Dublin’s great for birding – and it’s no great surprise. More than most cities, ours is blessed with a year round temperate climate and possesses a hugely diverse range of terrains and habitats that include coastal regions, rivers and canals, parks and green spaces, wetlands, marshes, farmland and woodlands.
Combined, these attract and sustain a large variety of birdlife from our numerous common or garden birds to our wide range resident and visiting waterbirds, woodland birds, songbirds, shorebirds, seabirds and raptors.
Add to that the small size of the capital and its extensive network of local transport links and you have an ideal location for those who want either to get down with nature or simply say hello to our very dear feathered friends and neighbours.
So, if you need a break from being out on the town – in bars, clubs and eateries or at gigs, concerts, cinema screenings or theatre shows and you need to take things a bit more slowly, a spot of birding might just be the thing for you!
An estimated 300+ bird species can be seen in Dublin during the course of any given year. Some are here all-year round, some join us from hotter places in the springtime and leave us in autumn while others do the opposite – coming from colder locations from September and staying here usually until March.
Naturally, many of our most common birds can be seen all round the city but each specific locality boasts its own unique mix of birdlife, a little different to the others. Still, some locations are more impressive than others in terms of variety and frequency of birdlife, so for this article, I’ve chosen five popular locations that are easy for anyone to get to, and when viewed as a whole, truly showcase the very best of what the city as a whole has to offer.
Come fly with me!
I Wanna Take Ye To The Island – North Bull Island, Raheny
Bull Island on the northside of the city is the cheese. It’s a place where birders are truly spoiled for choice. A natural nature reserve, The Bull boasts an impressive range of unique natural habitats including salt marshes, sand dunes and slacks, the lush grasses of its two golf links, the expansive waters of Dublin Bay to the south and the long sandy beach of Dollymount Strand with its rolling sands and languid waves each of which attract different species of birds.
Of course, its species change with the season in accordance with migratory habits but the variety remains impressive throughout the year – arguably more impressive in winter time.
This time of year, though, watch out for the mysterious cuckoo which usually arrives around now and stays for a short few weeks in which time it will have tricked and cajoled the smaller buntings and pipits on the island into rearing its young for it. The young cuckoo, when fully fledged, will then make its way to its African wintering grounds on its own.
On any given day though there’s a wealth of creatures to be seen on Bull Island: the raptors – sparrowhawk, peregrine, kestrel, merlin and short eared owl; the seabirds that include sandpipers, brent geese, curlew, ringed, grey and golden plover, godwits, redshank and lapwing; and the small populations of songbirds notably the skylark, meadow pipit, stonechat, linnet, redpoll, sedge warbler, willow warbler and chiffchaff.
And let’s not forget the most underrated and perhaps most resourceful and brightest of all our city’s birds, the gulls, so much more intriguing than you’d think. At the very least, you’ll find five types there!
For birds and birders alike, The Bull has it all!
Take Me To The River – The Dodder River, Dublin South
Dublin’s not short on rivers and canals, all of which host their very own populations of water birds and fowl. Walk along any one of them and you are sure to see mute swan, mallard, grey heron, little egret, coot and moorhen navigating the waters or dozing on the banks while a host of other birds from tweeting sparrows to steely sparrowhawks look on from the surrounding trees with different intentions in their minds!
All of our waterways are well worth a look but, for birders, the jewel in the crown is the Dodder River which plays host and home to all the city’s freshwater species (and some seabirds) but it’s real draw for birders is on account of its two main avian celebrities – the regal kingfisher and the dapper dipper – the former shooting down on the river in a blaze of shiny blue, the latter bobbing along the weir like a tightrope walker with a few on board. One minute you’re transfixed and in awe, the next you’re giggling like a toddler on a slide.
And if that’s not impressive enough the Dodder is one of the very few rivers anywhere that boasts its own dedicated crew of round-the-clock paparazzi, located usually around the Lower Dodder Road at Rathfarnham – a welcoming bunch of experts and enthusiasts who will happily show you the sights and the ropes, especially if you’re new to the game.
Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay – Great South Wall, Ringsend, Dublin 4
Of all the city walks to go on, none is more iconic than the one that will have you pass the Poolbeg chimneys, walk along the Great South Wall to the legendary Poolbeg Lighthouse on the south side of the Liffey. All the better if it’s on a windswept day.
Time and tide plays its role on the Wall so that when it’s up you’ll have visiting sandpipers and dunlins roosting like beeping balls of black and white wool on the rocks that buttress the wall along its course.
Around this time, too, you’ll be privileged to see a small population of Black Guillemots resting on the wall itself, their striking red legs and mouths contrasting with the black and white of their plumage.
The South Wall provides the perfect viewing point for watching the common terns to-ing and fro-ing from the pontoon in the Port waters where they breed in the summer.
Oftentimes too, the gannets will fly in very closely, sometimes over your head, and to see them diving at speed head on into the waters of the bay is a stunning feat that will stop you in your tracks.
The squeaking of a small community of pipit, stonechat, linnet, goldfinch and pied wagtail will then calm you down again.
The Great Wall is a marvellous viewing point in itself but it’s better to view it as just a small part of the birding experience.
Take a walk along the coast anywhere from Howth to Dun Laoghaire and you will see some amazing sights – not least the enormous variety of sanderlings, knots, plovers, godwits, redshanks and more who traverse the bay in their hundreds and often thousands, the urgency and balance in their movement so stunning as to be truly chastening.
Parklife! – Phoenix Park Parklife, Dublin West
Only a couple of kilometres west of the city centre is the Phoenix Park, Dublin’s biggest public park, and a vitally important location for biodiversity that supports around 40% of the bird species found in Ireland.
Its surface is vast and, as such, it offers a little more shelter, security and anonymity to the more secretive and elusive of our birds, in particular to the colourful crow that is the jay and, more recently, to the relative newcomer to our shores, the great spotted woodpecker.
The Park’s duck pond too can attract an interesting variety of waterfowl and many of the rarer duck varieties such as pochard, shoveler, ring necked duck and scaup are all on record as having spent time on the water there. Remember it’s a big park so if you like ‘getting your steps in’, it’s definitely the place for you!
If You Go Down to the Woods Today – Your Local Park
But you don’t have to go to the Phoenix Park if you want to see birds of every size and hue – the smaller parks, your local park is a great place to go especially if you are new to the trade. Without having to walk too far you will see a much bigger variety of birds than you’d think. You only have to look and listen a bit more closely!
In my local park for example, I can count over 40 varieties of birds that live in the trees alone. If there were a pond there, there’d be even more.
And every so often something new and unusual will arrive unannounced to make your day. I recently had a lovebird set up camp in mine. It was most likely an escaped cage bird but, even so, it didn’t take it long to adapt to parklife and in the end found sanctity among the starlings.
Going Birdwatching? Remember to Bring …
Mandatory
Suncream
A good pair of eyes
A good pair of ears
A good pair of shoes
Green clothes
Patience
Optional
A good homegrown guide to Irish Birds
Binoculars if you have them
A camera or your phone if you want to take a snap or two.
A field recorder or your phone if you want to record birdsong.
How To Get There
Bull Island – 6 bus from Abbey St Lower to Causeway Road. DART from Tara Street to Raheny and then the H2 from Raheny Library to the Causeway Road
River Dodder – Take the number 16 bus from O’Connell Street towards Balinteer. Get off at the Lower Dodder Park Road and walk along the river’s course.
Great South Wall – A bit of walking required. Nearest buses are C1, C2 and 47 to Ringsend or Sandymount. Head for the coast and begin the walk from Sandymount Strand at Sean Moore Park. Or take the S2 from Baggot Street to Sean Moore Park at Sandymount.
Phoenix Park – Take the 38 bus towards Damastown. Get off at Parkway Station. Walk 2km to the park entrance. Or take the 26 bus from Westmoreland St to Phoenix Park Gate.
Some Interesting Facts About Our Birds
Blackbirds typically like to sing after rain.
The female blackbird is brown.
The oldest ringed blackbird recorded was over 20 years old.
It is thought that as blue tits get older, their plumage gets brighter.
Juvenile robins don’t develop their red breast for several weeks after leaving the nest to reduce their risk of being attacked by their own parents!
A young robin must learn to sing from its father if it is to be successful as an adult in the mating game.
… and they practise their song list prior to the first breeding season.
The chiffchaff is so called for the way it sings its name out loud ‘chiff chaff chiff chaff‘. But it very often gets the two syllables mixed up!
Herring gulls can live ‘til they’re nearly 30.
After the breeding season, male chaffinches tend to hang out in groups together – co-incidentally, this is around the time the Premier League starts!!
Buzzards were extinct in Ireland up to the 1930s but are now thriving.
Despite its impressive size, the buzzard is not a major hunter of prey and is happy enough to chomp on roadkill and earthworms!
The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, reaching top speeds of over 320 km/h.
There has been a marked decline in the local greenfinch population in the last decade or more due to a disease caused by the fungal parasite Trichomonas gallinae. Keep those feeders clean!
Sparrowhawks, meanwhile, are specialist hunters of birds and won’t turn up their beaks to a serving or two of up to 120 species ranging in size from goldcrest to pheasant.
Female sparrowhawks are typically 25% larger than males, and often twice as heavy.
The dipper is exceptional for its ability to hunt underwater and can actually walk underneath it.
Hot legs: The goldcrest is Europe’s smallest bird and can only incubate a full nest of eggs because the females legs are actually hot!
The kingfisher is not considered to be a songbird because it only whistles.
Crows, though, are fully signed-up songbirds!
The mind boggles!
How To Identify A Bird You Don’t Know!
If you’re new to birding and have just seen a bird that you’ve never seen before or have seen it and don’t know what it is, here’s a wee guide to help you get to the bottom of the mystery.
Remember the bird’s location and the surrounding environment, as this can narrow down possibilities.
Observe the bird’s behavior, such as how it moves (hopping, running, soaring, etc.).
If you heard the bird, try to remember the song or calls, and use the Merlin bird app if you’ve no idea what you’re hearing. It’s always better to try and remember the sound on your own as this will train your brain to recognise it without any help. The more you listen, the more you recall.
Consider the time of year, remembering that migration patterns play a huge part in which birds you might see in a particular location and season. It’s a good thing to get to know the common birds in your area as this will help you narrow things down and eliminate less likely possibilities.
Try to notice a bird’s markings, stripes, feather colour, wing ‘bars’, breast spots, tail bars etc. Birds of the same classification group can look very alike so the more you look the more confident you can be as to its correct identity.
And don’t be embarrassed if you get it wrong, everyone does, especially at the beginning, because it’s simply part of the learning process. But it’s also very much part of the craic!
Happy birding!
An Important Note
If you’re going bird watching please remember to respect our avian friends and their habitats at any time of the year. During the breeding season take extra caution.
Don’t go too close to a breeding bird’s nest or disturb breeding pairs and their young chicks in any way.
Observe them from a distance, let them alone and just be kind to them. They’ll return the compliment in spades.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Pat Fitzsimons (1967-2015) my first ever birdwatching companion and the most brilliant of all. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
Words and Photos: Shay Bagnall
