St. John’s river walk continues 🙂 You will start at Poleberry, walk along the sport grounds and Tramore Road Business Park, cross the Inner Ring road and stop at the Cherrymount foot bridge. I will leave some short captions over the photographs – you can read them as you walk. But first please watch two videos.
A video courtesy of a Friend of St. John’s River Eoin Nevins brings you back to 2007 – it shows the part of the river you have visited in my previous blog posts.
The other video is about the old Waterford-Tramore railway. The part of the cycling/walkway you are on was constructed along the line of this railway and opened in August 2015.
If you want to know more about our birds, here is a helpful link. When I struggle to identify a bird, I simply send a bird picture to Birdwatch Ireland and always get a prompt reply.
Starlings gather on the sports field netting after the sunset.
Wrens are common on this stretch of the river. They will wait until you walk past, and start singing right behind your back.
Female Blackbird is jerking her tail in annoyance: too many dogs, too many people.
Cormorant is getting ready for his fishing trip.
Cormorants can stay under water a whole minute.
A couple of very shy Moorhens settled at this stretch of the river. They are safe behind the high fencing.
After crossing the Inner Ring road, you are greeted with the bird songs. This is a great bird watching opportunity close to the city boundaries.
Dunnock on the other side of the river sings his head off. Generally shy birds, Dunnocks are seldom seen in the open space. You can read some interesting facts about dunnocks in this article.
A great singer, Eurasian blackcap, could be a winter guest from the Central Europe. Irish population of Blackcaps migrate to North Africa in the autumn.
More wrens in the bushy area. They are one of my favorite birds.
The song thrush is speckled with dark heart-shaped spots, and both male and female look similar. The male Song thrush has a loud and clear song.
You can listen to the Blackbird’s song here to compare. The bird in the picture is a female, you can hear a female song in this video, just wait a couple of seconds. These birds are very vocal, and they have a range of warning calls.
The Collared dove and Wood pigeon are common along the river walk.
This is a male Collared dove, and he is singing ( look at his throat).
Female Collared dove.
Napping Wood pigeon.
This is our winter guest Redwing, a Thrush family bird from Iceland. More pictures in my blogpost here.
Greenfinch is also a rare guest.
Goldfinches are abundant around the Cherrymount foot bridge. When they are busy, you can come up quite close.
That is it for today. We continue our walk in two weeks. More bird sighting as you move closer to the source.
https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/06/st-johns-river-confluence/
https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/20/st-johns-river-sneaking-through-town/
Have a wonderful weekend!
Making memories 
A lovely collection of birds Inese.
I hope you’re still enjoying your family.
Take care.
Thank you! Sorry for the late reply.
No worry Inese. The Internet puts too much pressure on us for instant reply. There is no need for rush. a few days? A letter from France takes 2 months to reach here. I just got a card from India after 4 months!
Bon week-end.
Oh no… That’s some speed…
😉 (I’m even blogging on week-ends, my inbox is getting a bit full!)
These photos are stunnings. Love how you captured the cormorants and the blackbird.
Thank you! Sorry for the late reply – I have been away.
No worries. I am trying to catch up on my blog reading. I believe I have email notifications from you that I will be reading soon.
Hope you and yours are well.
Thank you! I visited my daughter and her family. Have to catch up too. Missed so many posts.
Again, no worries. Nice to have you back.
Thank you!
As always I love all your bird photos, Inese! The goldfinch is such a lovely spot of colour! Just beautiful! 😄 xxxxxxxx
Thank you, Sarah! 🙂 xxxx
You’re welcome! 😀 xxxxxx
Thank you, Sarah! Goldfinches are spectacular indeed 🙂
These are wonderful photos of the birds Inese, I never see a wren so beautifully close!
Than you, Andrea! Some of the wrens are more curious than the others 🙂 Once I took pictures of a wren perched just a step from me. He was watching me for a minute and then started to sing 🙂 My lens was too long for such a short distance and I had to step back which scared him. Got only two pictures, but it was so fun to watch him 🙂
Your photos are fabulous Inese, especially the bird in flight… I love your river walk, it feels as if I am there 🙂 Have a beautiful weekend xx
Thank you so much, Gill! I am away until the end of the month, and seldom online 🙂 Visiting with my family xxxxxxxx
Perfect! Enjoy your family. (And the offline)
So many beautiful birds! It’s nice to know their names. 🙂 I remember see cormorants in Guilin, China. They were used to demonstrate local fishing techniques. I found it hard to watch. 😦 I love seeing birds in the wild. Birds should be free and fly. Thanks for this lovely walk! Hugs.
Thank you so much! I agree with you that the birds belong to the wild. ❤
Your photos are as outstanding as ever, Inese. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you so much for your visit, Kevin!
Oh, what a way to end a crazy, crazy day. I loved this walk among the birds and catching their songs. When I saw that opening photo of a sunset caught in the river, I knew I was in for something special with this, post, Inese. Beautiful. Simply beautiful. xxxxxxxxx
Thank you, Jean! Even the smallest of the rivers can catch the sun 🙂 I am on holidays with my family, sorry for the late reply xxxxxxxxxxxxx
No worries, Inese. Family first! 🙂 xxxxxx
Birds are the best! I love to hear them sing when I’m outside working in my yard. What a great walk 🙂
Thank you Michele. Indeed, we are spoiled by our beautiful planet 🙂
The video of St. Johns Waterford river was interesting to see the water levels way down and the Tramore train brought me into reverie thinking that period was romantic and that simple pleasures were exciting. I would welcome the song of the wren and the blackbird has a pretty whistle also. The cormorants have become a nuisance where I was born. There are so many and they are depleting the fish population. Have no idea what they are going to do. The rest of your bird photos are really nice. It is interesting to see photos from other parts of the world and the naming of the birds. Your dove with a black half ring around the neck here is called a ringneck dove. Your black bird here is different. Thanks for an informative and beautfiul pictures once again. Be well my friend.
Thank you so much for your comment, Joseph. I am on holidays in a remote area with no reception, and seldom have a chance to catch wifi.
The cormorants can be a nuisance, but not here. The river is tidal and there are no resident fish. Two cormorants feed on whatever the tide brings in twice a day.
Your Ringnecked dove is a different species, but our Eurasian collared dove is considered an invasive species in the US.
I too love birdwatching in the US and admire the species that are unfamiliar to me. It is such a beautiful and diverse world!
Hope you have a lovely month of May, Joseph.
A great tour, and thank you for leading the way. I very much enjoyed the video of the old Waterford-Tramore railway ~ it seems all waterways have a great history if we would sit down and learn. Just read an article introducing a book about a guy who walked the whole Nile river ~ quite an adventure ~ and in a sense you’ve done something similar to that here 🙂 I need to find a river to hike and experience… Cheers to a great week ahead, Inese.
Thank you so much, Dalo! What a cool adventure to hike the great Nile! Our St. John’s river is only 3 km long, and I have written almost two blog posts for each kilometer 🙂 I hope you find a river to hike – the size doesn’t matter.
I am on holidays and we have no coverage here in Uintas. I will visit your blog after I get home. Hope you have a great month of May wherever you are 🙂