Yesterday, Sunday, was a gorgeous day here in Mayo, so I took off to do a relatively straight forward five-hour walk up in the boggy hills.

What’s great about getting above maybe 250 m at this time of the year in beautiful sunshine is the birds. Skylarks are all around, with their fabulous singing, while almost hovering in mid air. Northern Wheatears are one of the prettiest birds in the West of Ireland, as they dance with eachother in or just above the bog rushes, at maybe 50 cm off the ground.

I also spotted a pair of Teals, really beautiful ducks with chocolate brown and shiny rich green faces and that distinctive creamy yellow patch on their thighs. They were enjoying a bog pool on the plateau at around 300 m altitude.

One large Raven came down from the surrounding cliffs to soar over the bog. His loud ‘cronk’ is an impressive sound.

Here are some pictures of mountain and lake from a perfect day.