PWC2015 at Kilcoole: January-March update

After a delayed start to the patch birding New Year, I eventually made it down to the Kilcoole area on 11^th January for my first full day and was greeted instantly by a #patchgold Dipper along the Newcastle Sea Road stream, the first I’ve seen here in about 10 years!! This single bird later became part of a pair which moved extensively up and down the stream during February but with no sign of them since I guess they have found a quieter spot upstream to breed.

Dipper

The other highlight of the year so far in this area was the continued presence of Tree Sparrows around a farmyard along the sea road. A single bird was first found here in March 2014 by Stephen McAvoy during the Wicklow County Bird Race which was duly twitched soon after by myself as it was a most sought after patch tick. Delighted to report that the Tree Sprog numbers at this site have risen to a mighty 15 this year! Will keep an eye on them this Spring and hopefully confirm breeding.

Tree Sparrow

Not stopping there, the farmland around Newcastle Sea Road was very productive this winter for other passerines adding a single Fieldfare and some Redwing on day one, both good to get that soon on the scoresheet as they are highly unpredictable here. I later ended up with a flock of 20 Fieldfare and 12 Redwing in the field just inland of East Coast Nature Reserve (ECNR) in March. The stubble field beside the entrance to Newcastle Airfield held a consistent flock of 60 Reed Buntings, 15 Yellowhammers, 40 Linnets, 15 Greenfinches and 30 Meadow Pipits throughout the winter thanks to the planting and overwintering of game cover/crop. An impressive flock of c.70 Stock Doves was present in stubble fields at Kilcoole on 6^th February and it was encouraging to see pairs present in suitable habitat on the patch later on in the Spring also.

Both Lesser Redpoll and Siskin have been thin on the ground along the east coast this winter and I’ve only had two records of each from the patch (normally good numbers at ECNR). I once considered Grey Wagtail a scarce bird down here but have already amassed 10 records so far this year with a regular bird on the wet mud/cattle dung pools near the entrance to ECNR. A male Blackcap present on the feeders at ECNR in late January was possibly the first ‘proper’ winter record I’ve had on the patch. No sign of any Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the wood at ECNR during my searches there (only Treecreeper to add to the list) despite two sightings so far this year by other observers but I was intrigued by the presence of a hybrid Carrion x Hooded Crow near the usual Hoodie nest site there in mid-March. Might have to keep an eye on that and see what shenanigans are going on locally (and more importantly see if there are any pure Carrions to year tick!). The first Skylarks in song were recorded along the dunes at Kilcoole on 8^th February during the Wicklow County Bird Race.

Very pleased to see two soaring Red Kites off in the distance to the south of ECNR during a BirdWatchIreland Wicklow Branch outing there on 24^th January (only patch ticked them back in September 2014). The overwintering 2^nd calendar-year female Marsh Harrier was seen twice in January and once in February. The first successful overwintering bird at this site to the best of my knowledge (have had records of them into November before but not thereafter). A single ringtail Hen Harrier showed well in front of the main hide at ECNR on 6^th February, presumably the same bird most often reported down towards Broad Lough during the winter. Displaying Sparrowhawks were present at their traditional breeding site through March and it was a case of Buzzards aplenty with the highest single count relating to nine soaring over farmland and hills inland of the patch on 21^st March. No more than one Kestrel was seen on the patch in a given day, continuing their drop in numbers here since the severe run of winter storms in January 2014. An adult and a 2^nd calendar-year Peregrine were keeping the waders and wildfowl of the marsh on their toes through February and March.

Seawatching was pretty quiet but recording Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake and Black Guillemot from the get go in January was good, especially for Black Guillemots as it took me until April to find them last year! The undoubted highlight was a Great Skua (Bonxie) flying north out to sea from Kilcoole train station platform on 11^th January. It was quite distant but actively chasing Kittiwakes. My first winter record on the patch. Numbers of Red-throated Divers, Shags and auks sitting/feeding offshore have been below average, but a southbound movement of 1,250 Guillemots in three hours on 28^th January was notable. A Great Northern Diver offshore from Newcastle on 16^th March was most welcome as I thought I was going to go the first winter half of the year without seeing one.

Flood levels on the marsh were pretty low through much of the winter resulting in reduced numbers of certain species like Teal, Lapwing, Golden Plover and Black-tailed Godwits. The Light-bellied Brent Goose flock, which peaks in March, was only half its normal size also, but I still managed to get a Dark-bellied Brent Goose out of them, just about keeping up its annual status here. The presence of leftover potatoes in the field inland of Webb’s lagoon provided rich feeding for the Icelandic Greylag Geese and Whooper Swans throughout the winter which was fantastic to see. A real benefit to them with such a rich source of food along with grazing, fresh water and roost sites all in close proximity (highlighted by the fact that the Whooper flock rose to 89, the highest here in years). Both the Barnacle Goose and feral Canada Goose from 2014 stayed on through the New Year and onto the 2015 list as well as several Greenshank, a Tufted Duck, a Coot and a female Pintail. The Shoveler flock on the wet grassland flashes at ECNR reached an all-time high of 81 (hopefully it won’t be long before a nice male Blue-winged Teal joins them!). A couple of trips down to look for birds grounded in Webb’s lagoon during heavy rain and strong winds paid dividends in the form of a 2^nd calendar-year male Red-breasted Merganser, a 3^rd calendar-year Little Gull and a single Grey Plover.

3cy Little Gull

Returning adult 'Dark Neb' Whooper Swan (centre). More info here.

Colour-ringed Oystercatcher 'PJ' from the Dublin Bay Birds Project
(ringed at Merrion Gates, Sandymount Strand in Nov 2014)

As was the case across much of Ireland, migrants were slow to get going in March with my first at Kilcoole relating to Lesser Black-backed Gulls moving north along the coast (peak count of 99 on 16^th March) followed up by two Chiffchaffs in the wood at ECNR. Finished off the month of March with an enjoyable joint BirdWatch Ireland Wicklow and Dublin Tolka Branch outing to Kilcoole on Saturday 21^st where we scored our target Spring migrants in the form of a Sandwich Tern day roosting in Webb’s field (species #100) alongside a 3^rd calendar-year Mediterranean Gull and a female Wheatear on the beach. A great end to the first quarter of the year!

BirdWatch Ireland branch outing to Kilcoole

Kilcoole PWC2015 Stats (January-March): 102 species, 122 points, 60.69%, 18 BirdTrack lists and 1,020 BirdTrack records submitted.

Table 1. Summary counts of waterbirds at Kilcoole, Newcastle and Blackditch East Coast Nature Reserve, September 2014 - March 2015. Notes: Species in italics have yet to be recorded during PWC2015. Some I-WeBS counts from other observers likely to be higher than my own for certain species (e.g. Golden Plover) so figures given here don’t represent actual maximum totals for the site. Totals for regularly occurring gull species (BH, CM, HG and GB) relate to birds on the marsh only and don’t include those on passage/offshore.

Species	Peak Count	Peak Month(s)
Mute Swan	31	November
Whooper Swan	89	February-March
Greenland White-fronted Goose	1	October
Icelandic Greylag Goose	272	March
Canada Goose (feral)	1	November-January
Barnacle Goose	1	November-March
Dark-bellied Brent Goose	1	March
Light-bellied Brent Goose	c.550	March
Shelduck	14	March
Wigeon	849	February
Teal	397	November
Mallard	107	November
Pintail	1	October-March
Shoveler	81	February
Tufted Duck	4	November
Common Scoter	10 (on passage)	October
Red-breasted Merganser	3 (on passage)	November
Red-throated Diver	83	November
Great Northern Diver	2	November-December
Cormorant	26	September
Shag	44	February
Little Egret	10	September
Grey Heron	36	September
Little Grebe	16	February
Great Crested Grebe	2	November
Water Rail	9	December
Moorhen	4	September
Coot	6	September
Oystercatcher	13	March
Golden Plover	320	January
Grey Plover	1	March
Lapwing	347	February
Ringed Plover	13	February
Curlew	119	February
Black-tailed Godwit	192	January
Bar-tailed Godwit	1	November
Turnstone	7	September
Dunlin	55	September
Green Sandpiper	1	November
Greenshank	3	February-March
Redshank	49	November
Jack Snipe	1	November
Snipe	30	November
Sandwich Tern	23 (on passage)	October
Black-headed Gull	425	March
Little Gull	23	November
Mediterranean Gull	1	October & March
Common Gull	72	December
Lesser Black-backed Gull	99 (on passage)	March
Herring Gull	30	November
Yellow-legged Gull	1 (on passage)	November
Great Black-backed Gull	5	November
Total	3,931

A tale of two patches - Larne and Rathlin review 2014

This was my second year taking part in the Patchwork Challenge on Rathlin Island and as I enjoyed it so much last year, I decided to enter a second patch – the north end of Larne Lough, to try and resurrect my appetite for birding around my home town.  Apart from trips to the Bridges of Ross, Tory Island and Portugal, I did very little birding outside my patch boundaries.  A fact supported by plotting my Birdtrack records for the year.  As well as competing against around 340 other patches across the UK and Ireland, I was also keen to see which of my own patches would come out on top.

 

Sedentary birding, via Birdtrack

 

Some of you may have read recently about plans to have an ‘island mini-league’ in 2015 to include rarity hot spots which receive large falls in spring and autumn.  Thankfully, this rules out Rathlin! You see, both my patches occupy somewhat of a migration dead zone prone to autumnal bypasses most years.  However, for me this is exactly what makes patch birding so addictive; that new patch tick, a patch gold bird, heaven forbid a local rarity – all come at such a cost that I don’t mind not getting more than 2 points for most of them! The joy comes from what they mean to you.

I managed 121 species for 151 points on Rathlin in 2014 (you can read a review of the year here), so I had a comparative score to aim at this year.  My target for the Larne patch was 120 species.  Here’s how I got on:

Larne Lough Highlights

The first highlight of the year came in the form of a most unexpected patch tick, following a phone call about a Crane seen flying south along the Antrim coast.  A full 72 minutes later I intercepted it attempting to land at Glynn Station.  You can read more about my ‘Mourinho antics’ here.  This has to go down as one of my finest moments in birding.

Ah yes, that'll be the Crane!

 

In what was a poor year for white-winged gulls in Northern Ireland, finding a couple of Kumlien’s Gulls in the spring was noteworthy, considering these were just about the only records of this fine (sub) species recorded anywhere in NI this year.  However, I had to wait until mid-December to see an ‘ordinary’ Iceland Gull after dipping one earlier in the year.  It was also a great year for Little Gull sightings on patch, with at least 4 different birds seen during the year.

Iceland Gull

Little Gull

Kumlien's Gull

 

The events of the 6^th April will live long in the memory, when no less than three patch ticks were watched side by side at Glynn Station.  A Glossy Ibis had been loitering around the south end of the lough for a few weeks, tantalisingly outside the patch boundary – it was only a matter of time before it appeared at Glynn I thought.  During the first week of April it was reported at Glynn on a few occasions by other birders, but despite numerous searches I just could not see it.  I arrived at Glynn Station on 6^th April for another look ­­and was rewarded by close up views of a male Pintail, shortly followed by finding a Slavonian Grebe – in full breeding plumage no less.  As more local birders arrived to see these, someone uttered the immortal words “isn’t that the Glossy Ibis standing at the point”.  Indeed it was and I still wonder to this day how it got there without being noticed!  All three of these species were patch ticks and I blogged about the experience here.

 

 

Following this unprecedented start to the year, things went quiet, very quiet.  My hopes were eventually lifted by the sight of a pair of Roseate Terns in full display mode off Glynn Station on 14^th June. 

 

In the site guide I wrote (see here) at the beginning of the year, I mentioned Larne being good for “Gank, Gulls and Goosanders” and this year has done little to change my mind.  However, were it not for the lack of alliteration, I could also now add ducks to that list.  An amazing 13 species were recorded, all seen from the same spot at Glynn Station.  These included patch scarce Scaup, Long-tailed Duck and Common Scoter. To complete the story – it was indeed another good year for Goosanders with several birds making an appearance during the year.

Another thing I discovered through patch birding around Larne was that it made me aware of a number of glaring omissions from my patch list, owing to a complete lack of ever looking for them before.  You may be surprised to learn that Water Rail, Bonxie and Sand Martin were all patch ticks this year!  Other noteworthy sightings were second patch records of Curlew Sandpiper (24^th September, Sandy Bay) and Jack Snipe (15^th November, Glynn Rugby Club Lagoon).

The most glaring species not seen this year were Fieldfare and Whitethroat, while Pink-footed Goose, Greenland White-fronted Goose, Ruff and Spotted Redshank (missed by about 2 minutes) were seen by others.  The year ended with totals of 129 species or 168 points, 2028 records and 33 lists were added to Birdtrack.  A total of 7 species were added to my overall patch list, which now stands at 154 species.

 

Larne species accumulation via Birdtrack

 

Rathlin Island Highlights

I spent a total of 25 days on the island this year (compared to 30 last year) and I did not manage any visits during June or July due to survey commitments at work.  Nevertheless, I managed to add a further 8 patch ticks during 2014, including some great birds.

The first good day of the year came on 18^th April when my second patch record of Golden Eagle, was backed up by full (fat) patch ticks of Whinchat and Gadwall.  On the 11^th May I was stopped in my tracks by a call I was not familiar with and after a series of rubbish views, I managed to work out it was some sort of Sylvia warbler.  I recorded the call on my iPhone and emailed it to Niall Keogh just in case it was anything mental.  Niall got back to me to say it was a Lesser Whitethroat and I returned that afternoon when the bird eventually came into full view (for about 5 seconds).  Just my second patch record of this species (in exactly the same place as the first!) and it was good to become familiar with the call.  Another measly point in the bag! 

The big story of the year came from the now infamous Corncrake which turned up in mid-May only to be disturbed by a visiting helicopter (full story here).  I heard the bird on 24^th and 30^th May, but by the next day it had vanished.  During one of these visits it dawned on me that I had seen or heard all the species illustrated on the RSPB information panel on the same day; for the very first time.

 

 

There was not a lot to shout about during September barring my first patch Bar-tailed Godwit on 6^th and four Pink-footed Geese at Ushet Lough on 27^th which were nice to add to the year list after somehow missing them last year.

My now customary early October trip once again delivered in spades.  Mediterranean Gull, Little Gull and Sooty Shearwater were all patch ticks thanks to being on the island in half decent seawatching conditions.  However, I will remember the trip for my time spent in the company of a juvenile Brent Goose – which fed around my feet as I sat eating lunch.  It was a profound experience as I was most likely the first human it had ever encountered.

 

 

The late autumn period served up another two patch ticks in the form of a Tree Pipit on 17^th October and a Short-eared owl on 8^th November.  The pipit was particularly pleasing as judging by numerous old records from the island, it appeared I was failing miserably in my attempts to connect with this species.  Another measly point!

The year ended on 114 species or 146 point leaving my comparative score tantalisingly close to last year’s mark on 96.7%.  A total of 1165 records and 19 lists were added to Birdtrack.  My overall island list now stands at 148 species, a total that has increased by 19 in just two years of increased effort thanks to the patchwork challenge. 

Rathlin species accumulation via Birdtrack

 

In my own private mini-league I was amazed that Larne came out on top, though I suspect Rathlin would well and truly trounce Larne if I spent more time there.  Out of interest, I worked out that the combined scores for both my patches was 149 species or 199 points. Perhaps County Antrim isn’t such a migration dead zone after all.