Connacht Tribune 8th September, 1967 p.1 (abridged)
Photo: Cláudio Dias Timm
Wikimedia Commons.
A south Galway ornithologist this week issued a “don’t shoot” appeal to local farmers and sportsmen. He believes that a strange bird that turned up on the shores of Galway Bay at Kinvara is a Flamingo!
Ornithologist Mr John A. Bevan issued the appeal after he saw the bird opposite the An Oige hostel in Dooras. The bird has marked similarities with a Flamingo. It is white in colour with a touch of pink on its breast and it has a hooked beak.
The Flamingo, sighted four times before in Ireland (between 1938 and 1947), is usually found only on the south-west coast of South America. Mr Bevan believes it must have escaped from captivity. A spokesman at Dublin zoo said: There are thirty Flamingoes here. It cannot be one of ours because their wings are clipped so that they cannot fly.
The area around Kinvara where the bird was sighted is a noted district for many types of wildfowl.
The Burren and Beyond 