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We were delighted to welcome DAERA Minister Andrew Muir MLA to Copeland Bird Observatory on Wednesday. 🌞🐦![]()
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We talked about the history of the Observatory and shared information about our long term research projects, such as the ringing and tracking of our Manx Shearwaters and our gull colour ringing projects. ![]()
We took the opportunity to thank the Minister for the continued generous support received from the Department over the years.![]()
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Thank you to all our supporters who have helped us reach the 70 year mark and will keep us going for many more to come!![]()
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If you are interested in spending a weekend at the observatory or would like more information, check out the website - www.thecbo.org.uk/
We were delighted to welcome DAERA Minister Andrew Muir MLA to Copeland Bird Observatory yesterday. 🌞🐦![]()
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We talked about the history of the observatory and shared information about our long term research projects, such as the ringing and tracking of our Manx Shearwaters, our Eider ringing project on Mew Island and our gull colour ringing projects. ![]()
Thank you to all our supporters who have helped us with these projects and many more over the years!![]()
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If you are interested in spending a weekend at the observatory, you can email our booking secretary at davidgalbraith903@btinternet.com 🌅 (spaces are going fast!)
Last weekend, a team of ringers and volunteers set out to Mew Island and Old Lighthouse Island (where the Observatory is located) to colour ring gull chicks. 🐤![]()
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Colour ringing allows us to track the movements of our birds and monitor their behaviour. ![]()
You can see where sightings of our herring gulls and lesser black back gulls have been reported on our website here: www.thecbo.org.uk/colour-ringing-our-gulls/![]()
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You can also report your own sightings directly by emailing us at CopelandBirds@outlook.com![]()
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Keep an eye out for our colour rings, which are orange with 3 numbers followed by a ‘:C’ (e.g., 028:C).![]()
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Many thanks to everyone who helped out!
Yes, we’re celebrating 70 incredible years of CBO activity at the Malone Hotel on 27th April, but we’re not just looking back respectfully. Do try and join us and find out about the work of CBO as we enter our 71st season. Enjoy a three-course meal and a keynote address by Dr Ollie Padget as he describes the importance of CBO in high-end Manx shearwater tracking studies. There will be prizes galore – Copeland Gin! Paintings, optics, overnight stays, Bird books…![]()
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In addition to having the opportunity to review some of the observatory’s ornithological highlights - Fox sparrow, Subalpine warblers, Radde's warbler, Barred warblers, Woodpeckers, Hoopoes, Wrynecks, Shrikes, Flycatchers, Starts, Chats, Rosefinches, Nightjar, White's thrush (to mention a few) - and pay respect to the pioneering men and women who had the foresight and the courage to establish the Observatory in the first place, we will be looking ahead to what we expect will be an action packed 2024 season. This will include a major drive on our large-gull colour ringing project (Herring & Lesser black-backed) and we are extending our annual gull-nest census to Mew Island. Our 2024 plans also include deploying tern-shelters and a new sound system on Lighthouse Island as we try to entice Arctic terns to breed, and placing additional motion cameras on the Puffin slope to monitor evidence of their breeding. We will be continuing our long-term ringing programmes of Manx shearwater, Black guillemot, Storm petrel, Eider, and Passerines/near-Passerines (last year this brought a new species – a Nightjar), and we will be making an extra push on habitat management by introducing a new mechanical Allen scythe to control the bracken. All this, and training new ringers and welcoming work and survey visits by scout and student groups. ![]()
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2024 will be action packed, but we need your support!![]()
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So, whether you're a seasoned islander or just starting out, you will be more than welcome to join us to support Northern Ireland's only bird observatory as it celebrates this milestone anniversary.![]()
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Saturday 27th April![]()
Commencing with Reception at 18:00![]()
The Malone Hotel,![]()
60 Eglantine Avenue,![]()
Malone Road![]()
Belfast![]()
BT9 6DY ![]()
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Dress code: Smart![]()
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To get your tickets go to![]()
www.eventbrite.com/e/copeland-bird-observatory-70th-anniversary-dinner-tickets-785749697497?aff=o...
They that go down to sea in ships…![]()
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Since the founding of CBO in 1954 we’ve been very fortunate in being able to draw on a skilful and experienced group of local boatmen to deliver us safely to Lighthouse Island and then drop us back to the landing steps at Donaghadee pier. ![]()
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It can be said of a good boat skipper that ‘they don’t need to know where the rocks are, but where the rocks aren’t’, and this certainly held true in the early days of the observatory as the craft was carefully and skilfully positioned alongside a rudimentary landing area and everyone jumped off! With time, and through several iterations, we’ve developed two landing stages – East and South (Gavney) – and can now land bruise free and (relatively) dry at either High or Low tide. ![]()
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‘North Landing’ is marked on our maps as an important Manx shearwater sub-colony, but the name reflects its history as one of the early drop-off stages. Today, NL is visited mainly in the hours of darkness by shearwater ringers, but anyone who makes the trek down to the adjoining promontory should pause to reflect, with a certain awe, on those early days when a boat made the tentative run into the narrow channel flanked by high sided rocks and the Copeland pioneers made the leap and scrambled up the ravine. ![]()
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Commencing with Andy White in 1954, CBO has used many Donaghadee (and Bangor) boatmen. We hope we haven’t missed anyone from: Andy White, John Trimble, William Lennon, Quinton Nelson, Trevor Barrons (Groomsport), William Angus, Brian Meharg (Bangor), Philip McNamara.