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ith their talk on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Glenview Hotel still on hold, the Wicklow branch of BirdWatch Ireland are nonetheless still keen to ruffle some feathers.
Just not, you know, if the bird is rare, resting or vicious.
We should say that those monthly meetings plus all other BirdWatch Ireland events are free, but donations are very much appreciated, to help towards the costs.
Speaking of which, here’s the latest line-up of events for 2024…
Tuesday 12 March, 2024: Celtic Bird Conservation: Comparing and Contrasting Bird Conservation Challenges Across Ireland And Scotland by by Alan Lauder, Consultant Ecologist and Director, Wildlife Conservation & Science Ltd. Ashford Heritage Centre at 7.30pm.
Then we’re off to Avoca on Sunday 24th March to watch the Red Kites coming in to roost at dusk. We will begin with a walk through the woods on the north side of the village where we hope to hear and see woodland bird species in the early stages of the breeding cycle and then return to the bridge and nearby car park at the centre of the village to watch the kites as they circle overhead before roosting in the trees on either side of the Avoca river valley. The event details are:
Sunday 24th March: Walk in Kilmagig Woods, Avoca, followed by Red Kite Roost Watch. Meet in St Patrick’s Church car park, Avoca at 4pm. Bad Weather Protocol: If a Met Eireann Orange or Red warning is in force at the location where and when a branch outing is due to take place then members should assume that the outing is cancelled.
The iconic call of the cuckoo makes it one of the easiest migrant birds to monitor. It is a summer visitor to Ireland, arriving in April and most adults will have departed by late July or early August. It is found in all counties but only patchily in Co Cork, the South-East and North-East. The National Parks and Wildlife Service is jointly running a project with the British Trust for Ornithology to find out why Ireland’s cuckoo population has decreased so much in the past two decades. It involved attaching miniature solar-powered tracking devices to three male cuckoos so that their movements could be logged and followed online.
If you would like to improve your birdwatching skills we have spotted a number of courses that are available over the coming weeks and months that may be of interest…
Beginners Bird Identification with Marie Louise Heffernan on Bull Island, Co. Dublin – Cost: €65 Date: 14th March Numbers: 15 max. For more information click here.
Greystones’ Cian Cardiff is hosting a series of Birdwatching On Inishbofin events from May to October, with 3 nights B&B and 2 dinners at The Dolphin Hotel for €399 pps, including course. Email here or phone here for details.
Tuesday 9th April, 2024: Life as a Kilcoole Little Tern Warden by Jonathan Stanley. Ashford Heritage Centre, at 7.30pm.
Saturday 20th April: Outing to Kilcoole to look for Spring migrants and breeding waders. Meet in Kilcoole Train Station car park at 10am.
Sunday 12th May: National Dawn Chorus Day Event. Do note the very early start time. Meet in Avondale Forest Park carpark at 5am, see link to directions. The Dawn chorus event will follow the 3km long Cairn Trail. We expect to be back in the carpark between 6:30am and 7am. Thanks to Coillte and Beyond the Trees Avondale for facilitating. Bad Weather Protocol: If a Met Eireann Orange or Red warning is in force at the location where and when a branch outing is due to take place then members should assume that the outing is cancelled.
Tuesday 14th May: Wicklow Uplands and the Biodiversity They Support by Ecologist Faith Wilson. Ashford Heritage Centre, at 7.30pm.
For those with access to the rest of Ireland, you’ll find plenty of events to keep you chirpy and chirping over the coming weeks right here.
You can find out more about BirdWatch Ireland Wicklow right here, or you can email them here. And if you’re interested in taking up birdwatching, here’s a handy to-do list.