BirdWatch Ireland

And just like that, the 2026 Country Bird Survey (CBS), has come to a close. A big thank you to the over 300 volunteers and National Parks and Wildlife Service staff took part this year.

We had a good season overall, with excellent surveying conditions for most of it, and some new woodland squares released. The heatwave towards the end made things trickier, luckily the work is completed before 9am and before the heat of the day!

CBS is one of the most important and longest running bird surveys in Ireland, running since 1998. It tracks common and widespread breeding birds. Coordinated by BirdWatch Ireland and funded by NPWS, it has attracted over 800 observers to date, who have collectively counted over 2 million birds. CBS data feeds into national and European conservation reporting, including farmland bird indicators and the EU Birds Directive.

Recently staff from Birdwatch Ireland visited Scoil Naomh Cholmcille on Tory Island to talk to the children about the bird life of the island and some of the work BirdWatch Ireland is doing to protect breeding waders. Tory Island Warden, Kyle Coughlan and Breeding Wader Fieldworker, Michael Bell highlighted how important Tory Island is for nesting birds and some of the threats that they face. The highlight for the children was walking to a nearby marsh and using a spotting scope and binoculars to watch Redshank, Oystercatcher, Lapwing and Snipe. Many thanks to the teachers and staff at the school for helping to organize this visit.

This event was organized as part of BirdWatch Ireland's PeacePlus Nature, a project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body - SEUPB.
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Le gairid thug baill foirne ó BirdWatch Ireland cuairt ar Scoil Naomh Cholmcille ar Thoraigh chun labhairt leis na páistí faoi éanlaith an oileáin agus faoin obair atá á déanamh ag BirdWatch Ireland chun éin chladaigh atá ag pórú a chosaint. Chuir Maor Oileán Thoraí, Kyle Coughlan, agus Oibrí Allamuigh na nÉan Cladaigh Pórúcháin, Michael Bell, béim ar chomh tábhachtach agus atá Oileán Thoraí d'éin neadaithe agus ar chuid de na bagairtí atá rompu.
Ba é buaicphointe an lae do na páistí ná siúl trasna go dtí riasc in aice láimhe agus teileascóp faire agus déshúiligh a úsáid chun Cosdeargán, Roilleach, Pilibín agus Naoscach a fheiceáil.
Míle buíochas do na múinteoirí agus foireann na scoile ar shon cuidiú an chuairt seo a eagrú.

Eagraíodh an imeacht seo mar chuid de thionscadal PeacePlus Nature de chuid BirdWatch Ireland, tionscadal a fhaigheann tacaíocht ó PEACEPLUS, clár atá á bhainistiú ag Comhlacht na gClár Speisialta de chuid an Aontais Eorpaigh (SEUPB).

Happy World Seabird Day 🌊

To celebrate, here are some motivational quotes your local seabird would probably say.

Update from our East Coast Seabird Survey Team—
The breeding season is at its peak and everyone has chicks. If you're thinking of visiting the east coast cliffs, now is the time to see the seabirds at their best, (don't forget your binoculars and scope!).

From this point on, everything will start to wind down. Gulls chicks are starting to take to the wing. Some s**g chicks have already left and the rest are not far behind. Once auk chicks fledge and leave the land for the sea, the cliffs will start to empty quickly.

Even the peregrine juveniles are flying, both on Ireland's Eye and at Bray. Despite disappearing for a couple of weeks, it seems the peregrine nest on Bray Head escaped the fire and managed to fledge at least one (and we suspect two) chicks.

All photos are taken under NPWS licensing.

Following the release of the new guidance for feeding garden birds, many people had questions about what this means for their favorite garden visitors—why do we have to stop feeding garden birds in the summer? Will they be okay without feeders? What about bird baths?

To answer some of some of our most frequent questions, we've created a FAQ for feeding your garden birds: https://birdwatchireland.ie/new-guidance/