Three Castles Head 10th June 2012

Three Castle Head and Lissagriffin

Sunday 10^th June 2012

Blessed with dry weather, a group of twenty-three adults and children met at Lissagriffin car park on Sunday morning in anticipation of the day ahead; a walk up to Three Castle Head, a picnic and later an opportunity to see the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly on Lissagriffin Marsh.

With everyone squeezing into as few cars as possible and following a short drive, we arrived at Oughtminnee, where a male Cuckoo, singing his summer refrain, welcomed us.  Led by Peter Wolstenholme, the mile walk out to Three Castle Head, overlooking Dunmanus Bay, must be one of the most beautiful stretches of coastland in West Cork.  Along the way everyone enjoyed the sight of a family of Wheatears; the chicks calling for food, the adult female sounding her warning and the male adult proclaiming his territory with his whistling metallic song.  Competing in song were Skylarks, proclaiming loudly from the heavens or well-chosen advantage points.  This was punctuated from time-to-time by aerobatic Choughs wheeling around the sky calling to each other.

The three fortified towers that comprise 13^th century Dunlough Castle never fail to cause one to draw breath due to their spectacular setting.  Once affording protection to the O’Mahony clan, they now provide excellent nesting opportunities to a variety of birds including Chough.  From the nearby reed beds a Sedge Warbler could be heard singing.

Gannets, Manx Shearwaters and Common Guillemots flew across the bay during the picnic and, with the help of Karl Woods, a lucky few saw a Sooty Shearwater; an early record.  With the picnic over, everyone made their way back to the cars and to Lissagriffin.  There a pleasant hour was spent on the marsh looking for butterflies and marvelling at the orchids and swathes of Ragged Robin on display.  Despite having wings like an exquisite stained glass window the Marsh Fritillary is surprisingly hard to see, but five were found and Damaris Lysaght enlightened everyone on the life cycle and habits of this rare and beautiful butterfly.

The forecast rain stayed away and a fine day was enjoyed by all.  Thanks again to Peter Wolstenholme and Damaris Lysaght for sharing their knowledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird species list:

Fulmar	Fulmaris glacialis
Sooty shearwater	Puffinus griseus
Manx shearwater	Puffinus puffinus
Gannet	Morus bassanus
Common cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo carbo
Shag	Phalacrocorax aristotelis
Grey heron	Ardea cinerea
Mute swan	Cygnus olor
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
Common scoter	Melanitta nigra
Curlew	Numenius arquata
Pomarine skua	Stercorarius pomarinus
Herring gull	Larus argentatus
Lesser black-backed gull	Larus fuscus
Greater black-backed gull	Larus marinus
Guillemot	Uria aalge
Common cuckoo	Cuculus canorus
Sky lark	Alauda arvensis
Sand martin	Riparia riparia
Swallow	Hirundo rustica
House martin	Delichon urbica
Pied wagtail	Motacilla)yarelli
Meadow pipit	Anthus pratensis
Rock pipit	Anthus (spinoletta) petrosus
Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes
Robin	Erithacus rubecula
Stonechat	Saxicola torquata
Wheatear	Oenanthe oenanthe
Sedge warbler	Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Coal tit	Parus ater
Great tit	Parus major
Linnet	Acanthis cannabina
House sparrow	Passer domesticus
Common starling	Sturnus vulgaris
Magpie	Pica pica
Chough	Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Hooded crow	Corvus cornix
Raven	Corvus corax

Butterfly species list:

Marsh Fritillary	Euphydras aurinia
Common Blue	Polyommatus icarus
Green-veined White	Pieris napi
Small Heath	Coenonympha pamphilus