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Since the publication of the best-selling first edition of Finding Birds in Ireland in 2007, Ireland's rich birdlife and its habitats have continued to be explored. This new second edition captures many new areas that have been discovered as rich birdwatching locations, as well as updating all of those sites described in the first edition. Since 2007 access and directions to many sites have changed while additional species have been recorded at many locations. This second edition includes the very latest information on each and every site.
This comprehensive and beautifully illustrated reference guide is a 'must-have' for both experienced and novice birdwatchers. It is also an invaluable guide for visiting birdwatchers. The authors of the The Complete Field Guide to Ireland's Birds cover almost 450 of the best birdwatching sites in Ireland, north and south.
Organised county by county, this is an easy-to-follow handbook giving the site names, grid references, detailed directions and maps for each site. It includes the best times to visit each area, a breakdown of the different seasons and the species you are likely to find, and lists rare birds seen at each site in the past.
The second edition of Finding Birds in Ireland will become a well-thumbed addition to any birdwatchers reference library as well as being a celebratory record of the beauty and rich diversity of birds in Ireland.
Eric Dempsey is one of Ireland's leading bird experts. Among his bestselling books are The Complete Field Guide to Ireland's Birds, The Pocket Guide to the Common Birds of Ireland (both co-authored with Michael O'Clery), Birdwatching in Ireland with Eric Dempsey and Ireland's Wildlife Year. He is a team member of the popular 'Mooney Goes Wild' show on RTE Radio 1 and has made numerous TV appearances.
Michael O'Clery is one of Ireland's best-known wildlife artists with paintings and illustrations appearing in a variety of books and journals worldwide. Over 600 of his paintings were published in the bestselling The Complete Field Guide to Ireland's Birds and he has had several solo exhibitions. He lives in County Kerry where he also documents the local birdlife through bird reports and extensive bird surveys.
"Perhaps the most thoroughly researched and user-friendly bird-finding guide I have ever read. It sets a new benachmark for all future publications for any region of the globe."
– Niall Hatch, Wings (Birdwatch Ireland Magazine)
"An eminently usable and authoritative guide, equipped with exceptional maps and explicit local directions"
– Michael Viney, The Irish Times
"A mind-boggling achievement in the amount of information it contains, and the research it entailed"
– Damien Enright, Irish Examiner
"This 2nd edition of the book [...] is a quite comprehensive document of some birdwatching locations in Ireland with detailed information on the best times to visit and local information on access including maps and OS references."
– RTE Guide
"It is a hugely informative, meticulously illustrated and beautifully presented book."
– Irish Examiner Country
"Seven years have passed since the first edition was published and, as the authors point out in the introduction, "interest in birds and birdwatching in Ireland has grown significantly" in that time. As a result, some entirely new birding hotspots have been discovered (and some lost) and, bird-wise, new species have been recorded. Given these changes and the fact that access and directions have changed for many of the existing sites, Dempsey and O'Clery have taken the opportunity to publish a fully updated second edition of their work.[...] But what determines whether the second edition is a worthwhile purchase is the main Sites section, and how it compares to the first — has it been updated and expanded satisfactorily? A quick glance at the index shows that the new edition contains 282 site entries, compared to 275 in the first — not a massive leap but notable nonetheless, particularly when you consider some now defunct sites [...] have been omitted. [...]The blurb claims that the book has updated "all of those sites described in the first edition". Close examination revealed that this was generally true in the case of updated species lists (particularly rarities), but not so much in terms of site descriptions. [...] There are further examples of imbalance throughout the publication. [...] Though I've spent a couple of paragraphs nit-picking, I do want to point out that this is a very good book, and is one that any prospective (or indeed returning) visitors to Ireland should possess. It's a more than handy reference to have on you and, crucially, gets you to the sites and gives invaluable tips on a) what to look for and b) where to look. My only gripe is that I believe a little more effort could have been invested in updating the sites more consistently — but that should not detract too much from the quality of the publication as a whole, and indeed the great work that went into it in the first instance.
– Josh Jones, Bird Guides, 18-09-2014
"The first edition of this book was published only seven years ago and so it might seem rather soon to have published a second edition. Indeed a cursory glance might suggest that the content has changed little – but look at the content a little more deeply and you’ll find important changes. A few sites from the first edition are no longer of value for birds and have been dropped from the second edition and a few more sites have been included, whilst there has been an update of most sites that reflect the bird changes over the last few years. If you thought the first edition good, the second is even better. This site guide is essential if you live on the island of Ireland or if you are planning an Irish birding trip from Britain. Nearly 300 sites are listed in detail, each with a detailed map and simple instructions concerning visits. The list of species at each site is comprehensive. My first edition of this guide is ‘well-worn’; the second will take on that character quite quickly."
– Julian Greenwood, BTO book reviews, September 2014
