Published in 2007, the first edition of “Finding Birds in Ireland: The Complete Guide” by Eric Dempsey and Michael O’Clery soon became the definitive guide to the best birdwatching locations in Ireland. Intelligently laid out, and impressively comprehensive, this widely praised book set a new benchmark for this type of “where to watch” field guide. You’ll….

I’d been afraid to look at the forecast all week. The weather is the bane of anyone organising an outdoor-based activity in Ireland, and the last few weeks had been dreadful. There was no real sense things were going to improve either… but with a Discover Wildlife Weekend planned I simply had to bite….

Headlands and coastlines in Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Wexford have been invaded by a rather colourful continental interloper this spring. The striking hoopoe (Upupa epops) is a rare visitor to these shores, with very small numbers (less than 10 birds in total most years) reported in Ireland during spring and autumn as migrating birds stray….

A social media storm is brewing surrounding an ill-informed and disturbingly inaccurate radio interview about birds conducted on the Pat Kenny Show on national Irish radio station Newstalk FM yesterday (Wed 14 January). On the show, host Pat Kenny (pictured left) introduced Biochemistry Professor, Luke O’Niell (yes, you read that right — a professor of….

We’d been in Australia for a fortnight. While we’d seen some amazing wildlife, including kangaroos, dolphins and some amazing bird life, the closest we’d come to seeing a koala was the cuddly toys at the local souvenir shop. That’s hardly surprising — because its an east coast species that doesn’t occur in Western….

When you travel you see amazing things. Things so far removed from your normal everyday experiences that you have to do a double-take and stop in awe. Sometimes they are big things… other times they can be very small. Today’s jaw-dropping experience was tiny… and blue… oh so very, very blue…..

Like it or not… when you’re watching wildlife in Ireland you’re inevitably watching the weather. With our Discover Wildlife Weekend looming I’d spent the last week watching the weather forecasts with growing trepidation. Would the weather gremlins play ball? West Cork is a truly spectacular wildlife location, but so much depends….

Hooded crows are a pretty cranky bunch at this time of year, and don’t seem to tolerate much in the way of intrusion on their “patch” by anything remotely perceived as threatening. Raptors and other corvids are given short shrift as the hoodies work in tandem to see them off…..

The dunnock is a small brown bird that is a common, if rather shy visitor to many Irish gardens. Still referred to by many by its old name of hedge sparrow, the dunnock isn’t actually related to the sparrows at all. It is the only Irish representative of the accentor….

For many a budding birder, myself included,  gulls can be an absolute nightmare! There’s just so much plumage variation across the different year classes, and lots of potential overlap between species in sub-adult gulls that accurate identification can be extremely taxing, and scanning gull roosts in (inevitably) low light in….

Given clear views on the ground adult crow species generally present few ID problems… but throw juveniles into the mix, and birds in flight at distance, and they become surprisingly tricky. There are clues you can use to identify crows accurately even in these situations. In this video the BTO….

I was born in London but whenever anyone asks me where I’m from my stock answer is always that I am a black, Afropean, child of the earth and Honorary Irishman. I particularly cherish the ‘Honorary Irishman’ bit of my epithet because I really do feel a close affinity with….