I've spent the last 3 weeks staying with my family in Northern Ireland (south County Down) - not quite as exotic a destination as some of the others in this forum, but I've seen some great birds and thought I'd post this thread to show what can be seen at this time of year, by a fairly expereinced but by no means expert birder. This was not primarily intended as a birdwatching trip - I came over from Manchester to have a minor operation at the beginning of the month (all went well) and then had 2 1/2 weeks off work to recuperate. Although I was fairly mobile soon after the op, for some of that time I was unable to drive, which limited my options for birdwatching, and forced me to concetrate on the birds in my immediate vicinity.
The part of county Down where my parents live is very rural- a mixture of farmland (non-intensively farmed), and woods, lakes and nearby coast and mountains. I didn't travel more than 60 miles from my base (near the small city of Newry). The weather was pretty cold for much of the 3 weeks, with snow at times and a few torrential downpours, but there was also lots of bright sunny weather.
Main sites visited:
General area surrounding my parents farm in south Down. Good local birds include Whooper Swans and other wildfowl, farmland species including lots of finches and Tree Sparrows, raptors including plenty of Common Buzzards, etc. My favourite local site is the area around the small village of Poyntzpass, and the nearby Lough Shark (which is in Co Armagh).
Carlingford Lough- long narrow sea lough which straddles the border between County Down in N. Ireland and County Louth in the Republic. Good for sea duck, divers, grebes, waders and Brent Geese.
Dundalk Bay area - Co Louth (Republic of Irleand); very large and diverse coastal habitat. Internationally important numbers of wintering waders and wildfowl (including geese), as well as grebes, divers and sea duck offshore. Also good for farmland species.
Belfast Lough area (Co Down and Co Antrim)- including RSPB reserve, and several other urban sites. Good for range of coastal species including scarce gulls, waders, sea duck.
Strangford Lough area (Co. Down)- another internationally imprtant sea-lough, coveirng a large area with huge diversity of species and habitats, and thoudands of Brent Geese.
Dundrum Bay area (Co. Down) - large wide bay on Co Down coast, with lots of waders, wildfowl and plenty of other stuff.
Lough Neagh and surrounding area - massive inland lake, bordered by several counties. I focussed on the south-eastern shore in Co Armagh, as well as nearby Carigavon Lakes. Also went on my one and only twitch to Ballysaggart Lough, in Co. Tyrone. The whole area is excellent for wildfowl (diving ducks, wild swans etc).
I think I managed to see a total of 125 species in the 3 weeks from 26 Feb to 18 March.
Species seen:
Great Northern Diver - regular along the Co Down and Co Louth coastlines. Maximums were 14 along Dundalk Bay on 14/3, and 8 today (18th) in carlingford Lough (Co Down).
Red-throated Diver - as with G N Diver, fairly common along Down and Louth coasts. Max. were 16 in Carlingford Lough on 6/3 and 10 in Dundalk Bay on 14th.
Great Crested Grebe
Slavonian Grebe - 1 on 28/2 and 1 on 14/3, both in Dundalk Bay.
Little Grebe
Fulmar - 1 on 28/2 and 1 on 14/3, both Dundalk Bay
Gannet - 1 adult flying north off Dundalk Bay on 14/3
Cormorant
Shag
Grey Heron
Little Egret - 2 in Carlingford Lough on 6/3 (still quite a rarity in N Ireland)
Mute Swan
Whooper Swan - flocks included 76 near Newry on 28/2; 95 at Lough Neagh on 11/3; 21 near Poyntzpass on 16/3
Greylag Goose
Pink-footed Goose - small numbers in Dundalk Bay - 2 on 14/2 and 4 on 14/3
Greenland White-fronted Goose - Dundalk Bay: 30 on 28/2, 12 on 14/3
Pale-bellied Brent Goose[/B
[B]Shelduck
Mandarin- 4 seen at Newcastle, Dundrum Bay, part of established feral population.
Wood Duck - male seen at Belfast RSPB reserve on 9/3 and 12/3
Mallard
Gadwall
Pintail
Shoveler
Wigeon
Teal[/B]
Green-winged Teal - male seen at Belfast RSPB reserve on 9/3 and 17/3
Pochard
Ferruginous Duck - male at Craigavin Lakes on 1/3 and 11/3. A female Ferruginous hybrid was also present on both dates at same site
Scaup
Lesser Scaup - male at Ballysaggart Lough, Co Tyrone on 11/3
Tufted Duck
Ring-necked Duck - female at Craigavon lakes on 1/3
Common Scoter
Long-tailed Duck - 26 in Carlingford Lough (Down) on 17/3
Common Eider
Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye - male at Quoile Pondage, nr Strangford LOugh, on 15/3
Smew - male Craigavon Lakes on 1/3 and 11/3
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Peregrine
Merlin - female, Dundalk Bay, 14/3
Pheasant
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Ringed Plover
Grey Plover
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Turnstone
Knot
Sanderling
Dunlin
Purple Sandpiper
Ruff - 2, Belfast RSPB reserve, 17/3
Redshank
Spotted Redshank - 1, DundrumBay, 15/3 and 18/3
Greenshank
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
Curlew
Common Snipe
Little Gull - 11, Dundalk Bay, 14/3
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull - 1 ad w, Belfast RSPB, 9/3
Ring-billed Gull - 1 ad, Belfast Lough, 17/3
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull - 1 1st w, Belfast Lough, 17/3
Icleand Gull - 2 1st w and 1 2nd w Belfast Lough, 17/3
Kittiwake
Common Guillemot
Black Guillemot
Feral Pigeon
Stock Dove
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Skylark
Rock Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dipper
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Stonechat
Song Thrush
Redwing
Fieldfare
Mistle Thrush
Blackbird
Goldcrest
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Coal Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Treecreeper
Magpie
Jay
Jackdaw
Rook
Hooded Crow
Raven
Common Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Chaffinch
Brambling
Linnet
Twite
Lesser Redpoll
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Siskin
Bullfinch
Reed Bunting
Yellowhammer
Hope this might inspire some of you to pay a visit to this part of the world.
Anyway, back to Manchester tomorrow, but already planing another visit back in May.