The birds of County Donegal — some doing well and others almost gone... with climate change likely to see them out
The Birds of County Donegal: spotted flycatcher, Carnowen. Picture: Ralph Sheppard
Donegal has two important mountainous areas, in the north west highlands and the Blue Stack Mountains, and two other significant areas of high ground — central Inishowen in the north-east, and the south-west promontory. These are all based on either granite or quartzite, so in theory the acidic peat soils derived from both rock types should be supporting vegetation dominated by heather on better-drained land, and by sedges and Sphagnum mosses on the wetter bog surfaces.
In practice, overgrazing by sheep in recent times has greatly reduced the density of heather. Sheltered gullies in the mountain zone can often retain fragments of woodland, and crags that are inaccessible to sheep and deer, even if treeless, can give refuge to elements of woodland flora, or at least scrubby heath.
