Wicklow Head : Wildlife

Wildlife: Grey seals are a common sight in the water around the base of the cliffs but they rarely come ashore. The nearest regular breeding site for seals is on Lambay Island, over 50km (30 miles) north. Rabbits graze the clifftop vegetation and are most active at dusk and dawn,.

The seabird colony, which is mainly concentrated south of the lighthouse, includes (in order of abundance) kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, herring gulls, fulmars and a few black guillemots, shags and great black-backed gulls.The kittiwakes make the most distinctive calls during the nesting season, May to July. In spring the fulmars are most obvious flying around the clifftops while in autumn and winter there are few seabirds present. Songbirds such as rock pipit, meadow pipit and skylark are most numerous on the clifftops with stonechat, yellowhammer, whitethroat, linnet and wren breeding in the gorse scrub. Partridges once bred regularly here but have not been seen in recent years. Kestrels nest nearby and hunt small mammals among the rough grassland. Ravens and peregrines occasionally nest on the cliffs and both are regularly seen in spring and summer months. During periods of onshore winds, it can also be good for watching passing seabirds such as shearwaters and skuas.

All the common migrant butterflies, such as peacock, red admiral and clouded yellow, may be seen on the headland in suitable weather conditions in summer.