Before I go on a long cycle, I always check the weather forecast beforehand. I like the security of knowing that there’ll be no rain, it won’t be too hot or too cold, and that the wind won’t be strong enough to make for a difficult cycle. But, before my last cycle, the weather forecast was a bit, all over the place. It was predicting very little rain the day before my cycle, but when I got up that morning, it was predicting, all the rain, in the whole world. But there was no backing out now, it would drive me mad to back out now after getting so excited for the trip. So I packed my camera and my Tascam, and off I went!
I was heading to the Nagle mountains, which is one of my absolute favourite places in the whole world. This is my eleventh year of going there, but since last year (2024) I have experienced the place through new eyes and ears, because it was last year that I got seriously into wildlife. So now, I’m not just looking at the amazing landscape of the Nagles, I’m also on the lookout for the birds and insects that live there. Despite the fact that Coilte plopped down a few of their franken-trees in the Nagles, the mountains contain a lot of beautiful heather, which is great for birds, and a lot of varied vegetation that is great for insects.
This was my first time going to the Nagles with proper recording equipment. The last times I had been there, I only had my phone for recording, so there was no protection whatsoever from wind noise. But now I have a Tascam with wind protection, so it blocks out mild to moderate wind noise very well. Unfortunately, it was quite windy on the Nagles that day, even the mighty Tascam had difficulty blocking it out! Fortunately I still managed to get a lot of recordings.
As I walked towards my favourite part of the mountain, I saw a bird of prey in the distance.
A kestrel! While I was initially worried that I wouldn’t get good recordings with the wind, the wind had its advantages. Kestrels love the wind, it allows them to do their “hovering” trick. I’ve written about that here.
Perhaps if it hadn’t been such a windy day, I wouldn’t have encountered the kestrel! I encountered the kestrel again later, here are some more photos of that.
I’ve only ever seen 3 kestrels, and getting a clear photo of one has proved tough. This is probably my clearest ever photo of a kestrel, my second encounter, near my house.
If only all bird photos could be this clear! But it’s part of the challenge I suppose!
The Nagle Mountains is one of my favourite places in the world, but I also have a favourite place within the Nagle Mountains. I call it the Northern Cairn, though I have no idea what most people call it.
During my first few years of visiting the Nagle Mountains, I explored the mountain range fairly extensively, going there with the aim of finding new and interesting places. But in 2020, I found the Northern Cairn, and I knew I had found my favourite part of the mountain range. While I would like to get back to the exploration aspect of visiting the mountains, it still feels like no visit to the Nagles is complete without visiting the Northern Cairn.
I sat down on the cairn and just, took it all in, let my senses melt into the beauty of the landscape.
And did the rain come that the weather forecast was predicting? You better believe it did. As soon as I felt those first few drops, I cursed my bad luck. But then I thought, what am I complaining about? I’m in one of most wonderful places in the world, should I really be stressed if it’s raining as I’m sitting on the Northern Cairn, surveying the majesty of the landscape? Now granted, part of my worry about rain is that, with an hour at least to get back to my bike from the Northern Cairn, and from there, at least an hour and a half cycle, what I’m really worried about is the experience of my clothes being soaking for a minimum of two and a half hours. But would I look back on that as anything but a mild inconvenience? Are you listening to that anxious brain? If you could regard all of life’s problems that way, it would be so great!
My anxious brain isn’t listening, oh well!
What’s better than being in one of my favourite places in the world? Encountering one of my favourite birds in one of my favourite places in the world! As I sat on the Northern Cairn, letting the amazing scenery soothe my mind, what did I see, but a raven in flight!
I hope that the raven was experiencing absolute joy and euphoria while flying through the sky. In fact, this may well have been the case. An example of a book I could not put down was “The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think” by Jennifer Ackerman, and ravens are an example of birds, along with choughs, that engage in impressive aerial displays in the air, seeming to suggest that, no, flying isn’t simply a way of getting from point A to point B, but that they actually love it!
Imagine that, that when you look in the sky, and see a raven sailing so high above you, the bird may be experiencing elation at the sheer wonder of defying gravity.
It being a windy day, I was worried my first day of going to the Nagles with proper recording equipment would prove to be a disappointment, but luckily the wind was good enough to stay quietish long enough for me to get some recordings. This is a meadow pipit.
https://xeno-canto.org/1018523
I love the heather of the Nagle mountains. How it glows in the sun, and how it provides such a lovely home for all these birds. I’ve talked before about another favourite cycling location of mine, Bottlehill, and sadly, despite how much I enjoy the quiet and solitude there, pretty much all of it is just Coilte trees.
Luckily, the Nagle mountains hasn’t been completely taken over by Coilte trees, there are still extensive parts of it that exist, to provide a home for birds and other animals, and to provide joy and wonder for humans. And they don’t need to do anything else, things that do not generate profit are not useless.
I took a walk down a section of the mountains I hadn’t been to in a while, and got some more recordings. Despite the many problems caused by the Coilte trees, some birds do like to hang out there, so I got this recording of a wren:
https://xeno-canto.org/1018583
And then I got a recording of a bird that I rarely encounter but is one of my favourites, the highly secretive jay!:
https://xeno-canto.org/1018502
In the background you’ll hear a wren, probably the same wren as the previous recording, but the “over excited dinosaur” sound is the jay. I love their sound, so prehistoric! What I’ve never heard, though would love to hear, is a jay engaged in mimickry. Seán Ronayne has a humerous story about being out walking his dog, and being surprised to hear a dog coming from above him. He looked up and to his surprise, there was a jay, doing a perfect impression of a dog! So hopefully I’ll get a recording of a jay doing some mimickry some day!
And here’s a robin, though this isn’t the sweet song they’re most heavily associated with, this is more percussive clicking that robins often do:
https://xeno-canto.org/1018754
And, as I descended down the mountain, I encountered a charming willow warbler. This is the bird’s sound.
https://xeno-canto.org/1018758
Now, I know some of you down the back are screaming, you said there’d be bees, where’s the bees, I want there to be bees! Well, as I headed downwards towards the base of the mountain, I encountered many bees, here they are!
And many other wonderful insects were encountered too.
I reached the bike and began the process of checking over and over again that my wallet, phone, keys etc, were in my bag or pockets. I have to do this before pretty much any bike ride, so I got on the bike and started heading for home, but I wasn’t long stopping, because on the side of the road, I heard this!
https://xeno-canto.org/1018756
Perhaps not even five minutes after I started peddling, I was jumping off the bike and switching on the Tascam! This is the sound of some stonechats, a type of bird I’m a big fan of. There is something almost hypnotic about their sound. They just, make this sound like two small stones being hit together (hence the name) over and over again, never stopping, never even taking the little breaks that other birds do between phrases, just making this percussive sound, over, and over, and over again. And I love it! Some of my longest recordings are of stonechats, because they just love making this sound so much!
As I headed home, I encountered two more interesting characters, one of my favourite bees, a bombus pascorum.
As I continued to head home, I caught sight of a buzzard, but damn, why did it have to be flying over the road, where I couldn’t get a clear shot without risking being hit by a car! Fortunately, I would encounter another buzzard towards the end of my trip.
And shortly after this encounter, I reached the end of my trip. For the rest of the evening my brain screeched with the sheer joy and elation of the wonderful adventure that I had. Got very little sleep that night, my brain was buzzing so much, but it was worth it!
Ponderings Of An Autist 