I Just Love Birds. A Quote from Simon Barnes and My New Business Undertaking.

I am quite a fan of Simon Barnes, the Times Chief Sports Correspondent. He writes a column called 'Wild Notebook" in the Times on saturday. He also wrote a book called "How to be a Bad Birdwatcher:To the Greater Glory of Life", which I thoroughly enjoyed.

A couple of weekends ago he wrote "If your mind is tuned into birds, birds become part of your experience of almost everything. It's not a matter of obsessive looking: once you have tripped the switch, it is impossible not to see birds. You can't deactivate bird awareness."

Since reading this article I have been thinking about this alot. I have loved birds all my life but I think it was about seven years ago that I really tripped that switch as it were. I wake up I hear the swallows out on the telephone wires, the Goldfinches hovering around the feeder and the House Sparrows chattering away. I go out to the car and can hear the Oystercatchers, Gulls and Curlew down on the shore. I drive to work and I notice the large amounts of Magpie's on the roads, the Rooks, Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons feeding in the cereal fields. I notice the Swifts wheeling about the sky. I cannot get away from them and nor do I want to. I come home and take my dog Pickle out to Killard my local Nature Reserve and I see the Stonechats, I hear the Whitethroats, Dunnocks and Wrens in the hedges. I hear the Sandwich Terns calling overhead on their way either to feed or on their way back with a sandeel or two to their young in Strangford Lough. There are the Sand Martins flying low over the field of Cow Parsley feeding on the flies. Along the shoreline there are the Ringed Plovers with their new families and the Dunlin on their migratory routes north or south. Inland there are the Skylarks and Meadow Pipits both of which seem to fly up into the sky and parachute down to earth calling all the time. I look out to sea and there are Gannets flying by, quite often a bright white in the sky. There are the Manx Shearwaters, who in low winds tend to beat their wings five times then glide before beating their wings again. In higher winds they seem to oscillate up above the waves and then down gain shearing the water as they go. I wonder are they on their way back to the Copeland Islands or are they on a round about route heading to Skomer Island in North Wales. I just love birds.

I have been feeding birds for the last twenty years and have a few feeders dotted around the garden. Over this time I have become increasingly annoyed at the way one buys bird food. If you buy it in a supermarket it is usually in a flow wrapped bag which is difficult to get into, difficult to pour into feeders without spilling everywhere. What do you do if you don't use it all. Do you transfer it to another container. But it really should be so easy. I mean, it's only bird seed, it's not rocket science. It should be simple. It should be simple so that is what I am going to make it.

So remember "Tweet Your Birds well"

I would be interested in any readers feedback

Rathlin Island

Map of Rathlin
I have been meaning to go to Rathlin Island for years. Rathlin Island is off the coast of Northern Ireland, and is its most northern point. Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland, with a population of now just over 100 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast. The L-shaped island is 5 miles from east to west, and 3 miles from north to south. 7 miles from the mainland and only 15 miles from Scotland.


The last time I was there was as a teenager in August 1979.(My only real memory of the visit was that we were camping for a weekend after the Ballycastle Tennis tournament, that is held every year, and I learnt not to pee into the wind!) So I made my way up to Ballycastle, where the ferry leaves for Rathlin. I hoped to connect with a Laughing Gull, a rare American vagrant that had been found there a few days earlier. I parked and went to look on the beach next to the town where a river runs into the sea. It wasn't there, only a few Herring Gulls washing themselves. I looked over the Ballycastle grass courts towards a community centre where there were quite a few Black-headed Gulls and with a bit of relief there it was sitting amongst them.

Laughing Gull at Ballycastle 2010
The day was not looking particularly promising for photography with the prospect of showers in the morning and then clearing up in the afternoon. I made my way to the Rathlin Island ferry terminal and bought my return ticket costing nine pounds. I then headed down the ramp and got on the fast ferry as opposed to the car ferry which takes quite a bit longer. As we left the harbour there was a number of cormorants riding in the swell. As we crossed the sound there were lots of Guillemots and Razorbills flying across our path. Near the island a couple of Manx Shearwater glided by.

Church Bay and Harbour Rathlin Island
As we entered the island harbour an Eider Duck was trying to swallow a crab, it had eaten the legs and was trying to swallow the body in one. It succeeded!!!

Eider Duck with Crab Carapace
I got off the ferry and headed straight for the Puffin Bus. The Puffin Bus takes you the four miles to the west end of the island to the seabird colony and lighthouse. Five pounds return or three pounds one way. I paid The driver giving a running commentary which I doubt could be heard further back than the first row. I saw Peregrine, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel on the way as well as a family group of Ravens. In one field I saw six hares. Then we were there at the top of the cliffs where there is a seabird centre.

The cliffs at the west end of Rathlin Island are a wonderful sight and the most important seabird breeding site in Northern Ireland. There are over 80,000 Guillemots, 10500 Razorbill,10,000 Kittiwake, 1000 Fulmar, 750 Puffin, 50 Shags and 100 Black guillemots breeding here. So as you get off the bus the smell of guano hits you immediately. The lighthouse is set halfway down the cliff and there is a viewing platform next to it where you overlook half the colony.

Rathlin Seabird Viewing Platform
Even though it was drizzling I have to say it was brilliant to be so close to Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Razorbills. Immediately below the platform there were breeding Fulmar and the noise is really loud. There were Kittiwakes yelling at each other and fighting, some would join together and fall in a spiral almost down to the sea before breaking apart and returning to their nests.

Kittiwake Nests

Fulmar coming into land
At the bottom of the cliffs is an area where Puffins nest. I am always shocked when I see them as they are so much smaller than you imagine them to be. This one was flying below so looking down on top of it.

Flying Puffin
It was a slightly frustrating morning because I would watch these showers coming over from the west and then the camera had to be put under cover. They would last about forty five minutes and after the second one I decided I had had enough. So I climbed back up the fairly steep steps to the top of the cliff and looked southwards. There was somebody with a telescope obviously doing a bird count can you see them in the photo below.

Looking towards Antrim from Rathlin

Looking back towards the harbour from the west end is a lough and I thought I would go and walk round it. As I made my way down in a fairly heavy shower I could see lots of Black-headed and Common gulls on the water as well as some Tufted Duck and Mallard. A few Curlew flew away screaming in alarm as I came over this little bump along with about thirty Oystercatcher. On the water there were three Little Grebe of which two were young.

Little Grebe Chicks
In the reeds around the lough there were a lot of sedge warbler calling. Then out of the blue this Great Skua flew low over the ground towards me.

Great Skua
As it passed me another flew fairly close by

They both headed for a Hooded Crow and started to harrass it. I watched them for about half an hour which was a real treat as I have never observed them for any length of time before. During this time they headed off a party of Ravens and one harrassed a Gannet.

Great Skua on Rathlin Island
Then three Buzzards appeared and they disappeared and I didn't see them again. I wonder whether this was Northern Ireland's first breeding pair.

On the walk back to the harbour I came across this large beetle crossing the road and as the bus was coming I decided to move it out of the way. I have no idea what species it is.

Beetle on Rathlin
I also saw a number of dragonflies which I think were Brown Hawkers.
There were lots of Willow Warblers, Sedge warblers and a single Blackcap. Then in the field that I saw the six Hares in the morning this one popped up.

Irish Hare on Rathlin Island

As I was coming down the hill towards the island's catholic chapel there was a Spotted Flycatcher hawking insects. I mentioned this to Gerard McGeehan and Shirley Dunlop and they had seen one at this spot the previous year.
The afternoon had warmed up considerably and I was knackered from the walk so I headed to the Manor House for a lovely pint of guinness before heading back on the ferry.

The Rathlin Car Ferry

I had a most wonderful day and it will not be 31 years until I return again. As we were leaving the harbour I noticed how the sky seemed to reflect the wake of the ferry.


View of Rathlin from Ferry

Swallows in my Shed.

I'm very happy that five swallows have fledged in my shed yesterday.. This is the first year that they have used this shed to breed. I have had to block the door open so that they can get in all the time. Only drawback is the mess. Below is one of them. Between my house and the next door neighbours farm there seem to be at least thirty swallows flying around. They have at least ten seperate pairs breeding in their sheds. Seems to be up on last year.

The Plastic Waste That Is In Our Oceans Claims Yet Another Life.

I headed out to my local patch this morning at Killard NR.

I arrived at Ben Derg beach and there were a couple of Dunlin on the rocks and a couple of pairs of Ringed Plover. The Ringed Plover both have young. One has two and the other one. There were also a few Oystercatchers on the shoreline making a racket and as I approached two flew off and I noticed a dead one and was even more shocked to see the way that it had died. It had this plastic item jammed over its lower mandible. When I turned it over and felt its breast it was skeletal. So had basically died of starvation.

www.birdguides.com Photo of the Week 15.7.2010

Infact the moment it put its beak into this object it had signed its death warrant. I had great difficulty myself in removing it from the beak. Once it stuck it in the tiny hole on one side the metal strips on the other side allowed it to push further but not out again.


I dread to think how long it took this bird to die.

It is just so depressing to see the amount of plastic waste that washes up daily on the shoreline mainly I suspect from fishing boats. There was also another piece of litter on the reserve being two semi deflated balloons which were probably released at some party or charity function. Releasing balloons should be banned.