Ireland Ramsar wetland
Pollardstown Fen
99 bird species recorded; the most from May to June.
Anna Watson · CC BY-SA 2.0
This month here
57 species in January.62 species in February.63 species in March.65 species in April.78 species in May.74 species in June.66 species in July.42 species in August.64 species in September.61 species in October.48 species in November.49 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
NT
NT
NT
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
99 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 99Speciesrecorded more than once
- 39Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 4,678Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 90 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 8Raptors
- 2Owls
- 6Waders
- 5Gulls & seabirds
- 9Ducks & geese
- 4Herons, ibises & grebes
- 51Songbirds
- 14Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 99 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common BuzzardButeo buteo
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
- Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus
- Red KiteMilvus milvus
Owls2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Western Barn OwlTyto alba
Waders6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- European Golden PloverPluvialis apricaria
- Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
- Northern LapwingVanellus vanellusNT
- Eurasian CurlewNumenius arquataNT
- Eurasian WoodcockScolopax rusticola
- Jack SnipeLymnocryptes minimus
Gulls & seabirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
- European Herring GullLarus argentatus
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Common GullLarus canus
Ducks & geese9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Mute SwanCygnus olor
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
- Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
- Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
- GadwallMareca strepera
- Greylag GooseAnser anser
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
Herons, ibises & grebes4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Songbirds51 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- European RobinErithacus rubecula
- RookCorvus frugilegus
- Eurasian BlackbirdTurdus merula
- Western JackdawColoeus monedula
- Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
- Hooded CrowCorvus cornix
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Eurasian MagpiePica pica
- Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
- Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Eurasian Blue TitCyanistes caeruleus
- European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
- White WagtailMotacilla alba
- Great titParus major
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- GoldcrestRegulus regulus
- DunnockPrunella modularis
- Song ThrushTurdus philomelos
- Willow WarblerPhylloscopus trochilus
- BullfinchPyrrhula pyrrhula
- BlackcapSylvia atricapilla
- Mistle ThrushTurdus viscivorus
- Common Reed BuntingEmberiza schoeniclus
- Coal TitPeriparus ater
- Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
- Meadow PipitAnthus pratensis
- Common ChiffchaffPhylloscopus collybita
- YellowhammerEmberiza citrinella
- European GreenfinchChloris chloris
- Sedge WarblerAcrocephalus schoenobaenus
- Common House MartinDelichon urbicum
- SkylarkAlauda arvensis
- European StonechatSaxicola rubicola
- Northern RavenCorvus corax
- Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
- Common Grasshopper WarblerLocustella naevia
- Sand MartinRiparia riparia
- Common LinnetLinaria cannabina
- Eurasian TreecreeperCerthia familiaris
- RedwingTurdus iliacus
- WhitethroatSylvia communis
- FieldfareTurdus pilaris
- Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
- Eurasian JayGarrulus glandarius
- Northern WheatearOenanthe oenanthe
- White-throated DipperCinclus cinclus
- Eurasian SiskinSpinus spinus
- Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
- Eurasian Reed WarblerAcrocephalus scirpaceus
- WhinchatSaxicola rubetra
- Carrion CrowCorvus corone
Other birds14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common Wood PigeonColumba palumbus
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- European SwiftApus apus
- Common PheasantPhasianus colchicus
- Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
- Common KingfisherAlcedo atthis
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- European Water RailRallus aquaticus
- CootFulica atra
- Common CuckooCuculus canorus
- Stock DoveColumba oenas
- Great Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major
- Willow PtarmiganLagopus lagopus
- Grey PartridgePerdix perdix
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species from May to June.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan6°/2°92 mm
- Feb7°/2°75 mm
- Mar8°/2°76 mm
- Apr11°/4°68 mm
- May14°/6°75 mm
- Jun17°/9°89 mm
- Jul19°/11°96 mm
- Aug18°/10°104 mm
- Sep16°/9°84 mm
- Oct13°/7°107 mm
- Nov9°/4°107 mm
- Dec7°/2°104 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Pollardstown Fen.
Nature reserve in County Kildare, Ireland
Pollardstown Fen is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Ireland.
99 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 4,678 open records.
The most recorded are the European Robin, the Rook and the Common Wood Pigeon.
19 species come for the summer, 20 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
The most species are recorded from May to June.
Get there and watch
- The Keadeen Hotelplace to stay · 2.5 km · 8 within 10 km
- Droichead Nuanearest town · 3.3 km in a straight line
- Dublin Airport (DUB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 47 km in a straight lineCar hire at DUB airport (Dublin)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1visitor centres within 6 kmKildare Village Tourist and Information
- 132car parks within 3 km
- 3restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 8places to stay within 10 kmThe Keadeen Hotel, Eyre Powell, The Gables Guest House & Leisure Centre and 5 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- campsites within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Pollardstown Fen.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas18 mountains within 25 kmHill of Allen206 m · 5.2 kmMullaghmast179 m · 19 kmCroghan Hill234 m · 21 kmBallykilleen Hill · 22 kmChurch Mountain544 m · 22 kmClonmullen Hill · 23 kmCupidstown Hill379 m · 24 kmBawn Hill · 24 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Pollardstown Fen
Ireland
- 48Birdyas Score
- 99Species
- 39Migrants
- 0Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q98836181) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 4,678 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
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lakes
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
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