Last night Molly and I went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant, and given our obvious American accents, some locals struck up conversations with us. While the Ring of Kerry which are not to far distant get plenty of folks from the USA, the Skellig Ring while only a side jaunt off its more famous cousin don’t see as many folks from across the big pond. Better yet, tourist season is over which means everyone is much more relaxed (locals and guests alike). We drive into parking lots next to beaches and are often the first to arrive on any given morning for our daily hikes. Even when we leave some time later there are normally only a couple of cars.

Everyone says the weather is amazingly good … sunny and mid 50’s (lots of wind). Molly and I tell people that we don’t mind after all the fog, rain and clouds at home in early September. As I noted earlier, this is not a birding trip, but if the birds keep on pking into the middle of my scenic hikes, what is a birder supposed to do?! I have captured 11 “lifers” in the past three days. Amazing.

Yesterday ended with a trip to the Valentia Island Lighthouse. This is the third lighthouse Molly and I have visited since we served as keepers at Crisp Point in early August. This light house has cannon and is still a working aide to navigation!

Our prior hike was a Ballinskelligs Beach. This beach stretches for about 3/4 of mile between the ruins of Ballinskelligs Castle and Abbey. In the dumb luck category we arrived around 9 am just as tide was starting to go our in earnest, which always means shorebirds during migration, and I saw hundreds and and hundreds of our feathered friends which were busy grabbing breakfast on the newly appearing beach from the receding tide. It was pretty neat to hike between the castle and abbey ruins while finding lots of birds.

The find of the morning from a birding standpoint was a flock of 75+ Eurasian Oystercatchers.

However, the Mew Gulls and Sandwich Terns were very much in evidence

Finally, there were a huge number of Ringed Plovers, which to me look like Semipalmated Plovers, but some ornithologist must think they are different bird species!

The end of my hike included the highlight was meeting and watching a gentleman get take his hydrofoil surfboard kite for an amazing ride (I am giving him a ton of photos!)

Don’t tell anyone, but our sunny, mild mid 50″s weather continues. Almost all the other tourists think the end of September is to late to enjoy this fine land. Glad this misconception holds true, as it allows Molly and me to enjoy this lovely land without many other folks around.

Yesterday we went hiking at the Kerry Cliffs which rise 1,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. The birding wasn’t bad either! The birding took place in the farm fields through which we hiked up to the cliffs.

White Wagtail

Eurasian Jackdaw

Meadow Pipit

Northern Wheatear

We then lost the 1,000 feet in elevation down to the small town of Port Magee. In addition to the Great Black-Backed Gull (see below), we ate dinner at a small pub / cafe where Luke Skywalker apparently learned to “draw the perfect pint”! (some pics from the filming of Star Wars adventure)

It’s not very many folks who can say they travel to Ireland, and the weather is both warmer and dryer! However, Molly and I arrived on the SW Coast of Ireland yesterday, and clear sunny skies and temperatures which range up to the mid 50’s each day are super for us northern Minnesota kids.

We knew we were not in Kansas anymore as we drove up to the remote farm house we have rented for one week. While not on the water, we have great views down to the Atlantic.  While the “Ring of Kerry”, is not too far distant, we are situated on the Skellig Ring. This region is more remote than the Ring of Kerry, and was where Star Wars was filmed (The Force Awakens).

While I have not encountered any Jedi Knights, the birds have been fun and “new for me”. Here is how everything looked when we arrived yesterday.

Out the Front Door of our Cottage

Out the Back Door (and up the hill)

The First Found of Birds!

European Kestrel

European Robin (not a thrush like our Robin)

European Robin and Stonechat

Hooded Crow

Rook

This trip is extra special for me. I have not been to Europe for 6 years (Bicycle Tour through the Norwegian Arctic) and those years have been difficult … eye disease, Covid, open heart surgery, and prostate cancer. With the Grace of God, I seem to be doing very well. I hope to now stay healthy, and the doctors say all looks good!