A friend, John Nichol, an avid birdwatcher whose present patch is the Old Head of Kinsale, had some unique sightings this week.

Here is Monday's lunchtime bulletin.

"THIS IS WHAT THE GAA IS ALL ABOUT"

Cork driver and four-time British Rally Champion Keith Cronin will campaign the new generation Hyundai i20 R5-N in this year’s British Rally Championship that includes rounds of the World Rally Championship (Wales Rally GB) and the European Rally Championship (Rally Ypres).

Despite losing Austin Gleeson to injury, Mount Sion overcame fierce rivals Roanmore 2-12 to 1-14 at Walsh Park on Saturday night.

A huge new public park in Cork City, to rival Dublin’s Phoenix Park, is finally set to open next year.

Another Moffett win, but, this time, it was the younger sibling, Josh: he won the Enniskillen-based Trailer Parts and Spares Lakeland Forest Rally, the penultimate round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship and a round of the Northern Ireland Rally series.

Ryle Dwyer looks back at the origins of the Rose of Tralee festival and how it captured the public imagination right from the beginning

A middle-aged man begging on the street was threatened by a man wielding a Stanley-type blade that he would “get it in the gut” if he did not hand over his money, it was alleged yesterday.

Champions Thurles Sarsfields set down a marker for those aspiring to take their title from them when they romped to a 5-32 to 0-7 win over Carrick Swans in their opening game in defence of the Tipperary senior hurling title at Cashel.

Your letters, your views.

Ballygunner 4-20 Passage 1-12: The memory of the late Pat Flynn was honoured in style by his Ballygunner clubmen as they claimed a thoroughly convincing third consecutive senior county title in front of a disappointing 3,811 Walsh Park crowd.

A farmer is prepared to go on hunger strike or drive nails through his hands outside the Dáil if his land “is sold out from under him”.

Banks have had it their own way for too long, a judge said yesterday, adding that he would bend over backwards to facilitate anybody who makes a genuine effort to deal with their indebtedness.

I never dreamed that I could be anything as fabulous as a performer. It was beyond my wildest dreams.

Antrim’s Desi Henry (Skoda Fabia R5) and his Millstreet co-driver Liam Moynihan netted their second win in this season’s Valvoline National Forest Rally Championship as they cruised to victory in the Mallow based Crafted Furniture & Joinery Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, the fourth round of the series.

Patrick Curran shot 1-8 as Dungarvan enjoyed a convincing win against Passage at Fraher Field last night (1-16 to 2-8).

A look ahead to all the weekend’s action around Cork...

Although it is almost a quarter of a century since Peadar Hurson won the National Rally Championship on board an Opel Ascona 400, the Warrenpoint driver remains a potent threat in Irish rallying.

Gas from a former dump is generating enough electricity to power up to 500 homes.

Tomorrow night’s Carbery Navigation Trial in Leap in West Cork is the second round of the Munster Navigation Trial Championship. Local crews will be expected to dominate the 115km event although Limerick’s Alan Shinnors and George Shinnors (Subaru), who won last week’s Cork Startrek Navigation Trial, should again be to the forefront.

A violent criminal who escaped from a prison van when officers stopped at a chip shop to get him food has had his sentence extended by 10 months.

The Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship reaches its penultimate stage on Sunday with the Mayo Forest Rally. Though there is a 31-point difference between series leader and former champion Michael O’Brien (Ford Focus WRC) and his main rival, Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Mitsubishi), the latter can land the title should he prevail on Sunday and again on the final round in Antrim early next month.

The low take-up of the water-conservation grant is an indication that opposition to water charges is so strong the Government “literally cannot give away €100”, according to an opposition party.

A 10-year-old boy repeatedly sexually assaulted by an elderly man tried to commit suicide, a court heard.

Castlehaven 1-14 Ballincollig 1-11 (Cork SFC quarter-final): Expectations were high ahead of this meeting of the last two Cork SFC champions, but Castlehaven and Ballincollig went a long way towards delivering in Dunmanway on Saturday night.

Yet another Moffett show, the latest episode on the TuffMac Trailers Lakeland Rally, round five of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship saw the Monaghan born brothers Sam and Josh dominate proceedings during Saturday’s eight stages in the forests of west Fermanagh.

With consistent performances on the opening four rounds of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship, London-based Cork driver Michael O’Brien (Ford Focus WRC) makes another trip across the Irish Sea for tomorrow’s TuffMac Trailers Lakeland Rally in Enniskillen. The event also counts towards the Northern Ireland McGrady Insurance and Carryduff Forklift Championship.

A charity fun day in Cork city’s newest public park is set to go ahead this weekend after technical insurance issues were overcome.

Matters to be resolved.

The fourth round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship, the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally in Mallow, proved to be an epic contest between Cork driver Owen Murphy (Mitsubishi) and his Limerick co-driver Anthony Nestor, who managed to overcome the spirited challenge of Monaghan’s Jost Moffett/John Rowan (Mitsubishi) to claim a 7.4 second victory.