I finally bit the bullet and
spent a few nights on Rathlin from 5-8 October, giving it just some of the coverage
it richly deserves at this time of year.
Winds were from the SW up until the last day which brought a strong
westerly with showers. I had a mixed few
days, but am fairly pleased with what I managed to see given the unfavourable weather
conditions.
Things got off to a promising
start scoring a Garden
Warbler (113) feeding in Church Valley in close company of 2 Blackcaps in the same thicket. Nice to claw back one of the species I missed
back in the spring. Walking up through
Ballyconagan I got my first glimpse of a rather large female Sparrowhawk which caused much panic in
the nearby Meadow Pipits. I mentioned in
one of my earlier posts that the area around the old Coastguards Station was
good for buntings and plovers in autumn and was checked daily. First
up on the 5th were a nice flock of 22 Golden Plover (114) but a good stomp
around revealed just a single Skylark. On my way back to the main road I overheard
the sound of one of my favourite birds – the Twite and was soon sat in the middle of a flock of 25 as they fed
on withering seed heads.
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| Church Valley - hand me that mist net |
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| Twite
The gardens, harbour and coast road
to Mill Bay were all quiet, so I went and had a good check through the pipits
at Ushet Port. A flock of 4 Whooper Swans
(115) passing south at sea raised my spirits and I made my way to sit at the
bench overlooking Ushet Lough at dusk; as I’ve always wanted to see what drops
in here for the night. Well, it wasn’t long
until 4 Whooper Swans flew in – perhaps the same birds seen off Ushet Port only
half an hour ago?
Time for a scratch - a peak count of 24 Stonechats were recorded
The next day brought a small
arrival of 6 Goldcrests and peak
counts of 103 Linnets, 46 Goldfinch and 44 Robins to the patch and a single House Martin looked lost over Craigmacagan Lough. That evening I went up to check around the
East Light and was rewarded with numerous Wheatears
and Meadow Pipits appearing from
nowhere in the lighthouse compound, before moving swiftly south along an old
stone wall. These birds were obviously
exhausted and the Wheatears in particular just sat on the walls of the
lighthouse in small groups looking confused.
As I walked back down the lane a female type Merlin nabbed a Meadow Pipit and flew off with it giving me a cursory
glance. I estimate that up to 25
Wheatears and 150 Meadow Pipits were seen in the last hour of daylight here. Several migrant Silver Y moths were also in the lighthouse compound and surrounding
area.
 
The next morning I left the Manor
House B&B while it was still dark to make my way to the East Light for a
seawatch. A Wheatear was sat in the rain
under a street light and along the high road 9 Song Thrushes and 9 Blackbirds
were sitting on the road. My hopes of an overnight fall were premature however
and the highlights from an hour and a half’s seawatch were a Bonxie
(116), 2 Puffins, a Tufted Duck and a submarine!
The only new arrivals during a
check around the usual sites were 2 Common
Redpolls amongst a flock of 26 Lesser
Redpolls in Church Valley and 30+ Pied
Wagtails and a Whimbrel at the
West Pier. Two Wigeon were on the
sea at Mill Bay.
My final morning was spent
lurching about the Coastguards Station and moorland at Ballyconagan and scanning
out to sea. The overnight switch to a F4
westerly had certainly brought lots of Gannets and Kittiwakes ashore and
eventually 3 Bonxies and an Arctic Skua were seen in hot pursuit of
the latter. I was bemoaning my inability to find anything decent when I heard a
slow rattling call overhead, followed by a loud ‘chew’ – a Lapland Bunting (117).
I dropped my seawatching gear off
back at the B&B and set off round the harbour towards the coast road to
Mill Bay. I stopped as usual at the
small beach at the base of the South Pier to scan for waders and the first bird
I put my bins on was a Snow Bunting (118)! The gardens were again devoid of anything
unusual, so I made my way once more to the East Light where the heavens opened
and I spent several sodden minutes hunched by an old stone wall. Perhaps this was how the Wheatears had felt a
couple of nights ago, I thought. Once
the rain stopped I stood up and felt the cold rain fall from my hood drenching my
trousers, then there was another rattling call, this time I managed a good view
of the bird hopping about the lighthouse compound, another Lapland Bunting. It flew high above the light and was lost to
view. A moment later a flock of 24 Barnacle Geese (119)
flew east probably trying to find their way to Islay. I returned to Church Bay for a final look at
the Snow Bunting, only to find there were now 2 of them!
 
A grand total of 7 year ticks
were added during this short trip and leaves my score on 119 species, 149
points or 117.32%
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