Karl Martin bird blog: Lough Beg, Portmore and WOW

Various interesting and rare birds have been sighted at Lough Beg in recent weeks, such as American Wigeon and Osprey, so a visit was due. Unfortunately, I did not realise how far away from the action I would be. My camera can only reach so far, and without a scope or any decent binoculars I was unable to identify anything in the Lough around Church Island apart from a few Whooper Swans and a Little Egret or two. In the forested area there was a Blackcap and while walking along the boardwalk I spotted a Snipe, Meadow Pipits and a very noisy Sedge Warbler. Unsatisfied, I decided to visit a few more spots before the day was done. First up was the Toome canal walk. This brought several Grey Heron, as well as some distant Great-Crested Grebe. On the way back to the car, a Sedge Warbler was being very showy, allowing me to photograph it from about 10 feet away - I think the results top the photos from last post. Notably, there was also a Kingfisher calling from the river bank. Although seemingly close, I just couldn’t spot it. Near the car park, there were many Sand Martins which seemed to be nesting in the cracks of a rocky wall. They were again joined by House Martins, Swallows and Swifts. Next, I made the trip to Portmore Lough. The Marsh Harrier didn’t show for me from the viewing platform this time, although there was a pair of Barnacle Geese among the usual Greylags. Once again, the hide presented the opportunity for Tern flight shots, and I was somewhat successful. There were lots of Common Terns and possibly an Arctic Tern but I can’t be sure. A Little Tern was spotted there a few days ago, but it was nowhere to be seen. On the way home I stopped off at Belfast WoW as two Arctic Terns, a Garganey, Little Gull and Ruff had all been spotted during the day. From the hides I couldn’t spot any Ruff or Garganey, and there was no sign of the Little Gull, at least not within the reach of my camera. However, one out of four isn’t bad, as there were several Arctic Terns visible quite close to ‘Hide 2’ which I was able to confirm through photographs and their calls. There were also a few Mediterranean Gulls on the rafts. Overall, I ended the day feeling quite satisfied with the birds I had seen and the photographs I had taken, the best of which you can see below! I can only hope everyone likes Terns and Sedge Warblers, as they have been a recurring subject of late.