Birding Belfast and Beyond......

Wednesday 31st December 2008

The last morning of 2008 began with some birdwatching from my bed! Yes, it's one of the benefits of living in this house, I don't even have to get out of bed to see the birds, and on these colder mornings that suits me fine..

There are lots of trees in the back garden here, which means a good variety of birds, including twelve long-tailed tits and three bullfinches, which makes me happy.

The rest of the day was spent in and around the Mournes, but not birdwatching.....


a bit late in the day for photos but this was taken between Castlewellan and Rathfriland

I do have a few more birds for the year list......

14/12/08
Strangford Lough
163. whooper swan

17/12/08
Ballywalter
No new birds but something very special ....... a Seal..... I was so pleased, as I have never seen a real life seal before.

23/12/08
It was on the river at Glynn near Larne where I got to see a Dipper, a bird I have wanted to see for ages. It will definitely be added to my favourite bird list.
164. dipper

28/12/08
Donaghadee
165. eider
166. common gull

So that's it, a total of 166 birds this year.............

Update...

Monday 8th December 2008

I'm back with an update of my bird year....


wheatear


oxford island swallow

After my trip to Northern Ireland things went very quiet on the bird front. Our garden goldfinches went walk about and didn't return again until September. We hardly had any baby birds in our garden this year, a baby robin seemed to have the apple tree to himself...

In July and August we were either busy with other things or there was bad weather, so we didn't get out birding...

Then September arrived and brought with it some glorious autumn sunshine and we managed to get down to Keyhaven a couple of times and also to Titchfield Haven, where a few more birds were added to the year list..

8/9/08 Jetty near Pennington Lagoon
150. sanderling


19/9/08 - Titchfield Haven

comma butterfly at Titchfield Haven

151. barnacle goose
152. curlew sandpiper

20/9/08 - Keyhaven
153. knot

21/9/08 - Farlington Marshes
154. little stint
155. osprey
156. whinchat

27/9/08 - Blackwater Arboretum
157. goldcrest

28/9/08 - Titchfield Haven

158. water rail

October brought more sunshine, my brother and sister-in-law came to stay and we even got to see some rare birds too....

11/10/08 - Keyhaven to Pennington
159. golden plover
160. pectoral sandpiper
161. red-backed shrike

12/10/08 - Farlington Marshes
162. wryneck

November was a non birding month. I was busy packing and getting ready to move back to Northern Ireland. I did get down to Keyhaven and Milford one last time, though hopefully I'll be able to get back next year for a holiday....


the beach cafe at Milford


The Needles


from Milford on Sea looking towards the Needles



On the 4th December I left number 83, where I have lived for the past fourteen years and headed home to Northern Ireland.... That ends my Hampshire birding for this year, but who knows.... there are a few weeks left until the end of the year, so maybe I will have some Northern Ireland birds to add to the list??

Moving On.....

Monday 7th July 2008

My life seems to be moving in all directions these days, so I've decided it's time to put this blog to bed.... I'll pop back at the end of December with an update of this years list.



Best wishes

Eve xxxxx

Childhood Memories and a Belfast Fox.....

Saturday 5th July 2008

Two weeks ago I arrived in Northern Ireland for a holiday. I've been staying with my nephew in Belfast, a city I don't know very well, but I've been able to spend lots of time back in my home town and villages in County Armagh where I grew up. I've had the most wonderful time over here and I've decided to come back here to live, later on this year....


Some of the childhood books my brother had kept for me...

Ten minutes after I arrived in Belfast a Hooded Crow was spotted, then this morning as I was packing up ready to go home, I saw this little fox in the front garden....


Belfast fox...

As for birds.....well, my brother told me of a good spot to see Dippers, but they didn't appear when I went looking for them..... so no more birds to add to the year list.

Three more birds for the year list....

In between all the snowballs, potato apple bread and cream cookies etc.... I have managed to find three more birds for the year list.

147. willow warbler - coleraine
148. grasshopper warbler - peatlands park, dungannon
149. tree sparrow - portmore lough

Black Guillemots and Gannets....

Friday 27th June 2008

My friend emailed me yesterday from sunny Hampshire. Apparently the weather there is too hot for her!! As for me in Belfast, well I am having to take a hot water bottle to bed every night to keep me warm!!! But despite the cooler weather, I am having a great time over here and I definitely wouldn't want to be anywhere else......


Donaghadee

Donaghadee lighthouse

I've been busy visiting my relatives, so I haven't been out birding as such....but on Wednesday we were driving along the coast road from Bangor to Donaghadee, when my nephew saw a bird sitting on a wall and asked if I knew what it was. I looked over and was pleased to see a Black Guillemot, a bird I had never seen before. We parked the car and walked back for a better look, and found not one, but eight Black Guillemots. Absolutely beautiful birds, with their bright red feet and large white wing patches.


black guillemots


Then further along the coast I noticed a group of ten gannets, plunge diving into the sea..... pretty impressive stuff.


gannet

145. black guillemot
146. gannet

Hooded Crow

Saturday 21st June 2008

I'm back home in Northern Ireland and was delighted to see a Hooded Crow in the garden today. They're common birds here, but I've never seen one before.....

Will try to get a photo of one if I can.

Eve

144. hooded crow

Farley Mount....

Saturday 7th June 2008

We didn't go very far last weekend. The plan had been to go to Titchfield Haven, to spend some time at the reedbeds, but things kept happening to hold us up. Then when we eventually got in the car, it wouldn't start!!! We just sat there and laughed....

It was soon going again, but we gave up on the Titchfield Haven idea and went to Farley Mount, not far from where we live.


the horse monument

We had a walk to the Horse Monument, which brought back some memories for Ian. As a boy, he, his Dad and his brother would cycle to Farley Mount on Sundays, while his Mum was back at home cooking the dinner......

I must admit I used to love going off on my bicycle when I was young.... I had a blue, Raleigh Mark 2, my pride and joy.... That was my first real taste of freedom............ well, until I lost it, or should I say..... someone stole it, my mother went berserk!! Yes, I did get into lots of trouble when I was young!

Birdwise it was very quiet, but there were lots of butterflies. Common Blue, Small and Large White, Speckled Wood and Brimstone..........


female common blue.....

Then on the way to Romsey I spotted a pair of Bullfinches......which meant another bird for this years list....

143. bullfinch

Hobby...

Sunday 25th May 2008

We spent a few hours in the New Forest yesterday, at Boldrewood and Shatterford. Had a really enjoyable time, there were lots of little foals everywhere. We saw two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and a baby Green Woodpecker on the walk near Boldrewood. Only managed to find one bird for the list - a Hobby at Shatterford.


I liked this foal with the white spot.....

I wonder if I'll see any different birds when I'm in Northern Ireland in a couple of weeks time. A Chough and a Tree Sparrow would be nice......

142. hobby

Garden Birds and Flowers...

Friday 23rd May 2008

I've been watching the back garden for baby birds and so far I've seen one baby Goldfinch. That was three days ago, it was sitting on the garden fence while the mother brought niger seed to it. No baby Blue Tits yet but a very scruffy looking adult bird was on the tree this morning........



aquiligia


wild geraniums - good for attracting bees


poppies

Glossy Ibis and lots more.........

Tuesday 20th May 2008

It’s funny how things turn out.....

Last week we had a Spoonbill on Keyhaven Lagoon. Then I heard a rarity had turned up at Blashford...a Black-winged Stilt. It didn’t stay for long and we didn’t rush up to see it. But lots of people did see it, so I’m pleased for them.


white blossom

On Sunday morning we decided to go up to Milkam Enclosure to look for Crossbills. Before we left the house, I had a quick look on Birdforum to see if there was anything interesting about. As it turned out, another rarity had arrived, a Glossy Ibis on Fishtail Lagoon, Keyhaven. Now what should we do? If we headed for Keyhaven would the Ibis still be there????


wall brown

We decided to stick to our original plan, and headed to the New Forest. It was nice and quiet at Milkham, but unfortunately no Crossbills to be seen. We did find a male Redstart which was a nice surprise. That’s exactly how things go in the bird world. You try for one thing and end up finding something else. I also saw my first dragon and damselflies of the year, lots of wood ants on the path and two fallow deer bucks.


common tern

After lunch we decided to pop to Keyhaven and try for the Ibis...... What a good move that turned out to be. Not only did we get to see the Glossy Ibis....but a Ruff with an actual ruff!!! in beautiful summer plumage, and two Velvet Scoters off the headland too!!!

137. redstart
138. glossy ibis
139. ruff
140. velvet scoter
141. bar-tailed godwit

The Swan's Nest......

Wednesday 14th May 2008

I do love this time of year, especially when the weathers good, and thankfully, this May we have had lots of good weather.


reflections of a black headed gull

We went to Keyhaven on Saturday morning, it was such a nice experience. Hardly anyone about..... which was fine by me. We weren’t looking for anything in particular. To tell the truth, I was happy just to be out walking by the sea, and if we saw some nice birds, well that would be a bonus.


keyhaven quay

It's not just the birds though.... This time of year you can’t help but notice the bright yellow gorse, all along the edge of the pathway, and lots of other wild flowers and grasses too.

forget-me-not

A Swan was sitting on it’s nest not far from the pathway. I was watching her, when she climbed down, revealing one egg. I had to laugh, she was only off the nest one minute, when her mate arrived and appeared to tell her off for leaving the egg.



We did find one bird for the year list, a Spoonbill on Keyhaven lagoon. Further along we saw, a Little Ringed Plover, some Shellducks, Reed Buntings, Whitethroats, Common and Little terns.....and heard some Cetti's and Sedge Warblers.


New Forest pony with foal

136. spoonbill

Terns, Gulls and Warblers.....

Friday 9th May 2008

Last Saturday morning Ian called me out to the back garden, where he pointed out some Swifts to me. Just two of them, but it was nice to see them back again, a bit later than last year. Then we went down to Titchfield Haven, the weather was warm and dry and we saw lots of nice birds. There were various Terns, Gulls, and Avocets...... and not forgetting the warblers.....Reed, Sedge and Cetti's..... all seen and heard.

126. swift

127. common tern
128. reed warbler
129. mediterranean gull
130. sandwich tern
131. black tern
132. cetti's warbler
133. sedge warbler

On Monday afternoon we did the walk at Farlington Marshes, it was very quiet down there. The best finds were some very brightly coloured male Linnets and some Whitethroats.

134. linnet
135. whitethroat

Milford-on-Sea......

Monday 28th April 2008

We were busy on Saturday morning, but we did manage to get down to Milford-on-Sea, for an afternoon walk. To tell the truth, we weren't expecting to see too many birds today.....except maybe there would be a Common Tern on Sturt Pond, this time of year.

On the walk down to the pond, lots of songbirds could be heard. A Sedge warbler was singing from the reedbed, and twenty or so Turnstones were.....you got it...turning stones! Then we came across a Mute swan calling to it's mate!! Poor thing, the mate was in no hurry at all... He turned up about ten minutes later and their little love ritual began...

love heart.....

Next thing you know, a pair of Terns flew in.... They weren't Common Terns as we had expected, but the much rarer Little Tern...


Little tern

We carried on up the cliff path, and here we noticed some Sand martins gathering nesting materials. That prompted us to take a detour down the steps to the beach, to watch them flying in and out of their nesting holes. It was a lovely warm afternoon, so we ended up sitting on the rocks, listening to the sea and watching the birds..... It sure was a novelty to be out without a coat on!



sand martin

Eventually we managed to drag ourselves away, and walked down through the village for some fish and chips for tea.........

123. little tern
124. sand martin

Sunday 27th April 2008

125. house martin

New Forest.....

Tuesday 22nd April 2008

To get to my local shops I have to walk through a park, which always looks so nice this time of year. There are lots of pink and white tulips, the trees are out in blossom and the shrubs are just bursting into life again. I find myself going shopping for things I don't need, just to see the flowers and of course the birds are singing in the trees.


apple blossom

Love is definitely in the air... as far as the birds are concerned.......They've been busy finding mates and building nests. I saw the Blackcap on the apple tree this morning, I hadn't seen him for a week or two..



On Sunday we went to the New Forest and parked in the Barrow Moor car park. We spent a couple of hours walking through the woods and saw most of the usual woodland birds. The best finds were two Firecrests on the Barrow Moor side and a pair of Tree Pipits in the pine area on the opposite side of the road.............

121. tree pipit
122. firecrest

Happy Birthday to my sister for today and to my friend Jean, tomorrow......

Birds, Butterflies and Wild Flowers........

Thursday 17th April 2008

Ian had a Birthday yesterday, so we spent the day at Durlston Country Park, near Swanage in Dorset. I love it there, not only for the seabirds, but the wild flowers and butterflies too.


yellow primroses

Although there were blues skies and sunshine, there was also a cold wind, especially along the coastal path. But that didn't bother us....as there were lots of lovely birds......... Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags and Fulmars............birds we don't get to see very often. It was just wonderful. I only wish I had a camera with a huge lens, as the Fulmars seemed happy to perform for us, and at times one pair were resting on the cliff edge
.



fulmars

Wild flowers included, Bluebells, Whitebells, Forget-me-nots, Greater Periwinkle, Primroses, Cowslips and Adders Tongue fern.


whitebells and bluebells

Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood Butterflies were all on the wing.


speckled wood

There were lots of other birds too, I think we counted thirty species in all, with four birds for the year list...

117. guillemot
118. razorbill
119. fulmar
120. shag

Swallow.......

Tuesday 15th April 2008


mallard

We didn't get out birding at the weekend so nothing much to report... Except I did see my first swallow of the year, when driving through Blackfield, last Saturday morning. Ian had already seen sixty swallows, earlier in the week, while working in Basingstoke...... he saw a couple of Red Kites up there too....

116. swallow

April Snow......

Sunday 6th April 2008

I opened the curtains this morning, to find our garden lightly covered in snow....




one lone Goldfinch braves the elements......



Bye for now

Eve

Song-birder.......

Saturday 5th April 2008

We went to Blashford this morning, straight to the woodland hide, hoping to see a Lesser Redpoll.

I must admit, I'm not the best birdwatcher in Hampshire. I have a habit of breaking out into song - which doesn't go down too well in the bird hides!! If anyone's interested, today's song was..........ain't no sunshine when she's gone.... One of the male birders must have enjoyed it, as he left his friends and came and sat next to me!!

There were lots of nice birds to see, including...

great spotted woodpecker
greenfinches
siskins
blackbird
chaffinches
brambling
great tits
blue tits
long tailed tits

great spotted woodpecker

and then a Lesser Redpoll appeared, our target bird for today, and a lifer for me......


lesser redpoll

The woodland hide at Blashford, is also a good place to see Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. We saw two this morning, one male and one female. I was always led to believe that Lesser spotted are seen high up in the trees...... well don't believe everything you read in the books. The female we saw today, was on a tree trunk about six feet up from the ground.


you can just make out a female lesser spotted woodpecker

That was it......the morning was gone, and we were heading down to Hythe. On the way, we stopped at the Shatterford car park and noticed a pile of tyres which someone has decided to dump there....


a blot on the landscape....

Later this afternoon we saw two Red-legged Partridges in Hoe Lane......

114. lesser redpoll
115. red-legged partridge