Discover more about Corkagh Park

About Corkaghs remaining estate buildings

Information on Corkaghs fishing lakes

Discover a secret garden

Discover the Gunpowder Mills at Corkagh

Throughout the year the melodious song of our native birds echo across Corkagh.  Some of these birds will be familiar as regular visitors to nearby gardens but we have other species that are rarely seen in urban settings.  Until recently Corkagh was located on the very edge of the city.  A stones throw away were fields and a little further the woodland and forests of the Dublin mountains.  Of course now as the city expands with both housing and industrial complexes the countryside moves further away but green corridors still exist which allow birds to move freely back and forth and so we still have a park which is full of biodiversity.  🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳 Here are some of the birds you can expect to find at Corkagh together with images I have captured over recent years. Before I go on I have to acknowledge a wonderful app which listens to the bird songs around you and identifies the species.  Without it I would never have been able to identify some of Corkaghs ...

Barn Swallows, House Martins, Sand Martins  Sand Martin If this seems a lot of birds on the same page it probably because I have so few useable images.  All of these small birds spend much of their lives on the wing, flying rapidly over the lakes at Corkagh and the surrounding grassland in pursuit of flying insects and are difficult to photograph. They are all members of the same family of birds and share much in common.  Juvenile Barn Swallows perching. They have yet to develop their long tail streamers.   All are long distance migrants who spend the winter in sub Saharan Africa. They arrive at Corkagh from late March onward. All of them feed solely on flying insects weaving through the air with their mouths wide open to hoover up the flys.  They have bodies and wings designed for the agility needed to hunt in flight. As they spend little time on the ground their legs are much weaker. Nor do they stop to drink water, rather they skim over the lakes with their b...

The Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush. Song Thrush Both of these birds are resident at Corkagh and can be very difficult to tell apart. The Mistle Thrush is taller, and stands with a very upright pose while the Song Thrush is smaller and rounder.  The markings on the Song Thrushes breast are like arrows pointing upwards towards its throat while the Mistle Thrush has rounder, messier marks.  Mistle Thrush The Song Thrush has a distinctive song that can be heard across Corkagh, it is a series of notes each repeated 3 or 4 times, while the Mistle Thrushes song is described as a melancholic whistle.  Song Thrush If you have a Song Thrush visit your garden as I had recently you might notice empty snail shells scattered around. The Song Thrush prefers worms of course, but in dry weather or during winter the snail provides a nourishing meal.  In order to access the meat inside the Thrush will bang the shell repeatedly against a stone.  The Mistle Thrush is unable to do thi...