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RFI watching roseate terns in Ireland (1 Viewer)

Jose Ramon

Well-known member
Hi everybody,

I will be visiting Ireland (Dublin and Belfast) at the end of June and I would like to know if there is a possibility to watch roseate terns in this area.

I will have a car but not too much time. I will drive from Dublin to Belfast.

I will also visit the Cliffs of Moher (drive from Dublin) and the Giant's Causeway (drive from Belfast).

I would like to know if there is any interesting place in the way where I could stop for a while to watch any other interesting birds.

Any information will be welcome.

Thanks in advance,
 
Hi everybody,

I will be visiting Ireland (Dublin and Belfast) at the end of June and I would like to know if there is a possibility to watch roseate terns in this area.

I will have a car but not too much time. I will drive from Dublin to Belfast.

I will also visit the Cliffs of Moher (drive from Dublin) and the Giant's Causeway (drive from Belfast).

I would like to know if there is any interesting place in the way where I could stop for a while to watch any other interesting birds.

Any information will be welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Hi Jose,

There are lots of more expert Irish birder who can give better guidance, but you might consider making your trip a loop, Dublin, Cliffs of Moher, up around the north to the Giant's Causeway and winding up in Belfast. The northern part of the country is scenically superb, with birds such as Corn Crakes still found. The roads are decent and the people friendly.
 
Hi everybody,

I will be visiting Ireland (Dublin and Belfast) at the end of June and I would like to know if there is a possibility to watch roseate terns in this area.

I will have a car but not too much time. I will drive from Dublin to Belfast.

I will also visit the Cliffs of Moher (drive from Dublin) and the Giant's Causeway (drive from Belfast).

I would like to know if there is any interesting place in the way where I could stop for a while to watch any other interesting birds.

Any information will be welcome.

Thanks in advance,

The biggest Roseate tern colony (in Europe) is on Rockabill Island http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockabill . This is completely inaccessible and you are not allowed land but it is only a few km off the coast. The nearest land is the coastal town of Skerries which is only about 7-10km off the main Dublin-Belfast road. I have never tried finding Roseates there at that time of year but it is possible you could see them from Skerries if they came over to feed on the coast. The easier place to see them is in Wexford on Lady's Island, where they also nest but you can scope them from nearby. That is a further 140km from Dublin though.

Des
 
Thank you, Des.

Regarding the best place that you mention to watch them, Lady's Island, I see on the map that it is located south of Rosslare, close to a small village called Eardownes Great.

The area should be the one included in this link for Google Maps:

https://www.google.es/maps/@52.2002001,-6.3899596,4451m/data=!3m1!1e3

I guess that the terns should breed in the island, right in the middle of Lady's Island Lake.

Do you have any specific place to look at them from?

There are not many roads around the lake, in the map, I can only see one that goes down along the western shore.

June should be a good month to watch them, doesn't it? They should be there breeding.

In another webpage the mention a place called Maiden Rock, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/GullsTerns/RoseateTern/tabid/356/Default.aspx

What do you think about it?

Regards,
 
Hi
A very useful book is "Finding Birds in Ireland" which will give you plenty of sites on your planned routes.
The terns can be quite distant at Lady's Island. A better spot is the south east corner of Lady's Island Lake where it almost meets the sea. Terns come through here very low and close quite often on their way out to sea to feed. A good roosting spot is at Carnsore point on rocks slightly north of the wind turbines. The end of June may be a bit early for large groups of terns.
regards
Paul
 
Hi Jose,
If you can't make it to Wexford, I think you have a very good chance to see Roseates from Skerries at the end of June. It is too early for the birds to have left Rockabill, but there are usually a few adults feeding offshore within sight of Skerries, with more being present as the Summer advances.
5-6 weeks later there would be no problem seeing good numbers of both adults and juveniles on nearby beaches at Skerries, Gormanston, and Sandymount in Dublin Bay, when they leave the island, post breeding.
You can track the progress of this year's (and last year's) breeding season on Rockabill at this link :-

http://rockabillterns.blogspot.ie/

Best regards,
Aidan
 
What Aidan says makes it sound like you have a good chance at Skerries at the end of June. They nest 7km off shore from there and Skerries is a small detour off the Dublin-Belfast road.

Lady's Island: you can see the lake with 2 small islands and a narrow peninsula at the north end. The terns nest on the islands. You can see them by walking around the peninsula; you park at the north end and walk around a clear path. You drive to the village of Lady's Island and park and the path is in front of you. Paul's suggestions are also good. You can drive to the SE end on a small road and then a rough road into the sand dunes up to the sea. Terns are flying all over the place and coming and going from the islands to the sea so you can see them overhead mixed in with common, sandwich and (I think) arctic terns.
 
p.s. they used to breed on Maiden Rock which is very easy to see by scope from the shore but there were none last year and I think none the year before that. Is is best viewed from Coliemore Harbour, south of Dublin near Dalkey but they may have gone from that site.
 
Hi Jose,
There were quite a few Roseate Terns feeding offshore at both Skerries and Balbriggan, in Dublin today with larger numbers of Common Terns. The unseasonal gales brought them quite close to shore from Rockabill. I even saw a few from my apartment window in Balbriggan. Yesterday, I was at Lady's Island Lake in Wexford and only succeeded in getting poor views of a few Roseates flying near the southern end of the nesting island looking from the tip of the peninsula. I would suspect that Skerries will be your best chance to get views later this month. A few shots taken at Skerries today attached.

Regards,
Aidan
 

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Alternatively, if you have the time, book a trip with Skerries Sea Tours out to Rockabill itself! You cannot land on the island but will be brought around it at close range. Good views of Roseate Terns, Puffins, Harbour Porpoise and tern wardens to be expected! http://www.skerriesseatours.ie/

Niall
 
Hi folks!
I read this topic while I’am in Ireland for a few days with Nu family: I will be in Dublin on Sunday the 17th June and without my scope I was wondering to twitch Roseate Tern, Skerries is more suitable than Dalkey.
Could I see the terns from the Dalkey harbour?
Any local assistance would be welcome.

Luciano
 
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