County Louth (formerly Dundalk Bay) local patch. (45 Viewers)

[squidge]

Went up along the Boyne today, No sign of the reed warblers maybe it was the wrong time of day however I noticed a tracked digger behind the reedbeds . As this is the far side of the river I'm not sure who owns the land or exactly what it is clearing but It seemed to be clearing a path through the wooded area behind the reedbeds as right behind the digger all vegetation has been cleared, this is surely illegal is it not. Ger.

 

[yew]

Well 3 young Swallows flew out onto the electric wire close to house this morning but the fourth one sat on edge of nest but finally flew with them in the afternoon. They do not fly far but just circling round and round the street and then go back to the nest to sleep and did that every few hours all day. Today was either the 18 or 19th day actually and they are talking back to my mother all week ..... |=)| Anyway all 4 were buzzing around in circles late this evening and then all back in nest asleep by 9.30 for the night it seems. If you meet one of the parents flying into nest on doorstep they squawk at you crossly and still returning to the nest with them.

 

[yew]

I went out to garden to get nyger feeder and ground seed tray to wash out at 10.35 pm tonight (meant to do it all day and never too late !!). Anyhow a darkish bird flew out of the Ash trees nextdoor and immediately flew scaring me almost right towards me quite lowish and then flew to side of house. It circled back into Ash tree and then did identical thing again unnerving me a little but turned when quite close to me to fly up towards eves of side of house. The second time I got a vision of like curled up wings a bit and very unusual fluttering with wings I thought at me almost. Is it a large bat or what on earth, I went out again but could hear no sound of anything. I know bats as dozens around the Park hotel avenue but it didnt remind me of a bat but not sure of course. The memory came back of that happening before one night except too dark to actually see what flew low out of the Willow tree towards me too and afterwards I thought I imagined it or it was a big moth.
I cant say I know any night birds except Owls and bats so puzzled. Darcy the cat saw it clearly too and still out watching for it .......... I dont think I have bats in the roof space but there is a air vent up on roof somewhere as these houses piped for gas too .....I know people at work with bats in their attics that they just ignore.

 

[breffni]

Anthony McGeehan has found an adult rose coloured starling on inisbofin...

Ger, this should be reported to the NPWS ranger, Kieran Buckley 0872721981 and the environment section at Drogheda Borough Council.

There have also been reports of illegal collection of mussels at hermitage/dunaney - again should be reported to NPWS (take car regs).

 

[squidge]

Anthony McGeehan has found an adult rose coloured starling on inisbofin...

Ger, this should be reported to the NPWS ranger, Kieran Buckley 0872721981 and the environment section at Drogheda Borough Council.

There have also been reports of illegal collection of mussels at hermitage/dunaney - again should be reported to NPWS (take car regs).

I'll give him a call on Monday. I havent been there in over a week so I dont know what it looks like now but I did take a couple of pics of the digger and the cleared area behind it. Thanks Ger.

 

[squidge]

Went up along the river again today and work seems to have stopped although I couldnt be 100% sure. Tried ringing the park ranger but I just kept getting cut off.

Still no sign of the reed warblers. While looking at a pair of Buzzards soaring there was a Kestrel hovering behind them and in the foreground a Sparrowhawk flew by with about 10 to 12 swallows mobbing it. All this in a single view through the bins. I also saw the Kingfisher up river although it kept a fair distance away. A nice day overall.

When I got home the free local newspaper/rag that comes out every week had a story from a local councillor on page 17. I dont know should I ignore it with the contempt it deserves or maybe I should send an email voicing my displeasure. Ger.

 

[yew]

The 4 young Swallows began staying out all day from 5 days ago but still return to their nest each night about 9 or 9.30 remaining all night. Although yesterday they returned in the afternoon for a rest possibly as it was so hot. We believe they are just down skimming over the large river at lower shore Omeath (has heaps of Swallows) which is very close as they fly in that direction and return from same direction always.

 

[squidge]

I took the short trip up to Newbridge Demense today to see the red kites. What a wonderful sight. They were keeping close to the top of the trees but hopefully as they gain confidence they will spread out and who knows maybe Louth will have a breeding pair in no time. Ger.

 

[Mícheál]

When I got home the free local newspaper/rag that comes out every week had a story from a local councillor on page 17. I dont know should I ignore it with the contempt it deserves or maybe I should send an email voicing my displeasure. Ger.

These things are always a hard call, especially when they are as poorly written/ill-informed as this particular article.

However rather than expressing displeasure, if you have a local address (rather than writing in the name of an organisation), it might be worth writing with some facts. Rather than despair at the ignorance of that article (and its fairly bad) maybe use it to educate the journalist, and give him a second story, if he is willing to play ball and use the chance to explain things like:

- that there is no such thing as a 'Seagull'
- that Herring Gulls (the commonest roof-nesting species) have suffered enormous population declines in Europe and in Ireland and are a red-listed species in Ireland. See http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-2887
- that roof nesting is a clever adaptation to the proliferation of feral cats and mink
- Also there is a gull colour-ringing scheme in Louth (Chris Honan) that may well be interested in doing something with that school (colour-ringing their chicks and getting the kids to map the re-sightings).

I am not trying to teach my granny to suck eggs, but I think that the important thing is to try to engage and try to exploit the opportunity of a response to engage & inform not criticise.

ALternatively, send the article with contact details to BirdWatch Ireland, as I think they regularly have to respond to issues like this.

Mícheál

 

[squidge]

Thanks Michael for the response, I think a reply from Birdwatch would hold more weight.

As regards the paper its prone to sensationalism. Its really the fact that the paper is distributed free thus this story has gone to thousands of households which could see it as a green light to get rid of these "pesky" birds.

If the words are those of Cllr Bell then I think he should be informed aswell as he is a public representative and should choose his words carefully when giving a story instead of ill informed nonsense.

The school thing is definitely one to exploit. I'm sure cllr Bell will give the name of the school involved. Infact my own sons primary school principal has asked me to give a short information speech on Birdwatch and birding in general to the school. As I'm too chicken to do this I'm in the process of finding somebody to do this in the new school term.
Thanks Ger.

 

[nialltkeogh]

Hi guys,

I believe you rang the BirdWatch Ireland office this morning Ger? Thanks for bringing this up.

There are certainly quite a few issues that need to be addressed & statements that need to be clarified in this article. Mícheál raised some good points which are spot on.

I'll be writing to both the paper & Cllr Bell in the coming days so I'll make sure to keep you posted on any developments.

All the best,
Niall Keogh (BirdWatch Ireland)

 

[squidge]

Hi Niall, I sent in an email and I got a call this morning from the other Niall. I'm very impressed with the response and enthusiasm received. Thanks Ger.

 

[yew]

I saw a very large bird of prey high up, the length of the wings ! ...... just flat and so straight. I am not sure what. I also saw a Yellowhammer in my garden, pretty sure male as too much yellow for a female.

 

[frank c]

Seen a Osprey catching a fish off Seabank this afternoon, it then flew to Lurgan Green with fish to settle. brill.

 

[squidge]

Heading there tomorrow so hopefully it will still be around.

 

[breffni]

Hi guys,

I believe you rang the BirdWatch Ireland office this morning Ger? Thanks for bringing this up.

There are certainly quite a few issues that need to be addressed & statements that need to be clarified in this article. Mícheál raised some good points which are spot on.

I'll be writing to both the paper & Cllr Bell in the coming days so I'll make sure to keep you posted on any developments.

All the best,
Niall Keogh (BirdWatch Ireland)

Last year I had to rescue a juvenile herring gull from a cavity space in the hospital - poor bird had launched from the roof of the hospital where they were nesting an got stuck in a space about 10m x 10m with windows giving to the emergency waiting room, the screeching bird terrifying the waiting patients. Anyway it was surprisingly docile once i caught it. The fun bit was carrying it up four levels through various wards etc to the roof, where it was happily reunited with parents. There were several similar episodes with birds stuck in lofts, gardens, lost parents etc...

As i understand it drogheda bourough council has engaged a contractor to control the birds under license, though god knows what that means! There are large numbers of both herring gulls and great black backed gulls nesting on tall buildings all over drogheda now. Key to control is educating the public, removing sources of bins (eg hundreds of gulls live off waste discarded in the vicinity of chippers), netting can bel placed onrooftops to discourage nesting but this is ineffective unless over a very large area, substitution of eggs with dummy eggs or "oiling" eggs also works but must be done under license, Various scare noises are ineffective as the gulls quickly learn to ignore them. Several years ago they tried to use a captive peregrine falcon to scare off 30,000 gulls in Bristol (?) - the gulls ended up killing the peregrine!

Anyway i think that education combined with careful control is probably the way to go - big concern would be members of the public putting out poison, using pellet guns or something like that...

 

[yew]

I now realise it is definitely bats I am seeing fluttering flying towards the roofs of these houses from 10.30 and later nightly here. They also seem to be a large type in my knowledge of bats with long wings. (or else a small type flying around Park Hotel)
Also noticing no sign of my Redpolls since around the end of 12 July week which happened last summer too ........then they returned early October. Although they may be in the fields beside here with all kinds of seeds etc where Linnets definitely are.

 

[yew]

Two Redpolls feeding today ............... one way of getting them back ......

 

[OBROIN]

Plenty of Kittiwakes at the back of the pier in Clogherhead this morning, seem to have replaced the Black Guillemots. Also Common and Sandwich Terns feeding in the harbour. One of them is ringed. (Kittiwake that is)

Matt.

 

[tmurray]

Keep an eye out for colour ringed bird Matt, especially around this time of the year.
I have had several around this time of the year from the colour ringing study in Britanny.

Tony