Rustic Bunting - Bangor

On the 22nd December 2021, David Miller found a Rustic Bunting in his garden in Bangor, Co Down. This was a second for NI with one previous record from Rathlin on the 19th - 25th October 1997. 

Despite been in a private garden, David went out of his way to facilitate the many birders who visited and it was one of the most twitched birds ever in NI. The bird was believed to be a first winter and was last reported on the 31st December 2021 so unfortunately it did not make it in 2022.

Special thanks go to David for both finding the bird but also facilitating everyone.

 Rustic Bunting, Clifford Sharpe:

Rustic Bunting, Nigel Moore:

Rare Bird Records 2021

The following records for 2021 have been or are under assessment. If you have any details on these sightings (particualrly those shown as 'Not Proven'), or notice any ommissions or corrections, please let us know:

Species	Location \ County	Date	Observer(s)	Overall Verdict
Red-necked Grebe	Belfast Lough	01-Jan-21	Stuart McKee	Accepted
Sinensis Cormorant	Belfast Waterworks	16-Jan-21	Stuart McKee \ Tom Ennis	Accepted
Caspian Gull	Clea Lake, Co Armagh	21-Jan-21	Brian McCloskey	Accepted
Kumliens Gull	Clea Lake, Co Armagh	07-Feb-21	Brian McCloskey	Accepted
Ross's Gull	Killough	18-Feb-21	Chris Murphy	Accepted
American Wigeon	Glynn	07/03/2021 - 30/3/21	Cameron Moore	Accepted
Lesser Scaup	Portmore Lough	19-Mar-21	Wilton Farrelly	Accepted
Lesser Whitethroat	Garden, Coleraine	24-Mar-21	Anon	Accepted
Russian White-fronted Goose	Ecos Centre	11-Apr-21	Jeff Larkin	Accepted
Lesser Scaup	Lough Erne Resort	14-Apr-21	Brad Robson	Accepted
Little Ringed Plover	Paddys Dubh, Lough Beg	13-Apr-21	David Steele	Accepted
Lesser Scaup	Portmore Lough	11-Jun-21	Garry Armstrong	Accepted
Bonapartes Gull	Lough Beg	26-Jun-21	David Steele	Accepted
Montagu's Harrier	Antrim Hills	July 2021	Michael Latham	Accepted
Bonaparte's Gull	Kinnegar Shore, Belfast	29-Aug-21	Stuart McKee	Accepted
Dotterel	Swatragh	26-Aug-21	Clive Mellon	Accepted
Little Ringed Plover	Lady Bay, Lough Neagh \ Portmore	04-Sep-21	Garry Armstrong	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher (Ad)	Lough Beg	20-Sep-21	David Steele	Accepted
Buff-breasted Sandpiper x 2	Myroe	16-Sep-21	Stuart McKee \ Hal McCullough	Accepted
Little Ringed Plover	Myroe	17-Sep-21	Jeff Larkin	Accepted
Dotterel	Lomond Rd, Limavady	29-Sep-21	Stuart McKee \ Garry Armstrong	Accepted
Lesser Yellowlegs	Lough Beg	4th October	David Steele	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher	Portmore Lough	5th - 6th October	Martin Deehan	Accepted
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Lough Beg	9th -10th October	David Steele	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher	Bann Estuary	10th - 22nd October	John Clarke	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher (Juv)	Lough Beg	4th -29th October	David Steele	Accepted
Lesser Whitethroat	Bangor	- 31st December	Sean Wensley	Accepted
Bonaparte's Gull	Ballycarry \ Larne	24th - 25th December	Garry Armstrong \ Oscar Campbell \ Neal Warnock	Accepted
Rustic Bunting	Carnalea, Bangor	22nd - 31st December	David Miller	Accepted
Black-bellied Dipper	Downhill Forest	06-Mar-21	Theo Campbell	Not Proven
Bonapartes Gull	Ballyfrench, Co Down	30-Mar-21	Billy Miskelly	Not Proven
Red-necked Grebe	Kircubbin	03-Apr-21	Garry Armstrong	Not Proven
Blue-headed Wagtail	RSPB WoW	08-May-21	Garry Armstrong, Bob Watts, Tom Ennis	Not Proven
Hobby	Glenariff	06-Jul-21	David Steele	Not Proven
Lesser Whitethroat	Ligoneil Dams, Co Antrim	16-Jul-21	Dermot Hughes et al	Not Proven
Hobby	Carrickfergus	23-Jul-21	George Stewart	Not Proven
Great Shearwater	Rinagree Point, Portstewart		John Clarke	Not Proven
Bairds Sandpiper	Myroe	12-Sep-21	Garry Armstrong	Not Proven
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Ballykelly	10th October	Garry Armstrong	Not Proven
Tundra Bean Goose	Ballykelly	17th October	Stuart McKee \ Hal McCullough	Not Proven
Glossy Ibis	Lagan Valley Hospital	9th December	Garry Wilkinson	Not Proven
Lesser Scaup	Ardmore, Lough Neagh	12th - 15th December	Garry Armstrong  \ Bob Watts	Not Proven

Black-browed Albatross - A species new to Northern Ireland

On the 9th September 2020, Ollie Padget, whilst seawatching at Copeland Bird Observatory, picked up a Black-browed Albatross flying south at 18:25. The bird was observed for four minutes and seen by a fellow birder.

No photographs of the bird were obtained but a detailed note \ description was made that evening and subsequently submitted for assessment.

At least one Black-browed Albatross had been recorded in the summer of 2020 in Britain and it ranged widely so is possibly the same bird.

 

Bufflehead - A species new to Northern Ireland

On Saturday 5th December 2020, Tony Donaldson found a drake Bufflehead at the Quoile Pondage, Co Down. 

The identification of the bird was straightforward and was clearly a male. It was seen well throughout December but was always at a distance. It was last seen on the 9th January 2021. Whilst a drake, it should be noted that many GB records that have been accepted are also drakes.

Bufflehead breeds in Canada east to western Qubec, Alaska and south to Washington and Montana.

At the time that the bird was seen there were three accepted records for Ireland (a female, The Gearagh, Cork, 18th January to 8th March 1998, a first-year male, Lough Atedaun, Clare, 6th January to 4th March 2007 and an adult female, Ballinacarriga Lake, Cork, 26th November to 15th December 2018). Another Bufflehead (a female or immature), was also seen in Cork during the autumn \ winter of 2020\21.

Drake Bufflehead, Quoile, Tony Donaldson:

Rare Bird Records 2020

 The following records of birds seen in 2020 have been accepted:

SPECIES	LOCATION	DATE	OBSERVER(S)	Status
Water Pipit	Ballyfrench, Portavogie	From 2019	Richard Weyl	Accepted
Water Pipit	Cushendun	From 2019	Ivan Quail	Accepted
Great White Egret	Lough Beg	From 2019	David Steele et al	Accepted
Lesser Yellowlegs	Lough Beg	28th January	David Steele	Accepted
Hawfich	Dunadry	13th February	per Mark Smyth	Accepted
Pied Crow	Ballycastle	10th April	Geoff Campbell	Category D1
Hawfinch	Killyleagh	29th April	Paul Megaghey	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher	RSPB WoW	23rd May	Daniel Newton	Accepted
Common Rosefinch	Rathlin Island	26th May	Ric Else \ Hazel Watson	Accepted
Hawfinch	Ards Peninsula	30th May	Toby Edwards	Accepted
Spotted Sandpiper	Castle Espie, Co Down	7th August	Mark Wigglesworth	Accepted
Red-backed Shrike	Millisle, Co Down	3rd September	Marty McClenaghan \ Ronnie Snoddy	Accepted
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Myroe, Co Londonderry	6th September	Mervyn Guthrie	Accepted
Black-browed Albatross	Copeland, Co Down	9th September	Ollie Padget	Accepted
Lesser Yellowlegs	Bann Estuary	13th-15th September	Richard Donaghey	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher	Lough Beg	21st - 28th September	David Steele	Accepted
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Ballykelly	27th - 29th September	Garry Armstrong	Accepted
American Golden Plover	Ballykelly \ Myroe, Co Londonderry	27th - 30th September	Garry Armstrong	Accepted
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Myroe	2nd October	Garry Armstrong	Accepted
Cattle Egret	Strabane	2nd October	Brian Hegarty \ Michael Savage	Accepted
American Golden Plovers	Myroe \ Ballykelly	to 2nd November	Various	Accepted
African Sacred Ibis	Cullyhanna	-December 2020	Joe Devlin	Category E
Great White Egret	Castle Espie, Co Down	17th October to 1st November	Maurice Turley et al	Accepted
Long-billed Dowitcher	Lough Beg	26th October	David Steele	Accepted
American Golden Plover	Portstewart	27th October to 1st November	John Clarke	Accepted
Cattle Egret	Castle Espie, Co Down	27th October to 31st October	Castle Espie	Accepted
Cattle Egret	Bann Estuary \ Myroe	28th October - 7th November	Annette Elkin	Accepted
Great White Egret	Lough Neagh \ Portmore	5th November	Clive Mellon et al	Accepted
Great White Egret	Derryleckagh Bog near Newry \ Dromantine \ Pontyzpass	5th November	Andrew Crory	Accepted
Great White Egret	Boa Island \ Lower Lough Erne, Co Fermanagh	25th November	Fionnbar Cross	Accepted
Great White Egret	Ballycarry	3rd November	David Galbraith	Accepted
Black Brant	Myroe	29th November	Theo Campbell	Accepted
Bufflehead	Quoile, Co Down	5th December	Tony Donaldson	Accepted
Glossy Ibis	Whtehead, Co Antrim	8th December	Warren  McConnaughie	Accepted
Great White Egret	Lower Lough Erne	10th December	Brad Robson	Accepted
American Wigeon	Glynn, Co Antrim	15th December	Cameron Moore	Accepted

Rare Bird Records 2020

The following records for 2020 are under assessment. If you have any details on these sightings or notice any ommissions or corrections, please let us know:

SPECIES	LOCATION	DATE	OBSERVER(S)
Water Pipit	Ballyquinton Point, Co Down	1st January	Richard Weyl
Yellow-legged Gull	Carrickfergus	4th January	Garry Armstrong \ Ed O'Hara
Lesser Scaup	Portmore Lough	9th January	Joe Devlin \ Clifford Sharp
tristis Chiffchaff	Armoy	23rd January	Clive Mellon
Mealy Redpoll	Rathlin Island	29th March	Ric Else \ Hazel Watson
Grey-bellied Brent	Killough	26th April	Chris Murphy
Hobby	Lower Lough Erne	19th May	Brad Robson
Lesser Whitethroat	Killogh	21st May	Chris Murphy
Glossy Ibis	Kinnegar, Co Down	31st May	Kevin Kirkham-Brown
Spotted Sandpiper	Bartons Bay, Lough Neagh	4th July	Kevin Kirkham-Brown
Ruddy Shelduck	Dundrum Bay, Co Down	11th July	Dan Baillie
Semi-palmated Sandpiper	Myroe, Co Londonderry	23rd August	Garry Armstrong \ Ed O'Hara
Goshawk	Lisburn	15th September	Anon
American Golden Plover	Mullagh, Lough Beg	1st October	David Steele
Hawfinch	Scarva	2nd October	Stephen Drake
Temmincks Stint	Blackstaff River, Dundrum	7th-8th October	Dan Bailie
Lesser Whitethroat	Runkerry Wood	8th-11th October	Dennis Weir \ Stuart McKee
White-rumped Sandpiper	Ballykelly	18th October	Stuart McKee \ Garry Armstrong
Siberian Chiffchaff	Oxford Island	23rd October	Ed O'Hara
American Wigeon	Castle Espie, Co Down	30th October	Birdguides
Great White Egret	Lough Beg	8th November	David Steele
Red-necked Grebe	Gas Works, Strangford Lough	13th November	Dave Weir
Siberian Chiffchaff	Jordanstown	22nd November	Paul McCullough
Surf Scoter	Murlough, Newcastle	3rd December	Chris Murphy
American Wigeon	Drumgay Lough, Co Fermanagh	31st December	Brad Robson