School Projects...

See our project on Schools long ago (2008)
Go to our Co-Operation Project - The Mid Offaly Housing Association (2006)

Rainfall
We have measured the rainfall for the past two years and compared our figures with the Met Eireann average for Birr weather station. You can see that 2002 was very wet compared to 2001 which was drier than usual. We noticed that wet months seemed to come in pairs in 2002 - January and February; May and June; October and November.

The figures below are the Met Eireann Average for Birr 1951 -1980 and the Gortnamona figures for 2001, 2002.

 
Average 1951-1980
2001
2002
January
76
28
125
February
52
32
171
March
53
43
49
April
55
72
75
May
62
34
127
June
52
65
109
July
68
39
66
August
76
88
53
September
79
54
16
October
80
107
145
November
77
50
143
December
86
41
78
Annual Total (mm)
816
653
1157

Birds
The Wren
The wren is brown with black or white markings. It is one of the smallest birds in the country. It is about 9 and a half centimetres in length. The wren has a cocked up tail. It has a long pointy beak which it uses to get worms out of the ground. The wren also eats insects, grubs, spiders and small seeds. It is very loud for its size. It has short, rounded wings and it flies short distances. It is very active, nervous and fast. The wren is a year round resident of Ireland and is found nearly everywhere. The wren makes its nest out of twigs. It lays 3-10 eggs. The eggs are white and brownish and some are spotted. After about 2 weeks the young leave the nest. The wren is known as the king of the birds and there is a poem and a story about it.

The Robin
The robin is easy to notice because of its bright red breast. Its wings and the bottom of its breast is brown. Its nest is made out of moss and dead leaves. They build their nests in trees and bushes. The young robin has no red breast. The robin is quite a small bird. It lives in gardens mostly. It eats worms ,seeds and insects.The robin stays in Ireland all year round. It is a common bird around Ireland.The most I've seen at the one time is 2 because it is probably marking where it lives and is fighting off other robins from its home. The robin does not make a lot of noise . Its beak is small, thin but pointed and its greyish black.The male and female look the same. In winter if you give them some kind of soft food they will keep coming to your house because they know you keep giving it food.The tail is small. The robin is a friendly bird, it'd come up to you if you had something for it. You would not see it up in the tops of trees.They build their nests anywhere. You would not see them around the coast rearing their young.Their nails on their feet are very ,very sharp.Their legs are very thin as well . The Irish for the robin is spideog.

 

 
The Sparrow
The sparrow is a small bird.They often travel in groups of fours and fives. It uses twigs and mud and sometimes grass to build its nest. It is closely related to the dunnock. It is very hard to know a sparrow from a dunnock. There is one difference from the dunnock. Its beak is smaller. It is hard to see in the bushes. When lunch break is over you would often see them jumping about eating scraps. It eats seeds and scraps. The sparrow is not a very colourful bird. It has mainly grey and brown. The Irish for sparrow is gealbhan.
The Rook
The rook is black. It is a big bird like the crow. The rook flies in groups. It has green feathers on its back. It has a shiny beak. The rook likes to nest in tops of high trees. It is noticed in winter because all the leaves fall off and then you can see it better. It has a bit of purple on it's neck. Kaw is the call of the rook. It eats worms and insects. It has very sharp talons. You sometimes would see them in fields. The rook is a relation of the crow. It stays in Ireland all year round. The Irish word for rook is préachán.

The Mute Swan
The mute swan is the largest swan in Ireland. It lives in lakes, rivers and parks. It has five to ten cygnets every year. It feeds on insects at the bottom of where ever it lives. One winter it came right up to our front door. It would not go away until my father got some bread and walked slowly in front of it until it went down to the lake. The mute swan has an orange beak and a white body. When it is flying it does not fly in patterns. One day I went out and saw two whooper swans flying in. The two mute swans fought them off our lake. Not all cygnets survive. The mink, pike or the fox kill them. This year there were eight cygnets and five survived. Sometimes the mute swans don't mind other mute swans flying in. The cygnets are brownish grey when they are born. Its nest is made of rushes and sticks.

Blackbird
The blackbird is black with an orange beak. It has yellow rings round its eyes. Young males have brownish wings. A female blackbird has soft brown with a speckled breast. It eats worms, berries, spiders, ants, strawberries and cherries. A blackbird is a resident. You would find it in a bush or hedge. It is very common.

The Pheasant
The pheasant is a common bird where I live. It is always out in the field behind my house. I saw one on the hay bales, it was jumping across the bales. It has a green head and under its eyes it is orange. It is a game bird. It is hunted a lot in winter for eating. People get dogs to find them in trees and if it comes out it will be shot. The male pheasant is very colourful. The female is not very colourful. It is grey and brown. Baby pheasants are not very colourful for a few weeks.

The Song Thrush
The song thrush is a very common bird. It is found near tress or bushes and it is also very common in parks. It breaks open snail shells. It eats worms, berries and insects. It has a spotted breast. Its wings and back is brown. And it is not very big. The nest is made out of twigs.

The mistle thrush is a very common bird. It eats the same things as the song thrush. It is larger than the song thrush. It can be most often found in woodland, parks and large gardens.

The Bullfinch
The bullfinch is a small bird. It is bigger than the chaffinch. It has a red chest and a black head and tail it has a white stripe on its wing. It has a grey back. You see them in bushes and trees. The bullfinch is a common bird. It has a stubby beak for breaking seeds. It eats insects, seeds and berries. It comes to gardens to look for the food.

The Chaffinch and Greenfinch
The small chaffinch is 15cm. The chaffinch is commonest of the European finches. The male is unmistakable with its slate blue head chestnut mantle and pinkish brown colour. The chaffinches song is cheerful. They are visitors to the garden. The greenfinch is the same size as a robin. It is around in winter a lot. A greenfinch lives anywhere. Its colours are green and yellow. There are also goldfinches, bullfinches, chaffinches and hawfinches. A greenfinch likes eating bread worms and seeds.
The Starling
The starling is a very noisy bird. It is a common bird. It is usually seen in flocks. It is black with green on his head there is purple on his neck the spots are gold. It eats fruit seeds and insects. It builds nests in holes in trees or buildings. They lay from three to six eggs. The chicks grow very quickly and leave the nest when they are three weeks old.
The Magpie
The magpie is black and white and has a long tail. It appears to be a large bird in the distance but actually it is a small bird. The magpie is a very common bird in the city and it is also common in the country.
Some people believe that if they see one magpie it is for sorrow, and for joy it is two. It feeds on insects and seeds and anything else it can get around a farmyard. The magpie lays its eggs in other birds nests. It is also a greedy bird as it eats other birds eggs and in the farmyard it flies into sheds and takes the eggs the hens have laid. The magpie has a long tail. The magpie is a member of the crow family.
The Blue Tit
The blue tit is a small bird. It is mostly seen in parks and gardens. It eats insects, seeds, nuts and berries. It eats out of bird feeder. Its head is blue, white and black. It has a yellow chest and a black stripe on its chest. Some times I see two or three.The blue tit stays all year round.
The Pigeon
The pigeon is grey and it has a ring of different colours around its neck. The pigeon flies up and down and fast too. The pigeon sits around on high things. When nobody is around the pigeon eats leftover food. You could see the pigeon in towns and cities .The pigeon is unafraid of people. The pigeon is a big bird. The pigeon stays in Ireland with us.
This site has been designed in frames.
If you can not see a navigation frame at the top of this page please click here to enter the fully framed site.
Please take time to read our disclaimer notice.