Blogs

BARN OWL ON THE LAWN, NOT IN THE DARK!

What’s afoot in the Park after dusk has fallen, you’ve drawn the curtains and are curled up on the sofa watching Corrie?  As much life and death drama as your fave soap!

As daylight fades, hundreds of crows are settling down to roost for the night in the tallest trees.  The best place to see them is from the Belvoir Park Car Park or watch the mature trees beside Moorlands Meadows.  One nice thing about these short days is that you don’t have to sit up until all hours to count crows.  5pm will do nicely.

Meanwhile, smaller hedgerow birds make a beeline for the ivy wrapped round virtually every tree in the Park.  The ivy is just starting to fruit, so it provides vital food and cover in one go.  At dusk, birds such as tits go flying into the glossy leaves at high speed in a headlong rush for the good spots.  Tucked up for the night, the tits are safe from daytime predators such as the sparrow hawk who take small birds on the wing.

Once it’s fully dark, the owls have the run of the place.  Both long-eared and short-eared owls are known to live near the Lagan, but the Park team are particularly keen to get confirmed sightings.   

Other nighttime predators include foxes, badgers and otters.  Darkness suits otters as they operate by feel rather than sight.  Their whiskers function like a cat’s, feeling vibrations in the water. 

Compared to some places, our after dark wildlife can seem pretty tame.  A friend who lives in rural Pennsylvania has to bring her bird feeders in every night.  If not, they’re attacked and destroyed by bears!

Speaking of sightings:  We need your eyes!  The Park’s Wildlife Monitoring Project depends on sightings from hawk-eyed regular visitors.  Eight species have been targeted for confirmed sightings, including four birds: the jay, barn owl, long tailed tit and kingfisher.   Forms are now available at the Lock Keepers Cottage with identification details, pictures of these species, and a place to note what you saw, when you saw it and where.  The forms will shortly be available in downloadable format from www.laganvalley.co.uk

And finally – there are still a few places for the Roost Ramble on December 5, a guided walk through ‘crow country’ led by a Lagan Valley Park ranger.  Call 90491930 to book.

DAVID WITH A BARN OWL - DAVID HELPS TO CO WRITE THIS BLOG AND IS A LAGAN VALLEY RANGER

Missing all those lovely leaves?   Don’t!  Now that most of the foliage is gone, there’s been a big improvement in the conditions for viewing birds.   Many small hedgerow and tree-dwelling birds are no longer concealed by thick leafy cover, so you can see them as well as hear them.  

Bare branches bring out the Coal Tit

The Park has received reports of many sightings of seed eating birds such as long tailed tits, chaffinches and bullfinches.  Flocks and family groups have been congregating, as they do every winter.  Around this time of year, these flocks are also joined by insect eaters such as the goldcrest and the treecreeper, two of the most colourful and interesting residents in the Park.

Cheeky little  long tailed tit

 Less of those pesky leaves means more opportunities to spot treecreepers, as they cling to the trunks of trees and graze the bark for juicy insects.  This very small, active bird eats, sleeps and breeds in trees. 

Hanging on...the treecreeper

The goldcrest is the UK’s tiniest songbird and contender for smallest bird on these islands altogether.  Goldcrests have a thing for conifers and love forest areas (and sometimes gardens too), but only if there are conifers amongst the trees and bushes. 

 Now is a good time to keep the eyes peeled for wee winter visitors also.  Amongst the most diminutive - the redwing, the smallest true thrush in the UK.  These Scandinavian natives arrive in October/November to enjoy our balmy winter climate through until April. Redwings prefer open fields and hedgerows for feeding on worms and berries, only venturing into gardens if snow covers the grassy meadows they prefer.  

 Recently, redwings were sighted near The Giant’s Ring, which is quite a coup, as this very vulnerable species has red status. 

 To learn more about these birds and hear their calls go to the wildlife/bird guide on this RSPB site.  There are  even videos to watch!

Chaffinch, coal tit and treecreeper photos provided by Lagan Valley Regional Park

SWANS....

Just when we thought it might be the swan song for these beautiful Lagan residents (a couple of blogs ago), what should turn up?   Lots of new swans!

Could it be the ‘Buzz Off Effect? (see most recent blog)  Or something else?

Whatever!  8 new swans have been sighted between Lisburn and Hilden, bringing the possible total to 12 swans on the Lagan and rising, we hope!  Park rangers are thinking that the new swans could be fledglings who have been forced to move on and now seek a spot of their own.  At the start of the year a pair of swans was resident in this location, but they left after failing to produce any young. 

...AND MORE SWANS....

Please let us know, or the Lagan Valley team at the Lockkeepers Cottage or their website*, if you have seen any more swans at different places along the river.  And to encourage them, or any others passing through, to stay, help keep them well fed.  Some leftover muesli languishing in your cupboard could be just the ticket!

*laganvalley.co.uk

 ...AND MORE!

All photos provided by Lagan Valley Regional Park

It’s October already!  Have your fledglings left yet?  I just packed off the eldest to Uni, hoping we could squeeze his worldly goods into the back of our not very reliable Scenic.  Encouraging, helping, cajoling and begging the young ones to leave the nest is not always easy.  So it’s nice to know it’s a problem we share with many birds.  Though they go for a slightly more direct, or should I say brutal, approach.

Buzzard in flight

Case in point, the numerous buzzards congregating at Drumbeg and Giant’s Ring.  What’s all that screeching and flapping and calling about?  Frustrated parents trying to get the young to buzz off and find their own territories.  And eventually they do.  As birds of carrion, they have plenty of spots to choose from.  Near motorways or roads for great roadkill pickings, or the many parks and farmlands along the Lagan.

Buzzards are not too strict about territory.  So they can put up with a bit of territorial overlap with the young.  But only until nesting season when lines must be drawn.

Moorhens are more ruthless.  Once autumn comes, you are no longer a cherished offspring but competition.  And with these territorial birds, there is no compromise.  Gone means gone. 

For moorhen parents, the most effective tactic seems to be an aggressive display, and if that does not spur a hasty retreat, a mad chase.  Such is the nesting imperative that the drive to get the young uns to sling their hook is frantic.

Fortunately there currently are many places within the Park for a young moorhen to shack up.  In anticipation of the major dredging works on the canal, which was going to mean displacement of birds and loss of habitats, Park staff planned well in advance.  They teamed up with the National Trust to create a series of ponds near the Lagan at Lady Dixon Park.  These, along with the new wetlands created, provide invaluable extra feeding and breeding spaces for migrants and other birds. But in the moorhen hierarchy, territory along the river will always be prime real estate.  Disputes can get fierce.

The duckweed IS greener for this moorhen

Of course these species are not the only ones who have reached the ‘fed up with feeding them’ stage.  Urging offspring to get their own grub now that they’re grown is just part of the yearly cycle for birds. 

So if your kidults think you’re giving them a hard time, bring them to see the large groups of adult pairs of buzzards happily driving out the next generation.  The recent sunny days have provided great thermals, so the birds are wheeling high overhead making their distinctive predatory calls.  Translation: ‘get a life and don’t be bringing your laundry home either’.

 P.S. To hear the actual calls, go to www.rspb.org.uk

 P.P.S And to learn more about the award-winning canal and conservation projects at the Park go to laganvalley.co.uk

 Pictures provided by Lagan Valley Regional Park

I was recently sent this heartwarming story of survival and loyalty.  

The little cottage in which we live is a fine place from which to watch birds. Once humorously described by a friend as "that shack on the beach", it overlooks a shallow tidal bay, to the east, where various species of duck and geese and all kinds of waders thrive. It is otherwise surrounded by farmland with mature hawthorn hedges, except to the north where the belt of willow, alder, birch and pine which we planted many years ago now provides us, and many species of small bird, with excellent shelter.

While my wife and I both care about the environment we come from different directions. She is a qualified biologist with a solid knowledge of birds while I come from an engineering background, and have only a general knowledge of wildlife. However, I firmly believe people are not entitled to assume that they have rights beyond those of the other animals, or the birds, and I have been known to cause trouble when someone claims that a badger has dented his car!

While I enjoy watching and listening to all of the birds which surround us I especially enjoy the larger song birds, mistle thrushes, blackbirds and song thrushes who visit us. Earlier this year a very handsome male blackbird was a frequent caller. Soon he seemed to accept our presence in the garden and he chose an alder and a pine from which to proclaim his territory. I thought him a remarkably fine singer, better even than Pavarotti, the song thrush who performed here last year. I named him Pavi, and we accepted him as a friend. We didn't see his mate, but when he started collecting beakfuls of worms we knew that there was indeed a Mrs, and looked forward to meeting her.

Pavi worked tirelessly collecting food and taking it home and gave thirty minute recitals, sometimes more, morning and evening each day. Some time ago I was in the recording industry and one sunny day I took out some old equipment, set up stereo microphones near Pavi's favourite alder and after recording for almost three hours secured a thirty minute recital on tape. It was not perfect, but it was encouraging. A friend was pleased to lend me  better microphones but unfortunately circumstances changed.

On the afternoon of Sunday 26th April I was working at our sailing dinghy when my wife called from somewhere else in the garden:

"Somebody has got Pavarotti!"

I ran round the corner of the cottage and found her beside a patch of grey/black feathers, at least a yard across. I didn't want to accept it, but there was no other possible victim. A sparrow hawk, a peregrine perhaps? Various birds of prey visit us from time to time and of course they have to live too, but why poor Pavi? I was very upset, surprised to realise how much I had grown to regard that bird as my friend. We stood together for a while looking helplessly at the patch of feathers. Pavi was gone. I went back to the boat, feeling very despondent. My wife later told me she went looking for "clues". As she approached the shelter belt she found a few black feathers and thought Pavi might have been carried off in that direction. There were no traces of blood.

We went in for a cup of tea and wondered about Mrs Pavi and the kids. We phoned a friend who is an acknowledged expert for advice and, perhaps, sympathy.

On Monday morning we got meal worms from a pet shop, as our friend had suggested and put some in places where we thought Mrs Pavi might look for food assuming, that is, that she had not deserted the nest. We did not know where the nest was but we had some idea of the routes Pavi took when he went shopping and planned to put some live mealworms out on alternate days, under particular trees and on a slate in the corner of the lawn. Could she cope on her own, we wondered? Monday was calm and sunny, but quiet. We did some work in the garden but saw no sign of Mrs Pavi.

Tuesday dawned bright. After breakfast my wife called from the kitchen:  "Come here quickly!"

She pointed out the back window. In the garden was a male blackbird. His head feathers looked ruffled. His right wing was crooked and there were tail feathers missing. On his sides were large light grey blotches. Pavi had escaped! But only by the skin of his teeth, it seemed. Maybe he had dropped those few feathers when making a dash for home. He had a beak full of worms and slugs and was going about his business, if a bit shakily. He hopped round the corner so we didn't see him fly, although he must be able to do so but how, we wondered, with wing and tail such a mess. Never mind, there he was, alive and getting on with his work. Absolutely bubbling, we headed for the swimming pool and the shops.

Returning at lunchtime we came round the bend near our entrance and spotted Pavi poking away in the grass by the roadside. As the car slowed he flew into a hedge with his beakful of worms. Once he spread his wings we saw a wide stripe right down his back, bare to the skin and pink. There was no sign of blood. The damaged tail and wing looked most unbalanced but did not seem to hinder flight. Shocked by the great bare stripe, we could only wonder what sort of terrible struggle he had had and how he had managed to escape.

On Wednesday morning we saw the Mrs  for the first time, collecting meal worms, and later on Pavi was out looking for worms and slugs. On Thursday they were again taking turns as any pair would and so it seemed that, thankfully, life was once again going on as it should for our blackbird family.

Surely at this stage we can reasonably hope that in the very near future a few young blackbirds will spread their wings and set out to make their own way in the world inheriting, no doubt, the courage and resolve of their father.   

If you have any stories of befriending birds or survival against the odds, I'd love to hear them!  (Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the blackbird family!!)

A 'murder' of crows.  (Know any other interesting collective nouns for birds?  I'd love to hear them!)

Wouldn’t you know it?  Summer finally arrived, (and has now left again!) just in time for the autumn equinox.  But even with the decent weather there are definite clues that the seasons have changed.  For example, all the obvious signs along the tow path – the dome up at the Boat Club (already!), the last few remains of conkers, leaves swirling in the wind.  And subtler signs, like the smell of leaves, the abundance of rose hips, or the fact that the sun has dipped so low behind the trees by 6pm that sunglasses are no longer necessary.  

But have you also noticed the great gathering, and not just in the Park?  I don’t mean the Queen’s students; I mean the great gatherings of birds.  Drive home over Albert Bridge in the evenings and the starlings are swarming overhead, like a huge, constantly changing, totally synchronized airborne school of fish.  Or the fields full of crows too busy feeding to take notice of you.  Or the invasion of the trees by massive rookeries?

The reason?  Well, the starlings are arriving from all parts of Continental Europe – looking for food, company and safety in numbers. Birds are feasting on the rich harvest, which is at its peak right around now.  Fattening up in preparation for leaner times ahead. 

It’s a good social time. The breeding season is over, the young are fledged and everyone is free to stuff their bakes.  This will continue through the winter, though the pickings will not be so good. Come spring and the gang will split up into breeding pairs. 

A shortage of haws

This has been a bumper year for hazelnuts, although the haws have not been so good.  But that does not deter the hedgerow birds – seems like the hedgerows are alive inside and thinning vegetation will let you get a better look at the feeding frenzy within.  Squirrels and jays are also busily snapping up the acorns and other nuts around the park, so woodpigeons have to move fast to get their favourite beechnuts.  The good weather after so much rain has only helped bring on the ripening.

It’s all happening in miniature in your garden too.  If you’re lucky enough to have a hedgerow with haws, sloes, beechnuts and other goodies, or fruiting trees and shrubs, put off the annual autumnal clear up until the end of October.  Most of the bounty will have been enjoyed, but it is still safe to prune before the frosts come.  And if anyone accuses you of procrastination, tell them its conservation!

Now is a good time to check out the rookeries at dusk at Moorlands meadows and the crows congregating at Belvoir.  Or for the expert viewpoint, join the  Park’s Roost Ramble walk happening soon!  For details, go to  www.laganvalley.co.uk.

An abundance of hazelnuts

ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LAGAN VALLEY REGIONAL PARK

The Park has scooped the coveted All-Ireland Environmental Project of the Year!

This huge award is in recognition of all the major work undertaken over the past few years at the Park, which includes the bird recovery programme, woodland management and the start-up of the Park’s volunteer programme.  And, of course, the lock restoration.   All have been carried out under the umbrella of the Landscape Partnership Scheme which has been funding these special projects. 

Birds are at the heart of much of this work, starting with the RSPB survey a few years ago to identify the most vulnerable species.  Since then Park staff and volunteers have been heavily involved in habitat creation (including planting Giant Bird Tables) and installing nest boxes for barn owls, swifts and other species around the Park. 

The recent good weather has given a boost to all these tasks. 

Interested in joining Ireland’s top environmental team as a volunteer? 

GET INVOLVED...MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Join the LVRP team and help us conserve over 4200 acres of beautiful woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and heritage sites.  You will have the opportunity to experience a wide range of tasks such as wildlife surveying, woodland and wetland management, habitat creation, invasive species control and conservation of your local heritage.

For further information contact:

Jo Boylan

Volunteer Coordinator

Lagan Valley Regional Park

jo@laganvalley.co.uk

028 9049 1922

Lagan Valley is top of the tree!

Photo provided by Lagan Valley Regional Park

The last of the cygnets at Lambeg?

Something’s up with the swans at the Lagan Valley Regional Park.

According to the LVRP rangers, there aren’t as many swans as we could have and it’s a mystery. Over the past 1½ years there has been only one successful brood, with four cygnets making it to adulthood.  That was last year.  This year – nada, zip, zilch.  A lonely six adults now drift along the 11- mile stretch – two pairs and two singles, plus the four juveniles. 

Perhaps the best known swan couple, the Stranmillis pair, have never been known to reproduce.  We were all starting to wonder when one of them disappeared for a few months.  A swan did return eventually – itchy feet, mid-life crisis…or alien abduction?! Meanwhile in Lambeg, one adult died and another vanished this year. The ‘vanished’ swan may have just left if its partner died.

The mystery has Park rangers and regular visitors scratching their heads.  Just what is the problem?  Something in the water?  Could it be disturbance during the spring nesting period?  Perhaps too many dogs or people curious about the nests, which can be often be seen from the towpath and are within throwing distance for breadcrusts.

Without some peace and quiet, swans won’t breed, and may move on eventually.  Yet other, equally busy, parks are teeming with swans. Swans are generally happy around people, but breeding time is a different story. 

So it's even more lamentable, given the circumstances, that people persecute these rare residents. Recently, two swans at Seymour Hill were shot by crossbows.  It has been confirmed that they were the two adults who have made this stretch of the Lagan their home for ages. Fortunately the USPCA were able to rescue the swans, and after treatment by their vet and a stay in a safe refuge, the swans will be released in a new location.  Outside the Park alas, which means the loss of another pair. These two produced young but not in the past couple of years – makes one wonder!

The RSPB is a member of the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW). The PAW working group in Northern Ireland includes organisations such as the PSNI, NIEA, RSPB, USPCA, Forest Service, Countryside Alliance Ireland, British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) and other statutory bodies and NGOs, all working in partnership to raise awareness of, and tackle, wildlife crime.

It can be lonely being a swan.

If you see an incident taking place, contact your local police station on 08456008000 or Crimestoppers 08005551111, or Lagan Valley Park officials, immediately.  Staff are at the Lock Keeper’s Cottage 9-5 Mondays to Fridays, or phone 9049 1922.  There is an answering service which is checked daily.

You can also report a wildlife crime and learn more about this issue by going to www.defra.gov.uk/paw.

The USPCA rescues and looks after wild and domestic animals injured, mistreated or in distress.  To learn more about their work, go to: www.uspca.co.uk and to report an injured animal contact their Animal Information Line 028 9081 4242.

So if you any theories about the mystery of the swans please email us - all ideas, sightings, etc. welcome! 

An increasingly rare sight along the Lagan.

All photos provided by the Lagan Valley Regional Park.  

Sometimes the most wonderful things can be found if we know where to look. Here's some everyday magic, courtesy of our wee birds... 

The Swan Family...a perfect nesting place.

Here they are, a little older

Bird on a Wire...A study on swallows on the river. One good way of telling the difference between swifts and swallows is that swifts will never be found perched on a line. Their feet aren't made for it. Originally cave dwellers, swifts can cling to the side of walls, but they cannot balance on wires.

Photo by Ian Clare

Photo by Ian Clare

Can you see the baby swallows?

(Unless stated all photos are by Lagan Valley Regional Park)

It’s been a washout of a summer – for humans anyway.  My barbecue has stayed under wraps for the third year running, the patio table is a permanent fixture in the utility room and the hammock has not felt the weight of a human body since I brought it out in May.  (Though it’s provided a useful loo for the magpies!)

But are there any birds that thrive in wet conditions?  Any that like to come out to play when it is bucketing down?  Or during the sunny breaks in the showers?

Actually the Park has quite a few foul weather friends, and not all of the feathered variety.  There have been more sightings of otters and anglers are reporting healthy trout stocks. 

The result of all this rain is a lusher, greener landscape.   More plant growth and flowers means more insects for swifts, spotted flycatchers and other bugmunchers.  And more insects also means more fish and more opportunities to see the resident herons and cormorants at the Park.

 Cormorant suns itself on Lisburn's Island Centre's fountain - in winter! (photo by Dave Scott)

Berries and fruits seem to be earlier and more prolific – have you noticed the bumper blackberry harvest?   All good news for birds which need to stock up before the winter and migration. 

It’s been a record year for hazelnuts, favourite food for jays.  Around now jays will be gathering up and burying hundreds of the nuts in the leaf mould for winter nibbling.  Those that get forgotten eventually become the hazelnut trees seen all over the Park. 

There’s also been a bumper harvest of snails and enormous squelchy slugs to keep thrushes and blackbirds happy.   And the rain has brought oodles of worms to the surface.  So now’s the time to watch out for buzzards which like to congregate in brown fields for a wormfeast.  Right now in Lady Dixon Park near the towpath you can see two adults coaxing their two young into the air. 

Even small seedeating birds like sparrows and starlings don’t mind a rainy day. Lots of lovely puddles to splash in. 

So no matter what the weather is doing, get out to the Park and see the sunny side!

P. S. This weekend is Wilderness Fun Day at the Park.  Birds of prey, falconry displays, storytelling and activities for the kids, guided walks  and loads more fun stuff.  All kicking off at 11am this Saturday at the Lock Keeper’s Cottage. 

Seems like we’ve hardly had a summer and it’s over already.  For swifts anyway. These seasonal visitors are starting to take wing. So now’s the time to get on my usual August attire of jumper and raincoat and catch one last look.

Why on earth would migratory birds from Africa choose to come here for (non)summer?! But if the swifts are going to pick a home anywhere along the Lagan, the RSPB Headquarters in Belvoir Park should be it.

First among equals - the swift is the consummate flight specialist

These high-flying househunters are choosy.  Spending all their lives in the air, feeding, mating, even sleeping, only stopping when they find the perfect nest site.  Which is increasingly rare these days as swifts like to nest high in old, crumbling, poorly sealed stone and brick houses.  And there are not too many of those left around.  

Swift boxes at RSPB NIHQ, Belvoir Park Forest

Fortunately, the Belvoir Park headquarters is just the kind of building swifts love.  So the RSPB hopes to attract swifts with custom-made nest boxes (as part of the Laganscape conservation programme).  Installed this spring, the boxes offer all the creature comforts to appeal to even the fussiest bird’s nesting instincts – a small opening so they can fly straight in and have a safe weatherproof nook to feed and raise their young.   And tucked high under the eaves so the birds can drop straight into the air.  Even a recording of that distinctive screeching cry to lure them in – how could any swift resist?

The swifts leave by mid-August, so the RSPB has two windows of opportunity per season.  Late June/early July when the new generation of swifts are househunting for next year, or early May when they return and are looking to nest.  In recent weeks young swifts have been spotted (and heard) in the vicinity of the boxes. So fingers crossed for next spring!

For more information on all things swiftian, visit to http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/,  http://www.biodiversityni.com/.    Or if you want to know how you can provide next year’s summer holiday home for swifts, go to http://www.swift-conservation.org/.  It’s never too early to start looking into nest boxes and sites.

Have you spotted any swifts in or around the Park? They are noisy neighbours prone to loud parties and screaming, so you can’t miss them! 

Feeding the ducks on the Lagan... besides white bread, what else is there?

Kerplunk!  So the ducks don’t start a feeding frenzy the minute your toddler’s chunk of five day old sliced pan hits the water?  It doesn’t mean they’re picky/overfed/ungrateful.

Could be they’re just a little bit bored.  Like us, wild waterfowl need a variety of food and thrive better on a healthy diet. In fact, although wholemeal is better than white, and seeded loaves are better still, most bread has a low nutritional value for humans and birds. 

What ducks do enjoy is ideal for clearing out leftovers.  Just so long as the food is not loaded with sugar, salt or e numbers. Dry oatmeal, cereal, that tablespoon of muesli at the bottom of the box my kids refuse to eat (birds love currants), nuts and seeds such as sunflower seeds.   Even bits of apple or banana, chopped lettuce, peas and corn.  And best of all, birdseed!

The ducks enjoy raw oats here...don't worry if it sinks - they'll dive down to get it...that's the theory at least!

In winter, birds need more fat, so pastry cooked or uncooked is a good option, also mild grated cheese  – but hold the chips!  Of course, many of these foods don’t have the same buoyancy that makes throwing out crusts and watching them bob on the surface so much fun.  But experimenting is even better! 

There is plenty of natural food along the Lagan, but a little extra (and the key word is little) is always welcome.  Just try to keep the food as close to birds’ natural diet as possible.  And if you must throw bread, no doorsteps please – especially when there are ducklings about!   

Baby ducks rush in for their new 'diet'

For my children, feeding the ducks, coots and moorhens at the Lagan towpath was their first introduction to wildlife.  It’s a huge thrill for little ones.  And big ones too.  So next time I’m out, I’ll be treating the waterfowl to a healthy, exciting morsel.

P.S. Please feed the swans on the water only. Dogs and swans on the towpath don’t mix.

Kingfishers on the Lagan (Photograph by Lagan Valley Regional Park)

I’ve learned a lot since I started volunteering at the RSPB, with special responsibility for meandering through the Lagan Valley Regional Park and reporting what I see (no great hardship!)  But one of the first things I discovered is that the bird on all the Park's signs, vans and leaflets, is the kingfisher! (I know, showing my ignorance!) Park icon (and royal resident) in a sparrow-sized package.

Ever since my major discovery, I’ve been on a mission to spot this elusive beautiful little bird.  I asked the Park experts, who tell me the kingfisher is notoriously shy. Don’t expect to see it perched on a branch, I was warned.  ‘You’ll know it when you see it’ seasoned spotters say.  With a bit of luck I just might catch an unmistakable streak of vivid blue out of the corner of my eye.

So far, I have yet to get lucky.  In a way, I’m reluctant to disturb this vulnerable little creature. Why else would kingfishers retreat to the quieter stretches of the Lagan, except to avoid pesky humans?  Also, these birds have a large territory – they’re few and far between.  

The kingfisher tops the list of birds for the Park’s recovery programme.  Together with the RSPB, the Park has been selecting safe nesting sites.  Unusually for birds, kingfishers nest in the riverbanks, burrowing a passage which ends in a cosy nest chamber.  The Park are hoping to boost breeding success by installing bespoke nest tunnels next spring after the risk of floods is past…just in time for breeding season. So watch this space! 

In the process of searching for that flash of blue, I now have a better idea of what I’m actually seeing when I stroll the towpath and beyond.  And I usually spot something fascinating.  Today’s find - a red squirrel. Who says it always has to be birds?

P.S. Here’s a clue for anyone desperately seeking kingfishers.  This summer they’ve been seen at various spots up from Shaws Bridge towards Edenderry such as Eel Weir, Gilchrist Bridge, Minnowburn/Purdysburn, also Lockview, probably attracted by plenty of delicious small fry (tiddlers to you and me).

Be our eyes and ears!  You can help the Park’s bird recovery programme by reporting any sightings of key species.  11 miles of river plus parks, woodlands, meadows and swamps is a lot of territory to cover, so your local knowledge as you walk the dog, commute from work or go for the daily jog is invaluable! This month, we welcome any news about: kingfishers, barn owls, spotted flycatchers, swifts, linnets, tree sparrows, reed buntings, skylarks.

Contact: david@laganvalley.co.uk