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South Dublin Branch Reviews |
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South Dublin Bay
Take a bow, Dublin City Council!
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In the News ...
Left to right: Stephen McAvoy, Niall Hatch, Dick Coombes, Helen Boland and Oscar Merne |
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Spring Alive 2008 - help us track the arrival of spring ..
Once again this year, BirdWatch Ireland is delighted to announce its participation in Spring Alive, the
project designed to track the arrival dates of Europe’s common migrants. All across the continent,
the public are asked to visit the Spring Alive website
www.springalive.net
to report their first
sightings of Swifts, Swallows, Cuckoos and, for participants in Central and Eastern Europe,
White Storks.
The aim is to allow the public to watch the fascinating spread of spring across Europe as our migrants
return and to inform them about the wonders of bird migration, while at the same time allowing us to
gather important scientific data that will help us to gauge the impact of problems such as habitat
loss and climate change.
The Spring Alive website has been completely redesigned since last year, and now contains even more
information, photos, sound and video clips and even interactive games. New, state-of-the-art animated
maps will allow you to see in real time how your observations fit into the whole European picture, and
everything has been designed with fun in mind. For the first time, participants can even upload their
own photos to the website to show the arrival of spring.
The website also makes a perfect educational tool for school groups, with a comprehensive set of
downloadable teachers’ materials and lesson plans, designed to help teach migration as a class project
suited to children aged 8-12. The website has been produced both in Irish and in English, and in
fact now represents perhaps the best source of material on migratory birds in the Irish language.
It is also available in a vast range of other European languages, so it also makes an ideal source of
material for language classes. If you know any teachers, please tell them about Spring Alive and encourage
them to take part.
Although the website has been designed to be child-friendly and particularly with schools and teachers
in mind, we hope that adults will also submit their sightings; we need as many records as we can get.
Taking part is extremely easy: simply watch out for your first Swift, Swallow and/or Cuckoo of the year,
then either go to www.springalive.net, write to us or call us (see details below) and tell us the date
you saw or heard the bird and which county it was in. We count observers, not individual birds, so,
for example, if a family of five all see the same Swallow, that represents five records, not just one.
The response from observers in Ireland last year was phenomenal; in fact, Ireland was responsible for
more records than any other country in Europe. We are keen to keep up this good work this year, so,
please, visit
www.springalive.net
and enter your records, and tell your friends, family and work
colleagues to do the same. It only takes a few seconds to do, and we guarantee that you will enjoy
all the features that the website has to offer. If you don’t have internet access, don’t worry,
you can also ring us at 01-2819878 to report your sightings, or write to us at
Remember, we want as many records as we can get from as many people as possible . . .
if you are reading this, that includes you!
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World on the Move - 6th March 2008 - Michael Ryan
BBC Radio 4 are currently broadcasting World on the Move a series of programmes about
bird and animal migration which will run for a year.
On their website I saw a familiar name mentioned and high praise given for a question he had posed.
Oscar Meme posed this very interesting question via the Comments board:
We thought we'd get our migration guru and Fellow of the Royal Society, Professor Colin Pennycuick
to answer this question ...
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- Bird respiratory systems are more complicated than those of mammals. The lung itself is a compact organ with air channels running through it, and a system of air sacs draws air through these channels, always in the same direction, whether the bird is breathing in or out. The blood vessels in the lung run parallel to the air channels, with the blood flowing in the opposite direction to the air. This counter-current arrangement allows a bird to extract oxygen from the air, even when the air pressure is too low for the dead-end lungs of mammals to operate. Bar-headed geese migrate over the Himalayas, doing much better than mountaineers (mammals!) struggling below. Actually 2,700 m is not all that high. Mountaineers function all right at that height, and plenty of birds (especially waders) fly higher when they migrate, even without any mountains to get over. We do not have a usable theory to calculate the actual rate at which a bird can extract oxygen for the air at a given height, but we hope to get a handle on this by observing the maximum rate of climb that our geese can manage at different heights, as they climb up to get over the Greenland ice cap.
Geese are indeed well insulated, but when they fly the thinly-feathered area under the wing is
exposed to the air flow. That is necessary, because the problem in flapping flight is disposing
of excess heat, rather than keeping warm. www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/
Another great migration site: Roy Dennis on a tracked Scottish Osprey - spectacular!
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| Thanks to Paul Jago for putting up a sparrow nestbox in a house near the Maritime Museum. Recent extensive renovation work on the museum included pointing the stonework thus filling in the holes which previously served as nesting space for a substantial number of the local House Sparrow population. House sparrow nest boxes have three chambers since sparrows nest communally. |
Well done to Terry Doherty, ranger, and the Parks and Wildlife Service for their successful
prosecution of a number of individuals who had been trapping and selling wild birds,
particularly finches. Even Brambling, a rare enough wintering finch were found to have
been illegally trapped and kept in cages. - from Flightlines the monthly newsletter of the South Dublin Branch, March 2008 |
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PRESS RELEASE .. European Court of Justice judgement against Ireland - 14th December 2007 The Irish Government has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law in relation to the designation and classification of Special Protections Areas (SPAs) for wild birds ... |
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BirdWatch Ireland, which is Ireland's largest conservation charity and the BirdLife International Partner for the Republic of Ireland, warmly welcomes yesterday's ruling by the European Court of Justice that the Irish Government has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law in relation to the designation and classification of Special Protections Areas (SPAs) for wild birds. [Case C-418/04: Commission v. Ireland] The Court also found that the Irish Government had failed adequately to protect some of our most threatened bird species, including the Kingfisher, the Chough and the Corncrake. Upholding five complaints made against the Irish State by the European Commission, the Court ruled that Ireland had failed properly to classify and/or protect several Important Bird Areas (IBAs) identified by BirdWatch Ireland, and had neglected its duty both fully to protect threatened birds and habitats and correctly to implement provisions of the EU Birds Directive. Dr. Stephen Newton, Senior Conservation Officer with BirdWatch Ireland, said, "One of the main issues against the Irish State was its failure to 'translate' IBAs identified in 2000, including important breeding sites for species such as Sandwich Tern and Corncrake that had been identified by much earlier surveys, into SPAs. These sites then deteriorated for a variety of reasons by the mid 1990s, to such an extent that the local extinction of the species concerned occurred. Two examples brought up in the ECJ proceedings were Cross Lough in Co. Mayo, a tern colony vacated by the birds once introduced American Mink colonised the area, and the Moy Valley, also in Co. Mayo, where 'the loss of corncrake was the result of changes in agricultural practices which Ireland took no steps to remedy'." Dr. Newton continued, "On the east coast, in Dublin Bay, an internationally important wintering site for migratory waders including Oystercatcher and Redshank, small parts of the mudflats were excluded from the Sandymount Strand and Tolka Estuary SPA, perhaps since they had been earmarked for development. We concur with the ECJ's ruling that such areas are 'an integral part of the entire wetland ecosystem and for that reason ought also to have been classified as an SPA'. "Furthermore, we welcome the Court's recognition that land management outside designated areas is also important in the protection of bird species considered as having unfavourable conservation status. Here we are talking about the declines of formerly common farmland species such as the Skylark, which has been lost from most tillage and lowland grasslands in Ireland because of intensive silage production and the switch to the use of winter cereals." Siobhán Egan, Policy Officer with BirdWatch Ireland, said, "This judgement is a clear signal to the Irish Government that it needs urgently to make up for lost time and put in place the necessary protection measures for threatened bird species and habitats, both to prevent further infringements of EU law and the continued destruction of our natural environment. "Birds are crucial indicators of the health of our environment and represent an important asset to tourism and to Ireland's natural heritage. The Irish Government needs to invest in protecting them. Without doing so, the unsustainable use of natural resources and loss of biodiversity will continue unabated." Oran O'Sullivan, CEO of BirdWatch Ireland, said, "This case highlights the need for urgent action to protect our wild birds and the habitats on which they depend. We look forward to sitting down with the Irish Government early in the New Year to discuss how the situation can be rectified." Full European Court of Justice judgement here (C-418/04)
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A female Sparrowhawk has become a fairly regular
visitor in my garden where apart from its usual surprise
attack on the bird feeders it often lands in the tree I
hang the nut and sunflower feeders from, perching there
for up to an hour at a time, almost motionless apart
from its constantly darting eyes.
It's nerve-racking
to watch the birds making their way through the bushes
and trees towards it, but apart from a cursory glance it
doesn't go near them and perched on one leg, without a
clear flightpath, it doesn't look like it's primed to
go anywhere in a hurry.
- Michael Ryan December 2007
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Dun Laoghaire News .. October 2006
Display Boards for the East Pier
Heritage Council Walks |
A Great Unkindness
One morning in September coming down through the trees on Killiney Hill I heard the familiar croak of a
raven overhead and got a fleeting glimpse of a black shape through the treetops. Eventually emerging from
the tree cover I looked overhead expecting to see a pair of ravens but the sky was teeming
with ravens, a seriously large flock of them. I couldn't count them properly
because the pairs and individuals were wheeling, diving and soaring within the flock but there were at least 30 and maybe
32! I'd seen groups of 18 and more before but never this many.
Hopefully it's a sign they're breeding well around the country. Incidentally one of the biggest
roosts of Ravens in Europe and possibly even in the world is just across the Irish Sea in Angelsea
where thousands of ravens roost together in a Monteray Pine wood during the the winter.
- Michael Ryan
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PRESS RELEASE .. Birds need our help in cold weather - 23 November 2005 |
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The current cold snap has made life very difficult for many of our wild birds. In an effort to ensure that as many of our feathered garden visitors as possible survive the harsh weather conditions, BirdWatch Ireland would like to encourage people to put out food for the birds that visit their gardens. It is very easy to do and will make it far easier for the birds to keep warm. It is also a fantastic way to observe them at close quarters and learn all about their fascinating behaviour. It is important to point out that, despite the current fears about avian influenza, or "bird 'flu", feeding birds in your garden in a proper hygienic manner poses no risk to humans. The virulent H5N1 strain of the disease that has been making headlines around the world has not been recorded anywhere in Ireland so far, and in any event the bird species that visit our gardens are extremely unlikely ever to come into contact with it. The main wild vector species for the virus to date have been ducks and geese originating in parts of Asia, very few of which migrate to Ireland; the majority of our wintering ducks and geese travel here from places such as Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia and northern Canada, well away from any areas where infection has been detected. In addition, these species are strongly associated with wetland areas and do not visit gardens. Contracting a virus from a wild bird generally also requires very close contact with a bird carrying the infection, or with their droppings. By following these basic hygiene procedures when feeding the birds in your garden you can ensure piece of mind, both for yourself and for the birds:
The menu is easy. Wild bird seed, peanuts and sunflower seed can found in local supermarkets and garden shops, as can the special wire or plastic feeders that they should be put in. These feeders can be suspended from tree branches or a bird table, where they prove extremely popular with such garden favourites as Blue Tits, Greenfinches and Chaffinches. Apples, whether cut in half and speared on branches or simply left out whole on the lawn, are also a great source of food, particularly for Blackbirds and other members of the thrush family, as well as Blackcaps (small warblers that have only recently begun to spend the winter in Ireland). Kitchen scraps, such as bacon rinds, cheese (particularly loved by Robins), suet, raisins, moistened bread, melon seeds, fruit, stale cake, cooked potato, oatmeal, fresh coconut and uncooked pastry also make welcome meals. Fat is an especially important source of energy for birds, so please don't waste it! Lumps of suet may be hung out on strings or in plastic mesh vegetable containers, and meat trimmings, bacon rinds and other scraps will also be eaten. Melted fat may be poured over bread or cake scraps to make "bird cake". There are a couple of items which should never be fed to birds. These include desiccated (dried) coconut, uncooked rice or dry bread, which may swell up in the birds' stomachs. You should also bear in mind that once you begin to feed the birds they quickly become dependent on you, so please be sure to continue feeding right through to mid-spring. It is equally as important to ensure that your garden birds have a constant supply of fresh drinking water, something that can be very hard for them to find when ponds and puddles are frozen over. As well as needing to drink it, they also need it for bathing, to ensure that their feathers are kept clean so that they will insulate them effectively against the cold weather. A simple bird-bath can be made from an inverted dustbin lid sunk into the ground; remember to keep the surface ice free. It is also a good idea to provide berry- and seed-rich plants in your garden, as these will attract a greater variety of birds and will help those species that do not visit bird tables or artificial feeders to make it through the winter. Plants can also provide places for birds to shelter and, when spring comes, to build nests. If you like, while feeding the birds you can also take part in our annual Garden BirdWatch Survey, where participants keep note of the totals of each bird species they see visiting their gardens each week from the end of November through to February. The results we receive from this simple survey enable us to build up a detailed picture of the distribution and fortunes of our wild bird populations: a fun and enjoyable way to learn more about the birds in your garden and contribute to conservation and science at the same time. It also makes an ideal school project. For full details, please click here for BirdWatch Ireland's web site. If you have any questions about feeding wild birds in your garden, the best plants to provide for them, or the Garden BirdWatch Survey, please write to
BirdWatch Ireland, See also Feeding Wild Birds
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| Features .. |
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Migration .. why birds migrate .. Niall Hatch The Dawn Chorus .. Niall Hatch |
| Reviews .. |
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A Bird in the Bush
Gilbert White (born 1720 Selborne – 1793) was probably the first to articulate that watching wildlife can have an aesthetic and spiritual dimension, though he wasn’t averse to resorting to the gun in order to sort out the warblers. The roll call of well-known ornithologists/birders is long, covering the era of the collectors through to the present where reliance on high quality optics and the resultant identification guides predominate. It chronicles the democratisation of birdwatching initially due to the development of the railways which allowed people to roam safely beyond their patch and more recently through private transport and air travel. The life list of early observers was short, albeit impressive when one considers the social context.
Most of the personalities and organisations portrayed are or were either British or
American. It would be unreasonable to expect one small volume to document the many
others but it leaves open the possibility of many more social histories. - B.G. |
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Birdwatcher’s Pocket Field Guide to Birds of Parks and Gardens
Mark Golley’s text is clear and to-the-point, providing details of when and where readers can expect to see each species, together with descriptions of their songs and calls. The identification pointers themselves are given in the form of annotations to the paintings, all showing the species in a variety of different characteristic poses. This format works well, allowing the reader quickly to pinpoint which features to look out for. The artist does a superb job of capturing the poses and habits of the species, and there is a real sense of movement and vibrancy in all of his artwork. Being a UK publication, naturally the book includes several species that, while common in Britain, are absent from Ireland. By and large these absences are mentioned to some degree in the text, but perhaps the inclusion of range maps would have made the situation somewhat clearer. The text also contains a couple of clear errors when it comes to Ireland, perhaps the most glaring being the unfortunate assertion on page 54 that Long-tailed Tits are absent from Ireland (they are, of course, common residents here). On page 14 we are also informed that feral flocks of Canada Geese are an “extremely common sight across the whole of Britain and Ireland”; not so - they may be common on the other side of the Irish Sea, but in Ireland they are extremely local and absent from most of the country. These quibbles aside, this is an excellent guide that will serve many birdwatchers well. With its thin, narrow design (meaning it will fit easily into a jacket pocket or car glove box) and low weight, this is a very ‘field-friendly’ publication at a price that represents excellent value.
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| - Niall Hatch |
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One of six information boards erected along the seafront by Dublin City Council
to publicise the wildlife of the South Bay area.
Spring is coming, and one of the key signs that the seasons are changing is the return of our
migratory breeding birds. No doubt most BirdWatch Ireland members keep a keen eye or ear out for the
return of their local Swallows, Swifts and Cuckoos: don’t forget that we need you to share the good news
with us.
This book is a fabulous read; the sub-title “A social history of birdwatching” says it all.
It charts the evolution of birding from Gilbert White through Thomas Bewick, Max Nicholson,
Julian Huxley, Peter Scott, Roger Tory Peterson to Phoebe Snetsinger who ticked more than
8400 species on her world list and includes Lee Evans of course and many more.
This charming little book, produced in conjunction with the UK Wildlife Trusts Partnership, has been designed to provide beginning and intermediate birders with a small, concise and highly portable field guide covering just the 80 species that they are most likely to see in park and garden settings. Lavishly illustrated by Wexford-based Dave Daly, one of Ireland’s leading bird artists, this guide manages to cram in almost all of the key information birdwatchers would need to identify the birds it covers, all in a very attractive and surprisingly uncluttered format.