Birds in the Garden

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Coal Tit (Parus ater)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Birds of Sligo Town

Black Headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Black Headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Feral Pigeon (Columba livia)

The Skellig Islands

Gannets over Little Skellig

I added another one of Ireland’s islands to my list this week. The Skellig Islands are two precipitous sea stacks composed of old red sandstone, lying 14km off the Kerry coast. They stand out on the horizon like two massive pyramids rising out of the Atlantic ocean. These remote islands are not only physically steep, with Great Skellig rising to 218m and the Little Skellig reaching 134m, they are also steeped in mystery.

Little Skellig with Great Skellig in the distance

On the Great Skellig are the remains of a 6th Century monastic settlement. Of course 6th Century monastic remains are as common as I don’t know what around these parts, but this one is different. I think the pictures describe the scene better than words but really you have to see it to believe it. Why monks would want to live on top of such a tortuously steep remote island is mystifying. I suppose it shows the extreme devotion these men had for their beliefs.

Monastic Settlement

I had hoped to get some pictures of the puffins (1,000 breeding pairs) but as luck would have it they were either out at sea or in their burrows hatching. Hundreds of burrows but only an odd glimpse of a puffin. The puffins return in the evening but the boat trips only give you three hours on the island from 11am to 2pm. In a few weeks time, when the young are bigger, the parents return more frequently, so I might make a return visit in June. The island is also home to over 2,000 pairs of manx shearwater and possibly 10,000 storm petrels. These birds are rarely seen on the island during daylight hours. The remains of quite a few storm petrels were scattered about the enclosures. Interestingly, the petrels nest in the monastic walls and beehive huts. Kittiwake, common guillemot, razorbill and fulmar also nest in significant numbers. However, due to the awkward terrain, getting close enough to get good pictures is near impossible. Islands such as the Great Saltee are much more hospitable for the photographer. Thrift, sea campion and sea spurrey were in full bloom. I also saw quite a few rabbits – I assume the monks brought them with them for food and they have managed to survive ever since.

Thrift

Little Skellig is no less impressive – it is a massive gannet city, with an estimated 26,000 breeding pairs. You have to see (and hear) it to believe it, thousands of these huge, elegant birds wheeling around the sky. Landing on the island is almost impossible, only in flat calm conditions. The whole vista is just awesome, like something out of a David Attenborough documentary. The mystery of nature!


Thrift

Sea Campion

Little Skellig in the distance

Little Skellig

Little Skellig





Cut Stone Stairway

Beehive Huts

The hills are alive with the sound of (bird) music

Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)

Well the birds (feathered variety) are definitely enjoying this endless sunshine and they are bursting into song all around. Their plumage is particularly vibrant and eye catching at this time of year. The visitors are arriving en masse (no worries about volcanic ash) and setting up their territories and preparing nests. My swallows arrived 2 days ago - I thought they were lost. The local birds are well ahead of the visitors, with some of them with their first broods already out and about.

Female House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Female House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Garden Birds

Male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

After a long, cold winter, spring is well underway now in this part of the world. Over the past few days we have had glorious sunshine and you soon forget those tough wintry days. My garden is a busy place at the moment with lots of birds carrying out their courtship rituals and collecting nest material. The bird feeders are attracting many different species and there is constant activity. I haven’t seen any wrens yet though. I thought my cat Lucky was retired but during one frosty night in January she managed to massacre 6 poor little wrens. The wrens had been nesting together, to keep warm, in a house martin nest at the apex of my house. They would gather in the evening and chirp and flit around the ground as they organised themselves for their nights sleep. And then the cat pounced!


Male Siskin (Carduelis spinus) and Male Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



Male Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)



Great Tit (Parus major)



Female Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)



Female Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)



Female Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



Female Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)



Coal Tit (Parus ater)



Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)

Inishmurray Island

Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Inishmurray is a mystical island 4 miles off the Sligo coast in Donegal Bay. A well preserved 6th century monastic settlement dominates the centre of the island. The last inhabitants deserted the island for the comforts of the mainland in 1957. Inishmurray is a low lying island composed of Carboniferous shale/sandstone rocks, 1 mile long and 0.5 mile wide at its broadest point, comprising of 233 acres. There are no trees and few shrubs on the island. Due to the fact that there are no people, foxes or rats living on the island, ground nesting birds breed successfully with minimal predation. The island is an important wintering ground for barnacle geese (100-500 individuals). During the summer the breeding population comprises of varying numbers of Arctic and common tern, shag (100+ pairs), herring gull (100+ pairs), great black backed gull (100+ pairs), and eider (100+ individuals), black guillemot (10+ individuals), storm petrels (100+ pairs), lesser black-backed gull (35+ pairs) and fulmar (80+ pairs).


Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)


Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)


Fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis)


Fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis)


Fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis)


Fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis)


Eider (Somateria mollissima)


Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle)

Birds of Great Saltee Island

Spending a day on a remote, uninhabited, marine island is always an exhilarating experience. Some islands provide a peaceful and tranquil respite from the hustle and bustle of daily human activity – just lie back and take in the sound of the waves lapping on the shore. Islands with seabird colonies, however, are far from peaceful. But these bird cities are exciting and enthralling – the incessant screeching and cawing, the wheeling, ducking and diving. The birds take little notice of you as you wander about among them. Visions of Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands spring to mind. For wildlife enthusiasts these islands are magical, heavenly places. Great Saltee Island is one such place, lying just over 3 miles off the coast of Wexford in the South East of Ireland. Uninhabited since 1905 the island is 219 acres in size and is the summer home for at least 40,000 seabirds. The island holds internationally important numbers of many species, as described in Seabird Populations of Britain and Ireland: Results of the Seabird 2000 Census (1998 – 2002). Of particular note are the following (breeding adults): 3,800 gannet (Morus bassanus), 300 Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), 4,200 kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), 21,400 common guillemot (Uria aalge), 3,200 razorbill (Alca torda) and 3,000 puffins (Fratercula arctica). Below are a few pictures from a trip to the island last summer:


Puffin (Fratercula arctica)


Razorbill (Alca torda)


Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)


Guillemot (Uria aalge)


Gannet (Morus bassanus)