Migration

wildroutes

Hi,
I'm just wondering what's the best palce in Ireland to see flocks of birds migrating south for the winter. I will be in Kerry at the end of the month and was wondering if there is much activity around Ballinskelligs.
Also what birds should i look our for?

OpenYourEyes

I heard the first decent flocks of Brent Geese have arrived in the North! Tbh you'd be as well off waiting another month or two for there to be decent numbers of stuff - everything (Geese/Waders/Ducks) will be arriving bit by bit between now and the start of November.


I don't know Kerry birdwatching places, so someone else might be able to help. I'd be inclined to think places further up the west coast (Clare, Galway, Mayo) or the east coast (Dublin, Wexford, Louth) might be better for large flocks of stuff, but I'm open to correction....

wildroutes

thanks openyoureyes. I was thinking about birds migrating out of here too, more like swallows etc heading south for the winter.

OpenYourEyes

wildroutes wrote: »

thanks openyoureyes. I was thinking about birds migrating out of here too, more like swallows etc heading south for the winter.

I'm not sure you'll see proper "flocks" of them tbh, or at least they'd be harder to predict. Places like Tacumshin in Wexford (i.e. the south coast) are holding decent numbers of hirundines (swallows/martins) at the moment i.e. a few hundred over the lake and neighbouring farmland, but I'd suspect they're going in bits and pieces rather than buliding up to a few thousand and moving out as a big flock.

wildroutes

ah, I see. I was hoping for dramatics! I just remember somebody showing me pictures of flocks of them gathering to make the big journey. thanks for the heads up.

V_Moth

wildroutes wrote: »

ah, I see. I was hoping for dramatics! I just remember somebody showing me pictures of flocks of them gathering to make the big journey. thanks for the heads up.

Bird migration is a bit more subtle than the dramatic pictures usually shown on nature documentaries. If you want to see spectacular movements of birds, I would suggest heading to Gibraltar, Falsterbo (Sweden), the Bosphorus or even Batumi in Georgia. At the latter site, up to 100,000 Honey Buzzards can move through in a day.

If you are looking for migrants in Ireland, there are two options: finding a migration bottleneck or waiting for certain weather conditions. Birds generally migrate over a broad front so a migration bottleneck is anything that forces them to converge on a small area, for example a mountain range stretching inland from the coast. One of the few examples I can think of in Ireland is Benbulben in Sligo - I have seen flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare funnelled along here in late autumn a couple of times.

In Ireland, the best option for viewing migrants is to wait for weather forcing them off track or otherwise disorient them. At the moment, large numbers of Shearwaters, Storm Petrels and other seabirds are moving south off the west coast and any strong wind (west or north west) will move them close in shore and the numbers passing by can be astonishing - 10,000 to 20,000 Manx Shearwaters per hour is not unknown at sites such as the Bridges of Ross (Clare), Cape Clear or Galley Head (Cork). But you will need a telescope, waterproof gear and lots of patience to see this.

Most small songbirds migrate at night and the best conditions are a clear evening to begin with, with a band of drizzle moving in from the west. If this is combined with a moderate to strong east or south-east wind, you can get a very nice fall of migrants along coastal headlands.

However, it can be very tricky to predict the "right" weather for migrants and is often frustrating. A lot of the focus is on coasts, but inland areas can experience "falls" of common migrants as well and it is great experience finding a migration route or fall in your own area.

Woodville56

wildroutes wrote: »

thanks openyoureyes. I was thinking about birds migrating out of here too, more like swallows etc heading south for the winter.

A few years ago , mid Sept I think, watched flock of swallows roost in the reedbeds at the lagoon at Roscarberry, west Cork, just across the road from the Celtic Ross hotel, very impressive , probably several thousand birds in wheeling flight before settling into the reedbeds to roost, just as darkness fell ! Possibly a pre migration gathering ?