Fulsome fulmar a highlight of bird fest

THE full moon was glorious last week, and tides were very high, forcing the birds of the estuary to roost high up on the shore. There was a feast of forms and feathers for my friend, a birdwatcher, who arrived from London, to differentiate and name.

He arrived at our door, binoculars slung around his neck, four hours after landing at Cork Airport, only an hour away in his rented car.

Heading west via Kinsale, he first visited the Old Head — rather, the public carpark in front of the golf club gates which is as far as non-golf club members can go — and enjoyed the exhilarating sights of fulmars cruising past him as he sat on the cliff top in the autumn sun and fresh Atlantic air.