County Galway

County Galway is located in the West of Ireland, part of the province of Connacht. The second biggest county it covers 6,151 km² (2,375 square miles) and is home to over 276,000 people. It borders Mayo to the northwest, Roscommon to the northeast, Offaly to the east, Tipperary to the southeast and Clare to the south. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean and Galway’s coast is the highlight of the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ defined by then rugged Connemara landscape – dramatic sandy beaches and the expanse of Galway Bay as well as Derrigimnlagh Bog.

Offshore are the Aran Islands – Inisheer, Inishmaan and Inishmore. Inland Galway features the dramatic landscapes of Lough Corrib; the limestone region of the Burren (extending from neighbouring Co. Clare and the River Corrib known for premier salmon angling. The River Corrib runs through Galway City, the county town and East Galway offering flatter agricultural land, while inland areas generally feature richer, more historically populated lands compared to the rugged Atlantic coast.

Glencoaghan River from Bencullaghduff – ©Christian Scheja CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

County Galway is home to Na Beanna Beola (Twelve Bens) mountain range, Na Sléibhte Mhám Toirc (the Maum Turk mountains), and the low mountains of Sliabh Echtghe (Slieve Aughty). The highest point in the county is one of the Twelve Bens, Benbaun, at 729m. County Galway is partly home to a number of Ireland’s largest lakes including Lough Corrib (the largest lake in the Republic of Ireland), Lough Derg and Lough Mask. The county is also home to a large number of smaller lakes, many of which are in the Connemara region. These include Lough Anaserd, Ardderry Lough, Aughrusbeg Lough, Ballycuirke Lough, Ballynahinch Lake, Lough Bofin, Lough Cutra, Derryclare Lough, Lough Fee, Glendollagh Lough, Lough Glenicmurrin, Lough Inagh, Kylemore Lough, Lettercraffroe Lough, Maumeen Lough, Lough Nafooey, Lough Rea, Ross Lake and Lough Shindilla.

Birding County Galway

One of the least densely populated counties, County Galway harbours a variety of wildlife.  You can get corncrake, puffin and many migrants. On the eastern border of Co Galway there is Lough Derg, that has White Tailed Eagles nesting in some islands or near Portumna Forest. The region’s biodiversity is best represented by Connemara National Park, situated in the west of the county.

Connemara National Park – ©Calum Hutchinson CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

Connemara National Park covers some 2,000 hectares of scenic mountains, expanses of bogs, heaths, grasslands and woodlands. Some of the National Park’s mountains, namely Benbaun, Bencullagh, Benbrack and Muckanaght, are part of the famous Twelve Bens. The Parhas four walking trails. Common song birds include Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Stonechat.

Coole Park Nature Reserve is designated a Special Protection Area mainly due to its importance for wintering waterfowl, especially Whooper Swan, Bewick’s Swan, Wigeon and Pochard as well as having smaller numbers of Teal, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Curlew and Dunlin. Lapwing breed at Newtown Turlough and Common Sandpiper at Coole Lake. The woods at Coole are also very attractive habitat for birds in general.

Bishop’s Island is part of BirdWatch Ireland’s Shannon Callows Reserve, and forms part of the larger Middle Shannon Callows Special Protection Area. This island, together with its neighbouring Bullock Island, is situated in an area of lowland wet grassland called ‘callows’ that is subject to flooding in winter and spring. The reserve lands are all left for hay. In the past the callows were renowned for their breeding Corncrakes but today you would be very lucky to hear one. However, there are Whinchat, Sedge Warblers and Grasshopper Warblers during the summer months. Elsewhere on the callows, breeding Lapwing, Redshank and Curlew can be found. During the winter floods, Black-tailed Godwit, Golden Plover and Lapwing are numerous. Given the lack of intensive farming the meadows are particularly rich in flowering plants.

The Small Wood Reserve is an area of deciduous woodland with a variety of mature trees, including oak that leads down to a small area of saltmarsh on the edge of Rusheen Bay. Within the woodland, typical woodland bird species are present throughout the year and the variety is boosted by the arrival of summer songsters such as Willow Warblers and Blackcaps. Barna Woods is an area of mixed broadleaf woodland some sections of the woods include an area across the road known as the South Wood which leads to marshlands ending in the Silver Strand. Derrycrag Wood Nature Reserve along with the nearby Rosturra Wood Nature Reserve, is made up of fragments of a once-extensive forest and now contain stands of oak and ash with an understorey of holly and hazel and a rich ground flora. Pollnaknockaun Wood Nature Reserve is another semi-natural woodland, which once formed part of the same extensive forest. The avifauna being broadly similar to that of the Small Wood Reserve.

Richmond Esker Nature Reserve Along with Timahoe Esker Nature Reserve, is one of the few esker ridges left in the country, which still carry native woodland. Although extensively planted with conifers and other exotic species it is planned to expand the native woodland using appropriate management techniques.

Connemara Bog Complex – ©Z thomas CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Bealacooan Bog Nature Reserve forms part of the greater Connemara Bog Complex. It is a classic and intact example of Atlantic or oceanic blanket bog, with a diverse flora which includes a number of scarce plant species and a blanket bog fauna which includes many of Ireland’s and Europe’s more important and threatened species.  Leam West Bog Nature Reserve is of international importance. It is an area of very diverse blanket bog developed over both acid and base rich rocks at the north east limit of the Connemara blanket bogs. It forms part of one of the largest areas of intact bog in Connemara and it is one of the few sites containing both lowland and highland bog. A large number of habitats occur including rock outcrops, bog pools, extremely wet quaking areas, streams and relatively nutrient rich flushes, although faunal density is low.