By Dave Rees and Nicholas Mitchell
The West Cork Branch held the inaugural first bird race on January 29, 2017. Apparently there had been a bird race in earlier years but no records exist. Our Chair at the time, Paul Connaughton, felt that this would be a great opportunity to showcase birding in West Cork and attract both experienced and novice birders. Six teams registered for that first race. The number of teams entering the race remained the broadly same for the first few years and then there was a gap for Covid in 2021 and 2022. On its resumption, registrations started to increase, and families and students started to come along.
The race is now held on the first Sunday in February and this year a record 16 teams registered. The teams gathered at Scally’s car park, ready for the 8.30am start. There was the usual excited chat going on, with friends catching up, renewing friendly rivalries and trying not to give away too much about their plans: where they would head first or their treasured spots for guaranteed birds. The weather was set fair, with no rain forecast, but the sun’s glare was going to be an issue, particularly when looking out to sea. The high tide times were not the friendliest either, with high tide in Clonakilty not due until late afternoon.
At 8.30am sharp the teams scattered to their chosen first spots. The race is confined to an area between the boatyard at Ring in the east and the pier at Rosscarbery in the west, with the N71 road the northern boundary. For some teams, meticulous planning goes into deciding how best to spend their time and which sites have to be visited at certain times. For others it’s a day out birding with friends. Although the teams disperse, there are times when they bump into each other. Our own team, for example, met two others at Sands Cove. We had headed there to look for Rock Pipit, which had been surprisingly difficult to find during the day. Not only did we find Rock Pipit, but had the unexpected bonus of a Black Redstart. At these unexpected meetings, there is the usual banter and pretence of doing really well, before finally admitting that the day is a little quiet.
As always there’s the last minute rush to call in at a few more sites and try to add one or two extra species to the list before getting back to O’Donovan’s Hotel by 6pm, which is where the fun starts. Whilst the organisers tot up the scores, the stories begin as to who saw what and where. Then the scores are in and announced. This year the winning team was The East Corkers (Paul Moore, Denis O’Sullivan, John Coveney and Mark Shorten) with an impressive total of 100 species, narrowly beating the local C Team (Ciarán Cronin, Colin Bartin, Calvin Jone and Christopher O’Sullivan) by one bird! And in third place with an amazing 95 was the family team Bob’s Mighty Munch Bunch (Sam Bayley, Lucy Bayley (5), Wayne Greene-Salm, Lulu Greene-Salm (11) and Heidi Greene-Salm (9)). Once again we are grateful to Dena, and Tommy (RIP), and their team for hosting us once more at O’Donovan’s.
Since the race started nine years ago, 132 species have been recorded. This year some of the highlights included Black Redstart, Glossy Ibis and Great Spotted Woodpecker. But the real winner and highlight was the day itself. A great day was had birdwatching in West Cork in good weather and meeting up with other birders later in the day. For those of us involved in organising the race, it was fantastic to see so many teams turn out and in particular to the number of youngsters joining in and obviously enjoying the day. If this sounds like fun, why not put a team together for next year’s race on Sunday, February 4? See you at the start!
In the meantime, why not join us at one of our forthcoming outings. Unless expressly stated, all our events are free and are open to everyone; you do not need to be a member of BirdWatch Ireland
BirdWatch Ireland
West Cork Branch News
Upcoming outings:
Sunday, April 19: Bilingual Nature Walk idir Gaeilge agus Béarla, Baile Bhuirne
During April: Ad hoc migration outings notified on our WhatsApp Group. The joining link can be found on the home page of our website
Visit www.birdwatchirelandwestcork.ie for details of upcoming events.
For more information, contact Fiona O’Neill at secretary@birdwatchirelandwestcork.ie
Follow us on: Facebook: @BirdWatchIrelandWestCork. Instagram: @birdwatch_ireland_west_cork
