Knot on the Beach at Killard NR

I headed out to Killard NR in the afternoon. I am not that fond of visiting on weekends as there can be too many people out there for my liking but Pickle needed a walk. There was quite a few cars parked where I park so the omens weren't good. If one is into Bird Photography as I am it can be quite frustrating getting closer and closer to a particular bird when unbeknownst to you a person is walking nearby and spooks it. The tide was just turning from High and there were tons of Ringed Plover and quite a few Dunlin feeding on the recently uncovered tideline all were fairly easily spooked, nice to see in such numbers nevertheless.

The Sandmartins are still here in quite large numbers (It has been a fantastic year for them at Killard) and it cannot be long before they head southwards again. There are lots of butterflies about settling on the Ragweed. Over the past week a couple of contractors have been pulling all the Ragweed and leaving it in black plastic bags to be picked up later, so the place is littered with bags. I have pulled Ragwort years ago on my parents farm in Donegal and I do not envy them there job. Infact I think they are doing a wonderful job.

I was about two thirds of my way round to Ben Dearg Beach when these two microlights came towards Killard from the Ards Peninsula they were flying quite low. I dont mind them but I do mind when they fly really low over the coastline disturbing everything.The Oystercatchers, Whimbrel, Curlew and Gulls were flying in every direction. It just put me in a mood.

This mood was to be lifted!!!! One of the things I like about spontaneous Bird Photography is that you never know what you are going to see and whether you are going to get nice images or not. As I got to the beach there seemed to be a few people at the far end and lots of Ringed Plover and Dunlin about. Again I couldnt get very close to them. I walked to the waters edge and chucked a stone in the sea for the dog when a flock of about 25 Knot flew past. I have only seen a few Knot at Killard in the last ten years so this was a nice surprise and then they landed about 50 yards away.

I walked slowly towards them and before long they took off again and flew down the beach and back again and this time landed about 20-30 feet away.
I then lay down on a soaking wet beach and crept closer and closer and meanwhile they edged closer and closer to me. Magical!!
Pickle was digging a hole in the beach and not interested in them thank goodness. I took lots of shots annoyingly I could rarely separate them. What was nice was that the background matched their colours. Then some people were walking towards me and the Knot flew away and out of sight. I left the beach on a total high!! Bird Photography is one of the best Drugs!!!

So what originally was very frustrating turned into a brill afternoon even if my front did get totally soaked!!
You can click on photos for a larger image except this one below which doesn't need to be blown up as it is big enough already ;-)

Evening Boat Trip around the Copeland Islands and some Manx Shearwaters

I receive a mailout from the Copeland Bird Observatory and there was the offer of an evening out by boat to go round the Copeland Islands and for a brief visit to the Copeland Bird Observatory. So I rang Neville McKee and booked a place on the boat.

I do not on the whole do much in the evenings as I get up for work at 2.15 each day and like to be in bed by 9.30. But anyway I arrived at Donaghadee (The top right hand corner of Co.Down) to meet the boat at 6 O'Clock.I have not visited Donaghadee for a few years. The last time I was there I was looking at gravestones at a church in the centre of the town. My mothers side of the family came from Scotland to Northern Ireland in 1608 and settled just outside Donaghadee. There are gravestones in the church in Donaghadee that go back to the early 1800's for our family.

On the pier there was Neville McKee (Who has been ringing birds on the Copelands since the 1950's) There was also one of the Belfast Harbour ex volunteers , a couple of other faces that I didn't know and Anthony McGeehan. We all got into this lobster boat and headed out of the Harbour. The Copeland Islands are only a few miles from the coast.They consist of three Islands Copeland, Mew and Lighthouse Island. It is Lighthouse where the bird observatory is situated. We headed out towards Mew Island with the present day lighthouse.

There wasnt much activity on the water a few Gannets flying past , a couple of Fulmars and far off in the distance a few Manxies shearing the water but nothing close up. As we were rounding the Light house a Peregrine flew up and perched in one of the lighthouse windows. This is a heavily cropped image.

There were a few seals on the rocks and lots of Kittiwakes and a couple of Sanderling.
We then landed on the Lighthouse Island where the the Copeland Bird Observatory is based.

We all made our way upto the observatory at the top of the island. There were lots of wildflowers, a few rabbits and quite a number of gulls. The views were great here is a photo looking towards Kilroot Power Sation on the North side of Belfast Lough.
and looking down on Mew Island and the lighthouse you can just make out Scotland in the background..At the top Neville McKee introduced those of us that hadnt been before to the Observatory. The kitchen, Sitting Room,(A fab library of bird books!) The showers!!!! Basically Hand pump sprayers!!! and then to the ringing room and all its paraphernalia. He showed us a couple of tracking devices which are being used on three manxies at the moment.
On the island at the moment is Kerry Leonard (see update at bottom of page) and an Oxford PHD Student Holly, who was studying the Manx Shearwaters. They had been tracking three Shearwaters and she showed us the results of where they had been feeding in the Irish Sea. One had been going up to the Firth of Forth in Scotland another had been feeding off the eastern side of the Isle of Man and the other more locally. Anthony was saying that it was surprising none were feeding down towards St John's Point in South Down as one can quite often see hundreds of them from there. Holly usually does her studies on Skomer Island in Wales and had tracked the Manxies from there and alot came over from Wales to the east coast of Ireland and made their way up the coast with some surprisingly feeding just off the Copeland Islands before returning to Skomer. So from that I must assume that many of the Manxies I see from Killard NR are probably from Skomer!! and not the Copelands as I had always thought.
After showing us the results we went down the Island to some of the study burrows that is to say a burrow that has a concrete block over the nesting area so that the block is removed and the ringers can easily access the chicks and adults.
Kerry Leonard showed us a couple of chicks.

At the mouth of some of the study burrows particularly the ones where the birds have tracking devices there are little markers to tell them that the Adult has returned. So when the stick has been knocked over they know the adult has returned.
The chicks were lovely and had the softest down on them and they even smelled wonderful.

The chicks were returned to their burrows to await the adults returning with food during the night. Whereas we headed back to the boat and went to look for some Shearwaters on the water. George Henderson another ringer directed us from the Island.
There was a small flock on the water
As we got closer they started to take off and flyby. The light was really poor for photography and I was using a high iso to get any decent shutter speed. These were the two best efforts




All in all a thoroughly enjoyable evening apart from the fact I got to bed at 11.15pm and had to be up again in three hours time!!

UPDATE: Kerry Leonard is in charge of the Copeland end of the shearwater tracking studies. He obtained the funding from the NIEA for the study and is a cooperative venture between the Zoology Department of Oxford University (headed by Prof Tim Guilford, who was not on the island last week), The Copeland Bird Observatory and Sterna Environmental (Kerry Leonards company name)

Beyond Belfast Harbour RSPB

On a number of mornings recently I have been sitting out on the breakwater beyond the RSPB Belfast Harbour Reserve. There is the main channel that leads down into the centre of Belfast and to the Harland and Wolff dry docks. From the reserve hide it looks quite narrow but in effect has to be 400 metres wide. Here is a picture of a cruise liner taken from the reserve going down this channel.


I enjoy just sitting in one position for an hour or more as you really get to observe what is going on around you. Also the birds tend not to worry about you after a while. I had been watching some Common Sandpipers flying past and in a 90 minute period about 25 flew past. One of them landed pretty close to me.

and here is another coming into land.

They are a lovely wee bird and in flight can be easily identified they have a stiff wingbeat which is spasmodic and then they glide with their wings in the downward position with some flickering wingbeats.

Overhead meanwhile the Common Terns and Arctic Terns are returning with food for their young on the Tern Islands within the Reserve. I have seen them carrying small crabs, prawns, sandeels and small fish.


I was also fortunate to hear a Little Tern flying amongst the Terns. This would be the second time only that I have seen a Little Tern at the reserve.

As the tide rises in Belfast Lough many of the waders such as Curlew and Oystercatcher will fly towards Belfast and go and roost at the Belfast Harbour Reserve. So they all tend to fly down this channel. Here is a Curlew and Oystercatcher.



While I was sitting there a party of Eider Duck swam by.

Also you can see Black Guillemots feeding in the channel heres one flying.

Next weekend this channel will be filled with tall ships as Belfast has been chosen as the destination for the final leg of the 2009 Atlantic Challenge Tall Ships Race. So it will be Tall Ships not Birds I will be photographing for that weekend!!

Stormy Conditions at Killard NR bring in the Arctic Skuas

In the past few days there has been a strong southerly wind coming up the Irish Sea. This is when it is great to go out to Killard as the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks is awesome. It is conditions like these that you can on occasion get to see Storm Petrels feeding in the outer surf and Manx Shearwaters can come in quite close. There is also the chance of seeing Arctic Skua mobbing the Terns to get their catches.

On Saturday I was out there and unfortunately was texting a friend when an Arctic Skua flew directly over my head and out towards Kearney on the side of the entrance into Strangford Lough. I didnt notice it until it was flying away so only got a distant shot. I then watched it for about 20 minutes mobbing both Terns and Gannets.This was an Adult pale morph bird.(I stand to be corrected though)


This is the view on a calmer day from Killard towards Kearney on the Ards Peninsula taking in the Tower on the Angus Rocks at the entrance to Strangford Lough.


On Sunday I was out again and there were quite a few Gannets here is one with the Isle of Man in the background.


There are also quite a few Sandwich Terns that fly south of Killard to collect fish to take back to their chicks in Strangford Lough. This is one heading South

and this one is heading back North after a successful catch.


On this occasion I didnt go onto the beach as the waves were pretty big and my dog just runs straight into the sea so walked behind the beach where I saw a couple of Wheatear. I couldn't get that close to them. I then headed to a little sheltered spot where I have a makeshift seat from driftwood from which to scan the sea. It was from here that I saw over a period of an hour hundreds of Manx Shearwater flying by and two Storm Petrels. They are quite hard to get onto and as the waves were fairly big one minute you see them and the next they are in the trough.They are the same size as a Wheatear only about 15cms long.

This has to be one of my favourite spots in Northern Ireland.

Storm Petrel

The BBC have used one of my images of Storm Petrels on their Out of the Wild website

The Gannet and the Dog

On Monday I went down to Baltray to see the Little Terns. The noise of them in the air as you approached the breeding area was brilliant. They have had a very succesful breeding season this year.

This was my best image of the day I had far better success last year. There was also this very confiding Pied Wagtail.
There were also quite a few Ringed Plover.

On my way back I saw what I thought were two Gannets on the water and on looking closer saw it was this dog and the Gannet. The Gannet escaped. I wouldnt have liked the dogs chances anyway having once found a Gannet grounded out at Killard. When I went to pick it up it stabbed me in the arm!! I took it to one of the National Trust Wardens at Castleward. Kit fed it on a diet of sardines.Unfortunately it died about three days later.

A Lesson Learnt!!!!! in Misidentification

On Birdguides yesterday there was a report of a Ist year Sabine's gull at Blanket Nook. I thought I would go to Blanket Nook on the way from Altnagelvin hospital to my parents home in Donegal. As I was visiting my mother at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, who had had surgery to remove bowel cancer a few days before.

When I got there there was one other birder, who I hadnt come across before and he asked me if I wanted to look at the Sabine's Gull. I have only seen an adult before so wasnt sure about the id and took the birder's advice and then I took a few photos.



I then sent them off to a couple of sites. I then decided to look up Sabine's Gull in "Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America" by Klaus Malling Olsen and realised that the photos I had sent were not a Sabine's Gull :-(

Joe Doolan of Irishbirding.comthen put me right.It was a juvenile Black Headed Gull. Thank you Joe.

I then went out to Killard NR and photographed this Ringed Plover (I hope)


There was also this Tiger Moth

Birdwatch Magazine

Excellent Issue of Birdwatch Magazine this month. Firstly it has a couple of my photos adorning it's pages. Secondly on the front cover is a free CD "Birding from the Hip" A Sound approach anthology.
It is a foretaste of Anthony McGeehan's new book of the same name that is coming out at the Birdfair in August.it will also have accompanying CD's .It also has some nice illustrations by Killian Mullarney who in my opinion is one of the finest bird illustrators in the world.This particular CD has three stories. The first about the Dupont's Lark, The second about how he identifies a "peep" from a "British Birds" picture Quiz and thirdly a story from the RSPB Belfast Harbour Reserve.

The first is informative and if you don't know much about the Dupont's Lark you will hear how beautifully they sing. The second and third are amusing stories especially the Belfast Harbour story in light of recent events. Oh yes by the way The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland found there was no case to answer in the supposed illegal trapping on the Belfast Harbour Reserve for which he was sacked.. I think the RSPB will have difficulty at an Industrial Tribunal where I hope that intelligence will overcome stupidity.

Go and buy it!!!!!

A Confiding Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)

Last friday I stopped off on my way home from work at the Castle Island Hide on the Quoile Pondage. There wasn't much activity on the water but in the trees surrounding the hide there was lots of singing from both Blackcap and Willow Warbler. As I do not have any passable images of Blackcap I went home collected my camera and had a go. Five days later I still do not have any passable images of Blackcap. They are very difficult to photograph.These are my very poor efforts.


They can be quite close to you but now the ash trees have lots of foliage they are difficult to see. Even when you do see them they seem to move really quickly from perch to perch.

However there was this Willow Warbler that seemed to follow me around as I was looking for the Blackcap. It was so close that it was within the minimum focusing on my lens and I had to put an extension tube to make up for it. It was calling all the time. On one occasion it flew towards me landed on my shirt sleeve and then flew back to the branch. I am fairly sure it is a male. There is another Willow warbler that doesnt come quite as close and is the one that seems to have a beakful of insects all the time and disappears to its nest which I have not been able to locate. One minute she is there and the next has disappeared.

In the image above when you blow it up to maximum resolution you can see my reflection in its eye.

Well I have taken hundreds of shots over five days and these are the best images.






I showed Anthony McGeehan some of the images and he had this to say about them.

"The Willow Warblers that breed in Ireland are remarkably colourless. If they had about 1% lighter chests there would be no yellow tint at all. Autumn juveniles (technically, first-winters since they have a body moult in late summer) are such a contrast. They have the gorgeous yellow underparts. Adults, according to Neville McKee of the Copeland Bird Observatory, moult too but have only yellow on the chest after the moult - leaving the belly whitish. In spring, the differences between Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff are so subtle. Plumage colour is just about useless. Both are different beasts in autumn. Bird books haven't grasped the seasonal chameleon effect."

UPDATE: I was out again today and got this brief shot of the Blackcap that has been singing. Here it is singing