Rathlin Stickybeak

Two nature nerds on Rathlin Island. Authors of the annual Rathlin Bird Report and avid recorders of the island's biodiversity - well over 2,400 species so far!

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

✨ Rathlin Bird Report 2025 ✨
Our 8th annual report, as usual jam-packed with everything you wanted to know about the island's birds in 2025... and no doubt lots more that you never realised you wanted to know! Read it here - https://t.co/WWBWvb29mm

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@jenny93076468 He must know he looks pretty daft doing it 😆

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@RhysJon12067059 It was a great view, just a shame I couldn't sneak up a bit closer 😆

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

Other sightings this morning included a Merlin perched on a clifftop fence post, a family of Whoopers flying through and a Whimbrel sneaking around with a flock of Curlews. Also 2 Snow Buntings and 4 Mistle Thrushes

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@woodwoollyfoot Came across these today, possibly got the scent but still not entirely convinced by it 😆 I think my favourite shroom smell has to be the lovely Cuphophyllus russocoriaceus. I've always wanted to find the Curry Milkcap to get a whiff of that one too.

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

A few Greenland White-fronted Geese were migrating over Rathlin this morning - saw two separate small flocks travelling south, 9 birds in total. Only our second sighting so far this autumn... will be interesting to see if we have a wintering flock this year

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@judy_cassells I was interested to learn about it too, found a description of how they work here - https://t.co/rBdirPoqos

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

This was an interesting find on the beach after the recent bad storm - a large black plastic jar, flattened on one side with damaged edges. Pretty sure this is an octopus trap, possibly from Spanish waters or beyond #WashedUpOnRathlin

[Miguel A. Gómez-Serrano @GomezSerrano_MA]

La plastificación de las artes tradicionales de la pesca puede palparse a través de la evolución de los restos mareales.
El tradicional #alcatruz (cadufo) de barro para capturar pulpo se ha ido sustituyendo por el de plástico. De tesoro a simple basura en la playa.

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@pam_mcinnes Surely one will pop up for you soon 😃 We don't usually find many, just occasionally get a run of them in a particular area.

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

Another cool find today - a quartet of Cordyceps militaris clubs arising from a buried caterpillar. Usually find these as singles

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@MiroslavTaus Very nice - little and large 😆

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@CliveMcKay1 😆 no, not planted by us... although that is a tempting thought! I actually have a shieldbug covered in a related species in the asexual stage (Beauvaria bassiana) - I'm keeping it in a jar to see if it ever sprouts any fruiting bodies 🤣

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@elgeeko1506 😲 wow, what a moment! Don't you just love this time of year for dramatic skies like that

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@nickrich101 Same, except I recently saw a couple of doubles (not on Rathlin so it doesn't count 😆). I don't think it's too unusual to get multiples... maybe particularly good fruiting conditions, or a really juicy caterpillar???

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@woodwoollyfoot Will keep trying 😄 Interesting that you say it's fleeting as I had that feeling getting the bitterness of Hygrocybe mucronella - it was gone so quickly I thought I could have imagined it.

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

Often a quick #2minutebeachclean leads to interesting finds. This plastic bottle had 2 species of goose barnacle attached - Lepas pectinata, one of the more common species we see on items washed ashore, and Buoy Barnacle Dosima fascicularis, a much rarer find #WashedUpOnRathlin

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

A Red Knot was a nice surprise in Mill Bay this morning, joining the crowds feeding in the seaweed piled up on the beach. Also a more nervous Lapwing took off from the shore, and around the west end of the island we had flight views of Snow Bunting, Brambling and Crossbill

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@PatHogarth Gorgeous photos!!! The back on that Kingfisher is absolutely splendid. How late would you expect to keep seeing Common Darters? Not seen any here for a good while now.

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@NorthCaveWet Yes, it's a wonder the Coot tolerates that freeloading

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

@jenny93076468 Gosh those crisp packets are a ripe old age 😲 Well done collecting all that lot!