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See this triplist in printable PDF format with media only on page 1.

Lough Leane in Killarney National Park (Photo by guide Karen McEneaney)

The tour started out nearly pouring rain all day, a guide's nightmare. But knowing that "it doesn't rain in a pub," our options were good. Despite this initial setback, our spirits remained strong, and it paid off. At our first major birding destination, the rain stopped long enough for our group to get three separate and sensational views of a Red Grouse. We observed a male twice in flight and once head-periscoping above the heather. Then the downpour started. The Red Grouse was our first bit of our good luck, or "adh mor ort" as they say in Irish. Although it continued to rain, the day just got better with the presence of a rainbow and an unplanned visit to the Dublin coast and finally a visit to a very accommodating pub in Newtown Kennedy. Although we braved the rain our first day, the sun (or "grian") was on our side and came out quite often --almost every day (quite uncommon in Ireland and frankly quite shocking!).

We ended up with 96 species of birds and nine species of mammals, about par for this particular May tour. Highlight birds included nice views of Red Kites circulating overhead and Common Cuckoos calling and defending territories. We had super close views of White-throated Dippers and a Greater Whitethroat. The seabird watching was sensational -- we watched Northern Gannets plunge-diving, and tens of thousands of seabirds bringing in food to young and mates. Other interesting behaviors including the acrobatic movements and tumbles of Red-billed Choughs, Hooded Crows flying up and dropping clams to the ground to open them up, and copy-cat behavior of a Herring Gull trying to do the same thing to a golf ball.

The hidden secrets of this tour are that we travel Ireland off the beaten path and before the tourist season begins, and we hang around people from Ireland. We had some of the best traditional Irish music found anywhere in Ireland this time of year. Other than birds, the pubs are the keystone to any tour of Ireland. These were as varied as the music, from conversational pubs to singing pubs and those strictly instrumental. The instrumental sessions varied from Uilleann pipes and accordions to banjos and guitars to fiddles. We passed dozens of ancient castles, round towers, abbeys, stone bridges, round forts, passage graves, and standing stones. History is written everywhere in Ireland, and nature is right out the window or doorstep. We visited two national parks -- Wicklow Mountains and Killarney -- and witnessed some of the prettiest landscapes and seascapes Ireland has to offer.

In summary, it was a quintessential Ireland tour involving great craic ("great fun") with a combination of super weather, ample birds, quaint pubs, fabulous countryside, memorable traditional Irish music, not to mention delicious gourmet food. But it is the Irish people that make this tour so memorable with their warm and welcoming hospitality. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to show you Ireland as we know it, and we hope to see you again in future Field Guides tours.

In the meantime, Slan Abhaile (Safe home)!

Terry and Karen McEneaney

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 96 bird taxa and 9 mammal taxa