Birds for all Season
Kerry has the widest range of bird habitats in Ireland. Its position in the southwest corner of the country makes it also landfall for feathered migrants from the Americas, says naturalist Terry Carruthers.
If your visit is in spring, head for Killarney's mixed woodlands, lakeshores, and rivers. Here you will find the local races of jay, dipper, and coal tit. There are woodcock roosting at dusk and siskins galore in the pines. All the headlands are worth searching for tired migrants.
In summer, head for the offshore islands. Kerry is the world headquarters for breeding storm petrels and has big colonies of gannets, shearwaters, puffins, and most other species of seabird. Visitors to the Great Skellig island pass by the Little Skellig, which in summer is home to 46,000 gannets. The mountains are also worth visiting at this time of year. Keep your eyes peeled for ring ouzels, choughs, ravens, peregrines, and rock doves, particularly around the Gap of Dunloe.
Autumn is the time for the estuaries and headlands. Castlemaine Harbour, Tralee Bay, and the Shannon Estuary all have large numbers of ducks, geese, and waders. Light-bellied brent geese and wigeon are common around Castlemaine Harbour and Tralee Bay. Of the three estuaries, Tralee is probably best for a mix of species. To the north lies Akeragh Lough, famous as a beacon for American migrants, particularly waders.
In winter, check out the large scoter flocks off Rossbeigh Strand and in Ballinskelligs Bay. The former site holds up to 10,000 common scoter, while surf scoters and common eider are also frequent. On the Magharee Peninsula, west of Tralee, lies Lough Gill, which often holds 1,500 scaup as well as rarer ducks. A few kilometres west, rare grebes and divers winter in Brandon Bay. Bunaclugga Bay, at the mouth of the Shannon, is another good winter wader site. There are several excellent books available on Irish birds and wildlife. Kerry, A Natural History is one we highly recommend.
"At any time of year you'll find it well worth while spending some extra time in Kerry!"
Bird Watching in Kerry
Kerry is one of the most important counties in Ireland for bird watching. Most of the birds on the Irish list have been seen or are to be found here. Over all you could notch up over 350 species in Kerry. Lets begin by telling you what you can expect to see in Kerry and then we'll tell you where are the ´hot´ bird spotting areas in the county. The following is information supplied by Killarney National Park which will give a good guideline.
One of the most active groups in Kerry is the Corca Dhuibhne (West Kerry) Birdwatching Group. A quarterly e-mail newsletter and occasional local newsletter on Kerry wildlife, including events, is available on request from crosher@eircom.net. News updates (including Kerry Branch) from Frank King on Radio Kerry Radio Kerry every Thursday after 10:30am. Dingle Tide Time-table on sale at Ventry Post Office. Birding the Dingle Peninsula, a free information leaflet with details on birding spots, is available from the above outlets and the Dingle Tourist Information Office.
Contacts for the Corca Dhuibhne (West Kerry) Birdwatching Group are:
Michael O’Clery: 087-971 1519, moclery@tinet.ie
• Jill Crosher: (066) 915 6004, crosher@eircom.net
• Sara Millar: (066) 915 5819 or 087-778 8487, saramillar7@hotmail.com.
An invaluable guide to information on where to watch birds in the Dingle Peninsula is "The Dingle Peninsula Bird Report". With 94 pages, full-colour throughout, tables, graphs, colour maps and 74 colour photographs it gives the status of all the bird species recorded on the peninsula. It includes a survey of all the breeding birds of the Magharees and related islands for 2006/7 by Michael O’Clery and the Dingle Peninsula Twite survey 2006 from Derek McLoughlin.
On sale @ €12.00 in Ventry Post Office; Dingle Bookshop, Green Street; Dingle; Fitzgerald’s Hardware, Baile an Buaile, Dingle, the Castlegregory Information Centre and, in summer, Ballyferriter Museum.
Available by post from Lucie Hankey, Monaree, Dingle, Tralee, Kerry, Ireland. E-mail ldhankey@indigo.ie Tel: 066 9159904. Cheques made payable to The West Kerry Branch of BirdWatch Ireland. €14.00 (includes P & P Europe and worldwide) or via PayPal to Lucie’s e-mail.
Where to Watch Birds in Kerry
Sea Birds
One of the most convenient sites for watching birds, especially sea birds, is at Blennerville, Tralee. There is adequate parking at the windmill and it is only a short walk to the quay at the rear of the exhibition centre to see a wide variety of bird life. Avocets were resident visitors here some time ago. Other recommended sites for sea birds include Ballyheigue, Kerry Head, Slea Head, Valentia Island and Bonus Head.
The Little Skelligs Island has over 46,000 gannets and Kerry also has the world´s highest concentration of storm petrels with over 50,000 pairs on the islands around the coast. Among the rarities, bee-eaters have been recorded at Valentia Island. Also three types of tern breed in Tralee Bay, the common, the arctic and the sandwich tern.
If you are taking a stroll along the sand dunes of Inch or Rossbeigh be sure to keep a look out for the now rare cough - a crow like bird with prominent red beak and legs. Here in Kerry you will also find the world´s highest concentration of Storm Petrels, some 50,000 pairs. Lough Aquaria near Ballyheigue is an excellent place to spot American waders, such as the Pectoral Sandpiper, that get blown off course during their Autumn migration. The quaint fishing village of Crimean is an ideal place to see ringed plover, turnstones and oystercatchers.
Bird Watching Inland
As you can see from the list below, Killarney National Park is one of the best areas to watch a large number and variety of birds. The Park consist of 27,000 acres of a variety of habits. Here you will find large expanses of moorland, the last of Ireland´s oak woods, one of Europe´s three remaining yew woods and Ireland´s finest lake district.
Varities of Bird
Vagrants
Great Northern Diver, Red Throated Diver, Garganey, Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Goosander, Smew, Shelduck, Hen Harrier, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Dunlin, Ruff, Red necked Phalarope and Arctic Skua.
Winter Visitors
Wigeon, Pochard, Goldeneye, White-fronted Goose, Whooper Swan, Bewick Swan, Fieldfare, Merlin, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Jack Snipe, Curlew and Redwing.
Breeding Residents
Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Mute Swan, Barn Owl, Long eared Owl, Kingfisher, Skylark, Raven, Hooded Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Magpie, Jay, Chough, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper, Wren, Dipper, Mistle Thrush, Sparrow Hawk, Peregrine, Kestrel, Red Grouse, Pheasant, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Snipe, Woodcock, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Stonechat, Robin, Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Starling, Greenfinch, Siskin, Lunate, Redpoll, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Yellow Hammer, Reed Bunting and House Sparrow.
Summer Visitors
Cuckoo, Night jar, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Black cap, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, White throat, Chiffchaff and Spotted Flycatcher.
Useful Reference
Killarney National Park has recently published a book entitled ´The Birds of Killarney National Park´ which you should find extremely useful. This is available from the information centre at Muckross House, Killarney or by contacting the Office of Public Works, 51 St. Stephen´s Green, Dublin 1.
Other useful books and references are:
The Complete Guide to Ireland´s Bird´s by Eric Dempsey and Michael O´ Cleary (Gill & Macmillan).
The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland by Peter Lack is a very useful guide produced by the British Trust for Ornithology and the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (T & A D Poyster).
The national body for wild bird conservation in Ireland is BirdWatch Ireland
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