Last Saturday it was Heritage Weekend and I left Bangor and headed down the Ard's Peninsula to visit Mount Stewart House and Gardens.( post on these in the near future). Along the shore I was very excited to see the Pale-bellied Brent Geese had arrived back to us for the winter. Thousands have arrived although they are not all here as yet. Soon we will have 30,000 geese. Unfortunately the tide was in and the Brent and other birds were a great distance away so the photos are not great. Over the winter I will tell you more about the Brent.
Pale -belled Brent
Hundreds of Redshank, unfortunately the light was in the wrong quarter.
This view shows you the other side of the coast where you have Scrabo Tower on the hill and you can just see the Brent along a line on the water. That was my problem for photographs!!
There was a solitary Red - breasted Merganser diving and that also made it difficult to catch it on the surface to photograph!
These were Redshanks in the distance.
The Redshanks were certainly well packed together. There were some Ringed Plover flew in however I could not get a photograph of them.
I hoped you enjoyed this post and be prepared to see a lot more Brent over the winter period, hopefully a bit closer!
Thank you for visiting.
Now that's a LOT of birds!!
ReplyDeleteHI Kerri Yes it is and I am glad I am not responsible for counting them!! Thanks for visitng and comment.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see that the Brent Geese are back while the RB Merganser was an unexpected bonus :-)
ReplyDeleteHI David Yes it s very special the first time I see them. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThat's an impressive amount of birds Margaret,it's a shame they were so distant for you. And all those Redshank, I've never seen that many in one place before!
ReplyDeleteIt must be a wonderful sight to see, when all those birds take to the air?...[;o)
HI Trevor Yes it s very special the first time I see them even at a distance. I did think of not making this post becasue of the photos were not great. Thanks for your comment. I hope to see them in the air adn it would be wonderful to have that on video. There's hoping.
Deletelove all the redshank! how cool!
ReplyDeleteHI Tex Glad you liked all the Redshankks although it was a pity they were at a distance. opfully over the winter I will be able to get them closer. thanks for comment.
DeleteWow! Fantastic to see so many gathered together :-)
ReplyDeleteHI CT Yes it is marvellous to see so many together. Thanks for comment.
ReplyDeleteI've visited a lot of estuaries (is that spelt right?) in my time but never seen so many Redshanks as in your images...that for me would be a birding nirvana, do they all remain during the winter or do some move further south? Can't wait for further posts about the Brents too.
ReplyDeleteHI Douglas The Redshank move around a bit but there are usually some along that coast adn the Brent also move but not until a bit later. Depends on the food supply. You will be sick of seeing Brent by the end of the winter!!! Many thanks for comment.
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, what a crowd!! really great pictures of these unusual (for me) shore birds!!
ReplyDeleteHI Debbie I am glad you saw the Reshanks adnin great nmbers but I hope next time they may be a bit closer. Thanksf for comment.
DeleteAll those geese flying through the air and heading our way Margaret. What an exciting time it is now for us wildfowl lovers. You sure have lots of Redshanks to. Have a great birdy weekend.
ReplyDeleteHI Phil Yes it is very exciting. Even I was amazed at the number of Redshanks. Thanks for your comments.
DeleteI love the Brent Geese, they are so full of colours.
ReplyDeleteHI Bob I am glad you like Brent Geese as you probably will see quite a number of them on my blog over the winter period. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThey certainly have, look at them all, a lovely sight!
ReplyDeleteYou really do have some fantastic birds! And you do lots of great birding! I wish I could bird all the time.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Brent Geese!! I do love your photos of the sweet little merganser!! You are very blessed to live among such gorgeous scenery that has such a plentiful supply of so many different birds!
ReplyDeleteWow- that's a huge lot of birds! How exciting!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Margaret! Such huge congregations.
ReplyDeleteWinter is coming fast but it's good to see the winter visitors setting up home.
ReplyDeleteWow. Thirty thousand geese seems an almost unbelievable number of birds to me. It would be an incredible sight - and sound. I am looking forward to more photos of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat collection of birds - it is frustrating when the sun is in the wrong place, so inconsiderate of it!!
ReplyDeleteAlso glad you could tell I had not been drinking with my evening pictures - although it begs the questions as to which I my pictures you think I did take under the influence!!
Stewart M - Melbourne
;)
Stop apologising for your photographs! They are always very interesting and beautiful! :)
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the distant one of the Geese. Obviously a lot of birds if they stand out in a landscape shot!
The Brent Geese do seem to like that spot A LOT! ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of geese! Loved the merganser.
ReplyDelete