I struck it lucky today at Lurgangreen, Dundalk Bay. After a winter of not being able to locate ANY of the big flocks there, came upon a really big flock out on the mudflats. Unfortunately most were resting, lying down, presumably in preparation for their long journey north, but the rings read, before they flew back out on to the saltmarsh, show that these were mostly birds moving up from the Greater Dublin area.
This also reflects recent records from elsewhere, such as sightings from Belfast Lough and Killough, Co. Down, Myroe, Lough Foyle, and Carlingford Lough, Co. Louth. Other major sites like Strangford Lough and Dundrum Harbour, Co. Down, on the other hand, seem to get by-passed in the rush towards Iceland and beyond, given that they require an inward diversion from the direct route up the nearest headlands of the east coast.
