Inishbofin Co.Galway in late May and a Golden Oriole

I only decided on Sunday afternoon to go to Inishbofin, so I texted Anthony McGeehan and told him that I would come after all and that I would drive. I got a text back to meet him at 4:00am which slightly floored me, as I had been doing some outside catering work all day in the blazing sun and I was bog tired.

Anyway we met up and headed down to Galway. We went a different route to my normal, which is slightly longer. We went via Omagh , Ederney, Belleek and Ballyshannon. This way was a revelation as the roads this way are brilliant compared to going via Enniskillen, Blacklion and onto Sligo. We stopped off around 6:00am at Castle Caldwell Forest Park to see if we could see or hear any Wood Warbler. No luck only a couple of Blackcaps and a Red Squirrel. So onwards and after having breakfast in Westport we drove the remaining 40 miles to Cleggan for the ferry.

It was an absolutely glorious day with clear blue skies. The Connemara mountains looked absolutely superb. Not much to see on the way over to the island apart from the passing Herring Gull and a few Guillemots diving as we approached. The island right next to Cromwell's Fort, at the entrance to Inishbofin Harbour, had about 25 Arctic Terns sitting on it.

We then were collected by Paddy Joe in whose cottage we were staying, below.


Paddy Joe's Cottage
 I made a quick lunch and then told AM that I was going for a kip before we headed out. Three hours later I woke up. We then headed out to the East of the Island and we saw the odd Sedge Warbler, a few Stonechats, lots of Wheatears all of whom seemed to be feeding young. We were heading for Dun na hInine where you can watch Fulmars and as we neared it a Chough flew really close by.


Chough in Flight
By now it was nearly 9.00 so we headed back to the cottage via the beach on the east end. There were a couple of Dunlin and eight Ringed Plover which looked great in the low evening light.


Ringed plover in Evening Light

We had just gone past the graveyard when I spotted a Spotted Flycatcher my first of the year and then when we got back to our cottage Anthony spotted another hawking flies in the garden.
After supper and a couple of beers I slept soundly until 9.30am

It was again a beautiful sunny day with a light but cool breeze. Today we were going out to the west end of the island. Anthony was doing a Birding weekend in conjunction with the Dolphin Hotel for 12 people. and he wanted to do a dry run of one of his walks and see what birds were about. So we made our way and first of all came across a Wren bringing food to it's young on the edge of the harbour. There were also a couple of Black Guillemot in the harbour. As we were walking there were a few Wall Brown's and a Peacock Butterfly on the Thrift.



Wall Brown Butterflies


Peacock Butterfly on Pinks

We stopped off at the Doonmore Hotel for a nice Bewleys coffee and scone. While we were sitting outside this sheepdog came past carrying its owner's cigarettes.


Sheepdog and a Packet of Silk Cut
After coffee we tried to see the Corncrake that had been calling at George Lacey's farm, a few hundred yards further on, but we didn't hear or see it. There were reports of 2 birds on the island one being this one and another at the opposite end of the island. We continued to Dun mor promontary where thousands of years ago there used to be a fort. This takes you past what has to be one of the best beaches in Ireland if not the best.


One of Ireland's most Beautiful Beaches

From the top of Dun mor you can see Fulmars nesting on the edge of the cliffs and a pair of Choughs flying around. I'm not very good with heights so wasn't prepared to get too close to get photos. I did get this Fulmar.


Fulmar at Dun mor
The view North-East from Dun mor is spectacular it looks towards the islands from the right Inishturk, Clare Island and Achill Island.


Looking from Dun mor towards Clare, Inishturk and Achill Islands
Here is the view looking back at Dun mor and Inishshark from the big rock in the above picture.


Looking past Dun mor towards Inishshark
This area had quite a few Ringed Plover nesting and even though it is on one of the waymarked routes around the island they were nesting within yards of the track. We were watching them as the tourists made their way past and apart from walking away from the nest none of the tourists seemed to be aware of them.


Ringed Plover's Nest
We also came across this Redwing corpse, which was probably one of the thousands that were seen on the west coast of Ireland during the very cold winter we have recently had.


Redwing Corpse
We continued on our walk and came across a pair of Common Sandpiper which were probably breeding  but are extremely difficult to pin down. Then when we got back to Lough Bofin there was another Common Sandpiper as well as about five pairs of Lapwing which also breed down this end of the Island. On the lough itself was a Mute Swan nest on a little island which in previous years had been a breeding site for Common Terns . A few Mallard were about but not much else.

We finally got back to the cottage at about 5.30pm and after a cup of tea I went for a kip. No sooner had I got to sleep there was a banging on my bedroom door with Anthony saying he thought he had seen a Golden Oriole. We raced out to where he had seen it fly to and as we rounded the corner it flew off towards the harbour. I got a few photos but they were small dots as it was also flying into the sun they were almost impossible to identify. We eventually tracked it down to a small clump of willow near the harbour and at some distance got a few distant shots. I unfortunately hadnt noticed my Fstop was F14 which made most of the shots taken very blurry.


Golden Oriole in Flight
Well I was really chuffed to see a Golden Oriole in Ireland and especially on 'Bofin. I had seen them in Italy and Suffolk but never thought it would be in Ireland. The bird was fairly secretive and kept going back into the willows before flying off back towards Regina's garden. It then flew out past the Dolphin Hotel and we didn't see it again that evening. We headed out past the Dolphin to look for Grasshopper Warbler of which a number had been calling. We saw one a few times but never long enough to get a photograph. One of my bogie birds.

In the morning I woke up and found that Ant was nowhere to be seen so I decided to keep a watch on the garden from one of the bedroom windows and almost immediately the Oriole flew into a sycamore tree and disappeared. I waited and waited and then 25 minutes later it popped up and I got this shot.


Golden Oriole in Regina's Garden
Then it disappeared again and a minute later popped up elsewhere in the bush and I got this one. It then flew off to the small patch of trees behind the garden.


Golden Oriole in Regina's Garden
It was good that it was still here as a couple of birders were coming over to see it. We went down to meet them from the ferry and stopped off at the churchyard to have a look on the way and it flew out as we arrived. Unfortunately when we showed them all the areas we had seen it, it was nowhere to be seen.
After a while we split up and they did eventually catch up with it again in the churchyard.

We went upto the airfield to see how the lapwings were fairing there only to find two pairs and a small number of Ringed Plover. I climbed to the top of the island to take some photos only to find there was a large amount of dust on my sensor and no useable images.

We had been invited by the owner of the Dolphin Hotel Pat and his wife Jackie to a barbecue supper that evening which was a real treat. We had delicious steaks and salad sitting outside. Their five year old daughter Ruby had a keen interest in my binoculars. After dinner I headed out to  Dun na hInine on the east of the Island to get some more shots of Fulmars. I virtually ran most of the couple of miles out there as the sun was getting lower and lower in the sky and was really too late. However I got these photos of both a Fulmar and a Peregrine in the sunset.


Fulmar in Sunset
Click on the Photo for larger views.


Peregrine in Sunset
As I made my way back the moon was rising and it looked  pink in the sky an absolutely lovely evening made worse by the fact I was walking in my crocs and thought I would make a short cut across a bog to get ompletely stuck. To the point where my foot came out and I had to free it by hand. I never realised how difficult it is to wash off wet peat from my feet.


Moon rising over Inishbofin
The following morning I went and photographed some Wheatears.


Male Wheatear


Female Wheatear

I had a wonderful four days and look forward to going back for a week in October if not sooner.
The islanders are really friendly and always give you a wave as they go by or even stopping for a chat.
The only thing I thought was a bit unnecessary was this sign on a gate. Of course I had to take a photo.
Considering tourism plays such a large part in the economy of this island it seems strange to see something like this and really a bit sad. We spoke to a couple of islanders about it who thought it was dreadful.