Subject: TR-Ireland
Date: Jul 20 22:21:58 2003
From: Levine, Barron - LevineB at bsd405.org


A 2 week trip, from July 3rd-July 17th, through both the Republic and Northern Ireland produced some great bird sightings and interesting sightseeing. Ireland is a land of great scenic beauty, wonderful pubs (some with traditional Irish music played nightly) and incredible historic sights. It's a very friendly place with lots to do!!
I rented a car through Budget's Ireland website for 322 Euros for 2 weeks (about $350). It included enough insurance for me, though you could add complete coverage if you choose. I stayed in B & B's every night. These were priced from 25-40 Euros per night. Included was a huge breakfast with your choice of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, 2 types of sausage, yoghurt, juice, coffee or tea, fruit and cereal. You could choose how much protein, carbohydrate, cholesterol, etc. you wanted to fill your body with. This was more than enough to carry me over to dinnertime. It was easy to find supermarkets to stock up on supplies. Fish and Chip and fast food take out places still abound. For those that like to eat a formal dinner out, Ireland has many restaurants that have received high marks for their international cuisine.
The birds are fairly easy to see, though there are enough that are challenging to make it interesting. I would recommend late summer or fall if you want to rack up more numbers that I did. There's only 1 bird guide that I know of. That being Eric Dempsey, who also runs the Rare Bird Alert. I meet him in the field and was impressed with his knowledge. The other birders that I met also had nice things to say about him.
Here's the list of birds seen with locations (the exception being the Nightjar, which I am not at liberty to disclose)
Little Grebe Douglas, Cork
Great Crested Grebe Lady's Island, Wexford
Fulmar Cape Clear, Cork
Cory's Shearwater (1 only) " " "
Manx Shearwater " " "
Storm Petrel " " "
Gannet " " "
Cormorant Rathlin Island, N. Ireland
Shag Lady's Island, Wexford
Little Egret Wexford Sloblands, Wexford
Grey Heron Many locations
Mute Swan "
Whooper Swan (1 only) Mullaghmore, Sligo
Greylag Goose Quoile Pondage, N. Ireland
Shelduck Many locations
Mallard " "
Gadwall Quoile Pondage, N. Ireland
Shoveler Mallow, Cork
Wigeon Quoile Pondage, N. Ireland
Teal Ringaskerry, Cork
Garganey Tacumshin, Wexford
Pochard " "
Red-Crested Pochard " "
Tufted Duck Many locations
Eider Rathlin Island, N. Ireland
Common Scoter St John's Point, N. Ireland
Red-Brested Merganser Rathlin Island, N. Ireland
Hen Harrier Wexford Sloblands, Wexford
Common Buzzard Kilcoole, Wicklow
Sparrowhawk St John's Point, N. Ireland
Kestrel Kilcoole, Wicklow
Merlin along the N 70, Kerry
Grey Partridge Tacumshin, Wexford
Pheasant Mallow, Cork
Moorhen " "
Coot Many locations
Oystercatcher " "
Ringed Plover Kilcoole, Wicklow
Lapwing Many locations
Knot Belfast Harbour, N. Ireland
Turnstone " "
Dunlin " "
Green Sandpiper Mallow, Cork
Commom Sandpiper " "
Redshank Many locations
Greenshank Quoile Pondage, N. Ireland
Black-tailed Godwit Many locations
Bar-tailed Godwit Belfast Harbour
Curlew Many locations
Whimbrel Ringaskiddy, Cork
Woodcock Cahir, Tipperary
Snipe Quiole Pondage, N. Ireland
Great Skua St. John's Point, N. Ireland
Black-Headed Gull Many locations
Common Gull Ringaskiddy, Cork
Mediterranean Gull " "
Herring Gull Many locations
Lesser Black-backed Gull " "
Great " " " " "
Little Gull Ringaskiddy, Cork
Kittiwake Many locations
Little Tern Kilcoole, Wicklow
Sandwich Tern " "
Common Tern " "
Arctic Tern " "
Roseate Tern Lady's Island, Wexford
Puffin Cahersiveen, Kerry
Black Guillemot Kinsale, Cork
Guillemot " "
Razorbill " "
Rock Dove " "
Stock Dove Dublin area
Wood Pigeon Many locations
Collared Dove NE of Belfast, N. Ireland
Nightjar Undisclosed location
Swift Many locations
Kingfisher Mallow, Cork
Skylark Many locations
Sand Martin " "
Barn Swallow " "
House Martin " "
Rock Pipit " "
Meadow Pipit " "
Pied Wagtail " "
Grey Wagtail " "
Wren " "
Dipper Killarney Nat'l Park, Killarney
Dunnock Many locations
Robin " "
Wheatear " "
Whinchat Ring of Kerry, Kerry
Stonechat Many locations
Song Thrush " "
Mistle Thrush " "
Blackbird " "
Blackcap Ringaskiddy, Cork
Whitethroat " "
Sedge Warbler Kilcoole, Wicklow
Grasshopper Warbler (Heard only) Cahersiveen, Kerry
Reed Warbler (Heard only) Wexford Sloblands, Wexford
Willow Warbler Many locations
Wood Warbler Glendalough, Wicklow
Chiffchaff Ringaskiddy, Cork
Goldcrest Glendalough, Wicklow
Spotted Flycatcher " "
Great Tit Many locations
Coal Tit " "
Blue Tit " "
Long-Tailed Tit Mallow, Cork
Treecreeper Ringaskiddy, Cork
Magpie Many locations
Jay Ringaskiddy, Cork
Jackdaw Many locations
Chough Kinsale, Cork
Rook Many locations
Hooded Crow " "
Raven " "
Starling " "
House Sparrow " "
Tree Sparrow Wexford Sloblands, Wexford
Chaffinch Many locations
Linnet " "
Twite Giants Causeway, N. Ireland
Redpoll " "
Goldfinch Many locations
Greenfinch " "
Bullfinch Ringaskiddy, Cork
Common Crossbill Rathlin Island, N. Ireland
Reed Bunting Kilcoole, Wicklow
Yellowhammer Kinsale area, Cork

Feel free to E-mail me if you have any questions. Hope this report can be of value to you. Much thanks to Owen Foley, Harry Hussey, Philip Mchaffie, Dermot Macabe,Ciaran Smith, Niall Hatch and Ted Rolston.

Barry Levine
Seattle Wa, USA
levineb at bsd405.org