Good morning birders, twitchers, O’rnithologists, and anyone scouting a vacation or expatriation location. Two weeks ago I shared the highlights of an aviagasmic excursion to the Skellig Islands off Ireland’s southwest coast. Today’s entry features some of Ireland’s most common birds (because, frankly, that’s all I saw. Birding wasn’t a priority, except on Skellig). Treat it as an open thread, and don’t be shy about sharing your bird sightings, sitings, citings, triumphs, and conquests from the past week.
Mrs. Cardinal and I spent the first two weeks of June driving all the way around the Irish coast (including the North). As one of only 71 Americans who claim no trace of Irish heritage, I was happy to let my Celtophile wife take the lead in the itinerary while I pointed the camera at anything green or chirpy.
Ireland isn’t known for its avian diversity. There are no endemic species on the island (though there are some unique subspecies), and many of the birds found in England and Scotland never made it over the Irish Sea.
My favorite European songbird has always been the blue tit. I mean, what could be cuter than a blue and yellow chickadee? Unfortunately, they mostly eluded my lens on this trip. I did get a good shot of a fledgling, though:
Here’s a fledgling with a parent, in a slightly blurry and obstructed shot:
I had better luck with the other chickadee wannabes, including the black-capped/Carolina doppelgänger known as the coal tit:
And the great tit:
Overall, the songbird I most enjoyed watching was the abundant Pied Wagtail:
True to their name, they constantly (and adorably) wag their tails as they hunt for insects. They were a reliable companion for us from coast to coast, and one even jumped in front of our car to say goodbye on the way to the airport. Another ever-present bird was the chaffinch. Their widely varied song rang out from treetops everywhere:
SCENERY INTERLUDE
All of the greenery was terrible for my allergies, so I took full advantage of Ireland’s improbable product gendering:
The apartment we rented in a warehouse district of Dublin’s gritty north side provided some surprisingly good birding. The view from our balcony included a seagull nest on a neighbor’s chimney:
We were awakened every morning at 5:00 by this wren singing 10 feet from our window. They are as loud as Carolina wrens, but their song is varied like Bewick’s wrens:
Robins lived in the complex as well:
And magpies:
The River Corrib in Galway was home to many seabirds including swans:
Black-headed gulls:
And, uh, maybe a female something or other. Help?
Meanwhile, a large group of jackdaws has taken up residence in the 1000-year-old Rock of Cashel structures (County Tipperary):
Other birds we saw included hooded crows:
Bullfinches:
Song thrushes:
And common wood pigeons:
To end on a less pigeony note, here are some more landscapes:
Thanks for reading!