I got back a week ago from 3 weeks in Ireland (both North & the Republic). My sight-seeing was multi-faceted and, of course, included birding wherever I could do so. We share certain birds in common with Ireland, but others there cannot be found here. No surprise. Below I offer my less-than expert commentary. (I took some pictures and will try to post some of them in the weeks to come. A few are pretty good. Others are . . . well . . . better than nothing.)
Rook--big crow-like bird with gray at the base of the beak. Beak runs gray to yellow. Seen all over.
Jackdaw--crow-like, not as big. Often found with Rooks. Some dark gray highlights. Seen all over.
Cormorant--Looks like our double-crested cormorant. Seen particularly on the coast.
Starling--We know about that one. (were in winter plumage when I saw them). All over
Swallow--Looks much like our barn swallow. Seen all over including inner city of Dublin where I saw little bird variety
Rock Dove--like ours, seen particularly in cities
Feral Dove--Rock dove hybrids
Magpie--throughout suburbs & countryside
Herring Gull--particularly common in inner-city Dublin. Seen all over.
The above birds were seen by me in abundance. Those which follow were seen less often, but their sightings were still common enough:
Hooded Crow--big bird, striking mixture of gray & black
House Sparrow--another bird common to both USA 7 Ireland
Black-headed Gull--already in winter plumage
Blackbird--all black except for bright yellow beak
Mute Swan--seen in suburban areas and countryside
Mallard--seen in various watery places with many hybrids, too
Oystercatcher--readily seen in various coastal spots with gulls and cormorants
Great Black-backed Gull--coastal
Robin--in suburbs and countryside, bright orange breast, animated song--a treat to see and hear, perhaps a little smaller than our American Robin.
Rock Pipit--a rather drab bird seen on the coast
Pied Wagtail--The name tells you something. Not a large bird, black and white in color. I saw it in suburban/small town areas.
Coot--looks like ours, may be the same bird.
Nightjar--looks like our Common Nighthawk
Swift--looked like our chimney swift from a distance, but flight pattern seemed a little less herky-jerky
The following were not seen by me often. They may be more abundant in Ireland than my few viewings might suggest:
Woodpigeon--not a small bird, I saw it several times in couple of diverse places
Coal Tit--looks much like our chickadee.--1 or 2
Stonechat--smaller than our robin, but similar in coloring. The one I saw was just off the northern coast.--1
Curlew--I had several sightings. May have been the same bird on the northern coast.
Carrion Crow--similar to our crow, 1 only
House Martin--small, white rump clear in flight, a couple of sightings
Grey Heron--looks much like our Great Blue Heron in size & color, a couple of different birds
Collared Dove--the same one we have in USA (called Eurasian here).--1 or 2
Wren--small & brown--1
Moorhen--like ours, I'd say--1
Below are birds about which I am less precise seen in varying numbers:
Terns of some sort, probably like of Common Tern. ("Early" winter plumage complicated my identification task, and I don't do well with complications in my birding.)
Raven--a couple of possible sightings--one up close--but they looked a little small and I may have confused a raven with one of the new (to me) crow-like species
Shag--smaller version of the cormorant. I may have seen some without knowing it. The color differences are minimal. It is a smaller bird.
Stock Dove--very similar to Rock Dove. I may have seen some in Dublin, but was gone from that city before I knew of such a ting as a Stock Dove. (There is very minimal bird variety in the inner city of Dublin.)
Sandpipers--of some sort
Other gull-type birds in some of my pictures and pictures of still other birds I can't identify.
I had some good birding fun in Ireland. Some of my first-time sightings were birds I could have seen in America but had missed until I got to Ireland. Others, of course, would almost certainly never appeared on our shores. I don't know that I'd advise a trip to Ireland for the birding alone; but as a part of a rich array of sights and sounds, keeping your eyes and ears open comes highly recommended.
Stay alert!
Bill Charles
