Nature On Your Doorstep

It always amazes me how far people will travel to see wildlife when there is every chance that you can see the same animals in your own area. Okay, there are always exceptions. If you live in the middle of a city like Dublin, you’re unlikely to see Pine Martins hopping from building to building while walking down Grafton Street. There are however, plenty of places in Dublin where you can see a huge range of wildlife species. It all depends what you are looking for.

On a recent photo session down the causeway road, heading towards Dollymount, I came across 5 species of butterfly. They were Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Small Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis urticae) and Green Veined White (Pieris napi). Cinnabar and Burnet Moths were busy feeding on Thistle beside the interpretive centre. There was a Kestrel hovering above the dunes and Egrets and Herons feeding at the waters edge on the mudflats. Curlews and Oystercatchers flew overhead and the sound of Terns was coming from the beach, presumably they were feeding on Sandeels.

The bright yellow flowers of Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) mixed in well with the lilac coloured Thistle heads while in the dunes Hares Foot Clover (Trifolium arvense) mixed with Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulnerary) and a smattering of purple Common Vetch (Vicia saliva) in the grassier areas.

All in all, this short session showed that there is an abundance of wildlife just down the road from Raheny, and this doesn’t include Saint Annes Park which is another hotbed of wildlife activity. North Bull Island is a great example of a nature reserve within spitting distance of a city and it’s proof, if indeed proof was ever needed, that you don’t have to travel far to find wildlife. Sometimes all you need to do is slow down, open your eyes and just see what unfolds around you.

North Bull Island or ‘Dollyer’ as it’s known to most Dubliners is a sand island that came into being due to construction of the North Bull Wall in the early 1800’s., starting of life as a sandbar It is a haven for wildlife, with the mudflats at the back of the island being of international importance for birdlife. As such it became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981.