A Comprehensive Guide to Beginning Birdwatching in Tipperary

Whether you live in a town or in the remote countryside, wildlife is everywhere, more specifically birds are everywhere. Birds can be spotted in the wildest grassland or in the busiest towns, you just have to know what to look for. 

For anyone looking to immerse themselves in the hobby of birdwatching, the best place you can start is in your own back garden. 

When beginning birdwatching you will need a few things, a pair of binoculars ( such as these ones  a notebook to record species you find, and a book of the species found in Ireland to help identify the species in your area and provide information on their habits and population. Some books that are recommended for birdwatching in Ireland include: The Birds of Ireland – A Field Guide by Jim Wilson 1st & 2nd editions, Finding Birds in Ireland by Eric Dempsey and Michael O’ Clery 2nd edition. The1st edition of The Birds of Ireland will cost approx. €14.39, and the 2nd edition from €16.99. Finding Birds can be purchased for €22.99. For those looking to begin birdwatching from their gardens, Ireland’s Garden Birds provides a comprehensive guide on attracting and identifying birds in your garden and is priced at €12.27. These books can be found at any good bookstore and are also available at Eason’s stores online – Search (easons.com) Apps can also be valuable resources for birdwatchers. The Collins Bird Guide app is available for purchase from the app store on most phones and is priced at €9.49. 

Birdwatch Ireland’s website provides a list of all the species that can be found countrywide as well as providing people with a means of contributing to national records by inputting records of the birds you have spotted in your area to their Irish Garden Bird Survey each Winter. These pages can be accessed through the following links – List of Ireland’s Birds  and Garden Bird Survey  .The most easily spotted birds usually present in most gardens are Robins (pictured), Blue Tits and Blackbirds. Some more elusive garden birds include Wrens and Dunnocks (pictured), which can be difficult to spot due to their ability to quickly hop under hedgerows and through scrub going unnoticed. 

For more adventurous beginner birdwatchers in the Tipperary area, you can expand your horizons by visiting different habitats such as Bishops Wood Dundrum(Bishops Wood Dundrum )  , Grange Wood (Grange Woods )  and the Cabragh Wetlands (Cabragh Wetlands )  where you might be lucky enough see a variety of different birds from waterbirds like Moorhens and Kingfishers to smaller grassland dwelling birds such as Stonechats and Goldfinches. 

Once you have mastered the art of birdwatching you might use these skills to incorporate wildlife photography into your new hobby. Bird watching provides a pastime where people can become absorbed in nature whilst learning something new about the natural world around them so get out, be curious and start birdwatching.