Three is a crowd...
There is only one species of wheatear that breeds in Britain and Ireland so identification is fairly straightforward. Wheatears are a bit bigger than a Robin, have an upright stance and in flight show a conspicuous white rump and tail markings. The males are striking with a black mask, black...
A beautiful morning along the Co Down coastline - lots of Turnstone, Brent Geese and many Redshank.
Stonechats are robin sized birds. Males have striking black heads with white around the side of their neck, orange-red breasts and a mottled brown back. Females lack the male's black head, but have brown backs and an orange tinge to their chests. Birds are frequently seen flicking their wings...
A delightful small, long-tailed and rather sprightly black and white bird. When not standing and frantically wagging its tail up and down it can be seen dashing about over lawns or car parks in search of food. It frequently calls when in its undulating flight and often gathers at dusk to form...
Does anyone remember this beautiful Irish song my mother sang when I was a child ?
I've met some folks who say that I'm a dreamer,
And I've no doubt there's truth in what they say,
But sure a body's bound to be a dreamer
When all the things he loves are far away.
And precious things are dreams unto an
I have heard the tune, but not the words before. Think it might have been a gospel or country tune. Seems to relate to something sung in church. Wish I could think of it, but this is very pretty.
ONE OF the most endangered seabirds in Europe is gradually making a comeback thanks to an Irish conservation project that has largely been kept under wraps until now. The roseate tern, the continent's rarest breeding seabird, is being nursed back from
Invoking the ebb and flow of the Irish Sea tide, it recalled Whitehaven's past recoveries from disaster – "again and again and again". Those conscious of the town's history thought of the day in 1910 when 104 men and boys were killed by an explosion at
the end of the night; to cycle your streets unencumbered by traffic and potholes and the sound of my own swearing; to swim in the Irish Sea for the first time in more than 20 years; to run the length and breadth of your parks and paths and strands.
But that summer there was a spate of apparent sightings of great whites in the Irish Sea. So out beyond Donegal Bay, it was a shock to find myself being followed by what I took at first to be a large dolphin, until I realised it had a tail fin sticking