Much loved local ecologist launches ‘Birds of County Donegal’

Well-known ecologist, Ralph Sheppard, has recently launched his new beautifully illustrated book on Donegal birds.

‘The Birds of County Donegal’ is the first complete record of the history and status of all 376 birds known to have occurred here. It also includes their habitats, and the activities of the ornithologists and birdwatchers who study them. It is copiously illustrated with photographs, graphics, and Robert Vaughan’s iconic paintings.

Mr Sheppard has been monitoring birds in Donegal since he was a little boy.

“As a child I knew about birds from books, but I had never seen one in flight,” he said.

“So at the age of seven, when I got my first pair of spectacles, a flock of Rooks against the sky opened up a whole new world. The bond with nature was forged, and there was no going back.”

In this comprehensive publication, every species and race is given its current vernacular name as used in Ireland, the agreed name used internationally, the scientific name, and the Irish name, with acknowledged verifications from bodies such as the Irish Rare Birds Committee. The book draws on previously published works, information from national monitoring programmes, special species surveys and habitat studies, and the day-to-day reports from the community of active birdwatchers.

This beautifully illustrated volume – with maps, tables, graphs, photos, and the paintings by Robert Vaughan – details the status of each bird from the earliest records in the 18th Century up to 2024. As the definitive reference on the history of birds and birdwatching in the county, it should appeal to all birdwatchers, to the ornithological research community throughout Ireland and beyond, and to people with a more general interest in the natural environment.

‘The Birds of County Donegal’ costs €59 and is available in all good bookshops. It can also be purchased online, from Cork University Press www.corkuniversitypress.com

Ralph Sheppard is an ecologist living in east Donegal and he has been monitoring the birds of the county since the 1950s. He was employed as a Lecturer in Ecology at Bristol Polytechnic 1970 -1978, and was an ecological consultant in Ireland from 1978 to retirement in 2010. He is the author of Ireland’s Wetland Wealth: the report of the Winter Wetlands Survey 1984/5 to 1986/7 (Irish Wildbird Conservancy), and has contributed chapters to Atlas of County Donegal, ed. Mac Laughlin and Beatty (Cork University Press) and The Natural History of Ulster, ed. Faulkner and Thompson (National Museums Northern Ireland). He was a Member of the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board 1999 – 2020. He has served on the councils of Irish Wildbird Conservancy and An Taisce, and was the first chair of Irish Wildbird Conservancy’s Donegal branch.

 

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