NATURE World of wildlife at the edge

World of wildlife at the edge


Country sights and sounds
John Shelley

Birdwatching has much to recommend it as a hobby. It is a noble pastime that brings immediate immersion in the natural world, and is often accompanied by long-distance hiking, early-morning endeavour and sub-nocturnal effort.
That is the popular opinion. In reality, it can often mean sitting in one place in a comfortable chair with a flask of tea and a tub of home-made scones. Either way, it always brings reward even if the birds don’t show, the best of which is escape from the maddened crowd that throngs the rest of our day.
None of us know how it happened, but the autumn bird migration is already well underway even before we got a hold on the year, with summer visitors leaving the country and new species arriving to replace them. High cliffs around the coast offer excellent vantage points from which migrating seabirds can be observed, and among these Kilcummin Head and Downpatrick are among the top in the country.
A good pair of binoculars make an essential piece of equipment, together with a properly waterproof coat and a warm hat; if it will rain anywhere it certainly will at Kilcummin – and with such a wind as the ogre that inhabits this stretch of coastline one can soon become uncomfortably cold.
However, windy conditions bring the best birdwatching opportunities, with three species of shearwater commonly flighting between mountainous waves as if drawn by some invisible cord and Great, Pomarine and Arctic skua displaying breathtaking skill as they pursue smaller birds in order to kill them or, at the very least, cause them to regurgitate their last meal, which is then snatched from the air before it hits the waves. Not nice perhaps, but extremely entertaining. At least some of these should be seen on a daily basis from now until the end of October.
The sea is never empty. Always there are clown-like auks, guillemot, razorbill and puffin, and an abundance of gulls, some of which we may never have seen before. Wherever prey abounds there will, sooner or later, be predators other than those already mentioned. The quickening wings of the peregrine throw panic into flocks of waders. These scatter – we lose sight of the falcon – then, look! A puff of feathers indicates a direct hit and there he goes to his lodge on the rocks below us, to eat dinner alone.
All we need is a little dedication.
And who knows what else might turn up? The even more sedentary pursuit of whale and dolphin watching is still relatively new in this corner of the country, yet during the early part of the 20th century hundreds of whales were killed here. Many were smaller species (which are still surprisingly and sometimes alarmingly large when encountered at close quarters), although there were also giant blue and fin whales to be found too, as well as good quantities of right whales, sperm whales and humpbacks.
Enterprising tour operators have created quite an industry around the southwest coast yet Cork and Kerry hardly hold a monopoly over our cetaceans. It is only a matter of time before Mayo whale populations are rediscovered.
The ocean, however pleasant it may be, is not within the immediate reach of all. Still, we have superb wildlife experiences and encounters that can be enjoyed much closer to home, that are far easier and cheaper to get to, and a good deal more safe for families than are the bare cliffs of Kilcummin. Indeed, we have a truly magnificent wealth of lakeland and bog, hillside and hidden woodland glade, uplands and lowlands in wonderful variety, packed side by side for our enjoyment and now, with the Greenways and Blueways continuing to develop, so very accessible.
In another year or two we might well see FΡilte Ireland’s visionary coastal loop encompassing the whole of the country. If and when that happens it would be possible for visitors to step off the ’plane or the ferry and, either walking or cycling, circumnavigate the whole of this island on pathways free of traffic, putting Ireland at the forefront of the unfolding eco-tourism industry.
What opportunities lie ahead for us, with the lid only now being lifted on our environmental treasure chest.