Birds of the Ogham

Pheasant

Duck

Snipe

Gull

Hawk

The Sparrow hawk is about the same size as a Kestrel and has a similarly long tail but its wings have rounded not pointed tips and are shorter as if not fully extended. Whether soaring or gliding, Sparrow hawks have a characteristic flap-flap-glide action.

After the Kestrel, the second commonest raptor in Britain, occurring largely in areas where there are trees. Not present on the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Isles. Some birds occur on passage and in winter from the continent.

A widespread bird, resident in most of Europe but many birds migrating south from Scandinavia can be seen, for example, from Falsterbo (Sweden) in the autumn

Nightjar

Nightjars are long-winged, long-tailed, mottled brown-and-grey birds rarely seen by day. If you should flush one it can be told from a cuckoo or falcon by the way it invariably keeps its wings held up above the horizontal. In the early evening you may see the white spots near the wing tips and in the corners of the tail of the male

The wren symbolised wisdom and divinity. It is difficult to actually see a wren. At New Year the apprentice Druid would go out by himself into the countryside in search of hidden wisdom. If he found a wren he would take that as a sign that he would be blessed with inner knowledge in the coming year. Finding a creature small and elusive to the point of invisibility was a metaphor for finding the elusive divinity within all life.

 Troglodytes troglodytes (10cm) - The wren is one of the smallest European birds. Coloring is a rich chestnut brown, barred with dark brown above; somewhat paler below with less barring. The tail is characteristically narrow and carried cocked upright. Flight is low and direct, on short, rounded, whirring wings. Voice - Their call is a scolding 'churr' or sharp 'tic tic tic'. The song is musical, extended series of rapid trills and clear high notes, usually ending with a flourish and which is astonishingly loud.

Heron

Robin

Tit

 Cygnus olor (150cm) - Huge and unmistakable, the adult swans are all-white year-round; long neck carried in graceful 'S' curve. Beak is dark orange, black knob on forehead is larger in males than females. Adults raise wings like sails high over back in defense of territory or young. Immature are pale grey-buff; beak pinkish-grey. In flight, their long, broad, heavily fingered wings creak loudly. They are usually solitary on the breeding site, but very large flocks exist in some areas. Voice - As their name suggests, this bird is rarely vocal. They can hiss or grunt when annoyed.

The mute swan is our largest Irish bird. Their poise and elegance is recognized by all. Our resident pair 'swan about' this season without their accompanying cygnets. Their large untidy collection of reed stems and plant debris which forms their nest at the lake edge, gives little protection to the incubating hen. The aggressive charges of the cob may not have succeeded in warding off the fox this year, though they have a reputation for scaring off even the hungriest intruder. The clever fox was seen by us on repetitive visits in daylight on the same open field route with a mission to accomplish - we now convict him of theft. The rats and otters are the more usual culprits. 4 - 7 greenish/white eggs are laid and kept warm for 35 days. One day later after hatching out the cygnets take to the water. A 'happy family' scene is witnessed as the young chicks sitting snugly on the parents back go sightseeing around the lake.

Probably introduced to Ireland by the Normans, ownership was then a mark of distinction. They were used traditionally as gifts between dignitaries (observe under the arm of the next dignitary ascending the steps to Aras an Uachtarain!) but 'conflict of interest' was rife then as now, as the main course on the banquet menu could be swan - very mute by then! The mute swan is unable to sing sweetly, can utter a few flat hollow sounds and hissing sounds in order to ward off unwelcome visitors.

Though 12kg in weight, she is a powerful flyer. Diet consists of water, beetles, tadpoles, and water weeds. inadvertently lead may be swallowed causing death and the other cause of death is collision with overhead cables.

Goose

It is said that the Druids were expert at divining from the flight of birds. As well as their psychic abilities, they would also have been using their skills as keen observers of the natural world. The arrival or departure of migrating geese for example, would have given warning of the coming of winter or summer and because of this the goose has come to symbolize seasonal change. And if wild geese were seen flying out toward the sea, it was taken as an augury of good weather, while if they flew toward the hills, bad weather was on its way.

In the quotation above, the writer talks of barnacle geese who arrive in Britain in October for the winter. Coming from the Arctic, their arrival shortly before Samhain (All Hallows) would have been a powerful sign of the approaching winter. Their origin being unknown, barnacle geese were said to hatch out of barnacles attached to driftwood, out of trees or even out of acorns. In Scotland barnacle geese were sometimes called tree geese, since legend told that they came from willows on the Orkney Islands.

Some of the strongest associations of the goose are with the qualilities of aggression and defensiveness. The fact that the goose will vigorously defend her family and her territory and that her loud honking gives ample warning of any visitor, has made the goose a powerful symbol of defensive power and guardianship. A great stone goose gazes watchfully from the lintel of the Iron Age cliff top temple of Roquepertuse in Provence, guarding a shrine of war-deities. At Dineault in Brittany a bronze figurine of a Celtic war-goddess has been found, complete with helmet surmounted by a goose in its characteristic threatening posture, with its neck thrust forward.

The greylag and other varieties of goose mate for life and will fiercely defend their mate and their goslings. Complex courtship rituals and 'triumph ceremonies' performed each time a pair meet have made the goose typify courtship, partnership and fidelity. The goose with its strong attachment to family combined with its ability to fly extraordinarily high is a powerful symbol of the union of heaven and earth and a way in which spiritual and everyday concerns can be united.

 Turdus merula (25cm) - Male is distinctive with entirely glossy, velvet-black plumage with contrasting orange beak and eye-ring. Female is dark brown above, paler below, with dark-bordered whitish throat; dark beak, with trace of yellow at base. Immature tend to be more ginger brown the female, heavily buff-spotted breast. Voice - Rich and fluty song, but not repetitive like the Song Thrush and not as clear as the Mistle Thrush - extended, various and melodious. The alarm call is an indignant sounding 'chink', 'chook', 'chack' or, 'pink' and the calls often run together into a more frantic shriek when mobbing a predator.

 Corvus frugilegus (45cm) - The adult male and female of this medium-sized crow have plumage which is wholly glossy black, with an iridescent sheen. Feathers of upper leg are loose and rough, giving a 'baggy-trousered' appearance. Beak is pale, long, and dagger-shaped, running to whitish cheek patches. Immature have plumage of a duller sooty black; beak is blackish; it lacks the cheek patches. They are colonial when breeding, and gregarious when feeding. Voice - They are noisy, with a number of raucous 'carr', 'caah' and 'caaw' calls, plus a number of other less-frequently heard harsh notes. They have no song.

Oystercatcher