Two nature nerds on Rathlin Island. Authors of the annual Rathlin Bird Report and avid recorders of the island's biodiversity - well over 2,100 species so far!
π The 2023 Rathlin Bird Report is here- what a year!
It's another bumper issue covering all 163 species seen, 4 new additions, an unprecedented eagle extravaganza, PLUS a special section on population estimates for all the island's breeding species π€
HELLO PUFFINS!!! In a world turned upside down, it's so good to see the Puffins have still made their way back to
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. They're one day early compared with the last 3 years - although if you account for the leap year, they are actually perfectly punctual once again!
FIRECREST! Glimpsed briefly this morning, started to think it was a hallucination until it showed again just now in the RSPB Warden's garden. First record for
#Rathlin
. Absolute bobby dazzler!
@nibirds
@RSPBNI
IT'S STARTED!!! Tonight we've seen the first
#jumplings
leaping from the cliffs at the
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West Light Seabird Centre. This is our highlight of the seabird nesting season & we're so excited for more jumpling action over the next few weeks
@RSPBNI
@gtlighthouses
Well that was some afternoon π€― Engrossed in the incredible sight of two Orcas passing the cliffs of Rathlin, suddenly a Golden Eagle swooped out from beneath us, looking us right in the eye as it soared away!
Here's the Golden Hare doing its star turn for the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival early this morning π - a quick wash of the face and toes before settling down for a snooze among the Bracken and Bluebells
Couldn't resist twitching this awesome bird yesterday - after an entire day of complete inactivity, as darkness fell the Nighthawk finally yawned and burst into life. What a mouth!
Awesome show from today's eagle, zooming back and forth along the cliffs, landing repeatedly and even calling at times, before circling high until lost to view. This is the first Golden Eagle recorded on Rathlin for about a year, and the first one we've seen here since 2019
How's this for a faceful! Been seeing this Blackbird every morning lately, looking pretty much like this each time. He continued foraging too, so still had room for more
#BreakfastBirdwatch
Hare, there and everywhere! Irish Hares think it's spring already on
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. Even the world famous Golden Hare came out to play today, & not just one but TWO (sadly not both in the same shot)
π THE FIRST PUFFIN IS HERE!!! The auks had been away all week, but today Rathlin's cliffs were busy again and a single Puffin appeared for just a few seconds. Our earliest ever sighting, by one day
Not one, not two, but THREE ALPINE SWIFTS hurtling around the cliffs on the north side of Rathlin this morning! Occasionally tearing past so close we almost had to duck. What an incredible sight!
Still can't get used to the island being so quiet on such a sunny Sunday. If you're missing
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, here's some of what you might have seen here today
Incredible view of a Merlin catching a Meadow Pipit this morning, one of our best ever views on
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! Couldn't film the twists and turns of the epic chase, but it went on for AGES and so many times the pipit nearly got away but the Merlin was relentless
The biggest arrival of starlings we've ever seen on Rathlin today, and one of them wasn't quite like the others... Rosy Starling providing a pink and punky ray of sunshine on a very grey morning. The first we've seen here and probably the 3rd ever record for the island
@nibirds
Waited all winter for this moment of GOLD! We always love watching Irish Hares, but nothing beats the thrill of spotting one of
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's world famous Golden Hares
Yet ANOTHER White-tailed Eagle cruising over the house just now π€― This is really getting ridiculous - today's looks like the 4th new White-tailed Eagle here since 10th March! We can't sit still indoors anymore, every time a Buzzard mews we race to look outside
#WindowWildlife
Struck GOLD again today! It seems to be getting easier to find one of
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's world famous Golden Hares these days - this is possibly the 4th different one so far this year
Wasn't just us out enjoying the sunrise this morning - bumped into this fine beast too! Seems
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's Irish Hares are becoming more active now, seen them chasing each other around twice this week already
Spotted this large and outrageously pink Field Grasshopper yesterday - it was actually doing a fine job of matching its colourful surroundings, but it was too big and bright to miss really! We've occasionally seen pink forms here before, but usually as nymphs
Holy mackerel!!! Saw a bunch of Harbour Porpoises off Bull Point on
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this morning and tried to get some (very distant) footage of them, but somehow ended up recording BLUEFIN TUNA leaping out of the water
Thrilling views of a 2CY White-tailed Eagle on
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this evening, WHAT A BEAST! It has probably settled on the island to roost - eyes peeled tomorrow
@nibirds
Corncrakes in fine voice on Rathlin this morning, and one actually showing!!! We stood listening from the road and managed to spot his wee head poking out of the vegetation. A second male was also calling from nearby
Look who's back, adding an extra sparkle to a beautiful sunny day π Rathlin's world famous Golden Hare making a rare appearance this morning, having breakfast with friends
HOLY MOLY thereβs a RED-EYED VIREO on
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!!! Congratulations to Wilton Farrelly for finding the first for NI. What a cracker for day 2 of
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, whatever will be next?!
Look who's still here on Rathlin π₯³ BALTIMORE ORIOLE skulking deep in the briars, but kind enough to show itself for a second longer than yesterday π As Bill Oddie would say, a true CMF!!!
Rathlin's Irish Hares are also gearing up for spring now - sat quietly yesterday morning watching 5 scampering about together in the distance, and for some reason this one came bounding right up for a close look
Unending stream of thousands of auks passing Rue Point on
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this morning, taking the conditions in their stride. Also 2 Red-throated Divers & the odd Fulmar out there too
#SeabirderSaturday
Yeeeehaaaw there's a GOLDEN EAGLE on Rathlin today!!! Showed brilliantly on the cliffs at Kinramer South and Kebble, now circling up up and away
@nibirds
Could hardly believe our eyes at this scene near Magilligan Point earlier this week - one Buzzard quietly tucking into a Curlew while ignoring the unseemly Buteo bust-up a few metres away
#RaptorRapture
Accidentally flushed a Short-eared Owl off the ground today - it flew to a nearby rock and swivelled its head to glare back with its big yellow eyes. 2023 was a record year for SEOs visiting Rathlin, and this year again there have been numerous sightings already
Superb views of the Melodious Warbler today - must have got over its initial shyness and decided to perform nicely for
#RathlinBirdingWeek
! Another first record for
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, and first for NI in over 40 years
Bottlenose Dolphins put on a great show in Church Bay early this morning, especially one naughty little joker in particular (sorry
@Ncoastnature1
π)
Amazed to hear news of an ALPINE SWIFT over Rathlin's north cliffs this afternoon - a brilliant find! Hurried up there in time for fab views of it whizzing around the clifftop. After the unprecedented spate of sightings in spring, who'd have thought we'd get another so soon π€―
Touching and very unexpected moment today when first one then both Razorbills gave their Guillemot neighbour a nice preen. First time we have seen interspecific allopreening in the seabird colony on
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(or ever!)
Well look who it is again π§ - this ringed Common Gull (2BXJ) we spotted holidaying in Belfast in March has come home to Rathlin! Seen having a mooch around the exposed rock platforms in Church Bay early yesterday morning
Passing through Belfast yesterday we managed to cross paths with Common Gull 2BXJ, which was ringed on Rathlin as a chick in June 2021, and last seen in Belfast in October 2021
Saw TWO of Rathlin's world-famous Golden Hares today - this one at Kebble stopped and stared for a moment before vanishing, looking like a stuffed toy but very much real! Also a shy Ring Ouzel lurking on the cliffs, and lots of Spring Squill just starting to bloom
Another one! The second Alpine Swift on Rathlin in three days, only showing high over Kebble for seconds but a better view this time. Also a brief encounter with a rather lovely Snow Bunting
Glorious displays of Harebells across Rathlin at this time of year, gently nodding their heads in a soft summer breeze... or sometimes more vigorously thrashing about like in yesterday's blowy conditions π
#WildflowerHour
#HarebellChallenge
We had a frenzy of mud-gathering over the weekend, with the local House Martins happy to find a moist puddle in our neighbours' driveway. This went on for ages, at times ten on the ground at once collecting great gobfuls of gloop
#BreakfastBirdwatch
@RSPBNI
Jolted awake from a cheeky snooze this afternoon by
@Rebecca_Tanner_
saying 2 Orcas were off the West Light moving east, so we raced up to Ballyconagan and they were right there!!! Distant but EPIC views of these two famous travellers cruising past Rathlin
Until this year we'd barely managed even a glimpse of a Corncrake on Rathlin, despite hearing them here every spring. But this week we're getting spoiled with brilliant close views, and this beauty was brazenly belting out its song right next to the road again today. CREXTASTIC!
April got off to a great start this morning with our earliest ever Ring Ouzel - an absolutely smashing male, and not as shy as they usually are! This is our 12th record since 2017, half of which have been in April
Big pod of Common Dolphins galloping past us today - an incredible sight to see, they just kept on coming! Amazingly, Risso's Dolphins were seen from the
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ferry today too, also a rare species in these waters
Amazingly clear views from Rathlin across to Islay the other day, so clear we could make out the names on three distilleries - Port Ellen, Lagavulin and Ardbeg - more than 22 miles away
Pyramidal Bugle season is in full swing on Rathlin, and this week we've found some absolute whoppers! We don't normally see them much above 6cm in height, but the biggest spike in this exceptionally vigorous clump is a stonking 6 and a bit inches πͺπ²
#WildflowerHour
Keep seeing these 3 Irish Hares snoozing together in the middle of a field. They're at it every day and are surely the most relaxed hares on Rathlin. This was them yesterday, soaking up the morning sun
Saw the Golden Hare at the cliffs again last night, just sitting quietly in long grass but obvious enough to spot from the road. It's pretty hard to hide yourself when you're such a dazzling blue-eyed blonde bombshell
Absolute mayhem down at the Rue this morning with alarmed geese, ducks and gulls scattering in all directions - the White-tailed Eagle was on the scene again! After a few minutes of commotion, it flew south across Rathlin Sound heading towards Ballycastle
Today's arrivals are once again pleasingly punctual π€ Each year we hear about Puffins arriving on other islands a week or two ahead of ours, and foolishly we keep checking the cliffs every day - we should know by now they are remarkably consistent in when they reach Rathlin
Woweeeeee! A WHITE-TAILED EAGLE just flew over the
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West Light Seabird Centre getting chased towards Ballycastle by an angry Bonxie. What an incredible sight!
@nibirds
@RSPBNI
@gtlighthouses
Good to see Oysterplant this week, sprawling across the top of the beach in a few big patches and with lots of its pretty bell-shaped flowers on show
#WildflowerHour
Been hearing two Corncrakes in the last couple of days, and both were rasping away at the same time this morning. Sightings are rare but always a thrill - watching quietly from the road today we spied this cheeky character briefly peeping out of the vegetation
Another day of pure GOLD on
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! Irish Hares scampering about in the sunshine yesterday evening, including our favourite blonde bombshell, the legendary Golden Hare
The wind is howling, the rain is lashing, and somewhere deep in this Rathlin scrub a BALTIMORE ORIOLE is hiding!!! It showed its resplendent orange self briefly before diving back into cover... now praying it pops out again π€
Awesome to watch this Golden Eagle cruising around over
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today, the 2nd one on the island this year. Also finally got our 1st Hen Harrier of 2019
#raptorrapture
Early this morning we were quietly watching from the road, and look who stuck his head up out of the long grass! Playing Spot The Corncrake usually drives us mad, but it's such a thrill to occasionally get a glimpse like this. Sedge Warblers competing to make the most noise too
Saw today a few more fresh Grey Seal pups have arrived on the beaches since we last checked - that makes at least 91 pups born on Rathlin so far this season
A Rathlin speciality, Pyramidal Bugle, reaching its peak season now. Counted nearly 400 of these hairy little beauties in one small and incredibly dense patch this week, very popular with the Common Carder Bees
#wildflowerhour
White-tailed Eagle cruising high over the house AGAIN today, the 2nd time in a week! Given away by the accompanying chorus of squawking, cawing, quacking and honking. Interestingly this is a different 2cy bird to the one here six days ago
#WindowWildlife
Oh boy, look who's just dropped in for
#RathlinBirdingWeek
- only a WHITE-TAILED EAGLE!!! Perched up briefly at the Rue before sweeping off north round the coast. What a beast!
@nibirds
Just heard that wonderful CRKKK CRKKK sound - it's Corncrake time on Rathlin! So far we've one male doing brief bursts with looooong pauses in between. It was heard first by others yesterday and earlier today
Still a dazzling display of purple and gold across Rathlin this week - the Bell Heather probably makes the most vibrant partner for the Western Gorse, but the Ling is also looking sensational now
#WildflowerHour
Just one spike of Bogbean
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in this pond yesterday, but judging by those rosy buds it has a few more of these spectacular flowers on the way yet
#WildflowerHour