Rostellan

Rostellan is a lovely little village in East Cork just a 15 minute drive from Midleton, located on the Whitegate road, and is a great place to stop off for a picnic or take out your walking boots and take a stroll through Rostellan Woods. Beautiful in the Autumn but lovely at any time of year, the area is also popular for its wildlife as there is a creek and lake in Rostellan which plays host to a number of birds, swans and other wildlife.

There is a great picnic area so why not just stop off and enjoy the views across Cork Harbour. Crossing over the bridge by the picnic area you can read up on some of Rostellan's ancient history of Rostellan Castle/House and Mill long since gone.

This area of East Cork is very popular for Bird Watching, Cork Harbour the second largest natural harbour in the world and along Aghada Pier, Whitegate, Ballycotton Strand, Garryvoe, Ballymacoda, Ballyvergan Reedbeds, Lough Aderra, Midleton Estuary and Cuskinny. Along these routes you can see Waders, Waterfowl, Pintail, Grebes, Ducks (Golden Plover, Wideon and Shelduck), Little Egrets, Kingfishers, Swallows, Sand Martins, Starlings, Gulls, and Swans, Brent Geese in Ballymacoda, Ballyvergan reedbed popular for warblers.

What makes the Cork region popular for birdwatching is that the Cork Harbour area is made up of rocky shorelines, mudflats, wetlands, reedbeds, beaches, lagoons and channels. The beach areas, Ballycotton, Ballynamona, Garryvoe where you can find waders and many other bird species, and then Rostellan Lake has a large reed area, Cuskinny is a private nature reserve and Lough Aderra offers freshwater for a multiple of bird life.