Welcome back birdies and birders!

Can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since I last posted anything. If anyone is actually reading this: my apologies for the delay.

We've been keeping busy since Jack and Noodles left: work has been crazy, we've taken a couple of day trips around Southeast, getting some birding in, and PK set up her own blog called "the pollybloggy," check it out. Some of our further adventures have been documented here.

The first trip was to the heritage town of Lismore. The settlement dates back to the 5th century or so, but is today dominated by a 19th century castle. We arrived a little early and had to wait for the visitor center to open. The "award-winning" video was the first of it's kind we've seen in Ireland: that is to say it was worth watching. We learned about the ecclesiastical history of the town and how it eventually came under the control of the British Duke of Devonshire, who still owns the castle and stops by on occasion. Sir Walter Raleigh actually owned the estate at one point, and Robert Boyle, of Boyle's Law (for a fixed mass of ideal gas at fixed temperature, the product of pressure and volume is a constant), was born there. We took a walk along the River Blackwater that brought us to a bohereen, or ancient highway of sorts, and a perplexing tunnel under nothing. Another highlight was the 12th century cathedral. I think PK is planning an entry on this trip though: watch the pollybloggy for more.

Another daytrip, this past weekend, was to Kilkenny, about 45 minutes north of here. Kilkenny is known as the prettiest inland town in Ireland, with much of its medieval heritage in tact, it's castle most famously. Another Norman building that has been appended in the intervening centuries, it has been restored to the 19th century style the Butler family enjoyed. A fabulously wealthy family, their name, and riches, derived from their ancestor's position as butler to the King of England. Cromwell left his typical calling card here as well: the wall that would enclose the site is missing, leaving a three-sided structure. We took a tour of the castle and learned some of its secrets.

The other amazing site in town is St Canice's Cathedral and Round Tower. Amazing stained glass, early Gothic arches, and the tombs of 15th and 16th century lords and ladies decorated with marble effigies of the deceased dressed as befit the time. Important Butlers through the years feature prominently. The tower dates to the mid-ninth century, during the peak of the Viking raids. It is the first such tower we've come across that the visitor can actually climb. However, as the top is open, that kind of visit is limited to fine weather; which we definitely did not enjoy. No tower top visit for us.

PK's lunch, advertised as "roast sandwich of the day", was a slab of beef on bread. Tasty, but a bit uninspired. Having been chilled by the rather unpleasant meteorological changes, an afternoon pint was in order: PK enjoyed the local brew, Smithwicks (pronounced SMITH-ix, available in the US and most every pub in Ireland), and all was well. My ravioli at dinner were tortellini. The tiramisu afterwards helped.

By the way, the English Premier League championships were last weekend: Manchester United versus Chelsea. This is not the recent match where British fans were clubbed and gassed by Greek police in Athens: that was the European championship. The English Championship is thought to be watched by 500,000,000 people: that's almost 10 times the number of British people! The Lads, especially the bachleor lad, are Man Utd fans. At a crowded pub in Waterford, we witnessed a very boring game of soccer, with the wrong team on top after two overtime sessions.

But as promised, we've also been doing a fair bit of birding recently. Sunday the 20th of May was National Dawn Chorus day. For the uninitiated, the dawn chorus is the concert that songbirds regale the waking world with each day. Starting before the sun is up, birds announce that they have made it through another night. Birdwatch Ireland and other like-minded conservation organisations sponsored bird walks across the republic, all starting around 4am. Our local walk went to the woods around Ballyscanlon Lough. The first bird of the day was a cuckoo, at 04:05. And despite the fact that this was a life bird for us, it's voice was unmistakable. The walk lasted about an hour before we moved down the road a ways to Fenor Bog, where our guide had some moth traps set. By 06:30 the sun was up and we headed to Brownstown Head to dig up some reported manx's shearwaters. Alas, no shearwaters, but plenty of other stuff to keep us busy. A fierce wind was blowing for much of the time, so we hunkered down in the sun on the cliff and watched the gannets, guillemots, gulls, terns, and other seabirds stream past. By the time we gave up for the day, about 12:30, we'd ticked 53 species. Considering that the total record list of birds spotted in Ireland is only about 400, that's not a bad day. Besides the cuckoo and gannets, some other favourites (life birds all ~ at least for one of us) included: sandwich tern, sedge warbler, whitethroat (another warbler), chiffchaff, goldcrest, linnet, and redpoll.


This past weekend we again headed for County Waterford headlands looking (unsuccessfully) for manx shearwaters. On a two mile cliff walk near Ardmore, we did get to see a great black-backed gull chick, a small kittiwake colony, and nesting fulmars. However, it wasn't just the wind this time: the skies got angry and soddened us to the bone. It's over 24 hours since we returned and PK's shoes are still wet. Definitely worth the damp, but we were very soggy.

Finally, I just enjoyed a Memorial Day break by writing this blog, after a decent sleep-in. Normal Irish folks don't get the pleasure until next weekend. As I work for a call centre that supports a British product, my calendar is British. Hence the holiday.

Slainte.