Wildlife Photography in Cork

brushedsun

Hi,

Can anyone suggest any nice spots near to Cork/Kinsale that is good for a beginner for wildlife Photography?

Mothman

Would you elaborate on what subjects you are after.
Birds, mammals, insects...

A garden can be a great place to start...

brushedsun

Just starting out get a new camera and want to see if it is something ill enjoy. mainly mammels i think would be a good place to start. Not too many mammals lurking in my concrete garden!

Half-cocked

If you're interested in birds, start in a local park where ducks etc are used to being fed by people, they will let you close enough to get some frame filling sots. Also take advantage of the cold weather to attract birds into your garden by putting out feed. You could get some good shots that way.

hopelessOne

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but you might also want to try:

- The "backwater", near Eltin's Wood and those other new estates in Kinsale. Plenty of wading birds frequent that area at low tide and can be photographed from the road

- The Old Head of Kinsale at sunset (good for landscapes too!). Just at the entrance to the gold club you can walk out to the cliffs. There's usually a good gathering of seabirds waiting for the sun to go down and at least one regular Peregrine Falcon can often be heard/seen disrupting them.

- If it's mammals you're after, try to hone your tracking skills first just by walking around country roads. Look for rabbit runs and tracks through hedgerows. Rabbits can usually be seen in exactly the same part of a field day after day (more often when it's dry). They take practice to approach but it is definitely possible (crawl slowly, pausing frequently). Often they are quite aware of your presence but will let you approach close enough for a few shots as long as they don't feel threatened. Or just go to Farran Wood on the Macroom road which has a fenced off area with deer (ok, not technically wild but good for practice!)

As others have mentioned, gardens are a great resource. Start feeding the birds and watch how they approach the feeder. Usually they queue-up on a nearby perch and ideally you will shoot them at this staging area to get the most natural shots (i.e., without a plastic bird feeder in the shot!). If they're not using a suitable perch, try adding or tying on a fallen branch for them to use. I've been lucky and have lots of bird, rat and rabbit shots from the garden.

Funkyzeit

brushedsun wrote: »

Hi,

Can anyone suggest any nice spots near to Cork/Kinsale that is good for a beginner for wildlife Photography?

May be stating the obvious but Fota Island would be perfect for honing your skills.