The Natural History of Cape Clear 1959 – 2019 - A Review

I was delighted to hear of the endeavour of Steve Wing to write and publish a new book on the natural history of Cape Clear.

Cape Clear – Holy Ground

The Chief Author, Steve Wing – Doing his thing.

Receiving a mass email from Steve looking to promote the book, I asked if I could review it in advance, publishing the review to the Irish Rare and Scarce Birding Group as I had done for various other publications over the past couple of years.

Steve kindly obliged, providing me with an electronic draft. I delved straight in.

Like most Irish birders, I love Cape. I have done ever since my very first visit in 1999, when myself and my old friend Ciarán Smyth stayed on the island for a week of August seawatching, in what seems now to have been an opportune period in the last heydays of Cape seawatching from the legendary Blannan.

 

80’s vibe on Blannan

The book begins with an introduction and guide to the island, specifically for birders, invaluable for any new or visiting birders who may wish to start their own love affair with the island, and firmly cementing the “Birding Centric” approach to the book, which dominates and permeates throughout, surrounding even those chapters dealing with topics non-avian.

This is soon followed by the first of several anecdotes from birders, detailing some personal and excellent days spent on the island and the birds and wildlife of the island. These bracket each chapter and give a real flavour of being on the island at prime times in history.

The reader is then treated to a spectacular tale on the origin of the bird observatory and the struggle to get the observatory up and running, beginning with a core of volunteers and progressing to the stage where a dedicated warden is in situ.

The reader then finds excellent and informative chapters on the people of Cape Clear, their lifestyle over the centuries and the agriculture of the island, before moving on to a chapter giving a detailed and systematic list of birds recorded on the island, with some excellent data crunching around the accumulated records therein.

 

A great record and data resource

This trend of excellent data mining continues with an enjoyable, and at times mouth-watering, Birds - Day by Day chapter where the occurrences of rare and scarce birds over the years are broken down by date. A very handy tool for planning a bird finding trip to Cape (younger birders could do well to look at those productive dates in September, as opposed to the recent traditional October week).

 

This Chapter is one to store digitally on your phone – You’re going to want this!

Detailed chapters on Sea Fauna, Land Fauna, Butterflies and Moths, and Higher Plants then follow, before finishing with a detailed Bird Ringing report and finally, a commentary on the future of the observatory on the island.

Whilst in the pre-publication stage, it is not possible to assess print quality, it is possible, however, to assess the format and flow of the book. Here the publication falls down slightly, with distinctly different formats between the different chapter authors being slightly jarring and disruptive to the reader, but this is compensated for by a range of artwork from Irish artists, including the late Pete Oliver, and excellent photograph choices from a range of Irish photographers.

Perhaps it is more helpful to think of this, not as a single cohesive book, but rather more akin to a large “Cape Clear Report” spanning several decades, much like the large bumper Cork Bird Report which was published for 1996-2004.

That said, those who have been to Cape, and certainly those who are regular visitors, will not only desire this book, but need it. There’s lots of data to absorb here which will add to the Cape experience and for those birders with the passing interest or developing an interest in those aspects of wildlife other than birds, it’s a fantastic resource.

There is perhaps, a more pressing issue, dealt with in discussion of the future of the observatory. With some of the proceeds going back into the observatory, and with the impact of the Corona virus pandemic, it’s more than reference text, it’s an investment in future birding on the island, and those interested can contribute via a pre-publication price available here.

From a personal perspective, as birder and bird finder, I simply adore the birding anecdotes aspect of the book. I particularly loved the first such tale, by the late Tony Lancaster, on reaching Cape Clear in 1960, an era which seems somehow alien to anyone of my generation, and yet, as a birder who has himself wandered to Cape via Public Transport, his own car and his own thumb, somehow seemed even more civilized! To learn of an interconnected level of public transport that hinged on connections from Ferry in Cork, to buses and trains headed west…it sounds like a fairy tale.

Among these gems of many excellent days on an incredible island, I can’t help but feel if, perhaps…just perhaps…the seeds of another book lie there.

This will make an excellent gift for the Cape loving birder in your life, make a wonderful starter pack for anyone wishing to visit Cape for the first time, and will no doubt find it's place in libraries and homes around West Cork where the connection to roaring water bay is strong.

500 copies are expected to be printed (though I suspect a 2nd print run will be needed) and it is available for a 35 euro pre-order price from the link above or 40 euro upon publication. Get your order in early!