There is something of interest here all year round. April is the month when many of the winter species leave for their breeding grounds further north and summer species arrive to breed here in Ireland. The arrival of Swallows and Terns is the signal of the start of spring. The accompanying chorus of songbirds, and hopefully sunny weather, makes for a different birding experience to winter.

Where to Watch Birds in Louth:

Baltray

Louth Nature Trust, a voluntary, non-profit organisation established in 2008, is a conservation group formed to protect the county's natural resources and to aid in promoting awareness of, and interest in the landscape, wildlife, flora and fauna of Co. Louth. They have embarked on managing the Little Tern Conservation Project at Baltray in collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Council.

Little Terns are Ireland's rarest breeding seabirds which nest at only a few sites in Ireland. They require protection as the birds nest on the beach, leaving their chicks and their eggs vulnerable and in need of protection from dogs, walkers, various natural predators and other disturbances. Visit Louth Nature Trust facebook page for more details on the project.

Carlingford Lough

Carlingford and its environs is an ideal place to watch birds, both for beginners and for experts. The combination of habitats include a wide area of mudflats and sand-flats in Carlingford Bay, the Lough's estuary, beaches of both shingle and sand to the south, mountain and woods in the surrounding countryside, hedgerows, reed beds, marsh, streams and small ponds along the shore.

Dundalk Bay

As well as being a beautiful, scenic area, Dundalk Bay is one of the most important places in Ireland for migratory coastal birds, known collectively as waterfowl. Many species of birds carry out the most extraordinary spring and autumn migrations, in order to take advantage of rich (and otherwise underexploited) seasonal food resources available in summer (only) in cold, northerly countries. They then fly back south to spend the winter in warmer, more southerly countries (such as Ireland!). Swifts and Swallows are familiar migrants that perform the opposite migration, coming here each spring from their wintering areas in southern Africa.

Birds found on or around Dundalk Bay during the winter may have spent the summer, and bred, in arctic Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen/Svalbard, Scandinavia or Russia. Dundalk Bay is therefore internationally important as it supports significant populations of wild birds from across a large swathe of the northern hemisphere.

Bird Observatories/Hides

Dundalk Bird Observatory and information point was opened in May 2012 and is located at Soldiers Point on the Navvy Bank. It is a two storey observatory which allows views of the bay from an elevated platform and the information points highlight the importance of this area which is both an EU Special Area of Protection and a Special Area of Conservation. Dundalk Bay is the most important area in the Country for migratory birds, playing host to 68,000 birds from all over northern Europe and Canada which winter here. The observatory is open to the public from Monday to Friday 10am to 12noon and 2pm to 4pm. Saturday opening is from 10am to 12noon.

The Oscar Merne memorial bird hide is located at Lurgangreen. To get there from Dundalk take the R132 (Old Dublin Road) in the direction of Castlebellingham. Parking at The Coachmans is avavilable.