Garden Bird List ..... 2010

A list  of birds seen from our house in 2010.

1. black-backed gull
2. blackbird


3. black guillemot

4. black headed gull
5. blue tit
6. brent geese
7. bullfinch
8. buzzard
9. chaffinch
10. coal tit
11. collared dove
12. common gull
13. cormorant
14. curlew
15. dunnock
16. feral pigeon
17. fieldfare
18. goldcrest
19. goldfinch
20. great tit
21. greenfinch
22. grey wagtail
23. heron
24. herring gull
25. hooded crow
26. house martin
27. house sparrow
28. jackdaw
29. kestrel
30. lapwing
31. long-tailed tit
32. meadow pipit
33. magpie
34. oystercatcher
35. pied wagtail


36. redpoll (lesser)

37. redshank
38. redwing
39. robin
40. rook
41. snipe
42. song-thrush
43. sparrowhawk
44. starling
45. stonechat
46. swallow
47. swan (mute)
48. willow warbler
49. woodpigeon
50. wren

Happy New Year....

Christmas Present...

I've put out food and water for the birds.   The presents are wrapped, and we are off to spend Christmas with my brother, sister-in-law and family.



And we have snow.... and we had a snipe in our front garden yesterday!!

Happy Christmas!

Mount Stewart....

I am a big fan of autumn, love the colours, the smells and love walking through dried leaves, kicking them in the air, just like I did as a child.
Today we went walking at Mount Stewart, near Greyabbey, County Down. I love going to Mount Stewart. I enjoy walking in the garden, the wood or down beside the lake, and at this time of the year the autumn colours are just stunning.

Today the trees were alive with little birds. Robins, Blue tits, Great tits, Coal tits and much to my delight, some Long tailed tits.
But what made it a truely special walk, was seeing a Red Squirrel. The first one I've seen in over twenty years! And we didn't see just one, but seven of them! I can't wait to go back again....

Seedtime and Harvest...

Today we went to the Flower Festival at Inch Parish Church, between Downpatrick and Crossgar.



Inch Parish Church is a beautiful Church of Ireland church, in a very pretty rural location.
The Flower Festival is on all weekend and the theme is Seedtime and Harvest.

Here are a few photos I took...

floral archway


scarecrow


tractor


bunny rabbits


and even a little bird for me!

More about Brent Geese..

As I mentioned before, on Saturday we met some people from a writers circle who were reading poems at Castle Espie. Reading the poems was to welcome the geese back to Strangford Lough. And there are a lot of geese to welcome back...



Up to eighty-five percent of the world population of Light- bellied Brents, congregate in Strangford Lough in October. Which is why we are visiting Castle Espie once or twice a week, to see the birds arrive. It is a wonderful sight to see.
In the autumn of 2007, almost thirty thousand Light-bellied Brent Geese were counted in Strangford Lough. However they don't all stay, as by early winter they will have spread down the Irish coastline.


Now I have a treat for you! A little poem..

This one is by a very special nine year old girl. She visits me most days, loves drawing pictures, making cards, jewellery, and writing little poems. She wrote this for me, as she knows I love birds. I love it, hope you do too...


I'm Free

I am free
like a bird in the sky
soaring high
soaring low
like a bow in your hair
I am free

By Hannah T.

Albino Hedgehog

I've seen a white deer before, and now a white hedgehog! Albino hedgehogs are quite rare - only one in ten thousand hedgehogs are born like this.



Here is another poem we heard at Castle Espie...


Sandpiper (Elizabeth Bishop)

The roaring alongside he takes for granted,
and that every so often the world is bound to shake.
He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,
in a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.

The beach hisses like fat. On his left, a sheet
of interrupting water comes and goes
and glazes over his dark and brittle feet.
He runs, he runs straight through it, watching his toes.

- Watching, rather, the spaces of sand between them
where (no detail too small) the Atlantic drains
rapidly backwards and downwards. As he runs,
he stares at the dragging grains.

The world is a mist. And then the world is
minute and vast and clear. The tide
is higher or lower. He couldn't tell you which.
His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied,

looking for something, something, something.
Poor bird, he is obsessed!
The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray
mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst.

The Wild Geese.....

Today was a perfect autumn day. The kind of day to go bird watching at Castle Espie near Comber, County Down. And that's what we did.
From the Brent hide overlooking Strangford Lough, we saw at least five hundred Brent geese, eighty Eider ducks and ten Little egrets. Thousands more Brents and Whooper swans are expected here within the next few weeks, where they will stay for the winter.
The wood at Castle Espie was full of Robins, Blue tits, Great tits, Coal tits, Goldfinches and Goldcrests today. And the newly restored Lime Kiln Observatory, is another good place to watch the Brent geese on the lough.
It was while we were in the Lime Kiln Observatory that something quite unexpected happened. A nice lady introduced herself and her friend as members of a writers circle, and asked if she could read us this poem........


The Wild Geese (Wendell Berry)

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

Willow Warblers....

Today I have the house all to myself. That doesn't happen very often, so I am enjoying the peace and quiet...

I've been watching the birds and butterflies in our garden. I love it when a new bird appears. That happened a few days ago, when three, very yellow breasted willow warblers turned up. They are smashing little birds, who are heard before they are seen.....
I only wish I had a longer lens for my camera..


willow warblers

Butterflies...

I like butterflies and moths, so I've decided to take part in the Big Butterfly Count. It runs from 24th July until 1st August and involves spending 15 minutes in a chosen place recording butterflies and day-flying moths.

You can find out more about it here


peacock


speckled wood


comma

Raggle Taggle Gypsy.......

I woke up this morning at 5am, with Raggle Taggle Gypsy, playing in my head. It's one of those tunes I have to clap my hands to. So I quickly found it on YouTube, played it loudly, and had a dance around the room! What a good way to start the day...

Rain was forecast for the afternoon, so we made the most of a bright morning and headed down to the Lough. Not much on the bird front, just the usual gulls, herons and terns.


flowers and grasses from the garden

Back at the house, our garden vegetable patch has been very successful. So far we've had new pototoes, beetroot, carrots, lettuce, scallions, courgettes.... and various herbs. Not bad for a first attempt!

We don't have many flowers in the garden, but I did grow some sweet peas.

Wildflowers and Butterflies at Killard....

We're having fabulous weather here in County Down, so today we decided to have a picnic lunch at Killard.



After lunch we went for a walk along the beach and then across the headland which is covered in wildflowers.
I often wonder how many people just walk on a piece of earth, unaware of the beauty at their feet.


bee orchid

Today we were treated to some wild poppies, bee orchids, sea campions, wild cyclamen, kidney vetch, thrift, buttercups, and daisies. And others I could not identify.
There were a few blue butterflies too.


common blue


sea campion


wild poppy

Killard is always a nice place to go, but it is especially nice on a day like today....

Kestrel...

It's been a warm sunny day, here in County Down. Probably the warmest day of the year so far.

I'm sure I've said before, that May is my favourite month of the year. I do love to see the wild flowers, the magnolia trees and all the apple and cherry blossom. The birds are singing and the fledglings begin to appear. For me, it is such an uplifting time of the year, and with summer still to come...

The crops I planted a while back, are steadily growing. Especially the potatoes, which are doing really well. I am so pleased about that, as I am not a very good gardener.
Last week I made some carrot and corriander soup with the corriander I planted. And hopefully I'll be able to use my own carrots next time.


my potatoes are growing!

As for birds, well today we saw a Kestrel from our garden. We watched it being mobbed by a magpie and a crow! Poor thing tried to return, but the crow wasn't having it, and chased him right over our garden and down towards the Lough. I doubt we'll see him again, but his appearance today, means my garden bird list is now at 41!


I found this Van Morrison song on YouTube earlier. I don't think it will be there for long, as you only find cover versions of his songs on there these days. It's one of my favourites - so enjoy it while you can.......

Killard Nature Reserve..

I think it was back in 2006 when I became interested in birds. I remember searching the internet for bird blogs and I found two which I followed every week. One was a blog from Hampshire, where I lived, and the other was Peregrines Bird Blog, from Northern Ireland.

Reading Peregrines bird blog, is where I heard about Strangford Lough and various other places in Northern Ireland. One of the main places mentioned in that blog, was Killard Nature Reserve, on the County Down coast. I loved reading about Killard, with the wildflowers, the seals and the birds. How I longed to be there. And so I decided that when I returned to Northern Ireland, I would definitely visit Killard.

I've been living in Northern Ireland for almost eighteen months now, and I've been to Killard quite a few times. Today we were there to see the Sand Martin colony. But while we were walking along the beach we met some butterfly conservationists. They were looking for Wall Brown butterflies and we ended up looking for them too! Didn't find any, just some Small Coppers, basking on the daisies.


Wall Brown butterfly (seen in Hampshire) - if you see any at Killard or any butterflies anywhere in Northern Ireland, please report them to the Butterfly Conservation.

Killard really is a wonderful place to be. Like many parts of the County Down coastline, so wild and unspoilt. And May is a good time to see the spring flowers. We saw primroses, bluebells, daisies, buttercups and lots more I could not identify. We saw lots of birds too. You couldn't miss the Whitethroats singing from the hedgerows, Wrens, Linnets, Shellducks, a Wheatear, some Whimbrels and a Skylark were all seen and heard.


whitethroat

But as well as all the flowers and birds we saw two grey seals close to the shore. I have no idea whether they were male or female, but I like to think they were a couple. One was some distance in front of the other and turned in the water, waited for it's mate to catch up - then off they went together.... how sweet!

Yes, little did I know back in 2006, that in 2010, I too would be living in a village on the shores of Strangford Lough. And that walking/birding at Killard, would not be a dream anymore, but a reality...........

Orchard County...

A couple of weeks ago my sister came to visit us. While she was here, I took her on the walk I do each day. Down to the lough and back through the village. As we were walking along, I couldn't help but stop to point out the various birds to her.
I can only guess she must have enjoyed seeing the birds, because the next day she asked if we would like to join her on a Dawn Chorus walk at Oxford Island, not far from where she lives.
So on Friday we stayed overnight at my sisters. And on Saturday morning we were up bright and early and off to meet twenty or so others at Oxford Island, just before 6am...



I must admit I was very excited, I hardly ever do any proper birding these days, so to be at Oxford Island was a real treat for me.

On our walk we saw/heard lots of birds including blackbirds, wrens, robins, song thrushes, blackcaps and even a reed bunting. But the best bird for me was the sedge warbler. I was overjoyed at seeing and hearing that beautiful little bird. Infact we saw quite a few of them. I think I mentioned before, that I could quite happily listen to sedge warblers all day long. I find their song so enchanting.

Later on, after a couple of hours birding, we were taken to the restaurant, where a very nice breakfast had been laid on, just what we needed! And when we were fed and watered and ready to leave, I knew exactly where I wanted to go next.....



Well, we were in County Armagh, in the month of May, so we had to go to the apple orchards, just outside Portadown, to see if the blossom was out. And lucky for us it was.



If you've never been to the orchard area of County Armagh, then you really ought to. It is very unique.



My own memories of the orchards are going apple picking with my friend and her dad. I think we got paid ten shillings for a days work. No doubt my friend and I spent that money on sweets, brown lemonade, and raspberry ripple ice-cream.... Happy days!

Home...

I've been in agony today. I don't know when or how it happened, but for some reason, my rib cage is aching. I guess I must have bruised it, or maybe I've pulled something, I'm really not sure. I only know it hurts, especially when I laugh! So today I have been trying not to laugh, which is difficult, because living here, there always seems to be something to laugh about.

Take today for instance, all I did was go out for a walk. I set out expecting to see some birds on the Lough. And yes, there were the usual birds, plus a pair of eider ducks and a whimbrel. I also expected to see some boats and to meet some familiar faces, and I did. But what I hadn't expected to see was a man playing tennis with his dog!! I kid you not. So I laughed......what else could I do?? Which means my ribs are hurting, really, really hurting. But I don't care, because I am so happy to be back in this crazy, funny, mixed up place, I call home......

Birds, Buns and Butterflies..

Birds.... I cannot believe I have added black guillemots to my garden birds list!! Or maybe I should say, birds seen from the house list! Yes, four black guillemots flying towards the Lough on Tuesday, means I now have 40 birds on the list. Who would have thought I would end up living in such a brilliant place?? Even as I type this, the only sounds I can hear are the birds in my back garden. I must post some photos one day, so you can see where I am.


black guillemots

Buns..... Well, have I already mentioned that April is the busiest month I have for relatives and friends birthdays? Even the two girls next door have April birthdays, so I've been baking buns again!


fairy cakes

Butterflies... The temperature went up a couple of degrees today and the wind has dropped which means butterflies on the wing. I saw a few blues, possibly holly blues, and some orange tips.


orange tip

In the Footsteps of Saint Patrick....

This is St. Patrick's Church at Saul, just outside Downpatrick in County Down. The site is said to be the oldest associated with Christianity in Ireland, for here St. Patrick consecrated his 'barn' soon after his landing in 432 AD.

St. Patricks, is a Church of Ireland (Anglican) church. They seem to have some of the prettiest churches on the Island, including this one, which is a favourite of mine. The deep blue is Strangford Lough in the distance.

Sowing Seeds and Swallows...

I was in the garden today, sowing seeds, mostly vegetables and a few flowers. I'm not much of a gardener but every now and then I take the urge to grow something. This year I wanted to grow some potatoes and a marrow, so fingers crossed they turn out ok..
One year I grew some orange dahlias, which I thought were beautiful, then the next year I tired to grow some more, and they were a complete disaster. So I never know what to expect, when I plant something..



While I was working in the garden, I noticed a bird flying over the fields and as it got closer I could see it was a swallow. That's the first swallow I have seen this year. It also means I have now seen 39 types of birds from this house!

Legananny Dolmen...

This is the Legannany Dolmen which has given Legananny townland its name. Liagan Aine means pillar stone of Anya. She was the mythological mother goddess loved by the warrior Finn McCool.



The Dolmen sits on the south-west slope of Slieve Croob, in County Down, Northern Ireland. In the distance are the Mourne Mountains, an area I know well. Many a day when I lived in England, I would long to be back here... in and around the Mournes, my favourite place in the whole wide world!



You can read more about the Legananny Dolmen here

Spring Lambs...

Spring has sprung and the fields are full of cute little lambs.


time for a chat


time to get close


time to feed


time to go

Dawn Chorus...

Wednesday 14th April 2010



Don't you just love this time of year. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the central heating is turned off and life feels good again. I'm so happy to be living where I live. From the windows of this house, I have seen thirty-eight different types of bird. That's a pretty good bird count and a lot more than I ever dared to expect.

One morning, I counted five Song Thrushes in the garden at the same time! Another day, two Redwings were on the front path, and a flock of Fieldfares were in the fields beside the house. Back in December I spotted three Redpolls in the back garden and they have been coming to the feeders ever since. The list goes on and on........


redpoll - a regular at the birdfeeder here.


this house sparrow has chosen the roof verge to make a home.


a blue tit at the peanut feeder.

The birds I've seen from my window (so far).

blackbird
blue tit
buzzard
brent geese
bullfinch
chaffinch
coal tit
collared dove
curlew
dunnock
fieldfare
goldcrest
goldfinch
great tit
greenfich
grey wagtail
heron
hooded crow
house sparrow
jackdaw
long tailed tit
magpie
mallard
meadow pipit
mistle thrush
mute swan
oystercatcher
pied wagtail
redpoll
redshank
redwing
robin
rook
song thrush
starling
stonechat
woodpigeon
wren

Spring Weather?

Thursday 1st April 2010

We did have a few spring like days here last week, but no sooner had the clocks changed to British Summer Time when winter returned with a vengence.. Tuesday was a day of heavy persistant rain and high winds. There was also a very high tide and the fields next to the house flooded. That has happened before but the ditches next to us were full to the brim and I hadn't seen that before. Add to that high winds, the house lights flickering on an off most of the evening and my internet connection going down and it was a pretty awful night. Next morning we had a brief fall of snow and then thankfully everything went back to normal. Except in other counties which were hit harder than us leaving some people with no electric for a few days. I felt sorry for those elderly people who couldn't heat their homes or cook hot meals in such arctic conditions.

On a plus note the flooded fields brought a couple of redshanks a grey wagtail and a meadow pipit right outside the house. They must have thought it was just another part of the Lough, which is what it looked like! So maybe every cloud does have a silver lining.........

Stepping Stone......

Tuesday 30th March 2010

It does seem strange coming back here after all this time. I see my last post was Birding Belfast and Beyond and I'm very pleased to say I really am beyond Belfast now..
I didn't take to Belfast at all, it's not my cup of tea and was just a stepping stone to somewhere else. To tell the truth I'm not a lover of large towns or cities, I had all that back in England and I wanted something different. It's birds, wild flowers and being close to water, they are the kinds of things I prefer.

Not that it was all bad there. The people are nice and friendly, there are lots of lovely parks to walk in and it's easy to get to other places. There were lots of day trips here and there including a trip to Rathlin Island which I will never forget.

So where am I now?? Well, I'm in County Down and there are lots of birds in my garden, cows in the field next door and Strangford Lough is only a five minute walk from the house........