by Breffni Martin. He also had a picture of the bird which he posted on the Louth thread a couple of weeks ago!

Another bird I saw could not be fully identified but the Operation Godwit team gave me a best guess by matching the partial info I submitted against birds previously reported in Ireland.

P.S. The picture is on the Louth thread at this link
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=28640&page=66

In all likelehood the birds you mention are from the same study. Couldn't be 100% sure on that though.
Regards,
Tom

 

[rdspalm]

Was on the Antrim Plateau today. Two hen harriers, male and female. Lots of buzzards, at least 12. Small birds quite scarce today.

Saw my first Swallows of 2008 too.

Richard

 

[Derek Polley]

Managed to get a few migrants at the Quoile on Saturday - swallow, sand martin, common sandpiper, willoe warbler chiffchaff and little gull. Lots of other stuff around as well such as sandwich terns at Strangford and small parties of Brent on the outer Ards and around Kilclief/ Killard. Always nice to get late wintr visitors and early summer visitors on the same day.Male sparrowhawk displayed around the Yacht Club area, but no sign of the Barrows. Garden wise the siskin flock has gone at last and the collared doves are mating in the wild cherry tree. On Sunday a look for merlin on the Antrim Hills only produced a cracking male hen harrier which drifted over the road about 20 metres in front of the car - well worth the effort of getting there. Apart from a pair of kestrels it was very quiet and there weren't any wheatears or crossbills either.

 

[s. james]

Oxford Island today...

17 scaup
2 red breasted merganser (1 male, 1 female in Closet Bay)
3 swallow
1 cuckoo (not singing, but excellent view of it perched on a post at Closet Meadows.)
4 wheatear (1st for me at Oxford, on Closet Meadows presumably on passage.)
3 blackcap (singing)
3 chiffchaff (singing)
2 sedge warbler (singing)
c 25 willow warbler (singing)

 

[Derek Polley]

Any ID help on this Czech jackdaw in Prague, is it one of these Eastern ones you hear about now and again?

 

[s. james]

Not sure about jackdaw races but there seems to be a lot more grey at the back of the head than in an average jackdaw.

 

[breffni]

Any ID help on this Czech jackdaw in Prague, is it one of these Eastern ones you hear about now and again?

Looks good for eastern jackdaw - a good article here: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/7550/jackdaw.html