A bird which was once a common sight and sound in Ireland's vast forests, has been heard for the first time in Cork for centuries.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker was marked as 'extinct' in Ireland in the late 17th or early 18th century, following the felling of their woodland habitats to make way for farms, Cork Beo reported.
Despite the unlikely 'vagrant' or lost bird, veering into Irish territory from the UK, there were no breeding populations of The Great Spotted Woodpecker in Ireland, particularly on the west coast, for centuries.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is blackbird-sized and has a striking black and white body, with a distinctive bouncing flight. They tend to hang on to tree trunks and branches, to obscure their view from observers.
Co Down recorded the first breeding pair of the bird in 2006. And since then, Great Spotted Woodpeckers - known in Irish as 'Mórchnagaire breac' - have started to come back to other parts of the country.
There was surprise in the Glengarrif Nature Reserve following a confirmed sighting - or a hearing - of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, with its call and 'drum' caught on camera by local bird spotter Cat Walker.
The Nature Reseve said: "Woodpecker confirmed drumming in Glengarriff Nature Reserve for the first time! Exciting times as a Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen and heard by several walkers over the last few days. Cat Holland first reported it with this video."
The news is set to bring a large number of birdwatchers to West Cork over the coming days in response to of the most exciting bits of wildlife news heard in recent times in Ireland.
Glengarriff, located in the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, now plays home to one of the rarest and most-missed native birds we have.
After hundreds of years, ornithologists will be delighted to see the Great Spotted Woodpecker back.
They hope that a colony of breeding birds can set themselves up here and flourish within our woodlands.
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