I’ve haven’t made an entry for a while now due to time pressures. I have been keepng up with everyone’s entries though. I had a very good week at the beginning of June in Speyside, some new birds and some beautiful views of others, including a pair of red-throated divers displaying. It was a magical moment. I also saw my first pine marten.

I’ve done some coastal and inland lough watching since then, here in Northern Ireland. The rarest bird was a pectoral sandpiper at the RSPB Belfast Harbour reserve. I’ve only seen a pectoral sandpiper 3 times, the first sighting was also at the RSPB Belfast Harbour reserve.

I will be in this house 2 years next month. I’ve had a few more birds here than in my last garden. The only bird that I had in the last garden that I hadn’t seen in this was a bullfinch, and today I saw a female bullfinch in the garden for the first time. I feel as if I have reached an important milestone.

My aunt is staying with me at the moment. We have just spent the last 4 days in Wexford, with some time spent at Malahide Estuary on the way home. We had a wonderful time, the weather was very cold with a wind that seemed to be blowing straight from Siberia. Days were usually dry with the odd snow shower. It was our 1st time in Co Wexford and we would recommend it for anyone who hasn’t been.

Birds seen on the trip were: blackbird, buzzard, reed bunting, chaffinch, carrion and hooded crow, cormorant, gt northern diver, collared dove, curlew, tufted duck, dunnock, dunlin, little egret, gannet, brent geese (both pale-bellied and dark-bellied), pinkfooted geese, white-fronted geese, gadwell, bar-tailed & black-tailed godwits, goldcrest, goldfinch, goldeneye, gt crested grebe, little grebe, greenfinch, greenshank, black-headed gull, common gull, herring gull, gt black-backed gull, grey heron, jackdaw, kestrel, lapwing, magpie, mallard, red-breasted merganiser, moorhen, oystercatcher, feral pigeon, woodpigeon, pintail, meadow pipit, golden plover, grey plover, ringed plover, pochard, redshank, robin, rook, sanderling, scaup, shag, snipe, house and tree sparrow, sparrowhawk, starling, mute and whooper swans, teal, mistle and song thrush, blue, coal, gt and long-tailed tits, turnstone, pied wagtail, coot, pheasant and wren.

Quoile Pondage -blackbird, chaffinch, cormorant, coot, carrion & hooded crow, tufted duck, dunlin, goldeneye, gt crested grebe (including 1 pair displaying), black-headed gull, gt black-backed gull, herring gull, grey heron, jackdaw, lapwing, mallard, pintail (drake), robin, shelduck, mute swan, teal, wigeon, wren.
Strangford – brent geese & rooks
Cloghy Rocks – redshank, cormorant, grey heron, lesser black-backed gulls, brent geese, oystercatcher, curlew

My aunt is staying with me for a few days, so we have taken the opportunity to do a bit of birding.

Co Down – magpie, greefinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, song thrush, black-headed gull, herring gull, great black-backed gull, blackbird, robin, house sparrow, collared dove, starling, mute swan, teal, wigeon, bullfinch, jackdaw, rook, crow, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, moorhen, cormorant, wren, greylag geese, mallard, woodpigeon, feral pigeon.

Belfast Harbour (RSPB reserve & environs) – bar-tailed godwit, black-tailed godwit, linnet, robin, reed bunting, chaffinch, sparrowhawk (killing a song thrush!), mallard, teal, wigeon, mallard, shoveler, shelduck, heron, snipe, redshank, ruff, moorhen, black-headed gull, comon gull, herring gull, great black-backed gull, curlew, hooded crow, jackdaw, lapwing, golden plover, magpie, meadow pipit, greenfinch, pied wagtail, oystercatcher, knot, turnstone, mistle thrush, goldeneye, eider ducks, scaup, blackguillemot, red breasted merganiser, great crested grebe, cormorant, woodpigeon, kestrel, wren.

Portmore Lough – dunnock, great tit, blue tit, pheasant, tree sparrow, reed bunting, brent geese, long tailed tits, chaffinch, fieldfare, redwing.

Lough Neagh – whooper swan, mute swan, tufted duck, lapwing, coot, golden plover, shelduck, collared dove, starling, buzzard.

Lovely sunny weather today. Headed down to Oxford Island. This is acually a peninsular into Lough Neagh (freshwater). Birds seen were black headed gull, common gull, tufted duck, mallard, pochard (approx 300), mute swan, whooper swan, scaup (sun catching the green head of the drakes beautifully), moorhen, coot, magpie, wren, goldeneye, pied wagtail, mistle thrush, great tit, coal tit, grey heron, rook and cormorant.

New bird for garden – yesterday and today there has been a pair of redpoll feeding in the garen. The female has been feeding on nyger seed and the male on the ground under the mixed seed feeder. Lovely birds.

Over the last few days I have done a bit of birdwatching, all within 25 miles of home. The weather has varied from rain, strong winds, snow showers to blue skies today with ice still on untreated roads.
Co Down (country) – goldfinch, blackbird, house sparrow, rook, carrion crow, hooded crow, jackdaw, mallard, woodcock (my first since 2001), wood pigeon, collared dove, magpie, pheasant, tufted duck, coot, little grebe, gadwell, mute swan, black-headed gull, shoveler, chaffinch, greenfich, robin, mistle thrush, song thrush, redwing, feral pigeon, goldeneye, wigeon, grey heron, redshank, buzzard (being mobbed by 2 carrion crows), dunnock.
Quoile Pondage – mallard, teal, pochard, wigeon, lapwing (200+), goldeneye (pair, got a photo of the drake, not bad for me but a bit distant), coot, black-headed gull, herring gull, cormorant, mute swan, great black-backed gull.
Co Cown (coast) – black-headed gull, herring gull, common gull, great black-backed gull, dunlin, brent geese, oystercatcher, mute swan, redshank, curlew, red-breasted merganiser, cormorant, grey heron, pied wagtail, shelduck, grey seal, shag, sanderling, knot, mallard, teal, shoveler.

Confined to the house at the moment with the dreaded lurgy!! At least I had a lovely, long view of a goldcrest today. Unfortunately not near enough to photo. On the plus side I have at last invested in Broadband, so am enjoying all your expert photos even more.

Managed a quick visit yesterday to the hide. Birds seen black-headed gull, common gull, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, goosander (drake out of the water in front of the hide), ruff (2 in winter plumage, again in front of the hide), bar-tailed godwit, curlew, lapwing, teal, moorhen, reed bunting, linnet, magpie, hooded crow, shoveler, golden plover, wigeon, mallard, great tit.

Got some birding in again yesterday. There had been another storm overnight, and whilst most of the fallen trees had been cleared there were still enough to cause problems. For those of you who are not familiar with the Quoile Pondage it is fresh water beside Strangford Lough, which is a sea lough. The area was created by the building of a barrage as flood control for nearby Downpatrick. The whole area is a nature reserve, with a good hide. Usually there are a number of very small islands in front of the hide where a variety of ducks sit out. Yesterday the water level was above the islands.

Quoile Pondage – mute swan, goldeneye, wigeon, teal, greylag geese, lapwing, grey heron, mallard, tufted duck, sparrowhawk, herring gull, black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, greater black-backed gull, little grebe, golden plover, cormorant, coot, wren.

Co Down in general – Rook, crow, jackdaw, blackbird, robin, pheasant, yellowhammer, shelduck, dunlin, mistle thrush, song thrush, fieldfares, starling, kestrel.