Each May the village of Ballyvaughan organises a “Burren in Bloom” programme of natural history events including walks, evening lectures and pub entertainment. We can thoroughly recommend it!
The Burren is a unique area of karst limestone landscape in the far west of Ireland, warmed by the Gulf Stream and wetted by Atlantic rain. It has a unique ecology with plants ranging from Mountain Avens to Maidenhair Fern growing in the cracks in the limestone. Particularly spectacular at this time of year are the Marsh Gentians and the Early Purple Orchids.
We enjoyed a pleasant week (8-15 May) walking in the hills and around the coast where we saw a number of birds that we don’t normally see in our travels. All in all we saw 54 species and the more unusual ones are listed below, with some hand-held photos (some a bit grainy)
Great Northern Diver
Single one (immature?) seen inside Ballyvaughan harbour and groups of up to 15 seen in Galway bay.
Whimbrel
Up to 7 in groups around the sandspit. I have never seen more than one before but according to the local bird expert (we went to his talk on the Songbirds of the Burren) they were migrating from West Africa to Iceland.
Pomarine Skua
This may have been an Artic Skua. There were two of them hunting as a pair. It seemed very effective as the Sandwich Terns dropped their catch soon enough and just one went to recover it. After an initial close sighting they operated a long way out so no pic.
Cuckoo
We hadn’t seen one for over 30 years and now 3 come along. The large number in the Burren tells us that the Meadow Pipit population, the main hosts, is flourishing (again according to the local expert). There were certainly a lot of them about. I have previously posted the next pic on the cuckoo thread but think it is so unusual I am reposting it here. We were on a walk up to an old hill-fort when we spotted the male “cuckooing” in typical wings-down position. It flew farther away as we walked up the trail but it was then we noticed the female (who do not go “cuckoo”) simply because of the strange behaviour of a Meadow Pipit, which was “attacking” it. Afraid that it would fly away I took some immediate pictures. I was amazed to find that these included the Meadow Pipits egg that the Cuckoo had removed from the nest before laying her own.
Rock Pipit
This one was busy in Ballyvaughan harbour collecting food for the young, from amongst the seaweed.
Hooded Crow
Same place as Rock Pipit. They were giving the Herons a hard time, particularly when operating as a pair.
Dipper
Strictly outside the Burren on the other side of Galway Bay, where the habitat changes from limestone to peat. As others have said these are very difficult to photograph particularly as I was looking directly into the sun. Can’t compete with the professionals so I took an action shot.
Stonechat
I know this is not unusual but I have never seen them in such great numbers before. Everywhere we stopped to look around there seemed to be one perched on the top of a local bush, including this female.
Black Guillemot
Never seen one before and they were some distance away but they do have a unique marking. I’m glad we took a small library with us or I would never have figured these out. The fact there was 3 of them with a GND helped with the size though. I think they are very local to this coast.
Other birds included breeding Wheatears, lots of Swallows but no House Martins or Swifts, Mergansers (and possibly Goldeneye). Lastly, in two trips we have only ever seen one bird of prey, a single Kestrel.
I’ll sign off with one more picture and also tell you that we were surprised by a pod of dolphins last year (we were on a wildflower walk at the time). We can thoroughly recommend spending some time in the Burren, not only for the wonderful wildlife but also for the friendliness of the locals who are keen to share the delights of the landscape with their visitors.
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