Last year, during my yearly visit to the Coolim Cliffs, I wrote this:
And perhaps some of you are thinking, wouldn’t it be great if I wrote another post about the birds of the Coolim Cliffs? Well, your wish will very soon be granted, and by very soon I mean immediately, because that’s what this post is, as indicated by the title.
I try to get to the Coolim Cliffs at least once a year. Sometimes I get there more than that, but once a year is the bare minimum, because a year without the Coolim Cliffs is an incomplete year. I had actually gone there a few days prior to this, and though I saw and heard some birds, strong winds meant they were very difficult to record, so another trip was definitely warranted!
But luck would be with me that day. There was very little wind, so recording the birds would be quite easy.
The tide was out, so I was able to take the Broad Strand route. There is a set of steps in the southern part of the beach that bring you onto the road to Blind Strand, but from here, you go through a path through the fields, then you’re onto another road, and you walk down this road towards Barry’s Point, and you find a really scenic path through more fields, and this takes you most of the way to the Coolim Cliffs.
I hope this is comprehensible, giving directions was never my strong point!
As I walked through a field, nearing the cliffs, I encountered a delightful little bird, so I’m counting her as the first “Coolim bird” I saw that day.
So, how do I know this is a female? Well, due to countless hours learning about the anatomy and behaviour of stonechats of course.
Naw just joking, female stonechats have bright brown plumage on their heads, and males have dark brown plumage. I’ve been able to tell the males and females apart since getting my first clear photos of these birds. In my experience, birds come in two varieties, the kind where it takes less than ten minutes to explain how to tell the difference between the males and females, and the kind where the males and females look identical to human observers, to the point where even someone with fourteen degrees in ornithology would look at them and say, “Fucked if I know.”
Next I heard the stonechat making her trademark two stones been hit together sound, hence the name. I love the stonechat’s call, it’s not beautiful in an obvious way like the song of a robin or a blackbird, but I love the fact that they just, keep going over and over again, never taking a break. I find it to be a quite hypnotizing sound! I’ve got recordings of stonechats that are over twenty minutes long, they just keep going and going and going!
As the stonechat continued to sing, she was soon joined by some other wonderful birds, swallows flying overhead. I got a recording of them both:
https://xeno-canto.org/1034091
During the Summer months swallows will continuously fly overhead making their glorious chatter! Quite a nice addition to our shores during the Summer months.
I reached the Coolim Cliffs, and each year it’s like, “How do I get down here again?” And then I remember, step over the fence, and gradually slide down onto the cliffs, while holding onto the grass on either side of me for support. And now I’ve reached my utopia!
Once I reach the cliffs, I feel a great sense of peace, in my brain and in my body. The feeling of anxiety I carry in my body constantly often just disappears. My limbs, my stomach, my head, just sort of relax into a feeling of calm. The flight or fight response that has a hold of me for so many hours each day, takes a break. Now I can just feel real tranquility!
It’s not just that you are surrounded by beautiful nature, and can see for miles and miles, though that’s a big part of it. It’s also that, in Ireland, pretty much every scenic area is next to a busy road. But when you’re on the Coolim Cliffs, while the nearest road is less than a half a mile away, it’s a small country road with very little traffic, I have never heard a single car while on the Coolim Cliffs!
So it’s an experience that is very rare in the modern world, particularly in Ireland, but so, so precious when you find it. Just being in nature, away from anthropogenic noise.
Next I would encounter some more swallows, it’s very, very difficult to get a clear photo of them in flight, so here’s what I have.
I have difficulty telling the difference between Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Greater Black Backed Gulls, so, these two are one of those categories.
Is any trip to a coastal area complete without the cry of a herring gull?
https://xeno-canto.org/1034073
I’ve come to love the lonely cry of herring gulls lately, so hearing this on the Coolim Cliffs was so lovely.
Next I heard one of my favourite birds, indeed, I’m hoping to find somewhere near my house where I can see this bird. I’m talking of course about the chough.
https://xeno-canto.org/1034081
This recording also captures swallows, so I’ll say the chough is the one that sounds a bit jackdawish. And something occurs to me right this minute. In Irish, a chough is called cág cosdearg, or red legged jackdaw. To me jackdaws and choughs don’t look much alike, but they do sound alike, so perhaps that’s what the name’s based on. Jackdaws and choughs have a similar joyful chirpy call, but a chough call I feel has a slightly more sci-fi quality to it.
Choughs have been seen doing barrel rolls and flying upside down, evidence that they don’t just fly as transportation, but because they absolutely LOVE being up in the sky, imagine the joy they must feel. Isn’t that an incredible thought!
Here’s another picture of the Coolim Cliffs. What kind of amazing sounds occur when ravens fly above them? You’ll soon find out!
https://xeno-canto.org/1034076
Did you hear that? Here’s another recording where it’s more prominent.
https://xeno-canto.org/1032861
It’s the sound of a raven’s call echoing off the cliff face! And to me it’s simply a magical sound. I feel privileged that I was on the Coolim Cliffs at that exact time, and not a day earlier or later, or not an hour earlier or later. I would have surely heard the ravens calling had I been there at different times, but would they have been in the correct position so their calls would bounce off the mighty rock of the Coolim Cliffs? I have no idea, maybe it’s a common occurrence or maybe it’s rare, but either way, I feel blessed to have heard it.
So that’s one of many memories related to the Coolim Cliffs that I don’t expect to forget any time soon. The magnificent geology of the Coolim Cliffs, combined with the evolutionary marvel that is a raven, united to make such an amazing sound. No road noise to dull the experience, no wind noise to drown out the sound. Magnificent.
I would soon return to the world where the loud roar of a car’s engine is never far away. But it’s nice to know that it’s possible to escape it some of the time.
Ponderings Of An Autist 