Ireland, March 2015

In early 2015 work had been a bit hectic (never a bad thing when self-employed) but I'd been wanting a break for a while and finally managed to squeeze in a long weekend in Ireland in late March. I grew up in Northern Ireland and cut my birding teeth there and on summer holidays in Donegal many moons ago, but in recent years I’ve only twitched Ireland, so it was good to spend a few days there, with a few target rarities, but also some general birding and visiting lesser-known sites thrown in. (Or 'sad Irish county listing', as it's also known.) 

Thursday 19 March started with a couple of dips – no sign of the Surf Scoter off Rosslare Old Harbour, within sight of the ferry terminal, and ditto with the Ring-necked Duck at Knockaderry Reservoir in Waterford – the latter was a pain as I found out later that it was there, but on a small roadside lough just a little further on round from the causeway, further than I went to look. Better luck was had with the Bonaparte’s Gull at Tramore boating lake – excellent views. Ballynacourty near Dungarvan provided a good selection of common waders and wildfowl, then I finished the day at Ballycotton harbour in Cork. Brilliant views of the very long-staying Laughing Gull flying overhead calling – bird of the trip, no doubt. After fish and chips in the famous but cramped (when it’s busy, as it was) Skinny’s Diner, I drove on into the dark to my hotel in Killarney, which I found eventually. A tiring and not entirely successful day, despite the glorious weather, but the rare gulls were the gems that made it worthwhile.

Friday 20th was the day of a partial solar eclipse, so naturally the weather in Kerry was dull and overcast, with intermittent fog and drizzle. Ross Castle at Lough Leane was picturesque even in those conditions, and about 9 am it started going very gloomy as the eclipse happened above me, entirely unseen. Another Ring-necked Duck also went unseen, but there was a good selection of commoner birds anyway.

Visibility was still iffy late am at Rossbeigh, but it eventually lifted enough to reveal several rafts of scoter and even, briefly, the Black Scoter in a group that also contained 2 drake Eiders. Then it dived, the weather closed in, and that was that. Much better views were had of a Dipper on the river at Glenbeigh, but more fog at Castlegregory meant that Lough Gill was barely visible at times. The American Coot hadn't been reported for c.10 days anyway, so had presumably gone, but there was always a chance it had just not been looked for. Not a hope in those conditions either way.

By contrast, late afternoon at Westfields marsh in Limerick City provided glorious sunshine, and even a lone Sand Martin, and there was a good selection of birds to watch at dusk at Ballyallia Lake near Ennis in Clare too. On then to my hotel in Galway City, and a few pints in Tonery’s Bar, listening to a local singer doing good acoustic cover versions, was a great way to finish the day.

Saturday 21st dawned clear and calm, and I started with an enjoyable couple of hours around Mutton Island causeway and Nimmo’s Pier. The long-staying but wide-ranging Forster’s Tern had been seen again there in recent days, but no sign this morning. I did log a near-adult Ring-billed Gull, 3 Iceland Gulls (an adult and 2 juveniles), 2 Sandwich Terns, and at least 15 Great Northern Divers dotted around the bay, though, plus a good selection of wildfowl and waders, so it wasn't exactly wasted time!

Next up was the other side of Galway Bay around Ballyvaghan. On the edge of the Burren, and in glorious sunshine, the scenery was spectacular, and the birding wasn't half bad either. Highlights in millpond conditions off the small stone pier at Gleninagh included a fine adult drake Surf Scoter, another 25+ Great Northern Divers, and at least 35 Black-throated Divers, including 28 in one flock!

In the afternoon I headed inland to the Shannon Callows, an area I’d never spent any time in before. A flight of 100+ Greenland White-fronted Geese greeted me at Ashton’s Callow in Tipperary. Getting to what’s left of the hide was a bit of an obstacle course, but worth it, with a wide selection of wildfowl and hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits. Next stop was just over the border in Offaly, but Turraun was disappointing, and I made a right balls-up of finding the right way to access Lough Boora Parklands, so it was late in the day when I got there (and it was very busy with families enjoying the spring-like weather). I saw some common birds there, and plenty of Irish Hares, but failed on Grey Partridge at their last Irish stronghold. The night was spent in a pretty soulless motorway hotel just outside Portlaoise with a few cans in front of the football on the telly – the melodrama going on outside in the corridor sounded far more interesting!

Sunday was a day of visiting more inland sites well off the usual birding map for British visitors (and most Irish birders too, I suspect). It included enjoyable if unspectacular woodland birding at Grantstown Lake in Laois and Oak Park in Carlow, Pollardstown Fen in Kildare (which apparently houses a rare snail and an endemic species of fly(!) – an interesting site but not very birdy), and a visit to Poulaphouca Reservoir in the shadow of the Wicklow Mountains, which looked stunning and are already pencilled in for a visit another time. I just had time to pop back to Knockaderry Reservoir and see the Ring-necked Duck (aided by looking in the right place this time), but ran out of light without having a chance to drop in to see a long-staying Red-necked Grebe (which would have been an Irish tick) at my favourite Irish site, Tacumshin, on the way back to the ferry.

I missed a few target birds over the four days, but saw quite a few of the others, and they were only ever a smallish part of the aims for this trip, so I arrived home at 4am on Monday tired, but satisfied and relaxed.