Red Kites in Avoca

Avoca in County Wicklow is a small town on the Avoca River. It is a popular location to go bird watching for Red Kites in Wicklow. The town is located just 4 Kilometres from the “Meeting of the Waters”. Red Kites are common in this area and there is a beautiful woodland walk called the “Red Kite Walk”.

There is a large car park in the town. Walk to your left when you exit the car park. The entrance to the Red Kite Walk is about 100 metres up on the right, beside the local school. This walk takes you above the village on a forest trail where you can see wide variety of birds.

Alternatively you can walk to your right. Keep an eye on the trees above the houses for Red Kites. Cross the bridge in the centre of town to scan the area for soaring Kites. Keep walking until you cross the bridge, which will take you all the way to the meeting of the waters. Be aware that this is a 4 kilometre walk, so you may prefer to drive.

The Thomas Moore Memorial Park is located at the meeting of the waters, where Thomas Moore wrote a famous lyric:

There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;
Oh the last rays of feeling and life must depart,
Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart.

Sat-Nav co-ordinates for the car park in Avoca are: 52.859427, -6.211944 . Sat-Nav co-ordinates for parking at the Meeting of the Waters are: 52.884852, -6.233461 .

East Coast Nature Reserve is just a 20 minute drive from Avoca!