A walker reading one of my pocket-book West Cork walking guides contacted me to say that, although she had walked a saltmarsh behind Garafeen Strand near Kilbrittain for 10 years, she had never seen the skylarks I mentioned in my book. 

The most outstanding feature of this Irish summer — coming to an ‘official’ end this very day — has been the lack of winged insects.

Birdwatching amid the sands and a silver sea