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Black Guillemots at the Great Wall Dublin’s great
for birding – and it’s no great surprise. More than most cities, ours is blessed with a year round temperate climate and possesses a hugely diverse range of terrains and habitats that include coastal regions, rivers and canals, parks and green spaces, wetlands, marshes, farmland and woodlands. Combined, these attract and sustain a large variety of birdlife from our numerous common or garden birds to our wide range resident and visiting waterbirds, woodland birds, songbirds, shorebirds, seabirds and raptors. Add to that the small size of the capital and its extensive network of local transport links and you have an ideal location for those who want either to get down with nature or simply say hello to our very dear feathered friends and neighbours. So, if you need a break from being out on the town - in bars, clubs and eateries or at gigs, concerts, cinema screenings or theatre shows and you need to take things a bit more slowly, a spot of birding might just be the thing for you! An estimated 300+ bird species can be seen in Dublin during the course of any given year. Some are here all-year round, some join us from hotter places in the springtime and leave us in autumn while others do the opposite - coming from colder locations from September and staying here usually until March. Naturally, many of our most common birds can be seen all round the city but each specific locality boasts its own unique mix of birdlife, a little different to the others. Still, some locations are more impressive than others in terms of variety and frequency of birdlife, so for this article, I’ve chosen five popular locations that are easy for anyone to get to, and when viewed as a whole, truly showcase the very best of what the city as a whole has to offer. Come fly with me! 15