WINGS SPRING 2016 1

Also...Garden Bird SurveyFeeding garden birdsTern conservation work

Species FocusBrent Geese:

one of Ireland’s mostspecial winter visitors

Number 87 Winter 2017 • ISSN 1393-3434

From Declan O’Sullivan

Any item or product advertised in Wings isnot necessarily approved or recommended byBirdWatch Ireland unless specifically stated.For any advertising enquiries and best rates,please contact environs@iol.ie.

Copy deadline for the Spring 2018 issueof Wings is Friday, 22nd December 2017

BirdWatch Ireland Board Members:Gerry Lyons (Chair) Jim FitzharrisCatherine Casey John LynchTony Culley Breffni MartinJim Dowdall Stephen Wilson

Editorial Team:Cóilín MacLochlainn, Niall HatchPublished by: BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20, Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Greystones, Co Wicklow, A63 RW83Telephone: (01) 281 9878Email: info@birdwatchireland.ieWeb: http://www.birdwatchireland.ieCharity number: Registered Charity No CHY5703BirdWatch Ireland complies with the Governance Code forthe Community, Voluntary and Charitable Sector in Ireland.

COVER PHOTOGRAPH:Kingfisher by Ita Martin(see Photo Gallery, pages 18-19)Insets: Brent Goose by Brian Burke(see Species Focus, pages 20-22)Blue Tit by Brian Burke(see Garden Bird Survey, pages 12-14)

Wings is the quarterly membership magazineof BirdWatch Ireland (Cairde Éanlaith Éireann).Contributions of photographs, drawings, letters,news items and articles are welcomed and shouldbe addressed to the Editor. The opinionsexpressed by contributors are not necessarilythose of the Editor or of BirdWatch Ireland.

BirdWatch Ireland is the BirdLife Internationalpartner in the Republic of Ireland

We have another exciting issue of Wings for all of you thisseason, not least because it contains the results of lastwinter’s Garden Bird Survey, which you can read all abouton pages 12 to 14. If you took part in the survey for us,

please accept our most sincere thanks. If you did not, well, there is always thiswinter: please do give it a go. The data we receive from our members whoparticipate is invaluable, and the survey is also great fun.This is the time of year when thoughts turn to Christmas, and of course

naturally to Christmas cards. A wonderful way to support the work ofBirdWatch Ireland is to buy your Christmas cards from us and send them to

your friends and family. Moneyraised this way helps to fund ourvital conservation efforts, and bysending the cards you are helpingto spread the word about thework we do. The cards come inmixed packs of four differentdesigns and are available from ourBirdWatch Ireland Shop(shop.birdwatchireland.ie)for €6, plus P&P, per pack of 20.We have also produced our

new Irish Birds Calendar 2018,featuring a selection of superb birdimages taken by photographersacross Ireland. The calendar costs€6, plus P&P, and is only availablefrom our shop. In previous yearsstocks have sold out quickly, soplease buy early to avoiddisappointment! All proceeds of

course go to support our work to conserve Ireland’s birds and biodiversity.With this issue of Wings you will have received the latest edition of our

sales catalogue, which is packed with lots of gift ideas that are sure to delightany nature-lovers in your life. If you ask me, the best gift of all is BirdWatchIreland membership. As a member yourself, you already know theimportance of the work we do. Hopefully you also enjoy receiving ourmagazines, visiting our nature reserves and taking part in our local branchevents. Why not now also pass that gift on to others by taking out an annualmembership in their name? It is a gift that lasts all year, and the more

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BirdWatch Ireland’s 2018 calendar

members we have, the more effective our work willbe. Simply visit our online shop, ring us on (01)2819 878, or visit our newly designed webpagewww.birdwatchirelandconnect.ie/join.Finally, I am delighted to announce that

BirdWatch Ireland will shortly havea new Head of Conservation& Policy. Mark Robins willbe taking up thispost with us early inthe New Year. Mark hasextensive experience inconservation and advocacy. He hasheld various senior management positions,including conservation scientist, advocate, team lead and regional policy officer during his 25-year-plus career with RSPB, our fellowBirdLife International partner in the UK, wherehe has also worked with various wildlifetrusts and national parks. Mark is anexperienced speaker across TV, radioand social media, has published severalpapers and books, and currently holds aVisiting Fellow Seat at Exeter University’s Land, Environment, Economicsand Policy Institute. We are very pleased indeed to welcome him on board.Enjoy this issue of Wings!

Declan O’Sullivan,Interim CEO, BirdWatch Ireland

Think of BirdWatch Ireland this Christmas

BirdWatch Ireland’s ‘Robin’Christmas card and, below, thephotos from the other three designs

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LettersEmail: nhatch@birdwatchireland.iePost: BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20, Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Co WicklowNote: Please provide your name and postal address at end of letter. Letters may be edited or cut.Publication does not imply endorsement; the views expressed in any letters published on this pageare not necessarily those of BirdWatch Ireland.

Pollen-stained House Sparrow (right)

The Blackbird with white markings

DAVID TOCHER

Odd-looking BlackbirdSir, – As my husband and I were drivingtowards the village of Kells, Co Kilkenny,recently we spotted a bird which had unusualcolouring. It looked like a Blackbird, but had acreamy-white head [see photo, below].Aftersome online research, we discovered a reportin The Telegraph entitled: “Ornithologists seekto answer the riddle of white blackbirds andpink sparrows.” The picture of a leucisticBlackbird included in that report was verysimilar to the image of the bird we saw. Wewould be interested to know if there havebeen many sightings in Ireland of this unusualbird or indeed others, such as “pink sparrows.”ROSEMARY REID(via email)

Dear Rosemary, – Though it is quite a rarecondition, Blackbirds seem more prone thanmost other birds to leucism, a partial loss ofpigmentation. We receive a few reports ofleucistic Blackbirds each year, and parent birdsoften seem to pass it on to their offspring.Leucism is usually a congenital abnormality.

It can be disadvantageous, as it can makebirds less attractive to potential mates, or evenfatal, as it can make them more obvious topredators. Leucistic Blackbirds often seem tocope quite well with the condition, however.The pink-tinged sparrows that were reported

in Scotland were apparently living close to asalmon farm and had been eating fish pelletscontaining high concentrations of prawn shell,which is used to give the flesh of the salmon apink colour. – Niall Hatch

ROSEMARY REID

Birds with stained foreheadsSir, – We were in a garden in Castlemaine,Co Kerry, in mid-July and spotted thisunusual bird [see photo, above].There were atleast two of these in the flock of sparrows(male and female) on and around the feeder.They look exactly like female HouseSparrows except for the orange patch onthe head. Is it a hybrid or mutation of asparrow or is it a different species?DAVID TOCHERLisnagry, Co Limerick

Dear David, – The birds in your photos areHouse Sparrows that have been feeding on thenectar of a plant called New Zealand Flax. Thisnon-native species dusts brightly-coloured pollenonto the head of any bird that comes to feedon it, hence the striking yellow patches on yoursparrows.We have actually been receiving an

increasing number of reports of this pollen-staining, especially on Starlings, and weprepared an article about the phenomenon fora recent issue of eWings, our monthly emailnewsletter : you can read the article athttp://bit.ly/2u6utV6. – Niall Hatch

Stone-eating crowsSir, – A friend of mine recently spread gravelon his driveway and observed crows takingindividual stones in their beaks. He cannot sayif they swallowed them – which he doubts! –but wonders why they do it. The gravel camefrom Kilmore Quay, so there would be salttraces present. I asked if perhaps the crowsthought that the gravel pieces were seashellsand were dropping them to try to breakthem open, but he thought not.LARRY DUNNECo Wexford

Dear Larry, – I expect that the crows were mostlikely swallowing the stones. Birds have no teeth,so to break up their food they swallow and storesmall stones in an organ called the gizzard.These stones are then manipulated in thegizzard to grind food when it is swallowed. Overtime, the stones become worn smooth, so thebirds expel them and swallow fresh ones: thesesmoothed gizzard stones are known asgastroliths. – Niall Hatch

Strange white finchSir, – My parents have this daily visitor [seephoto, above] to their bird feeder in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim. It’s a small bird witha white head and breast, yellow on its backand black wingtips. It has been coming for upto two years, and goes away in summer.Anybody that sees the bird says they haven’t

seen one like it and they have differenttheories, from an albino to a crossbreed to anescaped pet. Can you put a name to it for us?PAUL McWEENEY(via email)

Dear Paul, – The bird appears to be anabnormally-plumaged male Chaffinch. Itsunusual colouration is due to a largely geneticcondition called leucism (described above), whichcauses the bird to lack some of its usual featherpigment. You can see a trace of the normalcolouration in the greenish-yellow patch on themantle and in the black on its flight feathers.The fact that this bird has been returning for

two years suggests that it is managing to copewell despite this genetic abnormality. – NiallHatch

Leucistic Chaffinch

PAUL McW

EENEY

Hovering KingfisherSir, – One sunny afternoon in September, I was birdwatching from Brighton Vale inSeapoint, Co Dublin, a short cul-de-sac righton the coast, when a Kingfisher suddenlyappeared right in front of me. It zippedabout but, finding no suitable perches, ithovered over a rockpool for about fifteenseconds, its wings whirring like ahummingbird’s. I had never before seen aKingfisher hovering and it was quite a thrill. I had never seen one at Seapoint either,though I have seen them at the outflowchannel in nearby Booterstown Marsh.DANNY MURPHY,Sandyford, Dublin 18

provided, aggregating the content of the teacher-training in a user-friendly way.By improving the quality of early education, the project will impact

future learning abilities. Additionally, it will contribute to developingyoung pupils’ awareness of their impact on the environment, respect fornature and people, skills of enquiry and critical thinking, and the ability toapply these to local and global issues.The project is being conducted by a partnership of experienced

BirdLife partner organisations, long-established in the environmentaleducation area. Apart from BirdWatch Ireland and OTOP, the projectinvolves the Czech Society for Ornithology, SEO (our BirdLife partnerin Spain), the Slovak Ornithological Society and the MacedonianEcological Society. They will be supported by experts from theUniversity of Gdańsk responsible for the creation of the educationalmaterials.

EU project to support nature education

BirdWatch Ireland, together with five fellow European environmentalorganisations and the University of Gdańsk in Poland, has just enteredthe second year of its exciting education project entitled ‘EmpoweringTeachers and Pupils for a Better Life through Nature,’ which is fundedunder the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.The steering-group meeting for the project was held in Gdańsk in

September. The main goal of the project is to develop innovative teachingresources, support and training to enable educators to deliver aneffective bird- and nature-themed programme of learning to their pupils.

5WINGS WINTER 2017

Lapwing: one of the key decliningfarmland bird species on which theErasmus+-funded project will focus.Photo: Paul Lynch

SISKIN by

DAVID DILLO

N

BirdWatch Ireland is helping to develop an EU nature-themed educational programme. Niall Hatch reports

Once developed, these resources will be provided to teachers in pre-schools and primary schools in Poland, Ireland, the Czech Republic,Spain, Slovakia and Macedonia. The project is being led by OTOP, ourBirdLife International partner in Poland.Not only will the materials prepared in the framework of the project

offer educators the teaching methodology, practical guidelines andlessons/activities scenarios, but it will also support teachers’ use ofinteractive digital technologies in children’s education by providing amobile application for primary-school pupils.The international teacher-training element of the project, which will

take place in Ireland next year, will host sixty teachers from all six partnercountries. The educational materials will be available for all interestededucators as open-source resources, and a video tutorial will also be

As a BirdWatch Ireland member yourself, you already know about the vital conservationwork that your membership funds support.This Christmas, you can help Irishwildlife even more by givingfriends and family the gift ofannual BirdWatch Irelandmembership. It reallyis the gift that keepson giving.

Individual membership is €40 for 12 months,while Family membership is €50. It makesa real difference.

To purchase a gift membership, please visitwww.birdwatchirelandconnect.ie/joinor give us a call on 01 2819 878

Why not give the giftof BirdWatch Irelandmembership?

By Dick Coombes

Hawfinch (adult male)Photo: Ben Andrew(RSPB-images.com)

accommodate the big muscles that power thenut-cracking bill, while small serrated knobsinside the bill hold the stone in place.While their rarity and elusiveness make

Hawfinches difficult to see and their warinesswhen approached often sends them skywardsto pitch down in some distant tree, it is worthchecking any site where there have beenprevious occurrences.Curraghchase Forest Park in Co Limerick is

one such place worth a look. Food availabilityis the usual draw for them, so it is likely thatthe presence of hornbeams at that site is thereason why it has been such a regular hauntfor many years. Graveyards with yews are alsoa good bet.

The Hawfinch is a rare bird in Ireland. Butunlike most rarities that make landfall here(mainly on islands and headlands and mostlyduring spring and autumn), Hawfinches have ahabit of turning up almost anywhere in thecountry and in any month. A century ago, theywere regarded as regular winter visitors,especially to key sites in Cork, Tipperary andthe Phoenix Park in Dublin. In recent years,most records have been between Octoberand February and – while several migrationhotspots such as Cape Clear, Tory Island andthe Mullet peninsula have hostedHawfinches – there have been records in

inland counties too, including Kildare, Cavanand Longford.Its vibrant plumage is distinctive enough – a

collage of rich orange-buff, soft grey, chestnutand cinnamon tones set off against blue-blackwings and bold white wing-bar. Add to that anoutsize head, massive bill and generally chunkyproportions and you have a very striking bird,one that will surely stand out. However, theHawfinch’s shy nature and habit of spendingmost of its time quietly cracking open seedshigh in the canopy or buried in dense foliage,mean that it is surely grossly under-recorded.Indeed, it is significant that several of therecent records are of birds coming to birdfeeders in gardens – one wonders how manyare missed in the wider countryside.The Hawfinch’s curious scientific name,

In November, look for...

HawfinchIn woodlands, even ingardens, where you find hornbeam trees

WINGS WINTER 2017

They don’t so much wag their tails (atleast not in the way a dog does) as pumpthem – up and down, that is. Indeed, theLatin name for the whole wagtail genus,Motacilla, originally translated as “littlemover,” which later morphed into “wag-tail.”

In December, look for...

Pied WagtailAlong countryroads, in farmyards,even on city streets

coccothraustes, roughly translates as ‘nutcracker,’ derived from the Greek, kokko (=kernel) and thrauo (= break in pieces). Andwhile their diet does indeed include hawberries, Hawfinches will eat the seeds andberries of a wide range of plants, includinghornbeam, yew, beech, elm, sycamore andholly. The soft flesh of berries is often noteaten – they are more interested in thekernels and, astonishingly, the huge bill caneven crunch a cherry stone. The pressurerequired to achieve this feat equates to over athousand times the bird’s own weight – birdringers will attest to the need for extremecare when handling Hawfinches! A large,disproportionate head is required to

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Hawfinch in garden. Photo: Michael O’Keeffe

Pied Wagtail (female). Photo: Dick Coombes

Distant flocks of waders, especially in winter whenplumages are at their dullest, can be tricky for the

novice to identify. Equally, there is frustrationfor the outing leader trying to keep the

group’s interest when a knotted

blur of browns, whites and greys is all thatis on show across the mudflats. Greatrelief, then, when the bright orange-redlegs of a Redshank come into view –clear-cut, no confusion, easy to point out.In flight too, the Redshank obliges with ahandy identification feature in the form ofa distinctive white bar along the trailingedge of the wing.But the presence of Redshanks in a

wetland isn’t always completely welcome;at least, not when the observer isattempting a close approach to a waderflock in order to carry out a count, takephotos or simply get near enough toidentify them all. The Redshank is a nervybird and the old name Watchdog of theMarshes could not be better put. Thepiercing alarm call (usually uttered whenthere is no need for alarm at all) vergeson the hysterical and is guaranteed toscare off everything else.We have a small (and declining)

breeding population in Ireland, mainlyalong the Shannon and in pockets in thewest and north-west. The big numberscome here to avail of our mild winters,when our tidal estuaries host quite amelting pot of Redshanks, mostlyfrom Iceland, but also fromScotland and northern England,all mixing with Irish-bredbirds.

In January, look for...

RedshankIn coastal wetlandsand on lakeshoresacross the country

The Pied Wagtail is not a species as such,but a race of the much more widespreadWhite Wagtail, which breeds right acrossEurasia from Iceland as far as the Bering Sea.Throughout most of its huge range the

White Wagtail is mainly migratory – a largeproportion of them moving to theMediterranean basin and North Africa tospend the winter. A few stop off here atmarshes and headlands on passage in spring

and autumn. The PiedWagtail, on the otherhand, is a resident andbreeds only in Britainand Ireland and a fewadjacent coastalregions in France, theNetherlands andScandinavia.It is hard to quite

understand how such a cheery,friendly bird, so much a feature ofevery farmyard, housing estate,industrial park and picnic area,acquired the moniker Devil’s Birdin Ireland. Willy Wagtail is themore usual, affectionate tagapplied in this country.Pied Wagtails are clearly very

comfortable in the company ofhumans, especially when it comesto sleeping arrangements. Winterroosts in towns and cities can besizeable – one of the biggest andmost famous used to be in the

They begin moving to coastal wetlands inlate June and numbers build to peak duringOctober as some of the Icelandic populationpasses through, bound for regions furthersouth. The all-Ireland wintering population is in the

region of 30,000 birds and there are six sitesthat hold around 2,000 or more, includingStrangford Lough, Cork Harbour, Dundalk Bayand Dublin Bay.

WINGS WINTER 2017 7

Pied Wagtail (male)Photo: Dick Coombes

Redshank in flightPhoto: Dick Coombes

Redshank. Photo: Dick Coombes

magnificent 100-year-old London plane treesin Dublin’s O’Connell Street. Since at least1929, this substantial roost (as many as 3,600recorded) was a source of great interest and anovel showpiece to amaze first-timers with –it made for an interesting round-off to a nightat the theatre. Studies have shown that thefractionally higher city-centre temperature wasenough to lure the birds to roost in this busythoroughfare. Christmas lights festooning thetrees provided additional warmth inDecember. Alas, the trees were felled in 2005to make way for a more “progressive,”sanitised streetscape. It’s well worth checkingyour local town for a roost this winter.

White Wagtail (male) for comparison. Photo: Dick Coombes

8

Did you know that BirdWatch Ireland’s EastCoast Nature Reserve (ECNR) is importantnot just for birds? In recent years apopulation of tiny rare snails was re-foundthere, having been seen only once before,fifty-six years previously (by Arthur Stelfox in1954). These snails are so small thathundreds, maybe thousands, would fit insidethe shell of the common Garden Snail!The common name of this species is

Desmoulin’s Whorl Snail, and its scientificname is Vertigo moulinsiana.This is one ofthree similar tiny snails we have in Irelandwhich are listed for protection under the EUHabitats Directive, because they areuncommon across Europe. This means thateach and every site that they are found at isspecial and valuable.

calcareous influence in the water. We canalso suggest that this has been the case for along time.While conservation management of any

piece of land is challenging, and requiresconsideration of the needs of a range ofplants and animals, it will be important at thissite to try to leave room for the snail.The ECNR and adjacent areas are

important sites because this is the only eastcoast location for these uncommon andprotected snails (see map). With thoughtfuldecision-making, let’s hope that this tinybeauty continues to thrive!

MARIA LONG

MARIA LONG

Vertigo moulinsiana

The ‘teeth’ in the mouthof the shell help toidentify this snail

Distribution of Vertigo moulinsiana in Ireland in 2013.Source: The Status of EU Protected Habitats andSpecies in Ireland 2013,Department of Arts, Heritageand the Gaeltacht (2013).

Desmoulin’s Whorl Snail Vertigo moulinsiana

Importantdiscovery atBirdWatch IrelandreserveBirdWatch Ireland’s East CoastNature Reserve is home to sometiny but nonetheless very specialinhabitants. Mollusc researcherMaria Long reports.

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WINGS WINTER 2017

Their tiny size makes them difficult todetect. They have been present at and nearthe ECNR (located beside the Sea Road,Newcastle, Co Wicklow) for decades (andactually, much longer than that) and yet havegone unnoticed. They reach a maximumheight of 2.7mm, are a straw-brown colourand are egg-shaped overall. They have smallprojections called teeth (not actually used forchewing!) in the mouth, and the number andposition of these help in identifying differentspecies of Vertigo snails.But how do they fit in the ecosystem? If

they are so tiny, how can they be important?Well, firstly it’s important to remember thatmuch of life on Earth operates at scalessmaller than our own – just think of bacteriaand fungi. In the case of these little snails,there are quite a few creatures that eat themand benefit from their food value, includingthe calcium from their shells.There are even beetles which are adapted

to eating tiny snails – they have elongatedsnouts, perfect for sticking into snail shells insearch of the fleshy animal.On the other side of the coin, snails are

very necessary in our environment. Theypossess chemicals in their guts which arequite different to other invertebrates’ andwhich make them very efficientdecomposers. They can break down cellulose,the hard material component in plants, withunusual speed and completeness, and so area vital part of the cycle of decomposition.(It’s worth remembering that only a

handful of species of snails and slugs preferliving plant matter – and those are ourgarden ‘pest’ species. Most wild species preferdead plants, or scrape algae and othermaterial off the surface of living plants.)In terms of ecological requirements,

Desmoulin’s Whorl Snails need a relativelystable hydrological regime, i.e. no extremedrying or flooding. They also need tallvegetation to climb up on (e.g. reeds, largesedges), and the water itself must be relativelycalcareous. So, being quite particularcreatures, they tell us a lot about the qualityof a habitat and also about its history.Therefore we can deduce that the ECNR hasgood quality semi-natural habitat, with arelatively stable hydrology, and some

East Coast Nature Reserve

M. HORSÁK

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News

How can we best help people andcommunities to get involved in caring fornature in their neighbourhood?This is a simple but very important question,

and one that drives a lot of BirdWatchIreland’s work. It is especially relevant at thelocal level, being crucial in assisting anddirecting the work of our branch network.Last year, Mark Robins (on sabbatical from

the RSPB) spent a couple of months travellingaround Ireland asking this very question ofvarious stakeholders involved with the deliveryof wildlife actions amongst local communitiesas part of the BALANCE project (BiodiversityAnd LEADER: Assisting Nature throughCommunity Engagement). The findings are thatthis simple question has a lot of very complexsolutions.I’m sure we can all think of a local “need” to

help wildlife, such as providing nesting boxesfor Barn Owls or maintaining access to anature reserve. These are both important, butboth are very different in how they can bedelivered on the ground. Identifying all thediffering local needs is therefore critical, butequally important is considering the peoplethat will deliver and who will need to besupported in their work.

However, perhaps more important is makingthe work they are doing important to them –making them “champions” for that action – beit a threatened species or vulnerable habitat. Inshort, supporting our rich tapestry of naturerequires a support system that is relevant tothe nature that we are trying to protect andthe people involved in that protection.To try to develop this approach further,

BirdWatch Ireland recently received fundingthrough the Irish Environmental Network to

work with local development companies toidentify barriers and bridges to supportingbiodiversity through the LEADER programmein Ireland. The LEADER programme supportslocal groups in tackling local issues (includingconserving biodiversity) using a bottom-upapproach.It is hoped that this work will further help

those working in local areas to not only protecttheir local biodiversity but become championsfor it.

‘Champions’ needed to spearhead care for nature

BirdWatch Ireland is now a partner in a major new peatlands restoration project, Cooperating Across Borders forBiodiversity. Anita Donaghy reports

How is the strong uptake of pro-nature activities best supported and enabled? Alex Copland reports

RSPB Northern Ireland is the lead partner ina new project, Cooperating Across Bordersfor Biodiversity (CABB), which, with partnersBirdWatch Ireland, Butterfly Conservation,Northern Ireland Water, RSPB Scotland andMoors for the Future, will draw down almost€5 million over the next four and a half yearsfor the restoration of peatlands.The key aims are to address restoration of

peatland habitats and key species in theborder counties of Ireland, Northern Irelandand Scotland. Funding has been made availablefrom the European Regional DevelopmentFund’s Interreg VA Programme and by thegovernments in Ireland and Northern Ireland.Interreg VA is managed by the Special EUProgrammes Body.As part of this programme, BirdWatch

Ireland is working on two projects with theNational Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS)on the restoration of important peatlandhabitats: the first is in the Ox Mountains, Co

Sligo, where a programme of drain-blockingwill restore water in peatland habitats; thesecond is in Pettigoe, Co Donegal, where wewill work with the NPWS on reinstating asustainable grazing programme.BirdWatch Ireland will also be working to

protect breeding wader populations in theborder counties, including Curlew and wadersbreeding in machair habitat. We have alreadycompleted a full re-survey of breeding wadersin machair and coastal wet grassland sites inDonegal and Sligo. The results, obtained thissummer, showed that breeding wadernumbers continue to decline at sites whichhave been monitored since 1984, except atsites protected by predator fences, whichexclude foxes and other predators. Threefences were erected as part of the HaltingEnvironmental Loss Project (HELP) project –which preceded the CABB project – and atthese sites populations are stable or increasing.Two sites not surveyed previously were also

highlighted as being of key importance forbreeding waders: Tory Island and Inch, both inCo Donegal.Over the course of the CABB project, we

will be working to improve the fortunes ofbreeding waders in the border countiesthrough a programme of survey monitoringand practical habitat management.

For further information on the CABBproject email Anita Donaghy,adonaghy@birdwatchireland.ie.

New project to restore key Scottish and Irish bogs

Co-operating Across Borders for Biodiversity issupported by the European Regional Fund’s

Interreg VA Programme

Volunteer work party covering boardwalks with non-slip material at the East Coast Nature Reserve,Newcastle, Co Wicklow. Photo: Gerry Lyons

Each autumn, terns gather to roost asdusk approaches on the Dublincoastline. Sandymount Strand is afavoured spot and holds probably thelargest roost of its type in Ireland orthe UK.This gathering starts when the

breeding season is over, and thespectacle of thousands of roostingterns can be seen from mid-Augustuntil mid to late September.The flocks contain Common and

Arctic Terns which have nested locally,as well as Roseate Terns from theRockabill Island colony. They oftencontain small numbers of SandwichTerns and Black Terns, suggesting thatthe gathering is actually made up ofindividuals from all over Ireland andwestern Europe.The Dublin Bay Birds Project team

censuses these flocks each autumn,carrying on from the work of the lateOscar Merne.More recently we have attempted to

catch and ring a sample of the flock toinform our study of bird movements

within the bay and on migration. All thiswork is carried out under license andwe’ve had great success to date. Theterns are attracted by a lure of theirown calls broadcast from a speakerplaced close to specialised nets calledmist nets.Biometrics (measurements including

weight, wing length and age details) arerecorded and specialised rings arefitted. Birds get a metal BTO ring, itsinscription allowing the individual to betraced and information sharedwherever it may be found again. Inaddition, we fit a small plastic colour-ring with a three-letter inscriptionwhich can be read using a telescope atdistance, meaning the bird doesn’t haveto be re-caught to identify it.Already we are reaping the rewards

of our tracking work, with terns ringedby us at Sandymount being re-sightedin Senegal, Gambia and as far south asNamibia. Birds have also been recordedreturning to breed in colonies indifferent parts of Ireland, NorthernIreland, England, Scotland and Wales.

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Colour-ringed Common Tern on Sandymount Strand, Dublin.Photo: Brian Burke

NewsNewsKeeping tabs on tern travels

COLUM CLARKE

BirdWatch Ireland is actively involved in effortsto end overfishing in the EU. Ending overfishingwill greatly benefit Ireland’s rich marinebiodiversity, including our seabirds, and willboost the profitability of fisheries, benefitingcoastal communities.The development of Multi-Annual Fisheries

Plans (MAPs) is one of the key tools beingdeveloped at an EU level for the sustainablemanagement of fish stocks. On September 14th,the European Parliament took an importantstep towards ending overfishing in their vote onthe North Sea Multi-Annual Fisheries Plan. TheNorth Sea MAP will be the second suchfisheries plan to be adopted, following theestablishment of the Baltic Sea MAP.The vote is an endorsement of the position

taken by eNGOs such as BirdWatch Ireland inthe run-up to the vote. The Parliament hasrecognised the need to set upper limits oncatches to avoid overfishing and also the needfor all affected stocks to be managedsustainably. From a fisheries and environmental

perspective, the vote means that fish stocksshould be caught at sustainable levels advisedby fisheries scientists.Another outcome of the vote is that

recreational fishing must also be consideredwhen setting fishing quotas.In the coming years, a MAP will be

developed for Ireland’s Western Waters, soBirdWatch Ireland has been actively lobbyingmembers of the European Parliament to set agood precedent in the development of the

North Sea Map.While we are optimistic, we also recognise

that there will be further negotiations at EU level before the final North Sea MAP is adopted.However, the Parliament has stayed true to thecommitments made under the reformedCommon Fisheries Policy.The goal to end overfishing in the North Sea

by 2020 now looks achievable and gives us hopethat it can be ended in the rest of EU waters,including Ireland’s.

EU takes action on overfishingThe European Parliament has taken a significant step towards ending overfishing in the North Sea. Fintan Kellyreports.

Ricky Whelan reports on colour-ringing Dublin Bay’s terns.

Gannets and Guillemot on sea-cliff ledge

Concern over potentialimpacts of BrexitUK withdrawal from EU could have serious consequences for the environment across Ireland.

News

BirdWatch Ireland is collaborating with theEnvironmental Pillar, Northern IrelandEnvironment Link and RSPB Northern Irelandon these matters, and together we aim tomake sure that the environment is high on theagenda of Brexit negotiators and the IrishGovernment.

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BirdWatch Ireland has started work on a Marine Renewables SensitivityMapping project that will identify offshore areas used by seabirds thatare at significant risk from offshore marine renewable energydevelopments. This project is funded by the National Toll RoadsFoundation, the ESB and EirGrid.Ireland’s marine renewable energy resources are amongst the best in

the world. With advances in relevant technologies, the sector isexpected to grow significantly in the coming years. Though theincreased generation of renewable energy is to be welcomed,it is vital that these technologies are carefully deployed in theareas where they will have the least impact on birds andecosystems.This project will identify offshore areas that are particularly

sensitive to certain types of marine renewable energydevelopment because of the birds that use the area.“Each species is assigned a different score depending on

their vulnerability to wind, tidal and wave energydevelopments, respectively,” says Brian Burke, who is leadingthe project.“For example, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls

are at particularly high risk of collision with offshore windturbines because of the heights they fly at, whereas diving birdssuch as Razorbills and Black Guillemots are more at risk fromtidal turbines.”This stage of the project will trial sensitivity maps for select

species in the Irish Sea, with a view to including all seabirdspecies across all Irish waters at a later stage.By making these sensitivity maps freely available it will allow

stakeholders in the marine renewable energy industry to

better plan and locate future developments to minimise any impacts onour seabirds.BirdWatch Ireland took a leading role in the development of similar

bird sensitivity maps for terrestrial wind energy developments andforestry planning in recent years, and we’re looking forward to workingclosely with the renewable energy industry, government agencies andconservation organisations to ensure that Ireland’s marine renewableenergy plans don’t negatively impact our seabird populations.

Ireland’s green energy goals must protect seabirds

11WINGS WINTER 2017

New project will identify areas where offshore renewable energy developments would pose most risk to seabirds.

Brexit poses very many challenges for Irelandin terms of the economy and society, but italso has the potential to negatively impactdirectly and indirectly on our environment,including on our birds and their habitats.The issue of the future of the border

between Northern Ireland and the Republicof Ireland has been recognised as one of themost important issues in the negotiations. The Good Friday Agreement provides theframework for peace in the North andincludes the environment as a subject ofimportance for discussion between Northand South. Yet the environment has not beenmentioned once in any documents onnegotiations on Brexit.Currently, the EU Birds and Habitats

Directives, the Water Framework Directive

and other pieces of EU legislationprovide a level playing-field interms of Member Staterequirements, compliance andenforcement of environmentalconservation laws. BirdWatchIreland is concerned that, uponthe UK’s exit from the EU, therecould be differing sets ofenvironmental standards on theisland of Ireland and there wouldbe no European Court of Justiceoversight of nature legislation inthe North.The potential exists for

weakened protection for marineand freshwater biodiversity aswell as for important habitats forland-based birds and habitatsnorth of the border. Ireland is a small island. A water-based pollution event in the Northwould not necessarily stop at the border.BirdWatch Ireland is also concerned that

the elimination of a level playing-field generallywould weaken implementation andenforcement of environmental legislation, notonly on the island of Ireland but across the EU.

In September, a coalition of representatives from theEnvironmental Pillar, including Oonagh Duggan of BirdWatchIreland and Northern Ireland Environment Link, attended aseries of meetings in Brussels, including meeting theEuropean Commission’s Article 50 team.

12 WINGS WINTER 2017

CÓILÍN

MacLO

CHLAINN

In advance of this season’s Garden Bird Survey, starting in December, Brian Burke looks at the resultsfrom last winter’s survey and picks out some interesting findings.

To put the resultsof last year’s GardenBird Survey (GBS)into context, castyour mind back towinter 2016/2017.There were somebrief spells ofunsettled weatherbut overall it was a

calmer winter than most – good news forbirds hoping to make it through to thefollowing spring.The summer and autumn that preceded it

were largely mild, dull and dry. Neither wasparticularly memorable in that regard, but forour breeding birds conditions were excellent– not too hot, not too cold, not too wet orwindy – just right for keeping a brood ofchicks warm, dry and well-fed and ensuring

GARDEN BIRDS

there’s an abundance of insects, fruits andberries for those juveniles facing their firstwinter. So, with all that in mind, how did Irishgarden birds fare last winter?The five species recorded most in gardens

last winter were, in numerical order, Robin,Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Great Tit,respectively – the same as the previouswinter. Since the GBS began in winter1994/95 these birds have occupied the topof the list, with only Magpie and Greenfinchmanaging to break into the top five since.

Some changes in rankingsOf the top 30 species recorded in2015/2016, we saw nine species hold thesame ranking as the previous year, with sevendropping and 14 improving their status. Manyof the observed changes were quite subtle,with birds only moving one or two places upor down the table (see opposite). OnlyRedwing managed to break into the top 30,at the expense of Grey Wagtail.Total finch numbers were at their lowest

since 2004/2005, with Goldfinches,Greenfinches, Siskins, Lesser Redpolls andLinnets dropping multiple places down thelist. Indeed, many members got in touchwondering where their finches had gone last winter.In contrast, our tit species fared quite well

– numbers were high; both Blue and GreatTits were present in 95% of gardens; Long-tailed Tits moved up two places to23rd; and, though Coal Tits fell one placetheir numbers were similar to previous years.

Blackbird. Photo: Brian Burke

Bullfinch

In your gardens:

❛Species’ numbers held steady in 2016/2017 at 30. Numbers of most species were eithersteady or slightly lower. Two additions on2015/2016 were Grey Wagtail and Goldcrest,absent were Siskin and Feral Pigeon. Modestincreases were noted in Blackcap, Greenfinch,Herring Gull, Jackdaw and Starling.”Bob Aldwell, Blackrock, Dublin

❛Even less of a count this year. Still have sixGoldfinches, but where are the rest of thefinches? Only seem to have four Chaffinches.Even the Jackdaws seem to be in short supply.Only the pigeons keep up the numbers.”Carol Kinch,Wexford town

❛We had 27 species visit our garden.Blackcap, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Goldfinchnumbers seemed to be down. However, onthe plus side, we had a Raven and MistleThrush, which would not be on our yearly listevery year.”Nuala & Tom Lynch, Ennis, Clare

❛It was good to have Buzzard, Brambling andPheasant again this winter after a few yearsaway, and I was delighted with the hugenumbers of Tree Sparrows again. Still noYellowhammers, even though they arebreeding all around me.”Paddy Sheridan, Enfield, Kildare

Ireland’s Top 40 Garden Birds in Winter 2016/17The rankings from last winter compared with the rankings from the three previous winters.

Species Percentage Rank Difference in Rank Rank Rank of gardens* 2016/17 rank between 2015/16 2014/15 2013/14 15/16 & 16/17

Robin 99.5 1 no change 1 1 1Blackbird 98.5 2 no change 2 2 2Blue Tit 97.7 3 no change 3 3 3Chaffinch 94.7 4 no change 4 5 4Great Tit 94.0 5 no change 5 6 5Magpie 91.2 6 i up 1 7 4 6Coal Tit 87.2 7 m down 1 6 8 7House Sparrow 85.1 8 i up 2 10 7 9Wren 82.3 9 i up 3 12 10 10Dunnock 81.7 10 i up 1 11 12 11Goldfinch 81.4 11 m down 3 8 9 8Starling 77.8 12 i up 1 13 11 13Woodpigeon 72.3 13 i up 2 15 14 14Jackdaw 72.1 14 no change 14 16 15Greenfinch 70.3 15 m down 6 9 13 12Song Thrush 69.9 16 no change 16 15 16Collared Dove 64.8 17 i up 1 18 18 17Rook 64.0 18 m down 1 17 17 18Hooded Crow 58.3 19 i up 1 20 20 20Pied Wagtail 52.0 20 i up 1 21 19 21Bullfinch 41.2 21 i up 5 26 22 27Long-tailed Tit 40.7 22 i up 3 25 21 22Blackcap 40.7 23 m down 1 22 23 23Goldcrest 35.7 24 i up 3 27 26 26Sparrowhawk 32.9 25 m down 1 24 24 24Siskin 31.9 26 m down 7 19 29 19Mistle Thrush 28.8 27 i up 2 29 27 28Lesser Redpoll 26.6 28 m down 5 23 25 25Feral Pigeon 26.6 29 m down 1 28 28 29Redwing 20.3 30 i up 2 32 30 31Grey Wagtail 15.7 31 m down 1 30 32 32Fieldfare 13.0 32 i up 4 36 33 35Buzzard 11.7 33 i up 4 37 37 41Pheasant 9.7 34 m down 3 31 31 30Jay 9.2 35 m down 2 33 40 38Herring Gull 7.8 36 m down 2 34 35 36Linnet 7.5 37 m down 2 35 34 34Raven 6.8 38 i up 5 43 44 44Kestrel 6.2 39 m down 1 38 38 37Treecreeper 6.0 40 m down 1 39 36 33

* Percentage of gardens in which each species was recorded in 2016/17

13WINGS WINTER 2017

Why so few finches?So, what can we glean from the contrastingfortunes of these two species groups? Well,it’s worth noting that our tit species arelargely resident and don’t tend to undertakelarge movements during the winter. They stayput in pairs or loose aggregations of four orfive birds, but rarely venture very far.Our finches are quite different, though –

they form flocks throughout the winter andcan move quite widely to wherever there isfood available. Last winter was mildthroughout and there was an abundance offood in the wider countryside, so flockssimply had more choice and were less relianton garden feeders as a result.Individual species’ differences played a part

too. Each winter, we get an influx ofChaffinches from northern Europe, whichtops up our resident population. However,Goldfinch, Linnet and Redpoll are partialmigrants – some of the population leavesIreland every winter and some stay. The mildconditions here meant fewer had a reasonto leave Ireland last winter, but it also meantthey had less of a need to visit gardens.Siskins usually appear in the last few

weeks of the GBS, but, based on the smallernumbers of gardens they visited in 2016/17,it’s likely that it was a good year for theirpreferred natural food of pine cone seeds.The only finch species to move up the

table was Bullfinch (up five places), which is aresident (like the tits) and doesn’t tend tomove widely in flocks like the other finches.So, though the reduced numbers of finchesin gardens caused some disappointment lastwinter, it’s nothing to be concerned about!

Waxwing winterIn 2016/17 we were treated to the firstproper Waxwing winter in several years.These beautiful berry-eaters breed in theremote forests of Scandinavia and usuallywinter further south in mainland Europe.Every few years, though, when the berrycrop is poor, they are forced to move furtherafield in search of food. The first indicationthat we might be graced with their presencewas their arrival in Scotland in big numbersin early autumn. They pushed on further asthe winter went on, arriving in force inIreland by mid-January. Flocks of Waxwingswere noted in sixteen counties in total,though only a handful of gardens were luckyenough to attract them. Car parks and tree-lined housing estates

are the most reliable places to spot them, oranywhere else with a bumper supply ofberries. It’s likely we won’t see Waxwingsagain in these numbers for another 3-5 years– plenty of time to plant some berry bushesand trees in your garden!

WaxwingSHAY CONNOLLY

14 WINGS WINTER 2017

Birds of preySparrowhawk was the only bird of prey tofeature in the top 30 – it was down oneplace from the previous year. The slight dip inits ranking last year was likely becauseSparrowhawks go where the rest of thebirds go – which wasn’t always gardens in2016/17. It’s worth bearing in mind that thesuccess rate of a hunting Sparrowhawk canbe as low as 10% of attempts, so their winteris every bit as tough as that of the smallerbirds in your garden.Buzzards continued to move up the ranks,

reaching 33rd place (up four); they wererecorded in just over 10% of gardens andhave firmly overtaken Kestrel as the secondmost common raptor in the GBS.Buzzards have a varied diet – rodents,

pigeons, crows, roadkill and worms allfeature. Having been absent from Ireland fordecades, and given that they aren’t fussywhen it comes to food, there’s still plenty ofavailable habitat and territories for them tofill nationwide and we expect their increaseto continue in the coming years.

Kestrel numbers in the GBS haven’tchanged much over the years, though maybe edging towards a slight decline, which islikely a reflection of the national trend.Kestrels continue to face several issuesacross their farmland habitat, including poorprey availability and the use of rodenticides.

In conclusion...So, it’s not just the cold winters that throwup some interesting results. We are verygrateful to everyone who participated in the2016/17 Garden Bird Survey and we hopeyou continue this year.Data was submitted from 667 gardens last

winter, over 90% of which had counts fromten or more weeks. The number ofparticipants submitting their counts onlinefell to 44%, so we encourage you to submityour counts via our website this winter, ifpossible.Lastly, the more gardens that participate,

the better the data is, so please doencourage your neighbours, family andfriends to take part this winter – they’ll thankyou for it! We especially want more data

from gardens of all sizes in Munster,Connacht and Ulster.

Special thanksOur sincere thanks go to Olivia Crowe forher huge contribution to the GBS datasetover the years; to Oran O’Sullivan for hispassionate steering of the survey in recenttimes; and to Mary Grehan for her workinputting the data.

Occurrence (the percentage of gardens) of three different bird-of-prey species over the yearsof the Garden Bird Survey from 1994 to present. Notice how one is increasing (Buzzard), oneis declining (Kestrel) and one has been largely stable (Sparrowhawk).

In your gardens:

❛A Meadow Pipit appeared for the firsttime ever in this garden. He liked theporridge oats I put out for the wagtails,and reappeared whenever the weathergot cold.“Much fewer visits from Sparrowhawk

this winter. Greenfinch numbers werevery low and Redpolls hardly appearedat all, although they were on the feedersin October and November.“Buzzards have settled into this area. I

saw them over the house with a youngone in late summer and heard themcalling again at the end of February.”Anne O’Neill, Mallow, Cork

❛There was very little extra to report.It seemed a very average winter. ATreecreeper was the only unusualsighting.”Susan Hayes, Greystones, Wicklow

❛Even though I have numerous nut andseed feeders, the Goldfinches andRedpolls in particular spent so longsquabbling amongst themselves and witheach other – it seems it’s not only theRobins that are territorial!”Hazel Crawford, Rathfarnham,Dublin

BRIAN BURKE

Starling

Blue Tit

Sparrowhawk Kestrel Buzzard

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BRIAN BU

RKE

Tips on counting your garden birds• Each week, take note of the highest number of birds of eachspecies that you see in your garden. For example, if five is thehighest number of Blue Tits you see, enter ‘5’ on the formoverleaf. If you don’t see any that week, leave the space blank.

• If you see some birds almost every day, remember that weonly want your highest count for a species in a given week.

• Count as accurately as possible. Please do not use plus signsas we do not know whether that means at least one or asmany as 500!

• Birds of prey seen hunting in or over your garden should becounted (for example, a hovering Kestrel).

• Feral pigeons and racing pigeons should be counted.

• If you see a bird that is not on the list overleaf, please add itto the end of the form.

• Count birds that come into your garden even if they do notfeed on the food you put out for them.

• Please don’t count birds that you see outside the garden,such as flocks of swans on nearby fields, or birds flying overhead.

• If you can, hang your feeders on or near a tree or bush sobirds can approach safely and retreat quickly into cover.

• Make sure the birds have a regular supply of food. Keep thefeeders topped up and also provide water.

#

Garden Bird Survey 2017/2018Your garden

Is your garden... (tick ‘yes’ or ‘no’)

Urban (in a town or city centre)?

Suburban (on outskirts of a town or city)?

Rural (in or beside open country or farmland)?

What size is your garden?

Half the size of a tennis court or smaller

Approximately tennis court-sized

Larger than a tennis court

An acre or larger

Food available for birds in your garden

Are berry bushes present?

Do you provide food?

Do you provide any of the following?

Peanuts in feeders

Seeds in feeders

Nyjer seed

Scraps Fruit

Fat, suet or other bird cake

Have you completed this survey in the past...

Did you send us a survey form before?

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

yes no

Your name and addressPlease use BLOCK CAPITALS

yes no

yes no

For office use only

Please accept my gift of(please tick) €250* €100 €50 €25 €10

Other I would like to donate

I enclose a cheque or postal order made payable toBirdWatch Ireland

Name

Address

Eircode

E-mail address(optional)

Expiry date:

Card number:

Security code:

Cardholder’s signature:

* BirdWatch Ireland can claim back tax paid on donations of €250 or more byindividuals who are taxed on PAYE. That means a donation of €250 or more couldbe worth up to an extra 72% to us.

(Please give name and address of cardholder if different from donor)

€

Please donate to help the Garden Bird SurveyOr.... I would like to donate by MasterCard/Visa/Debit Card

WINGS WINTER 2017 15

Week starting 4Dec

11Dec

18Dec

25Dec

1Jan

8Jan

15Jan

22Jan

29Jan

5Feb

12Feb

19Feb

26Feb

Garden Bird Survey Recording Form

#

Please return completed form not later than 31st March 2018 toGarden BirdWatch, BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20, Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Greystones, Co Wicklow

Sparrowhawk

Feral Pigeon

Woodpigeon

Collared Dove

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Song Thrush

Redwing

Mistle Thrush

Blackcap

Goldcrest

Long-tailed Tit

Coal Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Magpie

Jackdaw

Rook

Hooded Crow

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Siskin

Bullfinch

Redpoll

other species

other species

other species

other species

16 WINGS WINTER 2017

•Where to place your feeders – It is not a good idea to place a bird table in themiddle of the lawn (as people often do), because birds will be reluctant to approach it forfear of leaving themselves open to attack from Sparrowhawks. Best to keep all your feedersnear bushes into which the birds can dive for cover. They will then use them readily.Also, make sure that your hanging feeders are at least at head height, well out of the

reach of cats. If you have a cat, don’t worry; it won’t deter birds from visiting your garden.Most kinds of feeders can be hung from windows with specially-designed suction

brackets, allowing you to watch birds like Blue Tits through the glass at close range. Ideal forapartment dwellers who love watching wildlife!

BirdWatch Ireland sells a wide range of birdfoods, feeders and other accessories atshop.birdwatchireland.ie. All proceeds go to birdconservation work, so by buying from us you will behelping the birds even more.

For more information on garden birds, readIreland’s Garden Birds: A Guide to Attracting andIdentifying Garden Birds, by Oran O’Sullivan and JimWilson. You can order it from the BirdWatch Irelandshop for €15 plus P&P.

• Feeders –The most common type of feeder is a roofed bird table on a wooden pole. You can put all kindsof food, from table scraps to fruit and bird-seed, on the table, but, being open to all, it is likely that larger birds likeMagpies and Jackdaws will scoff the lot. Good tables are also expensive to buy, so do consider making your own.Many of the smaller birds that visit you will be seed-eaters, and there is a wide variety of seeds and seed mixes

available to cater for them. The feeders to store and dispense the seed come in many forms. The most commonare clear plastic cylinders with a number of ports for feeding by tits, finches and sparrows. These are most suitablefor sunflower seeds. These are available as black sunflower seeds and also as sunflower hearts, which are thesame thing but with the husks removed, thus saving birds the bother of breaking them open.

WINGS WINTER 2017 17

Feeding garden birds: our top tipsProviding a variety of foodstuffs in a range of different dispensers is the best way of attracting thegreatest variety of birds to your garden. You don’t need a big garden – you can use even a windowor windowsill to feed birds – but of course it helps if you have a garden that you can tailor to theneeds of your avian visitors. Ideally, the garden would include some shrubs, a hedge or treesoffering the birds refuge (from predatory cats and hawks) as well as perches when they visit. Trees or shrubs offering autumn berries (e.g. Elder, Rowan, Hawthorn, Ivy) are particularly useful.

• Provide food regularly – Some of the foods and some of the feeders you might try aredescribed below, but do remember that to build up the bird numbers you will need to provide foodregularly. If birds turn up to find only empty feeders, they will not waste more time visiting yourgarden. But top up the feeders regularly and the birds will learn it’s worth making the trip, even ifyour garden is in a built-up area. In no time at all you will have so many birds visiting that you willprobably need to add food daily! Some birds may then become partly dependent on you; in thatcase remember to keep topping up, especially in winter, so they don’t starve.

•Nut feeders, on the other hand, are cylinders of strong wire mesh for holding shelled peanuts (also available aspeanut hearts) to be chipped away at by tits and finches. It is worth buying a strong one, as a flimsy one will soonbreak or be broken. Nut feeders often attract squirrels and crows, while seed feeders can be damaged by determinedpigeons, so you might consider investing in squirrel-proof feeders; these are housed in a metal cage which allowssmall birds to slip through bars to reach a feeder inside, while excluding larger birds and squirrels.

•Nyjer feeders hold ultra-fine Nyjer seed, dispensed through narrow slits. Goldfinches, Siskins and Redpolls areadapted to feeding on small seeds and will be drawn (almost magically) to this feeder. Without it, you might rarely seethese colourful finches in your garden. If the Nyjer seed is not being eaten at a reasonable rate, it might get damp(from rain entering the ports) and start to rot. If this happens, make sure to clean out the feeder, dry it and refill withseed. Similarly, peanuts can go stale if not eaten quickly; these should be discarded and replaced. Birds such as Chaffinchand Brambling are frequent ground-feeders, so you could sprinkle some bird-seed beside bushes (but not directlyunder feeders, where bird droppings will contaminate the ground). Be aware that this might also attract rodents.

• Bird baths and hygiene –We sometimes forgetthat birds need fresh water to drink as well as water tobathe in. A small pond with sloping sides for ease of accessis a valuable addition to any garden, especially if fed with atrickle of fresh water, for example from a roofwater butt.Even a small water table is useful to birds – Starlings in

particular love hopping in to wash dust off their feathers –but remember to clean it out and refill daily: bird diseasesspread most easily via contaminated water. For the samereason, be sure to cleanyour feeders regularlyand sweep away any dirtfrom the ground below.You could also move thefeeders around thegarden to avoid thebuild-up of dirt.

• Bird foods –The seeds and peanuts mentioned above are good for tits andfinches, but what about birds whose diet is mainly insects and grubs? Starlings andBlackcaps, in particular, relish picking at fat balls and bird cakes, which you can buy orprepare yourself: they contain suet, soft seeds andeven dried insects. It is important to remove fatballs from the plastic mesh nets they come in, asbirds can get their feet tangled in these. Instead, usespecial wire holders for fat balls, cakes and suetblocks; they cost very little. It is possible to buy live

mealworms (sold as fishbait) from some pet shops, especially for Robins, but driedmealworms are available from the BirdWatch Ireland shop.Apples and other fruit are loved by thrushes and by

Blackcaps too. Cut apples in half and impale (flesh side up) onthe ends of twigs or slim branches on your trees. It isastonishing how quickly Blackcaps appear in winter when youprovide apple halves, in suburban gardens at least.

Bird table

Seed feeder

By Cóilín MacLochlainn

Bullfinch

Peanut feeder

Wire holder

Ornamental water table

Squirrel-proof feeder

Siskins on Nyjer feeder

NatJLN

18

Dipper

WINGS WINTER 2017

Cuckoo

Grey HeronMallard

ITA MARTIN – I took up photography in 2009and pursued my passion for wildlife, particularly forbirds. I set up bird feeders in my garden and usedmy conservatory as a hide to observe the birds;this helped me with getting the shots. Eventually, Ihad a Sparrowhawk visiting daily, much to mydelight, but not many of the smaller birds.

I live close to Broadmeadow Estuary, nearSwords, Co Dublin, where I have spent manyhours checking out the birdlife. More recently Iventured further afield and discovered the delightsof Scotland, which I have visited many times now.

Scotland has become my favourite place tophotograph wildlife, due to the ease of travellingthere, the abundance of reserves and hides witheasy access, and the diversity of wildlife species. Myimages of Kingfishers (on this page and the cover)

and of Stoat and Jay were taken on such trips. Itcould be said that I have developed an obsessionwith Kingfishers.

In February of this year I was lucky enough to beawarded the title of IPF Nature Photographerof the Year for my Stoat photo, and in May I wasawarded a gold medal for the Kingfisher shot onthe cover in the IPF National Club Championships.

I’m privileged to have been a member ofMalahide Camera Club since 2009, a wonderfulclub; it has given me a new circle of friends. I’vehad so much support from members throughoutthat time and learned so much from them.

For wildlife photography, long lenses areessential; my gear is a Nikon D500 cameracoupled with a 300mm prime lens or a 70 to200mm lens.

All of the photos shown here were taken by Ita Martin, including the background photo of Upper Lake, Glendalough

PHOTO GALLERY

WINGS WINTER 2017

Fallow Deer

Stoat

19

Red SquirrelDunnock

Kingfishers (female, left, male, right)

Jay

SPECIES FOCUS

As many as 30,000 of the world’s Light-bellied Brent Geese spend the winter in Ireland. Ricky Whelan reports.

Light-bellied Brent Geese foraging on BirdWatchIreland’s East Coast Nature Reserve, Newcastle,Co Wicklow. Photograph: Brian Burke

he name ‘Brent’ is derived from theNorse word ‘brand,’ meaning burnt.The goose was given this namebecause of its predominant colours.

Brent Geese are a winter visitor toIreland. This small black goose species can befound at sites around the entire coast but thebiggest flocks congregate at just a fewimportant sites.

The birds we commonly refer to as ‘BrentGeese’ are Light-bellied Brent Geese Brantabernicla hrota, which are by far the mostcommonly encountered Brent Goose race inIreland. Two other subspecies of Brent Goosecan be encountered in Ireland but are farrarer: Dark-bellied Brent Goose Brantabernicla bernicla is sometimes found in smallnumbers while the Black Brant Brantabernicla nigricans is rarer still.

PopulationIreland is home to the largest winteringpopulation of Light-bellied Brent Geese inEurope, with as many as 30,000 individualsspending the winter months (October-March)here, with smaller numbers wintering inwestern Iceland, western Britain and northernFrance. The entire European population hasrecently (winter 2016/17) been estimated at37,000, an increase from declines recorded inthe past decade. Significant numbers alsowinter along the eastern seaboard of NorthAmerica.

Brent Goose censuses have been carriedout in Ireland over the past 20 years,coordinated by the Irish Brent GooseResearch Group (see also, page 22). Over the

years Strangford Lough has been shown tosupport the highest flock numbers and, with22,000 individuals being counted there duringthe 2016 winter census (carried out in mid-October), that trend continues.

EcologyBrent typically arrive in Ireland from earlySeptember on. The first records often comefrom Strangford Lough, where these smallherbivores gather in large flocks to feast on theZostera (eelgrass) beds. Eelgrass is a small plantthat grows in large carpets on intertidalmudflats. The Brent Goose flocks will graze onthe Zostera until none remains before movingon to feed on other intertidal plants and algae.

The Brent flocks spread out and moveclockwise around the coast to find foragingareas; they can be found all around the Irishcoastline by mid-winter.

Individuals and family groups are site-faithful,meaning they will return to the samepreferred feeding locations each winter. Brenthave also shown themselves to be veryadaptable and in recent times have taken tograzing terrestrial grasslands when foodbecomes scarce along the immediate coastline.Brent will happily graze on grass within parks,playing fields and even on roundabouts.

Residents along the Dublin city coastline willbe familiar with Brent Goose flocks sharingtheir recreational grasslands. Inland feeding

T

Light-bellied Brent GoosePhotograph: Brian Burke

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sites are important for these grazing groups:in 2009, an MSc study by Lorraine Bensonidentified sixty inland sites used by BrentGeese; one of these, Tymon Park, is 11.5kminland and just inside the M50 corridor. Since2009, the number of inland feeding areas hasgrown to close to one hundred sites.

For these migratory birds, feeding is allabout bulking up and replacing the fatreserves depleted during their long journeysouth. Eelgrass and other intertidal marineplants are preferentially grazed by the geese,as the energy reward is far greater than thatfrom terrestrial grasses. Terrestrial grass,however, is a vital component in the diet ofthe Brent, as eelgrass beds are grazed bareby the end of autumn, and the geese needto retain body condition to survive thewinter and make the return journey northto their breeding grounds in the spring.

MigrationDuring our summer (June-August) the Brentare in the eastern Canadian High Arctic,mating, nesting and rearing young. Followingthe breeding season, the geese migratesouth-east, travelling in family groups. Theflocks stage in western Iceland andGreenland during August and Septemberbefore arriving in Ireland, with the first birdsoften being spotted in late August and largernumbers arriving day by day.

The flocks build during the early winterand stay in Ireland until March, before the

urge to head north again takes hold. On theway back to the breeding grounds the birdswill again make a stopover in western Icelandand in Greenland to refuel and rest beforefinally arriving back in Canada.

Conservation issuesIn Ireland, the Light-bellied Brent Goose isAmber-listed (Birds of Conservation Concern inIreland), as the majority winter at fewer thanten sites. The Irish population is alsointernationally significant, another amber-listing criterion. Across their migratory rangethey encounter several threats, includingdisturbance at important feeding sites;competition for nest sites on breedinggrounds; and hunting. They are also

vulnerable to issues affecting the availabilityof eelgrass in their wintering areas.

Where to seeHighest numbers (circa 30,000) are seen inOctober at Strangford Lough (Co Down),where most congregate on arrival.Thereafter, they move to other estuarinesites such as Lough Foyle (Co Derry) andDublin Bay, which holds up to 7,000 by latewinter. Other well-used sites (with 1,000 to3,500 birds) are Tralee Bay, Lough Gill andAkeragh Lough (all in Co Kerry),Rogerstown Estuary (Co Dublin) andWexford Harbour and Slobs (Co Wexford).

Light-bellied Brent GeesePhotograph: Brian Burke

AMBASSADORS FOR BRENT GEESE IN DUBLINDublin Bay is a UNESCO Biosphere reserve, having the purpose “to inspire a positive futureby connecting people and nature today.” The Brent Goose Ambassador Project aims to raiseawareness of Brent Geese wintering in Dublin Bay through storytelling and peer communicationbetween communities, advising people to help protect the visiting geese by avoiding disturbingthe flocks, and raising awareness of wider conservation issues affecting migratory species.

This partnership project conceived by Dublin City Council brings the local authority togetherwith BirdWatch Ireland, UNESCO Biosphere stakeholders and, most importantly, local schoolsand communities, with a common purpose to look out for and help conserve their local BrentGoose populations.

To date, the project has involved the 4th Class school pupils from schools across north Dublin.Schools were invited to learn how to identify Brent Geese with confidence at North Bull Islandand in their local parks.

Medical students from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland have also held workshopson nature and UNESCO Biospheres with the children.

Photographs of the students’ fieldwork along with their drawings and stories were exhibitedin the Civic Offices on Wood Quay. Students were invited to the Civic Offices earlier this yearand were presented with certificates by Dublin City Council to celebrate their involvementand pride in being civic-minded for the city and the planet. Their work was also showcased atthe EuroMAB Biosphere Conference 2017 in France in April and on RTÉ Radio 1’s MooneyGoes Wild programme.

Plans to grow the project are underway, and an online Brent Goose Project resource will golive later this year.

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FactfileCommon name: Light-bellied BrentGoose

Scientific name: Branta bernicla hrota

Irish name: Cadhan

Local name: Sea Goose

Occurrence: Winter migrant from highArctic Canada. Most occur in Irelandbetween October and April.

Life-span: The oldest known wild birdwas 28 years old, although surviving toabout 19 years is the norm.

Conservation status: Amber-listed inIreland, as the majority winter at fewerthan ten sites. The Irish population is alsointernationally significant, another amber-listing criterion. The European populationhas been evaluated as ‘vulnerable’ asseveral important populations havedeclined.

Identification: Small dark goose withblack head, neck and breast, dark-brownupperparts and pale underparts. Almostwhitish flanks, and small white crescent onthe neck visible at close range.

Continued next page....

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Brent Goose researchBy Kendrew ColhounThe work of the Irish Brent GooseResearch Group is hugely significant in termsof both academic and conservation efforts.Here is a brief summary of the evolution ofthis work:

Back in the early 1960s David Cabotorganised the first all-Ireland Brent Goosesurveys. Albeit with some significant gaps,that tradition has been carried on, assessingthe size of the population and annualproductivity through autumn counts at keysites. These surveys have been continuousnow since 1996, organised by the Irish BrentGoose Research Group (IBGRG), and formuch of the last decade undertakensimultaneously in western Iceland.

In 2001, the IBGRG really ramped upresearch and conservation efforts followingthe development of a framework providedby the African Eurasian WaterbirdAgreement Action Plan (2003) and ofrange-state actions therein, much of which isunderpinned by a great deal of researchactivity ever since.

In February 2002, the first Light-belliedBrent Geese (since the mid-1980s) werecolour-ringed. Birds have been caughtannually since, mostly in Ireland in winter andin Iceland in spring and occasionally on the

Canadian breeding grounds. Every goodcolour-marking programme needscomparable resightings effort, and theIBGRG has built a 1,000-strong network ofvolunteer observers who have contributedalmost 25% of the entire number(approaching 200,000) of colour-ringobservations. These observations have anincalculable value – and research activitylinked to catching and observing markedbirds has generated a remarkable insight intothis fascinating population.

Academic research activity was ramped upin 2002 and has mostly been driven byStuart Bearhop of the University of Exeter

through a multitude of research grants, MScand PhD students and post-doctoralresearchers. The research output has beenimpressive and the potential equally so, madepossible by a conscious effort to embark ona long-term study – the only way by whichcritical processes affecting demography canbe understood, which in turn enables us tounderstand how, for example, the populationwill respond to future changes in Arcticclimate, inter-tidal food availability or disease.

For more information on the ongoingwork of the IBGRG check out the IrishBrent Blog, irishbrentgoose.blogspot.ie.

Flock of Brent Geese with two colour-ringed individuals. Photo: Brian Burke

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EU countries such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greeceand Italy. Therefore, European Commission’sdefense of Białowieża comes as a signal-changingstand for its environmental commitments.

Political relations between the EU and Polandwere already strained, with Brussels and Warsawat loggerheads over several key issues frommigration and CO2 emissions to highlycontroversial judicial reforms. In September, thesetensions came to a head as the battle forBiałowieża moved into the courtroom.

Armed with incriminating satellite photos, theCommission demanded that financial penaltiesbe imposed on Poland for its legal breaches.

Meanwhile, Minister Szyszko – displaying hischaracteristic flair for fiction – dramaticallyclaimed that the real culprit was a bark beetle,outbreaks of which were killing the trees.

The bark beetle is menacing Białowieża – that

much is true – but the Polish government hasfound a very convenient scapegoat for itsenvironmental crimes. Such outbreaks arenatural, though their frequency has multiplied dueto climate change.

Foresters argue that they need to fell theaffected trees as well as a belt of healthy treessurrounding them. While this can stop theimmediate outbreak, it sets off a vicious cycle:clear-fellng exposes neighbouring trees to theelements and, when damaged by storms, theseoriginally healthy trees become more susceptibleto infestation.

Conservationists argue that nature should beallowed to show its true power. When deadtrees are left as standing deadwood, the forestremains healthy habitat for birds, insects andother wildlife. In due course, green shootsemerge, proving the forest’s natural ability toregenerate itself and become more resistant tofuture outbreaks.

The unparalleled ecological value of Białowieżashould by rights determine a non-interventionistapproach. For centuries, what ensured its uniquerichness were natural processes that had seenvery little human intervention, particularly incomparison with other European forests.

In Białowieża, protestors camped out in theforest are standing firm as the forest’s last line ofdefence. They are blocking roads and disruptingthe logging by literally putting their own bodiesbetween the trees and the harvesters andpolice. – Gui Xi Young (Campaigns Officer,BirdLife Europe) & Jarosław Krogulec(OTOP)

BirdLife has put its name behind the‘Defend the Forest’ campaign launched bythe citizens’ movement platformWeMove.EU at the end of August. Please signthe petition at http://bit.ly/2vAvsIQ.

The EU joins the battle to save Białowieża forest

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Protesters with “I ♥ Forest” t-shirts stand between the trees and loggers in Białowieża forest.

European Bison in Białowieża forest.

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A battle to save Białowieża forest from illegallogging is being waged on two fronts: on one,protestors are bravely putting their bodiesbetween the trees and the chainsaws; and onthe other, the European Commission has takenthe Polish government to the European Courtof Justice.

Białowieża bestrides the Polish-Belarussianborder, a precious remnant of the sprawlingdeciduous forest that swathed the Europeanplain before human settlement. It is the bestpreserved forest ecosystem and the last old-growth forest on the continent. Several birdspecies now rare elsewhere are still numerousin Białowieża; enigmatic species of owls,flycatchers and woodpeckers thrive amongstthe centuries-old oak, lime and elm trees whileCorncrakes inhabit the surrounding meadows.

Lone lynx stalk the woods in search of prey;Grey Wolves sniff out Red Deer and Elk. Themost iconic forest dwellers are the EuropeanBison: Białowieża is home to the largestpopulation in the world, at just over 1,400.

But there is trouble in paradise. Only one-third of the Polish side of the forest is officiallyprotected as a national park, and the remainingareas are being commercially logged despiteholding other internationally-recogniseddesignations, from EU Natura 2000 toUNESCO World Heritage status.

Since last year, a threefold increase in timberextraction has claimed miles upon miles of theforest. Over 50,000 mature trees have been cutdown and vast stretches of this once-magicalforest now resemble a disaster area.

This chainsaw massacre – a direct breach ofArticle 6 of the EU’s Habitats Directive – hasbeen authorised at the highest political level inPoland. The Minister for the Environment, JanSzyszko, has personally sanctioned the increase,in violation of an agreement made with theEuropean Commission in 2013.

OTOP, BirdLife’s Polish partner, reactedimmediately, joining a broad coalition of NGOsin successfully appealing to the EuropeanCommission to start formal infringementprocedings. Amid a cacophony of civil societyprotest, the EU was finally compelled to actdecisively. On July 13th, the EuropeanCommission referred Poland to the EuropeanCourt of Justice (ECJ). This is only the fourthtime in the 25 years of the Natura 2000network that the European Commission hastaken such measures in defense of a protectedsite.

Though the EU’s popular nature laws – theBirds and Habitats Directives – are inarguablysome of the best pieces of nature protectionlegislation in the world, inadequate enforcementand insufficient penalties for infringementsmeans that mass destruction of legally-protected sites is currently taking place in many

Terns, which call in at Rockabill (see opposite);the adults seem to be showing their offspringaround potential nesting colonies in order tofamiliarise them with the options availablewhen they start to breed, usually at three yearsof age.

Regular, southward migration probably startsaround mid-August, and this autumn some ofour colour-ringed birds were reported fromDawlish Warren and Hayling Island in theSolent, Hampshire, both in southern England.Some were also sighted on the north-westcoast of Brittany and one was re-trapped onthe Tagus estuary in Portugal, for good luck!

Exciting times for us, and we look forward towelcoming them back to our shores nextspring.

Steve Newton, Chris Johnson & Irene Sullivan

Dublin Port, Co DublinAs part of the Dublin Bay BirdsProject we continued themonitoring of breeding terns onthree accessible structures in theRiver Liffey and in the Tolka estuarythis summer. Two structures arefloating pontoons installed by theDublin Port Company and one anoccasionally-used ship-mooringdolphin known by the name ‘CDL.’A fourth structure, the core of theDublin Port tern colony, the ‘ESBdolphin,’ had been demolished theprevious autumn as it was partlycollapsing and considered a dangerto shipping. The ESB kindly rebuilt aplatform for the terns on the solidfoundations of the previousstructure, but their ecologicaladvisors suggested that it be leftundisturbed in its first season, so nomonitoring was undertaken there.

The other three structures

WINGS WINTER 201724

Breeding successes at east coast tern colonies and, opposite, Roseate Tern colonies, are justifying our efforts.

Buoyed by tern successes

Kilcoole, Co WicklowIn 2016, the Little Tern colony at Kilcoole, CoWicklow, experienced a poor year despite highnumbers of pairs laying eggs: we ended upbesieged by foxes that were probably attractedto the shingle-beach tern colony by a burgeoningrabbit warren that has recently becomeestablished beside the adjacent railway line.

With this fresh in our minds we were notprepared to let the same scenario develop in2017. Three newcomers – Chris Johnson andIrene Sullivan as day wardens and Angus Leehelping at night – joined the three ‘survivors’from the 2016 wardening team – AndrewButler, Cole Macey and myself, Steve Newton.We recorded the earliest ever season, with pairslaying from May 14th as we were still wiring upthe electric fences.

Some of the early eggs were taken by HoodedCrows, but overall, foxes and crows were kept atbay and 141 pairs are thought to have fledged269 young this year – a productivity of 1.81young fledged per pair – a very good result!

We spent a lot of time ringing chicks, fittingsome with field-readable colour rings. These havethree white characters that can be read using atelescope. This is the fourth year we have colour-ringed terns and we were delighted tofind a few breeding adults we had ringed aschicks in 2014 and one that had been colour-ringed on the Tagus estuary, near Lisbon inPortugal, in August 2013.

Our chicks started fledging on the record early date of June 23rd, and soon after we werereceiving reports from Louth Nature Trustwarden Jen Lynch, at Baltray, Co Louth, of bothadults and Kilcoole-fledged colour-ringedoffspring. A similar story unfolded at Gronant onthe North Wales coast where seventeen of ‘our’fledglings were reported.

These post-breeding wanderings around theIrish Sea are similar to those performed by someof the Lady’s Island Lake (Co Wexford) Roseate

Common Tern colony on one of the pontoons installed by the Dublin Port Company in Dublin Port. Photograph: Richard Nairn

collectively held 416 pairs of terns, mostlyCommon Terns, though a small colony ofArctic Terns did occupy the CDL along withsome Common Terns. The nest counts were404 for Common Terns and 12 for Arctic Terns,with an unknown number using the restoredESB structure. And all in Dublin Port!

Common Tern chicks were metal-ringed and105 were also colour-ringed with blue oryellow bands inscribed with three white andblack letters, respectively. Some Arctic Ternssurvived to fledging and were fitted with blackrings with two numbers in white.

No significant depredation of chicks wasrecorded (in previous years eggs have been lostto large gulls and chicks have been eaten byrats), but the nest productivity was onlymoderate at 0.40 young presumed fledged perpair for Common Terns and 0.42 for Arctic Terns.

Steve Newton & Ricky Whelan

Where Little Terns colour-ringedat Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, werere-sighted on autumn passage in Co Louth,Wales, England,Brittany (France) and Portugal thisautumn.

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2017 marked the second summer season of thefive-year EU LIFE Nature-funded project onRoseate Terns, run by the RSPB, BirdWatch Irelandand the National Parks and Wildlife Service.BirdWatch Ireland conducted full programmes ofmanagement, protection and research at Rockabilland Dalkey, the former located off Skerries, thelatter close to Dún Laoghaire, both in Co Dublin.

Rockabill, Co DublinWe anticipated an early start, getting out to theisland about April 20th, well ahead of the return ofthe terns but, unfortunately, persistent strongwinds prevented any real work before May 6th.The exception was a quick drop-off of eighty newnestboxes, a new hide, a diesel generator and fueland a few months’ worth of tinned and driedfood as well as water for our wardens.

As always, there is some good news and somebad news to report. Amongst the former, we hadrecord high numbers of nesting Roseate Terns,with 1,597 pairs, a 31% increase over five years,and although productivity was better than lastyear (at 0.81 chicks fledged per pair), we wouldwe happier if it were in the region of 1.0 to 1.2.

We managed to catch twenty breeding adultsand to fit them with geolocator tags (attached tosmall plastic leg-rings). So, on recapture next yearwe hope to retrieve a daily ‘fix’ (latitude andlongitude) of where these birds have been. Theywere caught in mid-June, so we expect theyremained close to Rockabill for a couple ofmonths before heading off to post-breedingstaging areas and then on to true migration to, wepresume, West Africa. Watch this space!

As you read in the autumn issue of Wings, wehosted a royal guest in July, Her ImperialHighness Princess Takamado of Japan, who isHonorary President of BirdLife International.Wardens Shane Somers, Caroline McKeon andDavid Miley enjoyed showing her around the tinyisland with its 3,700 pairs of terns.

The bad news is encapsulated in the reducedproductivity – was it weather-related or was thesupply of their prey-fish poor? It was not helpedby the sheer numbers of Great Black-backedGulls and Herring Gulls that spend a lot of timeon Rockabill. Early-season egg losses to gulls areregular and, although we tried hard and used

some new scaring techniques, our late arrivalmeant we were on the back foot from day one.Some of the gulls also appeared to specialise instealing Kittiwake eggs. We usually have 150-200 pairs of Kittiwakes, often raising a chickeach, but this year they only raised 39 tofledging. Hopefully, we will get out early nextyear and be better placed to discourage thegulls before the terns settle.

Dalkey, Co DublinDalkey is home to the largest colony of ArcticTerns in Dublin; it usually has smaller numbersof Common Terns and an occasional pair ofRoseate Terns. In 2016, breeding success waspoor (most chicks disappeared at the half-grown stage), we think due to the ratpopulation. We had hoped to control oreradicate the rats prior to the 2017 season butfor various reasons that work has had to bepostponed until next winter. The Arctic Terncolony was present at about the same strengthas last year (110 pairs, mostly nesting on LambIsland), but again most pairs failed early in theseason. Some pairs shifted to Maiden Rock (rat-free, we think) and we know four ArcticTerns chicks did fledge successfully. We alsofound a deserted or dumped Roseate Tern eggon the island, though part-time warden AndrewButler and I never actually observed an adultRoseate Tern at Dalkey this year.

Lady’s Island Lake, Co WexfordThis tern colony is wardened by wildlife artistDavid Daly and National Parks and WildlifeService Conservation Ranger Tony Murray(who began his conservation career as aBirdWatch Ireland tern warden at Dalkey). TheRoseate Terns enjoyed a good year: 219 pairsproduced 222 fledglings, a productivity of 1.01.

Coquet Island, NorthumberlandPaul Morrison, RSPB Site Manager, reports oneof the best years ever for Roseates at Coquet. A total of 111 pairs nested and 166 youngfledged, giving an excellent productivity of 1.5.This followed a worrying start to the year whena rat was discovered on the island. Severalweeks followed during which it was tempted

with peanut butter and chocolate-flavoured wax(in traps) before the beast was finally corneredand dispatched. How it got there, no oneknows, as Coquet would usually be deemedsufficiently offshore to have a rat-free status. Thislesson reiterates the need to do somethingabout predatory rodents on Dalkey and not tobecome too complacent about the supposedinaccessibility of Rockabill to rats.

Brittany, north-west FranceThis Celtic corner of France supports the onlyother Roseate Tern colonies of the north-westEuropean population. A variety of agencies, bothgovernmental (e.g. a Marine National Park) andnon-governmental (e.g. Bretagne Vivante andGEOCA-Groupe d’Études Ornithologiques desCôtes D’Armor) manage a suite of islandcolonies along this rugged and diverse coastlinewith a plethora of largely granite islands. Someare relatively remote, e.g. Île aux Moutons, whichlies 10 km off the south coast, where the largestgroup nests, estimated at 50 pairs this year; itlooks surprisingly like Coquet! It is very popularwith tourists and yachtsmen, and a volunteerwarden spends a lot of her time talking tovisitors and trying to steer them away from ternnests – akin to our Little Tern colony at Kilcoole.

Other smaller colonies are closer to shoreand some can be reached at low tide, makingthem accessible to mammalian predators,notably the native foxes. American Mink, nowalso present here in the wild, can swim too andthey also cause problems, but at the moment(highly protected) Peregrines seem to be thespecies most disruptive to the nesting terns.

In late July, a team from the UK-Irish RoseateTern LIFE Project was able to visit several of theBreton tern colonies, accompanied by YannJacob of Bretagne Vivante, and was able toadvise our French counterparts on successfultern management techniques: nestbox designand deployment strategies for Roseate Terns;fish-box elevation of Little Tern nests to savethem from unprecedented high tides; and so on.We look forward to continued collaborationwith our colleagues in Brittany in France.

Steve Newton

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EU LIFE Nature project ‘LIFE14NAT/UK/000394’ is supported by National Parks & Wildlife Service and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council

LIFE-line for Europe’sRoseate Terns

Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamodo of Japan chatting with Rockabilltern wardens Shane Somers, David Miley and Caroline McKeon. Roseate Tern being measured and fitted with a geolocator tag on Rockabill.

Grey Heron appearing to mimic a heron statueon an island on the main pond.

26

After several years ofwriting articles givinggardening advice toreaders of Wings, I’vedecided to get awayfrom the laptop andvisit some gardens tosee what people aredoing in their plots. I am visiting aselection of urban,suburban and ruralgardens and lookingto find interestingadaptations forwildlife.

Commemorative gardenCity parks are often overlooked for theircontribution to our wellbeing and that of thewildlife which shares our urban areas with us.

Urban parks improve the health of thosewho use them by increasing physical exerciseand creating a sense of wellbeing. A well-runurban park supports the community aroundit, facilitates events and increases propertyvalues. A poorly managed urban parkbecomes a magnet for antisocial behaviour, ano-go area, litter-strewn, uninviting andpotentially even dangerous.

Parks can be havens for wildlife, too, andthere has been much progress in our publicparks. For instance, both South DublinCounty Council and Leitrim County Councilhave committed to cutting out glyphosphateherbicide use in public spaces. This will require

Lynn O’Keeffe-Lascar continues her series on wildlife gardens with a visit to the Circle of Life Gardenin Salthill, Galway, an urban garden run by volunteers.

Circle of Life Garden, Salthill

WILDLIFE GARDENING

View of the Circle of Life Garden, Salthill, Galway. Photograph: Lynn O’Keeffe-Lascar

more street-cleaning, power-washing and anacceptance of a certain amount of ‘weeds’ bythe public.

I recently went to a park in Salthill inGalway that used to be rundown until agroup of volunteers took it over withsupport from Galway City Council. Theyhave created an oasis for visitors.

The Circle of Life Garden was set up byDenis and Martina Goggin in memory oftheir son and all who have become organdonors and recipients.

The two-acre park was originally donatedto Galway City Council in 1985 by Digital, ahuge employer at the time. The park was of

its era, with lawns and trees and a large pond.It was well overdue a make-over when Denisand Martina came up with the idea ofcreating a national organ donorcommemorative garden.

Patrick Harris was employed to landscapethe park, with the remit of providing a senseof quiet oasis with year-round colour andform. This has most certainly been achieved.

The garden is dipped below road level, witha bank of mature sycamores helping to shieldthe garden from traffic noises and providingshelter from sea winds. Mature treesthroughout the garden were retained, andlots of sculpted stonework and raised bedsadded and planted with flowers andornamental grasses, along with winding pathsand inspiring quotes. Opened in 2014, thegarden attracts visitors from across the globeas well as regular local users.

Having got through the mammoth task ofnegotiating the use of the park, raising themoney and designing and constructing thegarden, the creators are now in a position tolook at improvements such as encouragingmore wildlife to make it their home.

Value for wildlifeI visited the park on a Sunday evening inSeptember with the sun setting on GalwayBay. Though wildlife was not taken intoaccount originally, a lot has actually beenachieved. Leaving the mature trees in placehas meant that there is plenty of nestinghabitat for tree-nesting birds and for roosting,

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Please get in touch via BirdWatch Ireland ifyou know of one.

Lynn O’Keeffe-Lascar is an outreachhorticulturist based in Co Galway who isinvolved in school and community gardening,teaching adults and transition-year studentsand helping Tidy Towns groups. She also worksin Portumna Castle Gardens. She can becontacted at lynnsirishgardens@gmail.comor you can send her a tweet at@OkeeffeLynn. Lynn runs a website atlynnsirishgardens.wixsite.com/kinvara.

Robin. Photo: Brian BurkeDenis Goggin, co-founder (left) and Ryan Crowell, volunteer, in the garden.

The garden has year-round colour and form.The main pond seen through some pine trees.

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as well as shelter from winds for flying insects.The planting is very diverse. This means

there are plants in flower over an extendedseason, as well as a good mix of species forinsects to live on, too.

The large pond, the bare areas under treesand the grass management could beimproved. The pond has become pea soup.The pump doesn’t work, there’s no plantlifein it, and a heron has eaten the fish! Theplanned replacement of the pump will helpto circulate and oxygenate the water. Notputting fish back in will allow the larvae ofdragonflies and other insects to develop, aswell as helping frogspawn to survive.

Plantlife, like floating oxygenators, as well asmarginal plants, will also clear up the water,and pond snails will eat some of the algae. Itcan take a few seasons to get a pond to

balance out and become full of life.Under-mature trees can be planted with

an under-storey instead of being kept clearthrough hoeing or spraying. The under-storeycan be of plants that grow in shade or inspring light (before the trees leaf up) such asnative bluebells, primroses, daffodils, ferns,foxgloves and alpine strawberries; even ivylooks good under trees.

Grassy bankThere’s also a large grassy bank, some ofwhich could be left as hay meadow, cutannually at the end of summer. This can be anissue in public parks as it is very messy topick litter from long grass, so it’s not suitablein every location. It can be tried for a seasonand, if it doesn’t work, you just go back tonormal mowing again the following season. A thorough scarification followed bywildflower seed-sowing in spring canintroduce some more colourful species.

It is inspiring to see volunteers take on apublic park and do so much with it. There’slots of talk about community gardens, but itdoesn’t have to be only about vegetables.People also need restorative spaces, gardensto ease the soul and the mind and thatencourage reflection and introspection, amoment out of the busy lives we lead; theCircle of Life garden offers this.

For more information on the Circle ofLife garden, visit organdonation.ie/circleoflifeor find it on Facebook at ‘Circle of LifeSalthill.’

I’m still on the hunt for wildlife-friendlygardens to visit, ideally urban or suburban.

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JUNE TO AUGUST 2017

Record your sightings on BirdTrackat www.birdtrack.net

Laughing Gull (sub-adult), Staad, Streedagh, Co Sligo, August 18th 2017, left, and most likely the same bird at Long Rock (between Aughris Head andDunmoran Strand), Skreen, Co Sligo, on August 31st 2017 – the first Sligo county record. Photographs: Michael Bell (left) and Séamus Feeney

By Stephen McAvoy

Highlights• Fifth Irish record of Yellow Warbler in Cork

• Pacific Diver in north Dublin

• Singing Marsh Warbler in Wexford

• Four Fea’s Petrels logged during seawatches

• Snowy Owl returns to Mayo

the same bird in the same area in 2014, 2016and 2017), and another in Tyrone in 2014. TheBalbriggan bird remained on-site until the endof the month, at least, though it was quitemobile, moving to Gormanston, Co Meath, atone stage.

A similarly unexpected find was a femaleKing Eider at Carnsore Point, Co Wexford,on June 22nd. Seen only in the evening, it waslater relocated across the Irish Sea at the Dyfiestuary, Ceredigion.

With only five or six previous records,County Wexford hosted another surprise in

the form of a singing Marsh Warbler at theCahore marshes. Found on June 27th, itremained on-site, giving good views, untilmid-July. The bird was joined in early July by amale Blue-headed (Yellow) Wagtail, giving avery continental European feel to the site.

Seawatches off the south and west coastproduced good counts of Wilson’s Storm-petrels after several poor years, including upto eight seen from the Bridges of Ross, CoClare, in mid-August. However, it was furtheroffshore where the best counts were made,including an amazing 56 noted from a pelagic

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European Storm-petrel, left, and Wilson’s Storm-petrel off Baltimore, Co Cork, on August 6th

2017, seen on a boat trip organised by Paul Connaughton, chairman of the West Cork Branch.

The midsummer months tend to be ratherquiet from a rare bird perspective but, withpersistence, interesting and unexpectedbirds can still be found. The highlight of the‘unexpected’ category was an adult winterPacific Diver discovered off Balbriggan, CoDublin, on August 27th. All previous recordsof this species in Europe have been inwinter or spring, so an August record didnot look likely. This would be the third Irishrecord following a long-staying individual inGalway Bay (found in 2010 and presumably

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June 2nd was a late summer migrant, whileearly autumn migrants included a TurtleDove in mid-August at Galley Head, CoCork, and single Wrynecks in Kerry andCork. A Spotted Crake was a good find atTacumshin on August 8th.

After a few years’ absence, the Snowy Owlreturned to Tarmon Hill at the south end ofthe Belmullet peninsula, Co Mayo, staying intoSeptember. Finally, a summer-plumaged Rose-coloured Starling was a colourful find in Kilkee, Co Clare, on August 22nd.

Fast-moving weather systems originating offthe east coast of North America in lateAugust have occasionally produced someNorth American vagrants. The most notableinstance of this was the arrival of two YellowWarblers plus single Northern Waterthrushand Solitary Sandpiper to south-west Cork inlate August 2008. History repeated itself withIreland’s fifth Yellow Warbler discovered atMizen Head on August 21st. Rather elusiveduring its stay, it was last seen mid-morningthe next day when it flew off in a north-easterly direction.

Black-crowned Night Heron, Turvey Nature Park, Rogerstown estuary,Co Dublin, on June 18th 2017. Photo: Holly & Paul Grogan Marsh Warbler, Cahore, Co Wexford, July 2nd 2017. Photo:Dick Coombes

Snowy Owl, Tarmon Hill, Belmullet peninsula, CoMayo, August 12th, 2017. Photo: Dave Suddaby

WINGS WINTER 2017

Pacific Diver, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, August 31st,2017. Photograph:Aidan G Kelly

third of the season was discovered on theMyroe Levels, Co Derry. Cork produced asingle Long-billed Dowitcher and twoWhite-rumped Sandpipers at ClogheenMarsh and Cape Clear, respectively, withboth sites also holding a Lesser Yellowlegseach.

On the west coast, a Spotted Sandpiperwas present at Castlegregory, Co Kerry,while Galway hosted the fourth White-rumped Sandpiper of the summer. Finally, aSpotted Sandpiper was a good east-coastfind at Rogerstown estuary, Co Dublin, onAugust 23-24th.

Rogerstown also hosted a first-summerNight Heron on June 18th, though the birdwas not seen subsequently. Further rareherons and egrets came in the form of aSquacco Heron at Ross Castle in KillarneyNational Park, Co Kerry, on June 25th, with along-staying Purple Heron at the BirdWatchIreland East Coast Nature Reserve, CoWicklow, from June 30th to mid-July, at least.The Cattle Egret count at Tacumshincontinued to dwindle, with three lastreported in late June. Two Spoonbillsremained in Dungarvan Bay, Co Waterford,with a single bird noted at Ballinskelligs, CoKerry.

A Laughing Gull at Streedagh estuaryfrom August 18th onwards was the firstrecord for County Sligo and the first recordin Ireland since the long-staying bird inBallycotton departed in March 2015.

Bonaparte’s Gulls were noted at the Bannestuary, Co Derry, on June 16th and atWhitehead, Co Antrim, on July 20th. Thelong-staying Forster’s Tern made briefappearances at Tacumshin and Lady’s IslandLakes in early July before moving to itsregular summer haunt of Soldier’s Point, CoLouth, from mid-July onwards. The only otherrare tern was a White-winged Black Ternnoted from Cape Clear on July 1st.

A Hoopoe at Ballyferriter, Co Kerry, on

trip off south-west Cork on August 6th.Now an almost expected rarity, four

Fea’s-type petrels were logged from watch-points in Cork, Kerry, Clare and Mayo.

With a fast-declining North Atlanticpopulation, Barolo Shearwater may becomea true rarity in the future, so two logged thisyear from Hook Head, Co Wexford, and theBridges of Ross represented a good count.

Scarcer seabirds were well represented aswell this season, with notable counts of 60Cory’s Shearwaters flying past Cape Clear,Co Cork, on August 23rd, 58 GreatShearwaters past Galley Head, Co Cork, inlate July and six Balearic Shearwaters notedfrom the Bridges of Ross.

Wader passage could best be described asquiet this season, with no major rarity ofEurasian or North American origindiscovered. As always, Tacumshin, CoWexford, was to the fore, hosting a Buff-breasted Sandpiper from August 19th

onwards, as well as two Baird’s Sandpipersand single American Golden Plover andLong-billed Dowitchers. The site also heldan adult Semipalmated Sandpiper in July aswell as a juvenile in August.

Nearby Cahore hosted the same oranother American Golden Plover, while the

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To include news from your branch in Branching Out, please email Niall Hatch at nhatch@birdwatchireland.ie

Members of the Sligo Branch (and others) at Kilcummin Head. in September. From left (standing): Noel Raftery, Virginia Roddy, Kathleen Casey, Barbara McLynn. Seated, from left: Gerard Scott, Molly Bell, Michael Bell and Dubliners Dave Fox and Mark Stuart. Photograph: Sandie McCanny

The Fingal Branch is responsible for the care and maintenance of two birdhides overlooking Rogerstown estuary, which is a National Nature Reserveand Ramsar site in north Co Dublin. One hide is on the south side,accessible via Turvey Nature Park; the other is on the north side, on theBirdWatch Ireland Rogerstown reserve, with access from the Balleally road.

Last spring, it became apparent that remedial work was needed on thepath leading to the north hide. Damage had been caused to timberwalkways by horses which had gained access from neighbouring fields. Newperimeter fencing was required in three locations to keep the horses out.

Four sections of walkway were then repaired and one complete newtimber walkway and footbridge were built across a section that had beenturned into a quagmire by the animals.

All of the works were carried out by volunteers over a number of days,including weekends. The branch is very grateful to everyone who gave oftheir time and energy to complete the works.

Footbridge for Rogerstown reserveBarney Johnston (Fingal Branch)

Fingal Branch work party building the new footbridge on the BirdWatch Irelandreserve in Rogerstown estuary in north Co Dublin in August.

The Sligo Branch held a seawatching event at Kilcummin Head, Co Mayo, inSeptember. As seawatching is very weather-dependent, the day was chosenat short notice and with an eye on the weather forecast. We headed forKilcummin Head on September 9th when a strong northwesterly wind waspredicted.

Several other birders were already present when our group arrived andsettled in for the day. The eagle eyes of Molly Bell (aged 14) were a greatasset for spotting distant skuas, shearwaters and petrels. Although thenumbers of birds passing was not spectacular, a decent variety wasobserved over the course of the day and, along with the usual Gannets,species observed included Sabine’s Gull, Sooty Shearwater, Great Skua,Pomarine Skua, Leach’s Storm-petrel (inset, above) and Grey Phalarope.

Seawatch at Kilcummin HeadMichael Bell (Sligo Branch)

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Pictured at the launch of A Life in the Trees in the Glendalough Hotel, Co Wicklow,on September 28th: Declan Murphy, left, presents a copy of his book to Gerry Lyons(Chairperson, BirdWatch Ireland), who receives it on behalf of BirdWatch Ireland.The launch was attended by almost 150 people, including famous local residentsJohn Boorman, Garech de Brún and Dáil deputies Andrew Doyle and Pat Casey.

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Leach’s Storm-petrelPhoto: Michael Bell

Members of the Clare, Limerick and Laois Branches on a birdwatching trip to Loop Head, Co Clare, in October. Photograph: Jane Griffin

Whittled Away:Ireland’s VanishingNatureBy Pádraic FogartyThe Collins Press (2017),376pp, hardback, €19.99

Most of us are aware thatIreland is losing wildlife, asthe numbers of everythingfrom rabbits to Cuckoos to

cabbage whites to Cowslips have fallen, but thescales will fall from your eyes when you read thisgut-wrenching exposé of the full extent of thelosses, and the reasons for them.

Pádraic Fogarty, a professional ecologist fromDublin, pulls no punches in Whittled Away. He givesa blistering account of how management of oursea fisheries, farmlands, woodlands and bogs hasalways been exploitative and destructive. Earlysettlers wiped out the Brown Bear about 8,500years ago, and even today 7,000 badgers areculled annually with scarcely a murmur of dissent.

As nature diminishes, we face a calamity,including a collapse in our pollinators. To puteverything back on an even keel we mustprioritise nature protection. Pádraic Fogarty hopeshis book will spur us to action.

Having set out his stall in a remarkable openingchapter, he delves deeper into the mostcontentious issues, exposing failed policies andsuggesting solutions. Our sea fisheries are in aruinous state, having been overfished relentlesslyfor the last 400 years. On land, the most valuableplaces for wildlife are protected reluctantly, at thethreat of fines from the EU. The body chargedwith nature conservation, the National Parks andWildlife Service, is disgracefully under-resourced,its annual budget less than half that of An BordBia’s, which promotes Irish food. Over €420m isspent annually on environmental farmingsubsidies with little to show for it.

The ongoing loss of wildlife is happening in theblink of an eye, by nature’s standards. BirdWatchIreland lists 27 bird species which haveundergone serious declines in the past 25 years.And the losses can directly impact livelihoods: thediminution of wild Atlantic Salmon stocks has hitcoastal communities hard.

The effects of uncontrolled burning of uplandvegetation is contributing to massive biodiversityloss, erosion, carbon emissions and the pollutionof rivers. Sheep and heather burning havetogether reduced the hills of Connemara, inparticular, to lifeless expanses.

Whole careers have been built around snaring

badgers, at an annual cost of €33m, in a failingattempt to eradicate bovine TB; no one inauthority is prepared to stand up and shout stop.

Pádraic notes that farming has been disastrousfor wildlife. Drainage has destroyed countlesswetlands. Slurry pollution, pesticides, artificialfertilisers, loss of hedgerows, a switch to silage fromhay, or maybe a combination of all these things, hasdecimated many farmland bird populations.

In general, there is a lack of leadership. Forexample, instead of calling for people’s support to save the very, very last of our raised bogs, weare told it has to be done to avoid EU fines.

Any future for wildlife will be intimatelyconnected to a sustainable future for people, andthe future, Pádraig believes, is in so-called “highnature value farming.” Like bygone farming, itrequires little or no artificial inputs. As much as30% of Ireland’s agricultural land is suitable for thislower-intensity approach.

Pádraic sees possibilities in restoring fisheriesand degraded hills; creating forests and wetlandson cutaway bogs; returning lost predators such aswolf to newly-wooded mountain valleys.

Rewilding hills and bogs, protecting our seas orrestoring nature in hand with farming: we alreadyhave many examples that show the potentialwaiting to be unleashed. – Cóilín MacLochlainn

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Crossword No 57Complete this crossword correctly and you are in with a chance to win a copy of Whittled Away, by Pádraic Fogarty, abook valued at €19.99. Send your entry to BirdWatch Ireland Crossword Competition, Unit 20, Block D, Bullford BusinessCampus, Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, to arrive not later than Friday, December 8th, 2017. The winner of Crossword No 56 wasDavid Devins from Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, who won a copy of A Life in the Trees: A Personal Account of the GreatSpotted Woodpecker in Ireland, by Declan Murphy, a book valued at €20.

CluesAcross6 Sounds like you would run away from this little leaping bloodsucker (4).7 Sugary juice in flower, loved by butterflies and other insects (6).

8 Lesser American wader with eponymous legs of yellow hue (10).9 Flying things of unknown origin, considered alien (4).11 Tiny, furry, burrowing mammal with poor eyesight (4).12 Family of insect-eating birds with spotted, pied and more (10).15 Both house and sand are one (6).16 Sacred or glossy bird family name (4).

Down1 Could be very small as in tit or very big as in whale (4).2 Golden, imperial as well as white-tailed (6).3 Sparrow-like passerine and winter visitor from the Arctic, known colloquially as snowflake (4,7).4 Imperial measurement of land area found in care (4).5 Young lady in distress or colourful ‘darning needle’ insect? (6).10 Cliff-nesting gull-like tubenose with spectacular gliding flight (6).11 Politicians of old liked being seen in coats of this Angora goat fleece (6).

13 Big ones include lions, tigers, jaguars and cheetahs (4).14 Take a train to go by this family that includes Moorhen (4)C

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Please provide your name and address when posting the completed crossword to us. You may use the boxes below or provide your details separately.

WINGS WINTER 2017

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Except where it is indicated, all events are free andopen to all age groups, all members, and to non-members and beginners and experts alike. Childrenunder fourteen years of age must be accompanied bya parent or guardian. Warm waterproof clothing andfootwear is recommended for all outdoor events.Note 1: Outdoor events listed here may change if bad weather is forecasted.

Note 2: Many of our branches have websites orFacebook pages which provide information on localevents and talks – please find further details in thelistings below. Any queries, please email us at info@ birdwatchireland.ie.

EVENTS AND TALKS – NOVEMBER 2017 TO FEBRUARY 2018

Branch November December January FebruaryCarlowTo be included on emailing list,write to birdwatchcarlow@gmail.comFind us on Facebook (Wild Carlow)● Andrew Power (sec), 087 7458436, birdwatchcarlow@gmail.com● Paul Cutler (chair), 086 896 8794

Fri 17th Wetlands and waders, byNiall Hatch (BirdWatch Ireland).Tinryland Parish Hall, 8pm.Sun 26th Joint outing withWicklow Branch to Broadlough.Meet by Veolia water treatmentplant at south end of lough nearport bridge at 10am.

Fri 8th Dublin Bay: nature andhistory, by Richard Nairn.Tinryland Parish Hall, 8pm.Sat 30th Outing to WexfordWildfowl Reserve. Meet in thereserve car park at 10am.

Fri 19th Rockabill terns, byBrian Burke (BirdWatchIreland). Tinryland ParishHall, 8pm.Sun 21st Outing to OakPark, Carlow. Meet in theforest trail car park,9.30am.

Cavanwww.cavanbranch.blogspot.ieTo be included on emailing list, write to:cavanbirdwatching@gmail.comFind us on Facebook (Cavan Birdwatching)See also The Anglo Celt (Cavan News)● Ashley Wynne (sec), 087 773 5487cavanbirdwatching@gmail.com

Thurs 23rd Garden Birds, by NiallHatch (BirdWatch Ireland).Johnston Central Library, Cavan,7pm.

December Trip to DundalkBay, details to be arranged.Join our mailing list or find uson Facebook for date andarrangements.

Sun 14th Visit to LoughOughter lakes complex (tomake I-WeBS bird counts).Meet in Drumlane Abbeycar park, 10am.

Sun 25th Visit toLough Sheelin’sshores. Meet inCrover House Hotelcar park, 9.30am.

Clarewww.clarebirdwatching.com● Tom Lynch, (065) 682 2145 (H)tnaclynch@gmail.com● Austin Cooney, (065) 682 4804No dogs on outings, please

Sat 11th Clare Branch AGMupstairs at Tom Steele’s, Lifford,Ennis, 6pm.Sat 25th Joint outing with LimerickBranch to Curraghchase ForestPark to look for Jay, Brambling,Hawfinch, Red Squirrel, etc. Meetin the car park, 9.30am.

Sat 2nd Outing to BallyalliaLake near Ennis. Great inlandlake offering great views ofwaterbirds. Meet at birdboardopposite Lake Stores, 11am.

Sat 27th We will visitSeafield, Quilty, to seewaders and seabirds.Good site for PurpleSandpiper. Meet at thepier, Seafield, 11am.

Corkwww.birdwatchcork.comFind us on FacebookEmailing list:info@birdwatchcork.comText or email sign-up: 087 2734 975● Paul Moore, 087 690 8108paulwmoore01@gmail.com● Conor O’Keeffe,calabkilworth@gmail.com

Sat 18th Visit to Harpers Islandwith Paul Moore and committeemembers. Meet there at 3pm.

Sat 2nd Dec SECAD Cork Birdathon at Harpers Island,Douglas Estuary and Ballyvergan, from 9am to 4.30pm.Tues 12th Dec A talk by Jim Wilson (details by email or onrequest). SMA Hall, Wilton, 8pm.Sun 17th Dec Visit to Kilcolman and Doneraile with WestCork Branch. See West Cork for details.Sun 31st Dec Christmas outing to Douglas Estuary withTony Nagle. Meet at Harty’s Quay at 1pm.

West CorkFind us on Facebookwww.birdwatchirelandwestcork.ieTo be put on emailing list, write to:mailinglist@birdwatchirelandwestcork.ie● Paul Connaughton, 086 199 3613,● Nicholas Mitchell (sec), 023 882 1640 or 087 121 5256secretary@birdwatchirelandwestcork.ie

Sun 26th Rosscarbery estuary.Meet at Celtic Ross Hotel at10.30am for car-share toOwenahincha and walk back toRosscarbery. Leader: David Rees.

Wed 6th White-tailed Eagles,by Bob Foyle. O’Donovan’sHotel, Clonakilty, 7.30pm.Sun 17th Joint outing withCork Branch to Kilcolman Bog.Meet at Doneraile WildlifePark, 9.30am, for car-sharing.Guide: Mike Hirst.Thurs 28th Christmas walk.Meet at Long Strand car park,Castlefreke-Warren, Clonakilty,at 11am. Leader: David Rees.

Wed 17th A birding trip toNorth Peru, by PaulHadland & Anne Dale.Warren Suite, Celtic RossHotel, 7.30pm.Sun 28th West Cork BirdRace. Meet at Scally’sSuperValu, Clonakilty,8.30am. Ends 5.30pm atO’Donovan’s Hotel,Clonakilty. Register yourteam with Nicholas.

Sun 4th Visit to theGearagh riverinewoodland on RiverLee. Meet in north-side car park onInchigeelagh Road(R584) at 11am.Leader: John Lynch.

DonegalTo be included on emailing list, write to: ethnadiver@hotmail.com● Liz Sheppard, (074) 914 7129rsheppard@eircom.net● Ethna Diver,ethnadiver@hotmail.com

Sat 11th Outing to Inch Lough andLevels. Meet in car park besideembankment, 10am. Comingfrom Letterkenny, turn left at BurtChurch and continue for about2km.

Sat 20th Outing to theDunfanaghy area. Meet atthe Market Square,Dunfanaghy, at 10am.

Sat 17th Outing toInishfree Bay. Meet atthe beach car parknear Mullaghderg(about 2km west ofjunction to CarrickfinnAirport) at 10am.

Dublin Fingalwww.bwifingal.ie, Twitterbwifingal@gmail.com● Frank Prendergast (sec), 087 1319884, frank.prendergast@dit.ie● Paul Lynch (chair), 087 631 9209● James English, 087 234 5198james.english046@gmail.com

Sat 4th I-WeBS bird count atRogerstown estuary. Meet inPlant Market car park, Blake’sCross (N1) at 10am.Thurs 9th The return of White-tailed Eagles to Lough Derg after100 years, by Bob Foyle. SkerriesRugby Club, 7.45pm.

Sat 2nd I-WeBS count atRogerstown. Meet in PlantMarket car park, 9am.Sat 9th Visit to East CoastNature Reserve, Sea Road,Newcastle, Co Wicklow. Meetat main entrance, 10.30am.

Sat 6th I-WeBS count atRogerstown. Meet in PlantMarket car park, 1pm.Fri26th Annual Table Quiz toraise funds for the branch.Skerries Rugby Club,8.30pm.

Sat 3rd I-WeBS countat Rogerstown. Meetin Plant Market carpark, 12pm.Sat 24th Field trip.Details later onwebsite and by email.

Purple Sandpiper(John N Murphy)

Doneraile Court(Owen O’Sullivan)

Inch Levels (Corinna Schleiffer)

Rockabill(Brian Burke)

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Branch November December January FebruaryDublin Southwww.southdublinbirds.comAll talks in Killiney Room, GraduateBar, Rochestown Ave, 8pm, on firstTuesday of month (Sept to May).● Eleanor Keane, 087 644 6029,elekeane@gmail.comCoach bookings taken at branchmeetings or emailbookings@southdublinbirds.com.Morning walks of approximatelytwo hours’ duration.

Tues 7th Highlights of branchtrip to the Canary Islands inFebruary 2017, by NiallHatch. Graduate Bar,Rochestown Avenue, 8pm.Sun 12th Coach trip toWexford. Places limited,booking essential. Meet atferry terminal in DúnLaoghaire. Coach departs8.30am sharp.

Tues 5th A year of birds: Aphotographic journeythrough the seasons, by EricDempsey. Graduate Bar,Rochestown Avenue, 8pm.Sun 10th Visit to CabinteelyPark for possible winterthrushes and Siskin. Meet incar park by CabinteelyHouse at 10.30am.

Tues 2nd Marine mammalsof Ireland, by ShannonMone (Seal Rescue Ireland).Graduate Bar, RochestownAvenue, 8pm.Sun 7th Outing to WestPier, Dún Laoghaire, to lookfor winter visitors, seabirdsmainly. Meet by thewindsurfers pier car park at10.30am.

Tues 6th The Peregrine Falconproject, by Ann Fitzpatrick ofNational Parks and WildlifeService. Graduate Bar,Rochestown Avenue, 8pm.Sun 11th Outing toBlessington Lakes area. Meetby the monument inBlessington town at 10.30am.

Dublin Tolkawww.dublinbirding.ie● Dermot McCabe086 418 0241dermot.mccabe@gmail.comAll talks in Botanic GardensAuditorium, Glasnevin, at 8pm(car park opens at 7.30pm)Bookings (when necessary) onlineat www.dublinbirding.ie or byemail to dublinbirding@gmail.com

Thurs 16th Dublin Bay: natureand history, by Richard Nairn,who will be signing copies ofhis new book about the bay.Botanic Gardens, 8pm (doorsopen 7.30pm, car park open).Sat 18th Car outing toKilcoole and East CoastNature Reserve. MeetBotanic gardens, 9.30am, orKilcoole railway station,10.30am. Call Dermot if youneed a lift.

Sat 16th North Bull Islandwalk. Meet on thecauseway at 11.30am. CallDermot if you need a lift.

Wed 17th Northern Greece:an underwatched birders’paradise, by Philip Clancy(Tolka Branch). BotanicGardens Auditorium, 8pm(doors open 7.30pm, carpark open).Sat 20th Outing to WestPier, Dún Laoghaire. MeetBotanic Gardens, 9.30am,or base of pier, 10am. CallDermot if you need a lift.

Wed 21st Are Irish birdsreacting to climate change?Tom Cooney looks at thesituation. Botanic GardensAuditorium, 8pm (doors open7.30pm, car park open).Sat 24th Outing to DundalkBay and other sites on Louthcoast. Meet at BotanicGardens, 9am, or DundalkPort, 10.15am. Call Dermot ifyou need a lift.

Galwaywww.birdwatchgalway.orgneiljsharkey@gmail.com● Marianne ten Cate087 237 8051mariannetencate@gmail.com● To receive branch e-newsletter,contact Neil Sharkey (see above)

Sat 4th Outing at Nimmo’sPier, Galway, with Tom Cuffe.Meet at base of pier at10.30am. Would suit bothbeginners and moreexperienced birdwatchers.

Sat 2nd Outing at Nimmo’sPier, Galway, with TomCuffe. Meet at base of pierat 10.30am. Would suitboth beginners and moreexperienced birdwatchers.

Sat 6th Outing at Nimmo’sPier, Galway, with TomCuffe. Meet at base of pierat 10.30am. Would suitboth beginners and moreexperienced birdwatchers.

Kildarewww.birdwatchkildare.combirdwatchkildare@gmail.comAll talks are held in TownhouseHotel, Naas, Co Kildare, at 8pm● Tom McCormack (chair)086 254 7424tom.mccormack07@gmail.com● Neil Bourke (sec),njb59@hotmail.com

Thurs 9th Ireland’s waterbirdsfrom river source to estuary,by BirdWatch Ireland’s NiallHatch. Townhouse Hotel,8pm.Sat 11th Outing to Cahoremarshes, Co Wexford. Meetin car park of B&Q, Naas, at7.45am for car-pooling.

Thurs 14th The twelve-month breeding cycle of theWhite-tailed Eagles atPortumna, Co Galway, byBob Foyle. TownhouseHotel, 8pm.Sat 16th Visit to Rogerstownestuary. Meet in the carpark, Turvey Park,Donabate, 10am.(Directions will be includedin branch mail.)

Thurs 11th History, habitatsand birds of North BullIsland, Dublin, by TomCooney. Townhouse Hotel,8pm.Sat 13th Outing to NorthBull Island. Meet on thecauseway. (Time willdepend on tides and beincluded in branch mail.)

Thurs 8th The wet and wildbogs of Ireland, by NualaMadigan (IPCC). TownhouseHotel, 8pm.Sat 10th Outing to West Pier,Dún Laoghaire, andSandycove, Dublin. Meet atbase of pier, 10am. (Directionswill be included in branchmail.)

KilkennyEmailbirdwatchkilkenny@gmail.comto be included on emailing list.● Pat and Mary Durkin05677 62130 or 086 040 3204patandmarydurkin@gmail.com

Sat 18th Outing to CabraghWetlands (Thurles). Meet atKilkenny Castle Park gates,10am, for car-pooling, orCabragh Centre, 11.15am.

December Post-Christmasevent: Inter-schools WildlifeQuiz for primary schoolstudents. Details later.

Sat 20th Outing to seeWhooper Swans and otherwetland birds in northKilkenny. Meet at KilkennyCastle gates at 10am forcar-pooling and lifts.

Wed 21st White-tailed SeaEagles, by Bob Foyle. TheCommunity Room, HeritageCouncil offices, Kilkenny, 8pm.

LaoisEmailbirdwatchlaois@gmail.comto be included on emailing list.Indoor talks on last Tues of month,Parish Centre, Portlaoise, at 8pm● Des Finnamore (sec), 086 2291637, birdwatchlaois@gmail.com● John Maher (chair), 086 601 3483

Sun 5th Outing toBroadmeadow estuary innorth Dublin. Meet at theCounty Offices, Portlaoise, at9am to car-pool.Tues 28th The White-tailedSea Eagles of Lough Derg, byBob Foyle. The Parish Centre,Portlaoise, 8pm.

Sun 3rd A visit to thewetlands of Lough BooraDiscovery Park, led by MarkMcCorry (Bord na Móna).Meet at County Offices,Portlaoise, at 9am to car-pool.

Tues 30th Recording Irishbird sightings, by JoeDoolan of IrishBirding.com.The Parish Centre,Portlaoise, 8pm.

LimerickTo be put on emailing list,write to: birdwatchirelandlimerickbranch@gmail.comFind us on Facebook● Maura Turner (sec), 087 7927972● Clodagh Glasgow, 087 635 5691● Liz Fahy (events)All talks in Shannon Rowing Club,Sarsfield Bridge, Limerick, at 8pm.Indoor talks in Limerick Institute ofTechnology, 7.45pm.

Wed 22nd Ireland’s trees:heritage, folklore and forestry,by Gerry Murphy. LimerickInstitute of Technology,7.45pm.Sat 25th Visit toCurraghchase Forest Parkwith Clare Branch to look forJay, Brambling, Buzzard,woodpeckers, squirrels, etc.Meet in car park, 9.30am.Leaders: Gearóid Jackson,Tom Lynch.

Wed 6th Tiger quest in Indiaand birds in Canada, byGerry Butler. LimerickInstitute of Technology,7.45pm.Sat 9th Visit the LimerickBranch stall in Limerick’sMilk Market, 8am-1pm, forBirdWatch Ireland items,Christmas gifts, etc.Wed 27th Outing toWestfields and other sitesto look for waterfowl,waders and passerines.Meet at WestfieldsWetlands, 10am.

Sat 13th Outing to RossCastle, Killarney, to look forwaterbirds and Chiffchaffs.Meet in Ross Castle carpark, 10am. Leader: DaveyFarrar.Wed 17th Bird names,tunes and traditional music,by Tom Lynch. Bring yourspoons and bones. LimerickInstitute of Technology,7.45pm.Sun 28th Outing toAughinish and Robertstownto see waterbirds and high-tide roost. Meet in first carpark, Aughinish, 10.30am.Leader: Geoff Hunt.

Sun 18th Walk along the RiverShannon in Limerick city toview gulls, visiting waterbirds,etc. Meet at St Michael’s BoatClub at 9.30am. Leaders:Clodagh Glasgow, MauraTurner.

Galway Branch members atNimmo’s Pier (Tom Cuffe)

Lough Boora Parklands(Zelda F Scott)

34 WINGS WINTER 2017

OTheR BRaNCheS: Kerry (West), Corca Dhuibhne Jill Crosher, 085 856 3356, jillcrosher@gmail.com Leitrim Kealin Ireland, 086 388 1535, kealinireland@eircom.net Monaghan Joe Shannon, 087 918 5593, joeshannon54@gmail.comWaterford Paul Walsh, 086 170 1599, www.waterfordbirds.com

Branch November December January FebruaryLouthwww.birdslouth.blogspot.combmartin@regintel.com● Breffni Martin(042) 937 6973, 087 914 5363,bmartin@regintel.com

Mon 6th Rare and scarce birds onCape Clear Island, by Peter Philips.The Spirit Store, Dundalk, 8pm.

Mon 4th Ireland’swoodpeckers, by DeclanMurphy. The Spirit Store,Dundalk, 8pm.

Mon 1st The ecology, birdsand habitats of Dundalk Bay,by Breffni Martin. The SpiritStore, Dundalk, 8pm.

Mon 5th PeregrineFalcons, by Jen Lynch.The Spirit Store,Dundalk, 8pm.

Mayowww.birdwatchmayo.orgFollow us on TwitterFind us on Facebookbirdwatchmayo@yahoo.comText updates: 087 643 2340● Ruth-Ann Leak (sec), 087 643 2340● Mick Hogan (chair), 087 410 7277,mick@sui.ie

Wed 8th Lough Derg’s White-tailedSea Eagles return after 100 years, byBob Foyle. Room Y002, GMITCollege, Castlebar, 7.30pm.Sun 26th Outing to Killala Bay. Meetat Wild Atlantic Way sign in car parkoverlooking the harbour at12.30pm. Suitable for beginners andwheelchair users. Bring binocularsand ‘scopes, if you have them.

Other events may bearranged. Check the websiteor subscribe to text alerts to

be kept up to date.

MeathFind us on FacebookFollow us on Twittterand on LinkedInbirdwatchirelandmeath@gmail.com● Paul Gallagher 086 086 9760● Franck Ar Moenner087 954 2325armoenner@yahoo.co.uk

Thurs 23rd Lough Derg’s White-tailedSea Eagles return after 100 years, byBob Foyle. Navan Education Centre,Navan, 8pm. Other events may be

arranged. Check thewebsite, or our Facebookpage, or subscribe to text

alerts to be kept up to date.

Roscommonwww.rosbirdwatch.blogspot.comp70435@yahoo.ie● Pádraig Rocke, 087 907 8849p70435@yahoo.ie

Thurs 16th Ireland’s waterbirds, byNiall Hatch (BirdWatch Ireland).Hannon’s Hotel, 8pm.

December We areplanning a walk around alocal lake. Details later.

Thurs 18th The return ofWhite-tailed Eagles, by BobFoyle. Hannon’s Hotel,Roscommon, 8pm.

SligoFind us on Facebook andTwitter (BirdWatch Sligo)Contact us for text updates onevents and bird sightings● Michael Bell, 085 175 1000,nature.learn1@gmail.com● Sandie McCanny (sec)086 804 6468,sandiemccanny@gmail.comAny additional outings will beposted on Facebook.

Sun 12th Sligo Branch stand atexhibition in Sligo IT Science Week.Fri 17th The art of bird identification:A 40-year perspective on birding andfield guides, by Killian Mullarney.Science Week lecture, Room A005,Sligo IT, 7.30pm.Sun 19th I-WeBs bird count. Meet atSilver Falls, Ballisodare, 12.00 noon.Sun 26th Outing to Mullaghmore forWhooper Swans, Eiders, etc. Meetin Cartron car park, Sligo,at 12.00noon for car-pooling.

Thurs 7th Christmasgathering with threenatural history talks. SligoPark Hotel, 8pm.Sun 17th I-WeBS count.Meet at Cartron car park,11.30am, for DrumcliffeBay count.

Sat 13th I-WeBS count.Meet at Cartron car park,10am, for Drumcliffe Bay &Sligo Harbour count.Sun 14th I-WeBS count.Meet at Silver Falls,Ballisodare, 10am.Sun 21st Outing toDunmoran Strand andAughris. Meet at Cartron carpark, 10am, or Silver Falls,Ballisodare, 10.15am.

Thurs 8th Goosey,goosey gander: a wildgoose chase, by DavidCabot. Sligo Park Hotel,8pm.Sun 11th I-WeBS count.Meet at Cartron, 10am,for Sligo Harbour &Drumcliffe Bay count.

Tipperarywww.tippbirds.weebly.com● Kevin Collins, 087 237 3090kevincollins062@gmail.com● Jane Coman, (067) 31741janecoman@eircom.net

Barn Owls and the M7motorway, by John Lusby(BirdWatch Ireland), inCashel. Details later.

The Tipperary Branch will beholding more events during

the winter: please checkbranch website later.

Tues 6th The White-tailed Eagles on LoughDerg, by Bob Foyle.Nenagh (venue andtime to be arranged;check website later).

WestmeathFind us on Facebookbirdwatchwestmeath@gmail.comIndoor talks on second Thurs ofevery month, Bloomfield Hotel,near Mullingar, at 8pm● Tom O’Callaghanocallaghan.tom@gmail.com● Richella Dugganrichella.duggan@googlemail.com

Thurs 9th The Offaly Dipper Survey,by Alex Copland (SeniorConservation Officer, BirdWatchIreland). Bloomfield House Hotel,8pm.

Sat 2nd Joint walk withOffaly Field Club to lookfor autumn bird migrants.Meet at the bird hide,Lough Boora DiscoveryPark, 11am.Thurs 14th Christmassocial with refreshments.All welcome. Free event.Bloomfield House Hotel,8pm.

Thurs 11th Guest speaker(details to be confirmed).Bloomfield House Hotel,8pm.

Thurs 8th Ireland’sGrey Heron: views pastand present, byAmanda Pedlow.Bloomfield HouseHotel, 8pm.

WicklowFind us on Facebookfacebook.com/birdwatchwicklowTo be included on emailing list, write to: birdwatchwicklow@gmail.com● Joe Lennon (chair)● Clodagh Duffy (sec)

Tues 14th Lough Derg’s White-tailedSea Eagles, by Bob Foyle (a photo-presentation). Glenview Hotel,Delgany, 8pm.Sun 26th Joint outing with CarlowBranch to Broadlough, Wicklow.Meet at Veolia water treatmentplant on Murrough Industrial Estateat 10am.

Tues 12th The wildlife ofTransylvania, Romania, byAndrew Power, focusingon butterflies and birds.Glenview Hotel, 8pm.

Tues 9th Dublin Bay: natureand history, by RichardNairn, based on his newbook (signed copiesavailable on the night).Glenview Hotel, 8pm.Sat 20th Outing to EastCoast Nature Reserve andNewcastle coast to seewintering waterbirds, birdsof prey, etc. Meet at ECNRentrance, Newcastle SeaRoad, 10am.

February The WicklowCounty Bird Race willtake place on Sat 10th

or Sat 17th. Please getin touch for details ifyou wish to take part.Tues 13th Talk (speakerto be confirmed).Details later by email,Facebook and localpapers. GlenviewHotel, 8pm.

Bartra Island, Killala Bay

White-tailed Eagle

Barn Owl (Richard Mills)

National Parks and Wildlife Service

Roseate Tern (Photo: Ita Martin)

7 Ely Place, Dublin 2Tel: +353-1-888 3242LoCall: 1890 383 000Fax: +353-1-888 3272Website: www.npws.ieE-mail: nature.conservation@ahg.gov.ie

NPWS provides BirdWatch Ireland with financial support to undertake:

The mission of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is:

n To secure the conservation of a representative range of ecosystems and maintain and enhancepopulations of flora and fauna in Ireland

n To implement the EU Birds and Habitats Directives and the Wildlife Actsn To designate and ensure the protection of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs),

Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs), having regard to the need toconsult with interested parties

n To manage and develop the State’s six National Parks and 78 Nature Reservesn To implement international Conventions and Agreements to which Ireland is party,

relating to the natural heritage

n The Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS)

n The Countryside Bird Survey (CBS)

n Seabird monitoring and wardening at Kilcooleand other important seabird colonies

NPWS also contracts specific work packages toBirdWatch Ireland, including the development of agri-environment schemes for breeding waderson the Shannon Callows.

The NPWS is also funder and partner in theprogrammes to restore the Grey Partridgeand reintroduce the Golden Eagle,White-tailed Sea Eagle and Red Kite.