Rathlin Island - Visit 4

Saturday 23 February was one of those rare birding days when everything seemed to fall into place.  News reached me the day before that a Long-tailed Duck had been found in Rathlin Harbour, a species I reckon should be regular winter fare around the island.  I had been under the impression that there had been no previous records, but have subsequently found out there have been at least two (my source obviously hasn’t been following the blog...).  Thankfully, it was still there on Saturday morning, seen from the ferry as it glided into the harbour, associating with the local Eider.

I made my way over to the West Pier, happy to have finally added Long-tailed Duck (62) to my island list.  I barely had time to lift my bins when a Merlin (63) lifted off the harbour wall and started chasing pipits around, before flying up onto the cliffs above.  I wasn’t really expecting much from the day so this was a great start.

Long-tailed Duck, Patch gold.

Not much had changed bird-wise at Ballycarry Pool with much the same cast as last visit, but 17 Greylag were in fields nearby.  These were to be the only geese of the day, so many have either moved to somewhere else on the island or have left altogether.  I was making my way towards Mill Bay checking the rock pools and sea, when I flushed a small bird from  the weeds along the shore, which turned out to be a male Reed Bunting (64); another patch year tick.  Offshore was a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Northern Diver and a lone Common Scoter.

Ushet Lough at first seemed empty, but a scan of the far shore revealed some new arrivals in the shape of 8 Lapwing (65) and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (66) amongst the loafing large gulls. Just 4 Wigeon remained from the last visit.  As on every patch visit so far this year, I squelched through the marsh at the southern end of Ushet, but this time a single Snipe (67) finally materialised!

Nothing of note was seen around Rue Point, so I made my way back towards Church Bay to try and get some shots of the Long-tailed Duck, only to find it now way out in the harbour on its own.  As the tide had dropped, I decided to have a concerted effort looking for waders on the rocky shoreline.  I found a nice spot to sit down as it began to snow.  I counted around 20 Turnstones and 10 Ringed Plover, then hold on what’s this... a Purple Sandpiper (68).  A most unexpected Island tick! I have included the horrendous record shot to try and show just how poor most of the shoreline is for waders, but also to give some impression of how difficult it is to pick them out.

What Purple Sandpiper?

As I waited to board the 16:00 ferry, I watched the Long-tailed Duck fly out of the harbour, turn right, then land on the sea some 500m out into Rathlin Sound.  The day was rounded off nicely by 5 Porpoise from the ferry back to Ballycastle.

Latest score: 68 species, 83 points or 65.35%

South Dublin Coast - Week 2

Having finally shaken off the cold from last week, I finally got a chance to do some birding on the patch. I started Saturday morning with a quick scan of Killiney Bay, which added a couple of local scarcities in the form of single Red-throated Diver and Shelduck. There was little else around so I moved on to Coliemore Harbour for an hours seawatching. Never having done any seawatching from here during the winter months, I was intrigued what may be around, especially with weather conditions quite favourable (moderate SE winds with on/off sleet). As it turns out, there was a small passage of Auks and Red-throated Divers, as well as seven Mediterranean Gulls and two Kittiwakes moving south. Not bad for January.

Purple Sandpipers occur in small numbers around the Dalkey Islands during the winter and I was delighted to find two feeding with Turnstones amongst the seaweed on Lamb Island. Further patch ticks included Grey Heron, Common Gull and Black Guillemot. Non-birding sightings included a Porpoise and about ten Grey Seals hauled up on Dalkey Island.

Dalkey Island

After almost freezing solid during the seawatch, I was glad of the walk to Bullock Harbour. Linnet, Goldcrest and Collared Dove were welcome patch ticks along the way. The harbour held the usual array of Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, as well as 11 rather tame Turnstones. Two or three Mediterranean Gulls were also mixed in amongst the Black-heads. One of the reasons I chose to include Bullock is to keep better track of the ringed Gulls which regularly turn up here. There were two present this week, a third winter Herring Gull (OJH) and a first-winter Great Black-backed Gull (1KH), both blue darvics.

Looking from Bullock Harbour towards Howth

Larus uglii

Sunday morning brought another patch tick in the form of Redwings, with several small flocks seen flying south along the coast during the day (displaced by the snow in the Dublin mountains and further up the coast?). At lunch time I headed over to Shanaganagh Beach, hoping for one or two Little Gulls blown in on the easterly winds. Three white-winged gulls were amongst the gulls feeding offshore, unfortunately Mediterranean rather than Little. A couple more Gannets and Red-throated Divers were about the best of it in worsening weather conditions. At least the garden contributed a patch tick in the form of Redpoll, with the female Brambling putting in another appearance at the feeders.

The totals for the first two weeks then are 55 species, 66 points and  55.56%.

Shanganagh Beach looking towards Bray Head