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Birding in County Donegal, Ireland - Info Please (1 Viewer)

KayD

KayD

Ochruros
I'm off to Letterkenny in Donegal to visit my Dad for a few days at the end of January. Can any Irish birders suggest any good birding locations in this area? We may visit Glenveigh National Park in the hope of seeing the introduced Golden Eagles - what would be the chances of spotting them there? Also can anyone suggest a good seawatching spot?

I would be really grateful for any advice anyone could offer on the area.

Many thanks |:D|
 
Hi
Others may be along with more detailed knowledge of the area, but Inch Island North East of Letterkenny is a great spot to watch wildfowl, divers. Evening time in winter is great when big numbers of geese, swans and ducks
come in to roost. Further up along the Inishowen Peninsula will also produce good birds. With regards to the Eagles released in Glenveagh, the Park Rangers are usually very helpful with advice on whether or not they are in the area.
All the best..
 
RKell1 said:
Hi
Others may be along with more detailed knowledge of the area, but Inch Island North East of Letterkenny is a great spot to watch wildfowl, divers. Evening time in winter is great when big numbers of geese, swans and ducks
come in to roost. Further up along the Inishowen Peninsula will also produce good birds. With regards to the Eagles released in Glenveagh, the Park Rangers are usually very helpful with advice on whether or not they are in the area.
All the best..
Click to expand...

Can you give any more info about birding on the Inishowen Peninsula? I've got flights to Derry booked at the end of Feb and was thinking of maybe hiring a bicycle for a day and cycling around the Peninsula to see what I can see.
 
Arbu said:
Can you give any more info about birding on the Inishowen Peninsula? I've got flights to Derry booked at the end of Feb and was thinking of maybe hiring a bicycle for a day and cycling around the Peninsula to see what I can see.
Click to expand...

Arbu,
On the east side of the Peninsula at Lough Foyle you'll see large numbers of Teal, Knot and Brent Geese. The Lough itself has Internationally important numbers of Bewick's, Whooper Swan, Brent Geese, Wigeon and Bar-tailed Godwit. Between Muff and Quigley's point you can find good numbers of RB Merganser, Good mix of Gulls, GN Divers etc.
On the Southwest corner is Inch Island and Blanket Nook. Large numbers of birds commute to and from the Nook, Greylag and White fronted geese are regular, and other species such as Shoveler, and Gadwall are frequently seen.
Scaup, Goldeneye, Great Crested grebe, Pintail and Red breasted Merganser are recorded in good numbers. Being so Northerly, with the right wind anything can turn up!
If you can get hold of Finding Birds In Ireland by Eric Dempsey and Michael O'Clery (Gill & Macmillan) It's just been updated and covers the whole of Ireland.
Best of luck and look forward to your reports..:t:
 
Thanks RKell1. I'll probably concentrate on the Inch Island area since I won't have a telescope, and it looks like the relevant areas are more enclosed.
Presumably, with regard to the border, there are no formalities? I suppose one issue is that I have to figure out which side I'm on so that I know what currency to use.

I think I'll also hire a car and drive up to the Giant's Causeway for a day, although I don't expect the birds will be so interesting there.
 
Arbu said:
Thanks RKell1. I'll probably concentrate on the Inch Island area since I won't have a telescope, and it looks like the relevant areas are more enclosed.
Presumably, with regard to the border, there are no formalities? I suppose one issue is that I have to figure out which side I'm on so that I know what currency to use.

I think I'll also hire a car and drive up to the Giant's Causeway for a day, although I don't expect the birds will be so interesting there.
Click to expand...

No there's no issues/formalities with the border, you'll know which side your on as in the North signposting, road signs all look like mainland uk ;)
 
Inch Lake

Hi Arbu,

If you are going to Inch you may be interested in the new hide at Inch Lake.

take the main road from Letterkenny to Derry as far a Burt Chapel ( a round church with a strange conical roof.) At the Burt Chapel take a hard left turn down a minor road signposted Buncrana. Approx. half a mile there is a distinctive right bend in the road, you can't miss it. Turn off here down a muddy pot holed lane until road ends. Park up and walk to the left past an old pumping station, for about half a mile. You will reach the bird hide. Excellent spot for wildfowl. Also its worth driving over the causeway on Inch and walking the road to the left. Good views of lake and you will see Bullfinches in the hedgerows.

If you go to Giants Causeway try Ramore Head at Portrush, good seawatching spot. Take a good coat for it will blow the head off you there!

Regards,

Richard

See our Northern Ireland thread.
 
Last edited:
rdspalm said:
Hi Arbu,

If you are going to Inch you may be interested in the new hide at Inch Lake.

take the main road from Letterkenny to Derry as far a Burt Chapel ( a round church with a strange conical roof.) At the Burt Chapel take a hard left turn down a minor road signposted Buncrana. Approx. half a mile there is a distinctive right bend in the road, you can't miss it. Turn off here down a muddy pot holed lane until road ends. Park up and walk to the left past an old pumping station, for about half a mile. You will reach the bird hide. Excellent spot for wildfowl. Also its worth driving over the causeway on Inch and walking the road to the left. Good views of lake and you will see Bullfinches in the hedgerows.

If you go to Giants Causeway try Ramore Head at Portrush, good seawatching spot. Take a good coat for it will blow the head off you there!

Regards,

Richard

See our Northern Ireland thread.
Click to expand...

Hi Richard, this is excellent info, we have arrived in Letterkenny and are off to Inch Island tommorrow ourselves. Will look for this hide. Many thanks :t:
 
Hi Kstar,
How did you get on at Inch? You certainly had the best weather in weeks. If you are staying in Letterkenny try Blanket Nook. It can be very good. From the causeway across the lake you can sea watch for Gt Crested Grebes and Slavonian Grebe, as well as viewing the numerous duck, geese and swans on the lake.

Richard
 
Hi Richard, we found the hide you suggested thanks. We were dashing all over the place this morning so unfortunately we didn't get a long time there, but we had a redhead Smew from that hide also Goldeneye, Teal, Wigeon, Little Grebe etc. In the fields nearby there were Whoopers, Greylags and a few Greenland White Fronts.

We stopped at various spots around Inch Island, not really knowing which were best. We saw Curlew, Redshank, Knot, Bar Tailed Godwit and Brent Geese. We also stopped at a little harbour near Fahan and there was a GN Diver there and Rock Pipits.

Can you explain where Blanket Nook is if you get time please? Sorry we havn't quite got our bearings yet. Having a great time exploring anyway :)
 
Blanket Nook: Drive to Newtown Cunningham on main Letterkenny Derry road. Pass Newtown Cunningham until you reach Callaghans filling station on the left This is about 2 miles from Newtown. Turn left at the filling station and then take left again at a house with lots of cars about. The road takes you to a hill with Burt Castle on top. Vere right for about one mile. Turn down rough lane to left at Grange. This takes you under an old railway bridge to road end. Park and walk the embankment. Reder to Discovery Series Map No 7 Londonderry for details.

I'll leave you my mobile on a private message.

Regards,

Richard
 
Hi Richard, many thanks for all your help. I'm not sure if we'll get to all the places you suggest, but we're going up the Inishowen Penisula again tommorrow on the way back to the airport, so hope to stop off and have a look at Blanket Nook and Lough Foyle if time permits. We've had a great time and will defintaely be back again :)

Went to Killybeggs today - we had Up to 7 Red Breasted Mergansers, 3 x Iceland Gull and 1 Glaucous Gull. Lots of Shags.

Also there was a Black Guillemot in the harbour - is this usual?
 
The cliffs at Slieve League, whilst very impressive in themselves, are also good for chough, whilst nearby Killybegs is good for gullls.
 
"Presumably, with regard to the border, there are no formalities? I suppose one issue is that I have to figure out which side I'm on so that I know what currency to use."

Oh you'll know when you're in Republic alright , it will be just after you've bought something and worked out how much you actually paid!
Enjoy your trip
Dave
 
The only way you know you've crossed the border these days is the change in speed signs from k.p.h. to m.p.h. Ther are no border formalities whatsoever.
 
rdspalm said:
Hi Arbu,

If you are going to Inch you may be interested in the new hide at Inch Lake.

take the main road from Letterkenny to Derry as far a Burt Chapel ( a round church with a strange conical roof.) At the Burt Chapel take a hard left turn down a minor road signposted Buncrana. Approx. half a mile there is a distinctive right bend in the road, you can't miss it. Turn off here down a muddy pot holed lane until road ends. Park up and walk to the left past an old pumping station, for about half a mile. You will reach the bird hide. Excellent spot for wildfowl. Also its worth driving over the causeway on Inch and walking the road to the left. Good views of lake and you will see Bullfinches in the hedgerows.

If you go to Giants Causeway try Ramore Head at Portrush, good seawatching spot. Take a good coat for it will blow the head off you there!

Regards,

Richard

See our Northern Ireland thread.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice. I just got back yesterday. I had hoped to go around the Inch Lake area by bicycle but couldn't find one to hire in Derry and ended up on foot, and so not covering as much ground as I would have liked. The most notable sighting was probably several long-tailed duck off Fahan. But I also saw the whooper swan flock, plenty of goldeneye, teal, wigeon and a rock pipit. Yesterday I went to the Giant's Causeway as planned and Dunluce Castle and Ramore Head. As you said it might, it was blowing an absolute gale! But there was a juvenile peregrine on the cliffs by the Causeway, lots of gannets offshore, a buzzard (seems not to be so common in Ireland), red-throated divers at both Portballintrae harbour and off Dunluce Castle. And also a porpoise swimming off Dunluce Castle was great to see.
 
Hi,
Am planning to spend a week in Donegal late this May, staying first in Ardara and then near Malin Head. Can anyone suggest what birds should be sought at that season and where.
WTWB in England and Ireland gives Malin Head a paragraph, but any more detailed pointers would be much appreciated.
Many thanks for any help or suggestions.
 
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