November 26, 2007
Winter Migrations
Whooper Swans (two adults and a juvenile) at Rahasane turlough in east Galway.
Winter has arrived. Just as thousands of Irish shoppers will head off to New York for a shopping spree before Xmas, a far larger migration will take towards Ireland.
Whooper Swans in flight at Rahasane turlough in east Galway.
The late autumn rains have begun to fill the turloughs in East Galway. At Rahasane, near Craughwell, shallow pools have formed across the flat communal meadowlands. Rahasane is not just filling with water - it is also filling with thousands of migrating birds seeking refuge from the harshness of the Scandanavian and Russian winter.
Rahasane is the largest turlough in Ireland when full, but it is hard to imagine the inundation that will occur over the next two months, judging from the scene on Saturday. Water levels are down on previous years. At this time in 2004, the water at Rahasane had nearly reached the edge of the meadow.
For me, winter migration starts when you can hear the honking of whooper swans echoing across a lake on a cold morning. There are dozens of whoopers at Rahasane, grazing away and looking decidedly plump. There are also huge flocks of lapwing, wigeon as well as loads of other species - I hope to see some birds of prey the next time I'm out there. [See the Galway Bird Watching page for a larger list of species that you might see at Rahasane.]
Further references:
Rahasane turlough, October 2004.
Rahasane turlough, January 2006
Posted by Monasette at November 26, 2007 08:54 PM