Living on the edge…

Aging Well: News & Insights for Seniors and Caregivers

Zoe Devlin reflects on how fortunate we are in our immense choice of geographical features and habitats

In Ireland, we are extremely lucky with our natural environment. Our island has numerous habitats, from bogland to mountains, freshwater to woodland, from meadows to hedgerows and more besides. Within those rough headings are many subdivisions, with possibly the most varied collection of all being in the habitat that surrounds our island – the coast. There are rocky headlands, sea cliffs, sand dune systems, tidal mudflats, saltmarsh, machair grassland and coastal lagoons and so the variety of biodiversity we can expect to find in these maritime environments is immense.

A rough measurement of the island’s coastline comes in around 7,500 km but this can only be taken as an estimate. By the mighty power of the Atlantic ocean, the west coast has been carved into, causing deep inlets, creating islands by wrenching land from the greater landmass and leaving long wide estuaries.   The east coast is more sheltered because of the gentler action of the Irish Sea although some areas are suffering badly from erosion. This has been experienced in particular in counties Dublin and Wicklow and, in County Wexford’s Rosslare, significant loss of land has already occurred due to the recent winter storms.

Shoveler

As a child, I loved visits to the seaside, long summer days spent with bucket and spade or paddling in the ridged shallows of the beach, falling asleep on the way home, full of sunshine and sea air. As I grew up and started to take a more focussed interest in what lay around us, I also began to appreciate all that the coast, in particular, had to offer. Not just a playground but an environment full of the natural world’s wonders. Among these are the coastal dwelling birds, specialists in the avian world – the waterfowl – that thrive on the nutrients in mudflats, grazing slowly with measured pace, their bills probing deep pulling out worms and other invertebrates. In the saltmarshes, Grey Herons, tall elegant stalkers that slowly hunt for their dinner, standing like statues, their razor sharp beaks primed to pounce on some poor crustacean, fish or frog, about to be turned into a ready meal.

Then, back from the water’s edge, in the shingle or the ups and downs of dunes or clifftops is a myriad of the butterflies, moths and other insects that flourish, their needs being filled by a miscellany of wildflowers. And those flowers themselves – species that evolved over millennia to withstand the destructive and drying effect of salt-laden winds, many of them becoming fleshy and tough, somewhat like cactus plants. This modification gave them the ability to retain much needed moisture in order to survive in the severe and harsh maritime conditions.

East Coast Seascape

To look more closely at these superb habitats, why not take a meander along the coast and look at some of the spots that are most giving when it comes to finding nature’s treasures. There is plenty to see in sand dune systems such as that in County Wexford’s Ballyteigue Burrow Nature Reserve, a stone’s throw from the little fishing village of Kilmore Quay. This is a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) with not only the dunes but saltmarsh and the estuary of the Duncormick river. Both these designations – SPA and SAC – are principally focussed on wildlife. A portion of the environment that is deemed an SPA has been given this label where there is a need to protect wildfowl and their habitats, whereas an SAC is there to care for a habitat considered to be important on a European as well as an Irish level such as a sand dunes or estuaries. In this nature reserve, several scarce plant species are scattered across the grassland behind the dune slacks as well as the dunes themselves. Dune slacks are low-lying depressions created by the wind within the sand dune systems and these contain many specialist wildflowers. Along this gorgeous stretch of County Wexford, I have seen the creamy bell-shaped flowers of Wild Asparagus in summertime, followed by its luscious scarlet berries in autumn. Standing on the grassy slopes that face the sun are small native orchids, only a few inches high, well camouflaged  and not easy to spot. These little gems have the very appropriate name of Autumn Lady’s-tresses as they display their greeny-white flowers in beautiful tapering spirals. Here and there, dotted in the grass, like tiny matchsticks, are the really miniscule shocking-pink flowers of Lesser Centaury, and, if you are really lucky, you might be occasionally joined in your ramble by the delightful Small Copper butterfly.

Tacumshane, Co Wexford

Also in County Wexford, Lady’s Island Lake is a large lagoon just a couple of miles from Carnsore Point. This is a peaceful spot, home to many breeding birds such as Shovelers feeding on small molluscs and insects around the lagoon. The plumage of this waterfowl is one of the most colourful with shiny green heads and rusty-chestnut bellies. Several interesting plant species also thrive in this, to some, inhospitable spot with harsh winter storms featuring regularly. For example, there is Cottonweed, a low-growing wildflower with stems and leaves covered with downy silvery hairs and flowerheads like small yellow, fluffy buttons, best seen in August. This is one of Ireland’s rarest native plants with only a dozen or so still managing to survive in the wild but, thanks to the combined efforts of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the National Botanic Gardens, massive efforts are ongoing to save the species. On the sandy banks surrounding the lake, the stunning orange-yellow flowers of the Yellow Horned-poppy manage to hang on to their petals throughout the summer, displaying long seedpods which give them their common name.

Sea Campion

As every school child knows, the prevailing wind in Ireland blows from the southwest. These winds are Atlantic-driven, bringing mild, moist air that results in a temperate maritime climate with frequent rain and moderate temperatures year-round. The west coast gets more than its share of downpours but in many ways, that is something that can also give a softness to the landscape. I’m thinking of the coast of Donegal, with its intriguing machair habitat found in Derrybeg and on the shingle bar that connects the townland of Carnboy to the mainland. Wild Thyme, Thrift, Sea Campion and Harebells are typical plants that thrive in this fertile coastal grassland, a particular type of environment that is only found in Ireland and Scotland, particularly the Outer Hebrides. Machair is listed as a priority habitat within the EU Habitats Directive, which means that its conservation is of international significance.

Hebridean Spotted-orchid

The terrain is flat and sandy, a landscape created of tiny fragments of calcareous shells that were carried in on the wind over millennia to form this rare type of soil. And mention of the Hebrides reminds me of the lucky day I came across a very uncommon plant – the Hebridean Spotted-orchid. This little gem was standing on a bank on Cruit Island, on a very ‘soft’ Donegal day. An small island, Cruit is in the Rosses area of the county and is connected to the mainland by a bridge. It is considered to be one of the richest sites for butterflies in western Donegal with 21 species including the Small Heath and the elusive Grayling. This latter creature is one that is probably the most maddening of all the butterflies for anyone wishing to see what it looks like with its wings open! It has a particular habit of fluttering all around the place but when it settles, it promptly closes its wings, tilting itself sideways so all that is on view is the cryptic pattern of their undersides, another perfect example of camouflage.

The Burren, Co Clare

A spot with plenty to fascinate birdwatchers is on the west coast of County Clare where the limestone slabs of the Burren meet the Atlantic. Kittiwakes and Guillemots lay their eggs on the rocky ledges by the ocean while Redshanks and Curlews feed on the tidal flats at nearby Bishop’s Quarter. A seabird bird that finds its fish supper along the side of Black Head is the Great Northern Diver. Common Blue butterflies dance in the summer air and for the wildflower lover, a ramble through the dunes reveals small groups of Pyramidal Orchids while later in the year, on the clifftop is the rare sight of some Autumn Gentians. Just beware of electric fences, they can give a nasty shock – especially when you’re not expecting it!

Great Northern Diver

Further down the west coast, the rugged coastlines of Kerry and west Cork have many rich treasures to offer. Ireland’s newest National Park is Páirc Náisiunta na Mara, on the Dingle peninsula, and it is here that a breeding plan is in place to preserve our rarest amphibian, the natterjack toad. Not unlike a frog, the natterjack toad is somewhat smaller with a yellow stripe down the middle of its back. Unlike frogs that hop, these toads run instead. Just a couple of years ago, 500 junior toads were released into the wild, having been bred in Dingle Oceanworld, in a volunteer breeding programme in conjunction with the NPWS. My fingers are crossed they didn’t end up on the dinner menu for foxes, otters or any other mammal that spots them!

On County Kerry’s Iveragh peninsula lie the estuary, dunes, beaches and village of Derrynane and, of course, Derrynane House, the ancestral home of ‘the Liberator’, Daniel O’Connell. This splendid area, just a couple of miles off the scenic Ring of Kerry route, offers the nature lover a diverse range of habitats with saltwater marshes, woodland and a small harbour where, as a child, I spent umpteen happy hours trying to catch the tiny crabs that scuttled across the adjoining beach. Badgers, Irish stoats and the rare Lesser Horseshoe Bat also call this area their home. One of the most stunning of our native orchids, the Irish Marsh-orchid can also be seen here during May and June when it displays its intense magenta purple spike of small flowers.

View from Beara, Co Cork

I would suggest that a couple of hours gentle driving from County Kerry would be well worth it to get onto Ring of Beara, a road throughout the rugged landscape of the Beara Peninsula. With less busy roads than those in Kerry, magnificent scenery and much to explore, this is an absolute treasure. As the route takes you towards the tip of this headland, pause and enjoy the pretty village of Allihies with its colourful houses, continue on to village of Eyeries and spend a while at the Copper Mine Museum. This tells the history of the seven copper mines, a story that began in 1812 and drew to a close in 1962. The remains of the workings are still in evidence and are now home to those remarkable members of the Crow family with their glossy black plumage and scarlet beaks and legs, the remarkable, acrobatic Choughs.

These are just snapshots of a coastline that is rich in biodiversity, social history and archaeology. Further suggested reading:

Ireland’s Seashore : Lucy Taylor & Emma Nickelsen : The Collins Press

Birds of Ireland : Jim Wilson & Mark Carmody : Gill Books

The Irish Butterfly Book : Jesmond Harding : www.vibesandscribes.ie

Webb’s An Irish Flora : Editors John Parnell & Tom Curtis : Cork University Press

The Wildflowers of Ireland (Second edition) : Zoë Devlin : Gill Books

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