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