birdwatching lough foyle

Lough Foyle is one of the two great magnets in the county. It is wide and shallow, bordered by mudflat, saltwater marsh, and polder - enhanced by shell and shingle ridge and mussel bed. Whooper swan, pale-bellied brent goose, wigeon and bar-tailed godwit winter in internationally significant numbers. Nationally important concentrations of Bewick's swan, Greenland white-fronted goose, curlew and redshank also overwinter here. Average winter wildfowl count exceeds 25,000 and waders reach 15,000. Winter stubble feeds flocks of finches, larks and buntings and so attracts raptors - buzzard, kestrel, merlin, peregrine, sparrowhawk and, rarely, gyrfalcon. Gales from the north-west blow in storm petrel, arctic and great skua. Inland somerset, Springwell and Cam forests plus Ness Wood and Roe Valley Country Park hold goldfinch, siskin and blackcap plus grasshopper, sedge, willow and wood warbler, crosshill and long-eared owl. South-east: Lough Neagh/Lough Beg - Ramsar-designated, the second magnet.