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Well I've certainly added a few new names to my list of sighted birds along the Antrim coastline, and today I ventured to pastures new and added 4 more birds from the headland and the lough.
Last weekend I saw the first signs of Spring with the arrival of the Swifts. Unfortunately they were so fast that I couldn't really capture them on camera .. but I did my best!...

Then on the beach there were some winter visitors who I can only imagine were on their way off to their summer location - a flock of Brent Geese...

Well that's probably all the photos for this post because the birds I spotted today were all too high up or too far away to get a good shot of. The high-up ones I am most excited about because they were birds of prey and possibly still quite rare in these parts of the world. The first was a pair of Buzzards (well I'm assuming they were Buzzards cos it's difficult to identify them from such a distance and I'm certainly no expert, but judging from the shape of the wings and the way they were soaring I am pretty sure they were Buzzards. Whilst watching them soar off into the blue beyond another shape appeared over the headland, this one without the serated wing tips and a completely different shape. I watched for several long moments as this bird caught the up drafts and slowly circled around looking for prey. I had no idea what bird this was, smaller than the Buzzards but with a very defining angled wing shape. The only bird I could find in my books that had the same shaped wings belonged to a Peregrine. The Merlin also came close, but I think it was most likely a Peregrine.
I then moved down to the lough at Glynn to see what I could spot. The most interesting fowl were quite a way out, so again, too far to get an accurate photograph which is a shame because there were ducks there that I have not identified before and still didn't managed to get a clear view of. There could possibly have beein some Pintails, there was definitely a pair of Eiders and most interesting to me was the Red-Breasted Merganser. No I have never heard of that before either, I had to look it up and yes, I'm 99% sure that that was what I was looking at. There was also another duck with the strangest markings on its side, almost like a very fine black zig-zag on a white flank. I think it may have been a Goldeneye - another bird I'm not familiar with. I will have to return to the lough with my wellingtons I think to get a closer look.
Well that's it for now - dinner is calling so I must away.

Kxx