🇵🇸 Look at this solidarity! Even more great civil society organisations have endorsed our National Demonstration for Palestine tomorrow. See you at the Garden of Remembrance at 12.30pm, all out for Palestine! #FreePalestine #GazaGenocide 🇵🇸

#donegalbirding A lifer today for some of the county’s most enthusiastic and experienced birders - this county-first Swainson’s Thrush should have been heading from Canada to South America, not Málainn Mhóir (Malin More), Gleann Cholm Cille (Glencolumbkille). Photo @delboydonegal.bsky.social

A couple of White-tailed Eagle sketches from earlier in the summer. This tagged female is from a nest in Mountshannon in 2014 and has been settled in Donegal for a few years now.

#donegalbirding birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/adv...

I was in Dublin for a few days earlier in the week, and the timing was perfect for a juvenile Stilt Sandpiper that was found at Broadlough. A beautiful species and my first time to see a juvenile in Ireland, having seen 3 adults previously.

I was delighted to receive this beautiful 2026 calendar from @hollygroganart.bsky.social , it is stunning! Thank you very much Holly and keep up the great work!

I am just back from a wonderful few days in Sweden where I visited the incredible Lars Jonsson exhibition in Stockholm, and then his museum on Gotland. Absolutely mind blowing, the selection and range of work was just unbelievable!

I had a really enjoyable afternoon teaching Watercolour techniques at the Colgan Hall in Cardonagh yesterday. A huge thank you to Sinead Smyth for organising the weekend of events, and for inviting me along. It was lovely to meet so many enthusiastic artists trying something new.

I am really exited to be presenting a Watercolour Workshop this Saturday, August 2nd from 2-4pm, at the Colgan Hall in Cardonagh. I hope it will be a fun and educational event for all. There are still some tickets available, and you can find them here: buytickets.at/artstaysdone...

Finally took possession of this magnificent book, and what an achievement it is by the estimable Ralph Sheppard. Essential and fascinating for #donegalbirding www.corkuniversitypress.com/978178205023...

I was absolutely delighted to receive this beautiful Chough from the very talented Holly Grogan, @hollygroganart.bsky.social It was lovely to swap illustrations and I definitely feel I got a great deal! You can see more of her stunning work at @hollygroganart on Instagram.

Delighted to get this beautiful blackcap illustration from the incredibly talented @robertvaughani.bsky.social as part of an art swap. Rob also included an extra blackcap painting, a sketchbook, acrylic paper, and a bunch of lovely cards, which was such a generous surprise! Thanks again Rob!

Plans were abandoned on Saturday afternoon when I heard about an Orca in Donegal Bay. A couple of Humpbacks, countless Minke and 1000s of Dolphins stretched across the bay. All topped off by regular sightings of the Orca distantly in the bay throughout the evening.

Another really enjoyable day out on Tory Island today. As always, I wasn't as productive as I hoped, but it was just lovely to sit in the sun and sketch for the afternoon.

It was a real pleasure to be invited along to speak about my work as an artist to Glenveagh National Park yesterday. It was part of Natures Classroom: Science and Art in the National Park, a wonderful course for teachers to encourage more Biodiversity education in schools. #glenveaghofficial

Sobering, well written article, the one word missing inexplicably is "sheep", overgrazing in most of our uplands is largely down to unsustainablly high densities of sheep. Deer undoubtedly are a huge issue too, esp Killarney, Wicklow and Glenveagh 🐦 🦉 🌎 theconversation.com/golden-eagle...

Only just now getting the chance to download images from Tory, and scan some sketches, tidied up with colour added at home. I was delighted that the Song Sparrow stayed around for almost a week, and most who travelled to see it were not disappointed.

Weekly birding round-up: 27 Jun - 3 Jul @dunnjons.bsky.social brings you his weekly birding roundup looking back at the best birds from around Britain, Ireland and the Western Palearctic. Read it here www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/W...

A couple of quick sketches of the Song Sparrow just now on Tory Island. Always a bit of excitement to find a rarity, and with boats cancelled due to the weather, I'm the only birder here to enjoy it! Despite the weather, it is regularly singing away from a sheltered corner.

Song Sparrow showing well on Tory this morning #irishrarebirds

Another great hike during the week with lots of Accentors, some more Rock Thrush and Ring Ouzel. But the highlight was a Short toed Eagle circling out of the mist and passing almost within arms reach!

During a recent hike in Bergamo, Italy, I found a few pairs of Rock Thrush. The stunning males kept their distance, but 1 female fed along the busy path, and the nest was not too far away. Although she completely ignored other hikers, she took a dislike to me stopping to watch!

For the last few weeks I have been compiling sketches, photos, and videos of the Pacific Diver, and of Black-throated, working my thoughts into more finished ideas. Much has been written before on the id of both, but I enjoyed the process and learned plenty for the next one.

An early start before the forecasted wind and rain arrived this morning for the Pacific Diver was rewarded with incredible, close-up displaying Eider that surrounded me! The Diver was still about, and in stunning summer plumage, but was distant.

1. All eagle deaths, esp in a small population, are a loss but some are harder to take than most. Sadly, our 1st breeding male, released in 2008, was recently picked up dead. This bird deserves a proper obituary to put his life (and death) in context www.thejournal.ie/investigatio...

2 of the field sketches from last month of Long-tailed Ducks at Fanad Head. It is certainly the best place in Ireland to enjoy these stunning sea duck.

After a very busy, but enjoyable week, it was lovely to get back to the hills on Thursday evening. Some melancholic notes from a Ring Ouzel rising from below was the perfect end to the week. Back again for one more year, Ireland's last pair.

A really enjoyable launch event yesterday for the Birds of Donegal at Glenveagh. It was an honour to share the stage and be asked to say a few words along side two people who have been so inspirational in my life, Ralph Shephard and Eric Dempsey. The book had sold out before we even began!

Birds of Donegal, second county avifauna from Cork University Press…….only about 30 to go…. @robertvaughani.bsky.social

A few photos of the Wildlife Watercolour Demonstration from the weekend. We had some great weather for a really enjoyable morning, a huge thank you to all the organisers of Le Chéile don Dúlra Biodiveraity Festival #glenveaghnationalpark

The Pacific Diver had appeared again on Saturday so I was keen to see it as it was now approaching summer plumage. It would be a lot more tricky to ID it as it is now, but several features were still useful pointers. I'm trying to work notes and sketches into a finished illustration to cover these.

A wonderful and entertaining dawn chorus with Aengus Kennedy of @naturenorthwest.bsky.social . A lovely selection of birds and a great start to the day. Aengus will be leading another walk tomorrow morning, bookings can be made at www.nationalparks.ie/glenveagh/th...

I have just collected a few of the paintings from the Birds of Donegal from the framers ahead of the exhibition. It will be this Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 4pm in the Bridge House in Glenveagh, open to all. They will also be on display during the book launch next Thursday.

I was delighted to receive a copy of the wonderful Birds of Donegal by Ralph Shepherd, and it is magnificent! I was honoured to be asked to do some paintings for the chapter introductions. The official launch is next Thursday, May 22 in Glenveagh, but tickets need to be booked in advance.

The weather forecast for this week is excellent and there is no where better to be than Glenveagh National Park for the Biodiversity week! I will be around various events during the week, but leading the 2 below. More can be seen on the website www.nationalparks.ie/glenveagh/th...

It was lovely to see the White Stork yesterday close to Glenveagh National Park. With a closed ring on its leg, it is likely to be an escape from somewhere. 521 on one side and POP,PDP or PDF on the other side as read by Derek Brennan.

I am really excited to be exhibiting paintings from the Birds of Donegal, by Ralph Shepherd, on May 17 and 18 at the Bridge house in Glenveagh. The official book launch will also be in Glenveagh the following week. The exhibition is free to attend and I will be there both days.

A great series of events, walks and talks will be available during the Glenveagh Biodiversity Week. More can be found at www.nationalparks.ie/glenveagh/th..., including more information on the two events I will be leading.

I will be leading two events at the Glenveagh Biodiversity Week next month. The first will be Scrapbooking in Nature, the second a Watercolour Workshop focusing on Wildlife. Both events are free, but they do require booking in advance. www.nationalparks.ie/glenveagh/th...

I am really looking forward to taking part in the Glenveagh National Biodiversity Week this coming May. I will be leading two art focussed courses, more details can be found on the Glenveagh website. The courses are free but booking is required. www.nationalparks.ie/glenveagh/th...

Along with original artwork, I have a range of prints and cards available on my website, robertvauaghanillustrations.com . A huge thank you to everyone who has bought my work, your support means a huge amount to me.

It is international curlew day today, very few sounds are as evocative as the calls of displaying Curlew. Sadly, this is a very rare privilege these days. A couple of older paintings and sketches of Curlew from my time in Donegal.

The birds of County Donegal, a fantastic new book by Ralph Shepherd is now available for pre sale with Cork University Press. I was honoured to be asked to contribute some paintings for the cover and chapter introductions. www.corkuniversitypress.com/978178205023...

www.corkuniversitypress.com/978178205023... nice one @robertvaughani.bsky.social

Just found a Pacific Diver in Ballyhiernan Bay, Fanad, swimming in amongst the long tailed ducks. #irishrarebirds

A glorious morning on Fanad Head in north Donegal. A couple of stunning summer plumage Long-tailed Ducks and Eider enjoying the sun as much as I am.

I am just back from Italy, where a small wave of migrants were arriving. By the end of the trip, Redstarts were singing from every park and garden, and it was wonderful to see the splash of colour.

It's nice to be back out in the hills doing spring surveys. Merlin can be very secretive in the summer, so it was nice to pick some signs of recent activity to pin down a pair again at a traditional site. Several pellets and moth remains on hummocks gave optimism before the pair were picked up.