Anthony Mcgeehan

7 results

Mistle thrush song. Drawing: Michael Viney
The song of birds has engaged the human psyche for centuries

As an eccentrically early riser, I share the first birdsong of the morning long before sky and sea have agreed the horizon. A skeletal hawthorn, proud(...)

Derek Mooney: too often comes across as a caricature of a daytime radio jock
Jarring monologues and baffling trivia: Derek Mooney is a caricature of a daytime radio jock

As a keen observer of wildlife, Derek Mooney surely knows that for all the majesty of the natural world, it’s also a harsh, fickle and unforgiving env(...)

Greenland barnacle geese wintering on Inishkea. Illustration: Michael Viney
Flying form: Ireland’s fantastic feathered immigrants

Inishbofin, long and low on our horizon, rests between clouds and sea in one of autumn’s distant shades of grey, a last landfall before the wide ocean(...)

Safe flight: it is important to respect nesting grounds of birds in remote areas. Illustration: Michael Viney
Another Life: Waiting for footfall on the wild Atlantic islands

Now that its wiggly road signs have stopped shuddering in the storms, the Wild Atlantic Way could be launched on an impressively successful year. Alon(...)

Territorial: a raven’s skirmishes can be claw to claw. Illustration: Michael Viney
Another Life: How to make an island raven feel as sick as a parrot

Living beneath the flight path of ravens commuting from the mountains to the shore has let me eavesdrop on a good few of the 64 calls supposedly ident(...)

When doves fly: Ireland’s doves survive in their pure form only on islands strung out from Donegal to Kerry. Illustration: Michael Viney
Another Life: Close call for our last few rock doves, wild originals of the west coast

Inishbofin comes and goes on our horizon, its silhouette often hazed in mist or spray — veiled sometimes, too, in rain, but not for long. On clear aut(...)

Relaxed: the swallows have been taking their time to migrate this year. Illustration: Michael Viney
Punctual, keen sense of direction, like lullabies: what we’ve learned about swallows

It was that spectacular Sunday – here on the west coast, at least – discovered when I took my walk at sunrise. The blaze behind the mountain was about(...)