Stay Another Day

The Red Breasted Flycatcher found at Portrush last Saturday afternoon amazingly stayed until Sunday. Unfortunately my son was sick all Saturday night and combined with a poor weather forecast I decided not to make an early start on Sunday.

I kept an eye on my phone and websites for news, either positive or negative on the bird but nothing was forth coming. I assumed like many that the bird had moved on overnight.

As midday approached the weather on the North Coast improved with the sun coming out, so I decided to try a few spots for a bit of photography, with a quick check of Ramore Head, just in case. I'm glad I did, as I met a few birders who had seen the bird earlier but it had since disappeared. Very frustrating!

For a full 90 minutes I checked nearby gardens and hedges, the cliffs and building along the shore without success. Fortunately as I returned to where I had seen it the evening before there it was on rocks, doing what flycatchers do - catching flies.

The bird remained for the afternoon and with the news now getting out, a few more birders and non-birders got see this beautiful little bird. It easily picked off the flies along the shoreline and was watched catching and eating a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly.

Thankfully I managed to get some decent shots over the next couple of hours of species I never thought I would see in Antrim. Unfortunately it was not reported after Sunday afternoon, so hopefully it gets safely to somewhere it can spend the winter.

For more images of this great bird see the latest images gallery and my Flickr Photostream.