An ecological survey of Blackrock in Co Louth has found that around 50,000 water birds regularly use the area.
The Ecology of Blackrock, launched yesterday by Minister for Foreign Affairs and local TD Dermot Ahern, highlighted the variety of wildlife in and around the Louth town on Dundalk Bay.
Written by ecologists Julie Roe and Oscar Merne, it said the bay is the single most important site for wading birds in Ireland, and is also the third most important Irish site for all waterbird species combined.
Visitors to Blackrock include oystercatchers, golden plovers, lapwings, knots, dunlins, black-tailed godwits, bar-tailed godwits, curlews and redshanks.
The report also studied almost all other sorts of wildlife in and around the town, including plants, bats and butterflies.
It did not find any traces of badgers in the area, despite the availability of suitable habitat for this species. Red squirrels also appeared to be extinct.
Natural and semi-natural habitats in Blackrock are under considerable pressure from building, the report found. However, the tidal flats, saltmarshes and coastal fringe remain largely intact.
