I hadn’t been out birdwatching at Rogerstown Estuary for years so when we did decide to go in late February we were fortunate to have one of the nicest days of the month which, though cold, was dry and sunny. There was enough heat in the air to provide perfect warm air thermals for soaring buzzards and we saw at least seven circling above us at various times. On the last time I’d been there I remember everyone on the Birdwatch branch outing getting excited by seeing a buzzard perched on a fence but now they’ve got so common in North Dublin they’d only generate interest if there weren’t any present. The land, a very substantial area comprising 220 acres, previously contained allotments and farmland where a number of tillage crops were grown but is now managed by Fingal Council and a lot of the area is managed for wildlife with over 40,000 trees planted by local
children and fields sown with a mix of seeds to provide feeding for many species of finch and other birds. In a fenced paddock beside the path a Kerry cow grazed in a field with chocolate brown sheep with great curving horns while curlew and herons wandered around. A Mistle Thrush serenaded us from the top of a nearby tree as we walked down past a recently created pool lined with reeds and populated by swans, moorhens and a recently arrived group of Gadwall ducks. Little flocks of Brent geese flew around moving around various feeding areas.
  The path runs beside one of the aforementioned fields growing cereals for the birds on one side and a hedge with mature trees at the other side into which a big flocks of finches would fly before sweeping back down into the field. Dozens of Linnets and Chaffinches chattered in the trees. We’d been told a few Brambling, a winter visiting finch, had been seen among the flocks earlier in the winter but if they were there we didn’t see any. Another bird we’d hoped to see, in what would be a perfect habitat for it, was the Yellowhammer but none of them to be seen either. As we neared the main birdwatching hide at the estuary our friend Brian scanned the area with his scope and spotted on top of a brick mound the head of a perched peregrine which looked like it was plucking a recent kill.
The hide used to look over the water at a council rubbish dump but that has long closed and the land it sat on is being restored so now a large grass covered mound is the only remnant of it. A flock of dozens if not hundreds of curlews fed on the grassy slopes, as big a number of this iconic wader as I’d seen all winter. Suddenly they were all gone, perhaps spooked by a buzzard which flapped across in front of them with powerful wingbeats. The hide is a converted shipping container which is placed on a raised base giving great views over the water and the hundreds of geese, ducks and waders which frequent it for the winter months. Volunteers from the local Birdwatch branch man the
hide at weekends keeping a tally of the birds seen that day and offering assistance to anyone not too familiar with the different species.