Portstewart Strand

To be updated at end of 2017

Portstewart Strand is a ancient dune system wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the estuary of the Lower Bann; Northern Irelands longest river, which drains Lough Neagh.  It covers an area of over 300 acres and is designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI).  The system is managed by the National Trust & Portstewart Golf Club.     

Portstewart Strand and the Bann Estuary



The site offers a nice range of habitats, but the areas that we are most interested in are the two main large blocks of scrub.  The bulk of the scrub consists of non native Sea Buckthorn, with a scattering of Hawthorn, Elder, Alder and Sycamore.  In autumn the scrub is full of berries with Sea Buckthorn, Elder, Hawthorn, Bramble, Rose hip and Creeping Nightshade on offer, with Ivy ripening later in the year.  On the map below you can see the two net rides through the patches of scrub, the gorse rides and the Alder ride (good for finches when the cones are available).  The shore ride is on open saltmarsh and with the use of single/double nets, we target the likes of Linnet, Meadow Pipit and Skylark. 

Location of the net rides

The main lure of the site is its potential of being a good migration spot for birds, navigating along the coast and up/down the river.  The scrub is an ideal stop over/refuelling station in autumn, with the dense supply of berries which are ideal for building fat; they are energy-rich and easily digested.  Most berries have low levels of protein, with the exception of Elder.  The preference of Elder is obvious in the autumn by the rate the berries disappear and also the purple stains on our hands and bird bags! 
The area has accumulated a few nice rare/scarce passerine/near passerine species records for Northern Ireland including Barred Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Tree Pipit, Ring Ouzel, Redstart, Wryneck, Richard's Pipit, Shore Lark, Rose-coloured Starling, Hoopoe and a presumed Swainson's Thrush.
We operate at the site from March - November covering both migration periods and the breeding season.  From the first year ringing in the breeding season, we have identified dense breeding  populations of Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Blackcap, Song Thrush, Bullfinch, Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll with a few Sedge Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler in marginal areas.     

We started to ring at the site in late August 2014 after gaining permission from the National Trust and Portstewart Golf Club and also permissions from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to carry out regulated ringing activities in the ASSI/SAC.  As it was still during the breeding season we were unable to cut any net rides, so we utilised a public pathway for the first while.  Over the next few months we gradually increased the net rides and then this winter, armed with a chainsaw, completed the work, giving us 'West Ride' - 84 metres long and 'East Ride' - 66 metres long. 

In the first autumn of ringing went pretty well with the star bird being a Lesser Whitethroat of an eastern race.  It was deemed to be either blythi from Siberia or halimodendri from Central Asia but without DNA analysis the identity cannot be confirmed.  It is possibly the 7th Lesser Whitethroat to be ringed in Northern Ireland.  This was followed up by a Yellow-browed Warbler in October 2015, again potentially the 7th ringed in Northern Ireland, following 6 from Copeland Bird Observatory.
Controls have been slim on the ground but do include a Belgian Sedge Warbler, Chaffinch from Scotland and local movements of Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Blue Tit and Chaffinch.



        Lesser Whitethroat (eastern race)         © RD



2015 Ringing Totals - Updated 25/10/2015

Species   New Retrap Control Total 1 Blackbird 40 14 54 2 Blackcap 33 2 35 3 Blue Tit 12 5 17 4 Bullfinch 33 26 59 5 Chaffinch  19 4 23 6 Chiffchaff 3 3 7 Dunnock    40 49 89 8 Coal Tit 5 10 15 9 Goldcrest  13 11 24 10 Goldfinch 82 10 92 11 Grasshopper Warbler 1 1 12 Great Tit 10 6 16 13 Lesser Redpoll 59 1 60 14 Linnet 43 2 45 15 Meadow Pipit 127 4 131 16 Redwing 15 15 17 Reed Bunting 18 2 20 18 Robin 37 19 56 19 Sand Martin 3 3 20 Sedge Warbler 3 2 1 6 21 Skylark 5 5 22 Song Thrush 31 5 36 23 Sparrowhawk 2 2 24 Starling 1 1 25 Stonechat 9 3 12 26 Willow Warbler 59 12 71 27 Woodpigeon 1 1 28 Wren 30 34 64 29 Yellow-browed Warbler 1 1 Total 735 221 1 957

 2014 Ringing Totals

	Species	New	Retrap		Total
1	Blackbird	18	3		21
2	Blackcap	8			8
3	Blue Tit	11	7		18
4	Bullfinch	16	2		18
5	Chaffinch	21	2		23
6	Dunnock	15	4		19
7	Goldcrest	17	7		24
8	Goldfinch	30			30
9	Great Tit	5			5
10	Greenfinch	1			1
11	Lesser Redpoll	2			2
12	Lesser Whitethroat	1			1
13	Linnet	33			33
14	Meadow Pipit	17			17
15	Redwing	1			1
16	Reed Bunting	2			2
17	Robin	18	2		20
18	Skylark	3			3
19	Song Thrush	8	1		9
20	Willow Warbler	1			1
21	Wren	19	3		22
	Total	247	31		278