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Some records from IWeBS counts at Booterstown Marsh
from Michael Ryan, Niall Hatch, Frank Doyle et al.
Participants in the February IWeBS count of winter waders and wildfowl had a very pleasant morning
last Saturday on Sandymount Strand. Booterstown Marsh, which is continuously
improving for feeding and roosting waders, held the biggest flock of Knot we'd ever seen in there. We
counted nearly 800 birds feeding in the shallow water! But it was one solitary bird that caused most
excitement. Frank Doyle had scanned the reeds at the edge of the marsh until he found what he was
looking for, a Water Rail. These are very shy elusive birds, more often heard then seen but this
bird was making little forays out of cover giving us great views and the light couldn't have been better to observe it.
It was cold on the strand but the low sun blazed gloriously. The only drawback was it made it
very difficult to count birds as we looked south into the sun at the birds silhouetted against shimmering water. In
fact it was nearly dangerous, the glare through the telescopes was so blindingly intense.
No problem when we were facing north with the sun behind us and as we got near Merrrion Gates we saw a big mixed
flock of Dunlin, nearly 1,000 with over 300 Ringed Plover.
When we'd finished counting and got back near the station the ivy growing profusely near the building
provided us with views of feeding Goldcrest and Blackcap searching for insects and
a Redwing feeding on the berries. But then just to put the icing on the cake a Kingfisher flashed down the
channel returning to perch briefly in front of us!
Michael Ryan FlightLines - The monthly newsletter of the South Dublin Branch.
Short-billed Dowitcher at Booterstown Marsh . . . March-April 2005
The Booterstown nature reserve is centred on a marsh that derives from the building of the Dublin and Kingstown
railway, one of the first in the world, in 1834-35. Railways prefer to go in straight lines, so that
the engineers decided to build an embankment rather than follow the complex curve of the shoreline, and
this cut off two arcs of the tidal shore.
By 1876 the land at Booterstown was in use for agriculture, made possible by the simple but ingenious
water control system. A large gate valve was installed at the Williamstown outlet to the sea, which was
lowered when the tide came in and raised when it fell. The Williamstown lagoon acted as a sump to collect
the water draining from the agricultural land when the valve was closed, and this emptied over the strand
when the gate was raised. Some soil must also have been imported, as the level of the marsh is higher than
the strand outside the railway, and the land was irrigated with fresh water from the Trimlestown Stream
that now flows through a culvert, and from a stream flowing under The Punchbowl that was sealed off when the
car park for the station was created. The Nutley Stream also flows along the railway line from behind Merrion House.
During both World Wars the area was use for allotments, and many people still remember it under this
regime, which gradually fell out of use with increasing prosperity, so that it was used for grazing
in the ‘fifties. Some time later the water control system was ended, presumably it not being worthwhile to
employ a water-keeper, and a flap valve was installed outside the embankment at Williamstown. This soon
rusted solid, allowing some salt water to enter the system and beginning a most interesting period of evolution.
By the 1970s the marsh showed salty vegetation at the railway side and fresh-water at the inner edges,
becoming a cherished site for bird-watchers as unusual species were attracted, and also exhibiting a wide range
of plant life. In 1970 the lease was acquired by An Taisce, who have managed it as a nature reserve ever since,
and it is now prized by the whole community as one of Dublin’s treasures.
Oil spills in 1982 and 1985, the latter very severe, either led to or accelerated further change, wiping out
much of the vegetation, and as the mud became more deprived of oxygen there was less and less food for birds.
The vegetation became predominantly a Scirpus maretimus, rush that could withstand the conditions,
though the re-discovery of a rare species of grass following some work on the drainage enhanced the
conservation status of the marsh.
To remedy the situation the flap valves were removed, allowing free flow of salt water that was rich in oxygen.
In the years since the condition of the mud has greatly improved, and birds have returned in large numbers,
including Brent Geese, the spectacular Little Egrets and many different Waders, and the Scirpus growth
was significantly controlled. Though the mud may look bare and neglected it is, in fact, a larder
packed with food for the birds, especially in the winter when the migrants return.
A system like Booterstown does not stand still; there will be more changes in the future, not least
the rising sea levels and continuing conservation management will be essential. It is hoped that as many
as possible will join the new “Friends of Booterstown” to support and take part in this exciting work.
- Maurice Bryan
Booterstown Marsh & Williamstown, 1859
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