Portrunny Harbour: heron & swan
A swimming swan and a grey heron at Portrunny Harbour, in Portrunny Townland (County Roscommon, Connacht Province, in west-central Ireland), on a mostly overcast afternoon in early May 2024. The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is approaching for a landing on the calm water, where the mute swan (Cygnus olor) has been calmly swimming about.
Portrunny (also spelled in English as Portrun, Port Reanna in Irish) is southeast of Roscommon Town. The harbour is a sheltered part of Lough Ree (in Irish, Loch Rí), which is the second-largest of the lakes along the course of the River Shannon (in Irish, Abhainn na Sionainne or an tSionainn) and includes Portrunny Bay. It provides a boat-launching area and picnic facilities as well as a playground.
The lough and its surrounding shores, including bogland, have been designated as an EU Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area, and an official Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). The location is popular with both migratory and stable water birds.
(Information, including English and Irish place names, from the Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series map no. 40, as well as logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference numbers 44171, 100027, and 1166403), and Wikipedia, both last consulted 18 June 2024.)
[Portrunny Harbour 2 heron swan 2024-05-04 f; DSCF1895]
Portrunny Harbour: heron & swan
A swimming swan and a grey heron at Portrunny Harbour, in Portrunny Townland (County Roscommon, Connacht Province, in west-central Ireland), on a mostly overcast afternoon in early May 2024. The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is approaching for a landing on the calm water, where the mute swan (Cygnus olor) has been calmly swimming about.
Portrunny (also spelled in English as Portrun, Port Reanna in Irish) is southeast of Roscommon Town. The harbour is a sheltered part of Lough Ree (in Irish, Loch Rí), which is the second-largest of the lakes along the course of the River Shannon (in Irish, Abhainn na Sionainne or an tSionainn) and includes Portrunny Bay. It provides a boat-launching area and picnic facilities as well as a playground.
The lough and its surrounding shores, including bogland, have been designated as an EU Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area, and an official Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). The location is popular with both migratory and stable water birds.
(Information, including English and Irish place names, from the Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series map no. 40, as well as logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference numbers 44171, 100027, and 1166403), and Wikipedia, both last consulted 18 June 2024.)
[Portrunny Harbour 2 heron swan 2024-05-04 f; DSCF1895]