September 02 2002

These Swallows are certainly giving me the run-around. One minute I see them, next minute I don't. My last report about the swallows massing over Clondalkin still stands. I do believe that what I saw was the beginning of their exodus from this country. However, the process obviously goes on for much longer than I thought. There are still quite a number of swallows at the Hazeler but they are acting very strangely indeed. Yesterday evening large numbers of them were flying around in a very agitated fashion and then they all landed on the roof of the house across the road. After a few minutes they all took off again and flew around for another few minutes and then all landed again. This was repeated over and over again until I lost count. Eventually of course it got dark and all activity ceased. Down at Lough Ennel we took a rowing boat again and paid a visit to the reed bed which on our last visit was black with swallows. We saw but a handful but later we saw quite a number, again all flying as a flock and high up. I suspect however that a lot have left the reed beds and those that are still there are straglers preparing to go. Yesterday was a nice day and I must say that on a nice day Lough Ennel is really lovely. The surrounding landscape is made up of low rolling hills all the way round no matter in which direction you look. From Lilliput you can see the towers of the Cathedral in Mullingar. Lots of people were out fishing or simply enjoying being on the water, though I must say that jet skiers should be given somewhere else to practice their art. I think they pose a danger to others engaged in less noisy and less powerful activities. There are plenty of lakes in the midlands and one of them could be designated as THE jet skie lake where people wouldn't go to swim, fish and row, but to jet skie. Right. That's that bit said. Westmeath Co Coucil, please take note.

September 09 2002

Well now I think that my last update was a bit misleading. In it I implied that the swallows were still at the Hazler and that they were behaving in a strange way. Now I think that I was wrong and I think that in fact they were gone. I'm beginning to think that what I saw was a flock of pied wagtails. I saw them again this weekend still acting in the same way. But when they take off and go high in the sky they can easily be mistaken for swallows. But pied wagtails is what they are.

August 24 2002

It's 7 AM. There is no movement of air whatsoever. The leaves and new growth on the trees are limp. Not a rustle, not a move, no shake, no bend before the breeze, motionless. The sky is grey, just as it was yesterday evening when as I rummaged in the garden I became aware of a particular bird sound. A Swallow! Now Clondalkin is not renowned for it's swallows so I was a bit surprised. So I looked up to see from where had the chirping come. To my increased surprise I saw that whichever swallow it had come from he was only one of many. The sky was full of them. They were not feeding, but were mostly flying very high and gliding to and fro almost aimlessly. However one could detect a directional drift. You know that feeling you get when you look at apparently motionless clouds, yet you detect almost subconsciously that they are moving in a particular direction. It was the same with the swallows. You got the sense that there was movement of the entire flock in an easterly direction. I do believe that I was witness to the start of that great migration back to Africa. I was at the Hazeler later in the evening and there wasn't a swallow to be seen. My guess is that over the next week or so many more will be seen drifting eastward. I wonder if they keep sight of land at all times. From Killakee you can see the Welsh coast. I'm sure that from the south-east coast of England you can see the French coast (Normandy) from whence came the ancesters of so many of those of us who became more Irish than the irish themselves. Once over the French coast, it's over land all the way down through France and Spain and on into North Africa. So, resting places are available all the way. This could mean that the journey of the swallows is a much more leisurely affair than we might be inclined to think. Perhaps it's not a mad dash in endless flight from the south coast of Ireland accross endless water to their landfall in Africa, but a relaxed casual leisurely drift from one coast to the next until they finally reach their destination. OK. You can go back to sleep now!!

August 13 2002

The Picture is that of a Hawk. On Sunday August 4 we went down to Lough Ennel near Mullingar. I say near Mullingar but it's also near Tyrellspass at the south end and this is the end we went to. It's called Lilliput. This is where the inspiration for that famous adventure book, Gullivers Travells, came from believe it or not. There is a nice swimming area there for children and adults alike if you felt so inclined and there were many children swimming at the time we were there. There was much screaming and shouting and hollering and splashing and jumping and fighting going on and one would think there was a million children there enjoying themselves. Many of them were in traditional togs but many others were in wet siuts or maybe they were dry siuts, but in any case they looked like the sort of suits a diver wears. that seems like a great idea as the suit gives them boyancy on the one hand and keeps them warm on the other.We went to the jetty where you can hire a rowing boat or one with an outboard motor on it if you wish. I prefer to row. I can experience the smell of fumes anywhere any time so why do it on Lough Ennel. We took our boat and had a very lazy row around the south end of the lake. And Boy! If you want to see swallows in numbers this is the place to do it. We knew they were about because we could see them swooping over the water all the time. But I rowed towards a huge bed of reeds at the south-east corner and suddenly became aware that the whole bed was covered with swallows. Now this is a lot of reeds, maybe a couple of acres. Suddenly the whole flock of birds rose from the reeds and we were totally surrounded by them swooping and diving and skimming past our heads with no more than a foot or two to spare. It seemed like a long time but it was only minutes and just as suddenly the whole flock settled on the reeds again. It was quite an experience. It was a great day there all together. This Sunday August 11 wasn't so great. No boating. But a sojourn in the Hazeler paid off. While I sat there amidst the gaggle of the inebriated, contemplating the grey sky outside, once again a hawk appeared just accross the road very near where the two jackdaws used to hang out. He hovered there rock steady for about three minutes and then plunged to the ground. I dare say his efforts paid off. What can I say. More power to him. He has to live too. It's a strange world though, where for one to live, another has to die.

July 6 2002

This lovely picture of a Yellow Wagtail is from the Birds of Britain Magazine.Well June was the wettest since records began in some places and July is shaping up to equal that as far as we can see. Rain is almost non-stop and when it does stop people almost remember the date and the time of day that such a stoppage took place and where they were at the time of the momentus event. However birdlife goes on regardless. We have a very sad looking Magpie in the garden at the moment. I think he has a broken leg. When he lands he is all to one side like Ballinalack and finds it very difficult to hop in a straight line. Imagine yourself with one foot nailed to the floor while you walk with the other foot and you will have some idea of how the magpie is getting around. There is nothing much that I can do for him because he can fly and therefore cannot be caught. I wouldn't think the outlook is too good for him.We have a good showing of greenfinches in the garden now coming in groups of 5 or six at a time. The peanuts are going down quite fast. There is a very persistant Coletit there as well trying to compete with the greenfinches for his share of the nuts. However the greenfinches are more than a mathch for a small fellow like a coletit and he usually has to concede.At times now we can see up to six blackbirds in the garden. They sunbathe in the trees with their wings spread out to make the most of what heat there is. (Sometimes not very much). I don't know whether it is surprising or not but two of the blackbirds are definitely senior males. And they just do not get on. There are lots of attacking runs and lots of showing off but rarely any contact.The Goldfinches are showing up on a fairly regular basis. Usually two or four. But not more. These birds are nicely coloured with yellow brown black white and a distinctive red around the head. They are also nice singers but I cannot name that tune.My observation of the week has to be that of a willy wagtail. What's so strange about that. Well, what's so strange about that is that he is to be seen and heard flying around Superquinns Supermarket in Lucan. No, Not Outside, but Inside. I guess he found his way in but now can't find his way out. They're going to need a bird catcher....

June 18 2002

I haven't given an update now for quite some time. The reasons are various; lack of time, lack of words and not least a lack of the frantic activity we had last year when a robin and a blackbird both decided to nest in the garage. This year they remained conventional and nested outside in the bushes where they cannot be seen. The new blackbirds are already out and flying around as though they owned the place. There seems to be at least two, maybe three and some times the parent birds and the young appear all together on the ground in the back garden. But it has to be said that the male parent is the dominant bird. He regularly runs the younger birds out of the garden and puts on a great display of dropped wings and raised tail, making many short runs here and there aroun the grass. I hope the cat from next door doesn't get one of them. A sparrow fell victim to the cat last week amid a terrible flurry of feathers. On the road to Mullingar last week we saw a Hawk. Newcastle Ray said it was probably a kestrel. He's probably right but I call them all Hawks. The one we saw was hovering over a spot where he probably saw something like a mouse or something else perhaps. All of a sudden he dropped to the ground like a stone. He must have got something because he didn't come up again. She stoops to conquer.

Tuesday May 28 2002This weekend we met Newcastle Ray. Like ourselves he occasionaly takes a drive out the road but he usually goes in a different direction to us. This time he went down to Robertstown. We have been there many times. But he got a bonus while he was there. He heard a Cukoo. I haven't heard a Cukoo for about 5 years and I would say that most people haven't heard one for much longer than that. We seem to get fewer and fewer of them now. At one time, a year wouldn't pass without hearing one. The last time I heard one, was on the Grand Canal near the Lyons Estate. I must take a wander out that way again and see if anything is going on.