A bird book that ticks all the boxes

FOR the weekend birder, the peripatetic birder (the travelling salesman, say) or the twitcher, Finding Birds in Ireland, The Complete Guide, by Dempsey and O’Clery is the book to buy.

For the bird-widow or widower, glad to see the back of their twitching partner for whole days at a time, there is no Christmas present they could better give them.

The guide — a mind-boggling achievement in the amount of information it contains, and the amount of research it entailed — will send even the most knowledgeable ‘tick’-pursuer to wetlands, forests, moorlands and seashores new, for it gives directions to every place in every county in Ireland where one may see birds.

Not only that, it tells in minute detail where to find the various species, what time of the year to find them, and in what numbers they may be expected. The illustrations are superb, showing birds in their characteristic habitats, perched, flying, or tumbling in the air.

Maps of the sites described appear on every page, and even the non ornithological-aficionado will find this book useful as a new and novel walking guide. A good walk is made the better for the wayside attractions, and what could better enhance an outdoor experience than encounters with wildlife; and the most visible wildlife is wild birds.

In the opening pages, is a list of 60 Common Species, with maps of all Ireland for each, and a chart showing when each occurs. In the end pages, is the Irish List; a list of all species ever seen on this island, with tick boxes beside each one. Birds visit here from Arctic Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia; this year birds arrived from the Siberian taiga and the plains of the Gobi Desert. This book will tell you where, in your county (and every one of the thirty two counties) you may find them, every haunt or hang-out they frequent. Right away, the country walker or aspirant birder can begin to tick off the list, like a twitcher. Alongside the English & Latin name are headings for Race: Category: Breeding (breeds; breeds rarely, etc.): and Status (resident, winter visitor, rare, etc.).

The supreme virtue of this book is its encyclopaedic data and the clarity with which its presented. The key at the start, so important in wildlife guides, is idiot-proof, and the maps of the locations and calendars showing the incidence of birds at the locations via lighter or darker shading are models of intelligibility and good design. The volume is exceptionally attractive to look at, conveniently sized, stoutly bound by the publishers, Gill & Macmillan, printed on high quality paper, beautifully illustrated and good value for money (in heavy cover paper-back it costs €19.99).

I open a page at random: Waterford Harbour, Grid Ref. S 60 70, No 136 of the total of 275 sites mapped and described. A thumb-nail map shows the visitor the location of Waterford in Ireland. The birding map beneath occupies half the page, and illustrates an area of 16 kilometres by 12. It is clear, clean and easy to follow. It shows the tracks that will take one to the birds. The bar-calendar at the top of the page is divided into the months of the year and shaded according to Best, Good and Poor. The text below describes the site and how to reach the best viewing places. It lists the species under: all year: autumn, winter and spring: summer. It finishes with a list of the site’s rarities.

The names of the obscure places, known to birders, are almost enough to woo one — Nimmo’s Pier and Lough Atalia, in Galway, Stabannan and Lurgangreen in Louth, Lough Funshinagh, in Roscommon, Castle Espie and Quoile Pondage in County Down. The West Fermanagh Scarplands and the Charleville Lagoons beckon. I read that storm petrels occasionally venture into Sligo Bay on summer evenings and whooper swans may be found at Lissadell in autumn, Yeats’ Wild Swans at Coole.

Eric Dempsey, Michael O’Clery, and Gill & Macmillan are to be congratulated on this useful volume, along with the ranks of birders named in the foreword. They supplied information on local places, without which, as the authors say, the book could not have been compiled.