On the previous evening, I had driven from the Ross's Gull at Mutton Island, Galway to Lough Boora in County Offaly, so I could look for the Northern Harrier that had been there for a few months. Thanks to some Sat Nav problems, it took longer than I expected. But I finally arrived after ten that evening. I got ready for another night in the car, whilst the car was being buffeted by the wind & rain from the front that had started to arrive while I was in Galway. I woke about an hour before dawn & I could still hear the rain hitting the car, as I drifted back to sleep again. Finally, the alarm went off at dawn & it had stopped raining & the wind appeared to have easied a little. It looked like the forecast that it would improve for dawn was right.
I didn't really want to get up, but there was the chance of seeing the Northern Harrier after it came out of roost. Two Cranes flew across the entrance track just as I got out of the car. I was pleased with that, as I wasn't aware that there were any Cranes at Lough Boora. I was parked within a few metres of the bank which overlooked the heath and bog at the Western edge of the reserve. So, I didn't have far to walk. After some time of looking, a Harrier appeared fairly close to the bank, but it was only a Hen Harrier.
Over the next hour of waiting I was joined by two British Birders from the North of England. Finally, a second Harrier appeared and it was the Northern Harrier. Frustratingly, it always stayed at the far side of the huge heath. We had views on and off of the Northern Harrier, two Hen Harriers and a Merlin over the next two hours.
Looking back from the bank, there were short grassy fields which held twenty five Whooper Swans, at least fifteen hundred Golden Plovers and my first Irish Hares. It was a superb looking site.
I was booked on the overnight ferry back to Pembroke. I wanted to be in Rosslare about 19:30 which would have given me well over an hour before the ferry departed. It was now late morning. It was only around a two hour drive to Rosslare, so I had plenty of time. The options were to spend the rest of the day at Lough Boora, or go looking for the Forster's Tern that I had missed twice or head up to Doon Lough in County Leitrim for the Double-crested Cormorant that was showing well there. When I looked at google maps, I reckoned I had the time to get to Doon Lough and still catch the ferry, albeit it was going to be a long drive as I was driving North rather than South West towards Rosslare. I decided to try for the Double-crested Cormorant and see a different part of Ireland to the areas I've seen on previous trips. After a couple of hours of driving I arrived at Doon Lough and the Double-crested Cormorant was perched on its favourite post. It wasn't that close, as it was at the back of the Lough, but at least it was immediately on view.
The Double-crested Cormorant didn't move from its post while I was there. After about forty minutes of watching it, I decided to start heading back on the four and a half hour journey back to Rosslare. It was an uneventful journey and I arrived at the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare. It had been a very successful three day mini-break to Ireland with two UK and Irish Ticks: Egyptian Vulture and Northern Harrier and a good supporting cast of American Black Duck, Ross's Gull, Double-crested Cormorant and my first Irish Hares. It had been a lot of driving, but that was dictated by my main target species and trying to work around the two fronts that arrived while I was there. Additionally, it had been my first foreign trip since the start of the C19 outbreak, which clearly was still a significant risk. I had minimised my contact with other people by travelling at night and sleeping in the car. The trip wasn't over yet, as I had a plan to make the drive back to Dorset more interesting on the following morning. But I will cover that in the next Blog Post.