North Down Bird Watching Club

06/09/2026

Diary Note: NDBWC AGM Sun 18 Oct 2026, CCP.

More to follow.

©️NDBWC

26/08/2026

Birds on the new EU banknotes?

Birders (and others), especially those of you who travel over the border, you can have your say.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has invited Europeans to take part in choosing the euro's new look.

The bird series includes:

the wallcreeper paired with the European Parliament,

the kingfisher with the European Commission,

the European bee-eater alongside the European Central Bank,

the white stork with the Court of Justice of the European Union,

the avocet with the European Council and the Council of the European Union and, finally,

the northern gannet with the European Court of Auditors.

There are 5 different bird series proposals; I think design J is quite striking, and 5 opera series, none of which would get my vote.

Click on the link in the article to vote.
I found it a bit confusing at first.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank of the European Union countries which have adopted the euro. Our main task is to maintain price stability in the euro area and so preserve the purchasing power of the single currency.

12/08/2026

Focus on Black-headed Gull
(Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

09/08/2026

There is ‘No Such Thing As A Seagull!!’

Enjoy the RSPB Guide to our commoner gulls.

Most of our gulls are Listed as of Conservation Concern.

A common sight on our coastlines and a summertime soundtrack, here’s a guide to the six most common UK gull species.

07/08/2026

Focus on Gulls - Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

UK Birds of Conservation Concern RED listed

fans

05/08/2026

Focus on herring gull (Larus argentatus argenteus)

RED Listed oof Conservation Concern.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cq6Pgbpa4/?mibextid=wwXIfr

30/07/2026

The Eagle (1851)

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Scottish White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) ©️Island Images

Ireland’s white-tailed eagle population is growing and stabilizing, with around 150 birds now established in the wild following a successful reintroduction program.

A pair of white-tailed eagles successfully bred in County Fermanagh in late 2024, marking the species' first nesting in Northern Ireland in over 150 years.

11/07/2026

NDBWC Field Trip Sunday, July 5th, 2026
Oxford Island National Nature.

Hi all, just home after another great club field trip to Oxford Island; always great spot! 15 members met up in main car pk, at visitors centre, so to get everyone together, we went around the vistors centre, one of the best sights for nesting house martins and swallows, as usual lots of house martins flying in and out feeding young, along with swallows. With the lovely weather plenty of butterflies, and flies, just a couple of young coots in the pond beside the centre. Lots of singing birds; song and mistle thrush, blackbird, blackcap, to name a few. We walked around to the Kinnego hide, good spot for plenty of camera work, the ringed necked duck was seen then moved farther back. Tufted, gadwall, pochard, mallard, great-crested grebes, etc., so then we walked back for lunch in cafe. I had some bad news when I had gone in on arrival, Pauline, the very well known manager of the cafe, has had a heart attack. She is recovering after triple bypass. I asked the staff member that I know to let Pauline know we are all thinking of her. Full species list to follow, thanks for coming. Dot

Birds 40 Species
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Coot (Fulica atra)
Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
House Martin (Delichon urbicum)
Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
Magpie (Pica pica)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Pochard (Aythya ferina)
Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Swift (Apus apus)
Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Odonata 1 Species
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Butterflies 4 Species
Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Plus a ladybird and red-soldier beetle

Photo (c) Brian - Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

06/07/2026

As I keep saying, easy way round this, take a bit of old car pk back, and keep the Marine green space as it is. Simple, cheaper. Common sense.

Save the remaining portion of the Queens Parade Development on the western side!

03/07/2026

World Seabird Day!