When I first met ornithologist Seán Ronayne, he was wandering through Killarney National Park at dawn, trying to sound-record a great spotted woodpecker.
I was on assignment for The Irish Times, tasked with filming a short video with Seán for a series about people with interesting jobs. It took longer than usual to record my interview with him; he kept running off-camera to chase down bird calls that caught his ear.
When he wasn't pointing his parabolic microphone at the treetops, listening intently, Seán was regaling me with interesting anecdotes about starlings and whitethroats, mimicry and migration. Did I know that some birds, like chaffinches and song thrushes, have dialects, like accents? Did I know that ravens have distinct vocalisations to identify individual birds, like names? Also, I can easily identify kittiwakes – they're the ones who look like their wing tips were dipped in ink.
That day in the park, Seán also told me about his recent autism diagnosis and how it was a relief to finally understand, in his early 30s, some of his behaviour and obsessions. When he first started dating his partner Alba, who is from Catalonia, she wondered if his intense fascination with birds was just an "Irish thing".
I was struck by Seán’s wide-eyed enthusiasm for the natural world, his open-heartedness and unassuming, quietly charismatic personality, as well as the momentous challenge he had set for himself of recording the call of every bird species in Ireland – nearly 200 birds. His passion for these creatures, his way of telling their stories in a poetic but accessible way, was singular. It was clear to me that Seán was someone special.
From the start, we wanted Birdsong to strike a balance between clarion call and celebration.
So, after eight years as a video journalist for The Irish Times, I left the newspaper in October 2022 to make a film about Seán and his epic quest, one that seemed both urgent and wondrous.
That film became Birdsong, an 18-month collaboration between Seán, Alba and a remarkable filmmaking team. I had the privilege of working with experienced wildlife cinematographer Ross Bartley, who beautifully captured some of the country’s most elusive species and soundscapes in some of its most remote locations. After months organising permits from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to record several protected species, we filmed the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a starling murmuration in Westmeath; and a solitary ring ouzel nest in the Donegal uplands.
From the start, we wanted Birdsong to strike a balance between clarion call and celebration. We wanted to find a way of talking about the urgent topics of biodiversity and climate change, without rattling off a list of grim statistics. Careful crafting by our talented and thoughtful editor Iseult Howlett helped us present some of the stark realities facing Ireland – like the fact that 63 per cent of our bird species are endangered, either red- or amber-listed – while showcasing the intelligence, importance and beauty of our birds.
Ultimately, we hope the film brings people joy. The crises we’re facing have created a lot of anxiety and fatigue. Loneliness too. We hope Seán’s story brings some relief, inspires a "wow, I never knew that" or two, and encourages people who are trying to make a difference to keep going.
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