‘Bird walk’ through magical pages

Damien Enright takes flight with a wonderful book.

I WAS recently privileged to read a pre-publication copy of Birdwatching in Ireland with Eric Dempsey. He writes with knowledge, charm and intelligence; one could have no better guide.

His ‘bird walk’ through the pages is not only an education for anyone remotely interested in birds but is marvellously entertaining too. I would urge readers to make for the nearest bookshop and take a look at it.

Those who has never put binoculars to their eyes except to watch horse races will henceforth turn their lenses to the skies.

Eric Dempsey is one of our foremost ornithologists and has authored two milestone volumes, The Complete Guide to Ireland’s Birds and A Pocket Guide to Irish Birds, both illustrated by Michael O’Clery. Despite his status as ‘expert’, his commentary is modestly down-to-earth. In fact, one chapter gently ‘sends up’ some of the bizarre terms used by the birdwatching fanatics of the ‘twitcher’ fraternity.

He tells us of the travels and travails of twitchers who sometimes drive hundreds of miles to catch a glimpse of a rare bird only to find, upon arrival, that it has already flown. This can give the frustrated birder the ab-dabs or, as he calls it, “the horrible sensation of dipping”. Tongue-in-cheek, he tells us “Dippers experience nightmares, waking up screaming at night”.

The book is printed on high quality paper, in a format about A4 size, and is illustrated with stunning bird photographs, (such as the beautifully captured kingfisher, right) by various photographers, one or more for every page of the 220 pages. As an illustrated guide alone, it is worth every penny.

The text begins with an introduction advising the budding birder on the best binoculars and bird books. Part one of the book presents an overview of Ireland’s bird life, the come-and-go of migrants, and the reasons why our island is a birdwatchers’ paradise. Clearly, we are fortunate in our geography, being the best country in Europe in which to see America ‘blow-ins’, rare vagrant birds accidentally blown to our shores when migrating from North to South America across the Caribbean. Dempsey tells us about birds and weather, how weather affects migrations. Those who are new to bird watching will now know, by watching the weather reports, the days on which to expect to see the first swallows arrive or leave.

Chapters tell us of seasonal events in the Irish birdlife, and deal separately with spring, summer, autumn and winter birdwatching. There is fascinating information about the diversity of species. The chapter entitled Beaks Galore comments upon the variations in beak ‘design’ based on functionality, beaks to catch fish, beaks to pick fruit, to split pine cones, to sip nectar from the heart of a flower. By comparing the beaks of finches ‘collected’ on different islands of the Galapagos Darwin hit upon the theory of ‘specialisation’ and evolution.

The second part of the book gives a wonderfully clear Ten Steps to Bird Identification. Birding, as Mr Dempsey says, begins at home with the simple joys of observing the regulars and the new birds and that come into the garden. up. For the ambitious: “Finding a major rarity…will earn you a place in birding lore…you can live off the kudos for years (or sometimes for the rest of your life)” If you are a single male twitcher, presumably the birds will come flocking to you.

Winter garden birds, seabirds, ducks, birds of prey, owls, waders, gulls, warblers and American ‘accidentals’, each get a beautifully illustrated chapter in Part 2.

The Epilogue tells us: “If this book has influenced you to take up birding, then I can only apologise and offer my sympathies…your life will never be the same again. Once you become a birder, you’ll always be one. It may take some time for you to admit to yourself that you are one. It may take even longer to ‘out’ yourself to friends and family…”

So be warned. “Slowly, it will dawn on you that you’re now seeing the world through the eyes of a birder.”

Birdwatching in Ireland with Eric Dempsey is published by Gill & Macmillan at €24.99.