Murlach Cattle Egret

A few more random shots from the past Autumn including Galways only second record of Cattle Egret. The bird was picked up by David Rees on 30th September down by Murlach. It hung around for at least two weeks.
A few shots of some of the returning Icelandic colour ringed Oystercatchers which will very shortly be heading back North. Also a young Peregrine which was unsusually perched on telephone wires.

Cattle Egret, Murlach, 30th September 2018.

Cattle Egret, Murlach, 30th September 2018.

Juvenile Peregrine, Murlach, 13th October 2018.

OO-W(PA) colour ringed Oystercatcher, Bunlough Strand, Co. Mayo, 14th September 2018.

OO-W(PA) colour ringed Oystercatcher, Bunlough Strand, Co. Mayo, 14th September 2018. Ring already damaged on one side, only ringed in May 2017.

RL-W(AA) colour ringed Oystercatcher, Inner Mannin Bay, 10th August 2018.

Spring 2017

Just a round up of a collection of the few photos that I've taken over the last two and a half months or so with an obvious winter taste. Some shots of Waxwings from a flock that hung around the National School at Rosscahill on 5th March.

Waxwing

Waxwing

Waxwing

Waxwing

Waxwing

Waxwing

Forster's Tern, Kinvarra,12th March. 

Forster's Tern, Kinvarra, 12th March. 

I had this colour ringed Mediterranean Gull AJAT yet again in Mannin Bay on 3rd March. I've previously had it here on 22nd October 2012 and 26th February 2013. I also had it at Omey Island on 16th October 2013. It was ringed as a chick at Pionierinsel Lühe, Steinkirchen, Stade, Niedersachsen, Germany on 17th June 2006. It's also been seen at Presall Sands, Pilling Lane, Lancashire,  England and Wissant, plage, Pas-de-Calais, France. It's been recorded breeding on the flat roof of a factory near it's birth place in the intervening years.

Mediterranean Gull

I've also been busy with the national Peregrine Falcon Survey this year. I've been checking about nine 5km squares with active sites in Connemara along with four more out on Inishmore. Mixed results so far with some previously successful sites already failed even before egg laying was attempted. We also finished up Raven pulli ringing in April and most are now well fledged at this stage. We ringed a total of 36 chicks from 9 broods giving a average brood size of four chicks. 

A pair of breeding Raven was shot out on Inishbofin last year with the chicks lefted in the nest (we managed to rescue the chicks from a long slow death through dehyration/starvation). This was following a lot of anti-Raven sentiment on the island lead by one person in recent years who has emotively labelled the species as a "menace", "beast" and "marauders". Unfortunately one unknown person on the island decided to take the law into his own hands last year. The cove where the pair were shot is named locally as Uaimh na bhFiach i.e. Cove of the Raven. It's been a long time since Irish has been a spoken language on the island so there is obviously a long history of the species on the island. Not surprisingly Uaimh na bhFiach was sadly empty of Ravens this season. Ravens like all bird species in Ireland are protected under the Wildlife Act including all "seagull" species. There is however a derogation made for hooded crows, magpies, rooks, jackdaws, woodpigeon and feral pigeons under certain circumstances.

There was no sign the resident pair of Peregrines on Inishbofin this year.

Second calendar female Peregrine on an old Raven nest, photographed under license. 

Second calendar female Peregrine on an old Raven nest, photographed under license. 

Raven nest  photographed under license

Twite, North Mayo cliffs.

Falconry Conference

I attended a falconry conference up in Kildare over a week ago organised by the Irish Hawking Club called "The Stewardship of Biodiversity and sustainable Use Conference" i.e. the taking of wild born raptors in Ireland and else where. I've attached a few shots of some of the falconers birds below. You don't see a Crowned Eagle perched on the front lawn of a county Kildare hotel every day!

Licenses are given out each year to Irish falconers to go into wild Peregrine nests and remove chicks, mostly Peregrine Falcons (max. five chicks per annum) and to a lesser extent Sparrowhawks, Kestrel and even a Merlin on at least one occasion. Peregrines are an Appendix 1 species on the Bird Directive and a listed animal with CITES. There is a derogation under the Birds Directive to issue such licences "if there is no other satisfactory solution". However Peregrines have now been widely bred in captivity for at least three decades so there very clearly is another satisfactory solution if a falconer wishes to obtain a Peregrine. Wild-take licenses haven't been issued in the UK now since the late 1970's primarily due to the large captive population of Peregrines. Like most matters concerned with conservation, Ireland is still in the Bronze Age compared to the UK. There's absolutely no charge for getting a license to take a bird of prey from the wild in Ireland. Captive birds could cost well over a thousand euro with wild born birds making far more than that once taken and are much valued for breeding proposes.

Over the two days of the conference we were told of the huge amount of conservation that falconers are responsible for. No Irish examples were pointed out during this time apart from the occasional and useful rehabilitation of injured wild raptors. I didn't hear any mention of what must be Ireland's most threatened bird of prey - the Hen Harrier.

We were told repeatedly that wild take is sustainable. An example of this was given from the Middle East where traditionally, wintering Sakers and Peregrines would be caught as they arrived in the autumn. They would be used to hunt over the winter and then released to migrate back to their breeding grounds at the end of the winter. The same doesn't apply anymore in the Middle East and it never has in Ireland. Once a Peregrine is taken here it is never intentionally released back into the wild, far too valuable for that! The argument that wild Peregrines have better hunting instincts compared to captive born birds is also nonsensical as the chicks are taken when they are only half grown and have zero hunting skills. I would also have to argue point on the whole sustainable issue as well. Yes the national population has seen a remarkable increase however this isn't seen everywhere. I monitored ten occupied Peregrine territories this summer here in West Galway as per usual. Of those ten pairs just three pairs managed to successfully raise chicks. This isn't an unusual poor success rate here for that matter either.

Birds of prey were regularly referred to as a "wild resource", there for taking as long as it was done sustainably. The saying "if it pays it stays" was also used. Basically humans have domain over the natural world and we can take and use it as we see fit. Those that mean then if a species is of no monetary value or use to anyone, does it really have a right to exist at all as a species?

I must admit the case for "wild-take" in Ireland seems to be on increasingly shaky ground to me.

First calendar Goshawk

First calendar Goshawk

Adult male Goshawk

Adult male Goshawk

Adult female Goshawk

Adult female Goshawk

Adult male Sparrowhawk

Crowned Eagle

Crowned Eagle

Adult Peregrine

First calendar Peregrine.

Adult Peregrine

Adult Peregrine

Adult Peregrine (brookerei?)

Adult Peregrine with radio transmitter.

Grey Gyr (hybrid-type?).

Grey Gyr (hybrid-type?).

White morph Gyr

White morph Gyr

Barbary Falcon

Barbary Falcon

Inishmore October 2015 Part Two



A few more pictures from my week out on Inishmore, mostly non-passerines. I recorded about 82 species during my time. Good week for raptors with up to three Kestrels seen in a day. Many were most noticeable hovering very early in the day before sunrise. Merlin was seen on most days and probably involved a few different birds. It was nice to see an adult pair of Peregrines tag teaming a Woodpigeon one particular morning even though they missed on the occasion. A few Sparrowhawks out there but like Kestrels and Peregrine they probably breed on the island anyway.

Not as many Red-legged Partridges seen this year compared to last October. One showy pair over at Bun Gabhla which obviously didn't breed as would be expected. I'd imagine that the majority of them will have died off by next year as they aren't likely to reproduce and are very short lived birds anyway. Seem to large numbers of Pheasants out there too. I don't quite get why people go to the expense and time releasing large numbers of non native species onto an offshore island like this. It would be far more beneficial to do something with native species. Most people actually don't realise that Pheasants aren't native to Ireland. There was even a white farmyard duck on Loch Phort Chórrúch. I've seen a few domestic ducks released here in the past, most of which die of starvation.

It was sad to see several landowners/farmers spraying brambles and shrub with what is most likely Roundup. The island has a big problem of land abandonment and many fields are now clogged up with brambles, ferns, blackthorn and hazel. It also makes finding migrants who seek out such habitat extremely difficult e.g. shrikes, Wrynecks, Barred Warblers, etc. Traditionally these would have been correctly controlled by livestock, fire and manual clearance. The use of these chemicals in such a pristine habitat is disappointing to see. The long term effects of these herbicides is still being debated but could be likely to be damaging to environmental and human health. The islands are essentially an extension of the Burren habitat-wise and are rightly renowned for their flora which has been the result of active farming over many centuries. The use of these chemicals could well result in the loss of some of these important flora communities. The majority of farming is dry stock cattle, horse/pony and with some goats which have become more popular again in recent years. I only saw two sheep during the whole week which was two too many as far as I'm concerned. Sheep are just bad news in just about every Irish habitat you can imagine. There are no longer any cereals or root crops apart from the very rare small vegetable patch here and there. This has been responsible for the loss of species like Yellowhammer to these islands. I'm sure Corn Bunting must have been a resident out here in the past although there is no written evidence of this.

There's a great agri-environmental scheme just started on the Aran islands called AranLIFE. Mirrored on the BurrenLife project it describes itself as - "The AranLIFE project is a demonstration project operating on the three Aran Islands over a 4 year period from 2014-2017, co-funded under the EU LIFE Nature programme. It seeks to develop and demonstrate the best conservation management practices of local farmers on the designated Natura 2000 sites of the three islands (protected habitats for flora and fauna of European importance). The project focuses on farming activities on the islands within the Natura designated sites, harnessing local farming knowledge and experience with the scientific expertise of other project partners to overcome some of the challenges of island farming and to improve the conservation status of the designated sites."
It's good to see such projects that reward the farmer for actual results rather than giving money for plans on paper that have no measurable outcomes. It seems to have a good take-up by local farmers. Have a look at the website for further information. http://www.aranlife.ie/

Kestrel

Kestrel

Kestrel

Kestrel

Merlin

Peregrine

Pintail

Moorhen

 

Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge

Black Guillemot

Common Guillemot

Gannet

 

Brown Rat

Kilmurvey Cat

Belted Galloway Cow

Young Rabbit

 

Gable stone on old shed, built in 1888 I think?

Rock Island Lighthouse

This used to be one of the best gradens on the west side of the island. It's had Dusky Warbler, 1+ Red-breasted Flycatcher, 2 Wood Warblers and several Yellow-browed Warblers. That all changed with the construction of a house right in the middle of the Sycamore grove with only a third of it now remaining. I didn't see a single warbler or even Goldcrest in there during the whole week but that's progress as they'd say :-(

Wild Strawberry, rather tasty!