The bird men of Ireland
“Birds are like the canary in the coal mine; early indicators that the climate is changing,” says Jim Wilson, who with Mark Carmody, has just published a new edition of Birds of Ireland. Donal O’donoghue talks to them
On the morning I spoke with Jim Wilson and Mark Carmody, I was woken by birdsong. Nothing unusual in that – late spring is usually when the dawn chorus starts to nd its voice – but I was all at sea attempting to decipher the singers in the choir. So, I asked the experts, uncle and nephew duo, Wilson (text) and Carmody (photography), who have just published a new edition of their de nitive book, Birds of Ireland. Wilson was at home in Cobh in Cork, a poster of birds hanging on the wall behind him, while Carmody was in his adopted home of Dublin. ey tell me about the sounds and sights of the heavenly choristers – how the mistle thrush is one of the earliest singers, how blackbirds are now singing in the evening and how the diminutive wren is getting louder. And I’m all ears.
Birds of Ireland was rst published in 2013, a pocket eld guide that is an essential accessory for anyone interested in identifying Ireland’s birdlife. It has details on more than 260 species and over 1,600 photographs of birds. It is suitable for the beginner as well as the seasoned watcher, with information on how to get started and eld equipment required, as well as the fundamentals of identi cation (size, shape, colour, sound and so on) and the importance of conservation. Above all, the pages re ect the enthusiasm, knowledge and passion of its authors for nature and birdlife, a love nurtured over many years and redolent in many ways of the best-known pioneers of wildlife in Ireland, Éamon de Buitléar and Gerrit van Gelderen.
“I was about 10 or 11 when Jim dragged me out by the scru of my neck to take me birdwatching in Cobh,” says Mark Carmody of his introduction to the birdwatching life. “It was February ’85, on the second or third expedition, when we saw a gadwall, quite a rare duck, on Cuskinny lake and then we got down to the seafront on a cold day with thousands of gulls circling the shing boats and Jim spotted a Ross’s gull, the rst county record for Cork. Jim legged it up the town to the phone box to call a few lads in Ballycotton to tell them the news. Seeing a grown man getting so excited over spotting a bird was brilliant. It’s one of my fondest memories as a kid. And from that moment, I was hooked.”
Jim Wilson, writer, broadcaster (you’ll know him from Mooney Goes Wild and other shows) and former chairman of Birdwatch Ireland, has been birdwatching for over 45 years. “From my earliest memory, I was fascinated with wild animals,” he says. “Our local library, around the corner from where I lived in the middle of Cobh, was my go-to place for books with all the pictures of wildlife. Amuigh Faoin Spéir
(de Buitléar and van Gelderen) on RTÉ TV was also enormously in uential. I’d watch the programme and go out the following day to see what they were talking about. I still have my rst wildlife notebook from the early ’70s when it was neither popular not pro table for a fellow to go birdwatching. ‘Is it the feathered kind?’ was the usual wisecrack at school, but I stuck with it because I loved it.”
e new edition of Birds of Ireland includes distribution maps to re ect changes in the bird population and an updated list of birds of conservation concern. “ ere are species of birds that were once plentiful but now you’d struggle to nd,” says Carmody. “When I rst started taking photographs in Ireland in 2008, green nches were no problem to nd, whereas now it could be weeks or months before I see one. ere are also decreases in birds of prey like the kestrel. Years ago, on the drive from Dublin to Cork, I’d see a dozen or so circling above the motorways. Now if I get to see two, I’m delighted. But while there is a decrease in some species, you also see an increase in other species like the little egret. European species seem to have been pushed here by global warming, with birds seeking more temperate climes.” Birdwatch Ireland’s membership is now about 20,000, boosted in recent years by the pandemic and concerns about the climate crisis. “During the pandemic, we noticed an upsurge in the interest in birdwatching,” says Wilson. “ e poster on the wall behind me came out of Covid, when we decided to do a stay-at-home birdwatching challenge. I posted it on the web as a competition: ‘How many of these birds can you spot?’ Over 500,000 people viewed that post and the downloads were in the thousands and I’m thinking, ‘Where have all these people been hiding?’ It’s like when I give a public talk and ask the audience, ‘How many here are birdwatchers?’ and one or two hands go up. en I show a picture of a robin and ask how many have seen this bird before and every hand shoots up! And I say, ‘Ye are all liars, ye are birdwatchers to a greater or lesser degree!’”