Ireland Wildlife Wildside Wexford Irish Natural History

Kittiwake

Our trip to Dursey Island had been planned with the idea of not only enjoying the new and unusual experience of travelling across the sea by way of Ireland’s only cable car, but also to sample some of the delights of our nesting seabirds - usually only experienced on our offshore islands. In order to make the most of it Don Conroy, Chris Wilson and Alan McGuire headed south taking the Ballyhack to Passage East Car Ferry and travelling over to Dunmore East.

The Cable Car departing from the Island

Here we came into the harbour area and were surrounded by the amazing spectacle of the breeding Kittiwake colony situated on the low cliffs adjacent to the dock. The raucous sounds of the Kittiwakes were fantastic. After a short stay we headed on to Tramore, for a quick breakfast and then made a b-line to the Beara Peninsula, Glegarriff and the Office of the Dursey Island Cable Car. Paddy Sheehan provided us with our tickets and some interesting items about Ireland’s only Cable Car and then, after a short wait we joined Breda and Paul Stevens with their family and experienced the journey, in the cable car, across the sea onto Dursey Island. The rest of the day was spent exploring the island and enjoying some of the seabird delights.

Atlantic Grey Seal

The Gannets we saw breed on the Bull Rock just off Dursey - some 1879 pairs (1998-2000) counted (Seabird Populations of Britain and Ireland by P. Ian Mitchell et all 2004). These Gannets were flying between the mainland and Dursey Island so great views were had by us all. The rest of the time on the Island we spent enjoying the amazing views and coming into close contact with some of the seabirds and other wildlife delights of Dursey.

Puffin

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