Murmurations regularly enthralling locals in scenic part of Kilkenny

Locals and a growing number of visitors are being enthralled by a daily celestial display of thousands of starlings over the Kilkenny townlands of Poulrone, Kilmacoliver, Curragh, Knockeen and Tullahought before they settle down for the night in Knockeen.

A visit to Birdwatch Ireland revealed that it is one of only forty such sites recorded nationwide with regularly-occurring murmurations.

Around the South-East, the Knockeen such site recorded in County Kilkenny.

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A murmuration - or a flock of starlings - sees birds stick together as a means of protection from predators and for warmth at night.

With their normal most roosting sites in reed beds and woodland, starlings fly huge distances to join in with the crowd and often attract birds of prey with them including Buzzards.

Other recorded locations in the South-East include Bagenalstown, Tomduff and Borris in Carlow, Ballacolla in Laois, Abbeyside in Waterford and Birdhill and Cashel in Tipperary.

The county with the most murmurations in the South-East is County Wexford, with regular sightings at Cornwall Killurin, Enniscorty, Donishall Clonmahon, Oulart and Templeduigan.

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