The Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig is set on a five hundred acre estate, consisting mainly of coniferous plantation forest (Sitka Spruce) but with some pasture and remnant native woodland as well. There are white swans on the lake (I’m used to black ones!) and swathes of bluebells as far as the eye can see. The wood is very dark, like something out of Macbeth. I’ve seen Red Deer on its edge, but unfortunately have yet to see a badger or pine marten.

I’ve been intrigued to see what wildlife lives here. Birds abound. Species spotted so far include: Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Jackdaw, Rook, Magpie, Common Swift, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Song Thrush, European Robin (Robin Redbreast) and what I think was a Eurasian Kestrel. A little thrush is singing in a tree outside my window as I write this post, and it rivals Australia’s Butcher Bird for the beauty of its song. I haven’t mentioned birds which I commonly see back home as introduced species, such as blackbirds and sparrows. The very first bird I saw at Dublin Airport was disturbingly an Indian Myna, a destructive invasive species worldwide, but thankfully they don’t seem to have reached this far into the Irish countryside.

As I wander about this beautiful estate, watching for wildlife, I am aware of what is missing, almost as much as what is present. Once upon a time this was a vast oak woodland. Grey wolves and brown bears roamed, along with elk, beavers and lynx. Six bird of prey species have gone extinct here, although attempts are being made to reintroduce the Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle and Red Kite into nearby national parks. Only twenty-six land mammal species were ever native to Ireland, because it was isolated from the European mainland by rising sea levels after the last ice age. Many of those that have survived are now under threat from invasive species, habitat loss and illegal hunting. Wherever I go in the world, the presence of our lost creatures seems very real to me. Maybe ghosts haunt more than houses.