Not snap happy - a rare glimpse of a retiring bird
Old timers, like my parents, have fond memories of corncrakes being a familiar sound in rural parts of Northern Ireland. And as recently as a few decades ago, the fields along the Lagan would have resounded with their distinctive call. The RSPB has been working hard to bring these vanished farmland birds back. Starting with Rathlin Island...
Up until the 1950’s corncrakes were numerous in Northern Ireland – indeed this species was most at home in the northern and western areas of the British Isles. But their numbers plummeted so sharply that by 1994, no breeding corncrakes were recorded here and only a few lonely birds have been sighted since.
Corncrakes are related to moorhens, coots and rails, but unlike their cousins, they’re dry land dwellers. These secretive birds spend their time in tall vegetation, hiding their bright chestnut wings and lanky red shanks very effectively. Day or night, however, that rasping call gives them away.
'Crek! Crek!' Translation: "I bags this nest site!"
As summer visitors, corncrakes migrate each spring from Africa, arriving by mid April to nest and breed. They depart by mid-August.
Primarily insect and seedeaters, corncrakes cannot survive without the cover provided by grasslands and meadows. In spring, nettles and marshland plants like bog irises can provide essential early cover until meadow grasses grow tall enough to do the job. These farmland birds also go for hay meadows and summer silage fields. Upon arrival, the males seek out a suitable habitat for breeding. Only when they find it do they start singing to attract mates.
The loss of this habitat is the primary reason corncrake numbers have fallen so sharply and rapidly in the 20th century. Since 1970, these birds have suffered a 76% contraction in their range. Between 1988 and 1991 numbers crashed by 80% in Northern Ireland. At this rate, corncrakes would now be extinct in the British Isles, if conservation measures had not begun in 1992. By 1993 - the lowest point - there were only 480 breeding males left in the UK; their territory had diminished to remote outposts in the Hebrides and Orkneys.
Coming soon to an island near you - we hope!
The RSPB is working to encourage farmers to adopt Corncrake Friendly Mowing methods and to delay mowing until later in the season. In addition, new areas of habitat are being created for corncrakes – as on Rathlin.
These programmes are working. Across the UK, breeding males have more than doubled, to 1140 since 1993.
Gimme shelter. Making hay for corncrakes to hide in.
Here in Northern Ireland, the RSPB has launched a new programme aimed at attracting corncrakes back to Rathlin Island. Because corncrakes need early cover so they can hide and call for mates, hardy volunteers have spent December – March digging up nettle roots in places where they are abundant (my garden would be a good start) and transplanting them on Rathlin, where nettles are in short supply. (Winter is the best time to dig up nettles and causes the least disturbance to birds too!)
Hands-on habitat creation
The nettles are planted in precise locations around the edges of hayfields to create “corncrake corridors”. Now we just have to wait until spring and summer to see if this work gets the results everyone is hoping for.
Planting nettles is a pleasure...
Patsy Harbinson from the RSPB, who has been ‘grasping the nettle’, is particularly grateful to the many volunteers who have Stepped Up for Corncrakes. Next step: listening out for the dinstinctive crex crex call of these elusive birds and letting the RSPB know if you hear one.
We’re all looking forward to hearing this once distinctive sound of summer in the country.
...when the sun and the scenery are this gorgeous.
To learn more about corncrakes visit ://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/corncrake/index.aspx
...and when you're in the company of friends. Now all we need are corncrakes!
To get stuck in doing projects like this (among many others) for the RSPB, go to http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/getinvolved/volunteering/default.aspx
ALL PHOTOS FROM THE RSPB
Winter migrant - Fieldfare says goodbye for another year.
As birds switch gears from winter to spring, it’s all go in the hedgerows, wetlands, waters, trees and skies along the Lagan. Now’s the time to see the last of the winter visitors disappear for a few months – to different countries, or just a different habitat as they get ready to mate, nest and breed.
All winter, lapwings have been content to hang out in the stubbly fields, grasslands and industrial sites along the river, but now they are starting to disperse to breeding sites elsewhere in Northern Ireland, as well as Scotland and Northern Europe.
Curlews and golden plovers are upping sticks, so this could be your last chance to catch a glimpse. In this time of great movement, Arctic thrushes, fieldfares and redwings are starting to head back towards Scandinavia too.
Prettier and less annoying to look at than a black backed gull.
Soon the summer visitors will be arriving. The earliest ‘tourists’ to flock here are not always the most welcome. The lesser black backed bulls are on their way from the Med, so be warned. These are the aggressive birds that nest on the tops of buildings and have been known to dive bomb people below having an innocent open-air snack. So keep those chips covered.
Other, more popular summertime birds, such as house martins and swifts, will not be here until May.
But meanwhile, there’s plenty afoot with resident populations. As the flocks associated with winter disperse, two’s now company – not thousands. That’s because birds such as starlings are changing focus from feeding and basic survival to finding a mate and a nest site. And the pairing off makes some interesting viewing!
'Just having a wee preen!'
Check out this reality show!
Seen along the Lagan: the lads out in all their finery trying to pull a bird. No, it’s not an episode of Geordie Shore – it’s the wildlife, especially the waterfowl, looking their best and strutting their stuff for the laydeeez.
Turn off the telly and saunter on down to the Lagan and you’ll see the coots, moorhens and mallards are looking their best – flaunting their plumage and shaking their stuff (the mating boogie). Also the birds are getting very vocal now that the mornings are bright. Herons are way ahead of the game – they are already breeding along the Lagan.
The guys may be getting tanned, toned and plucking their eyebrows on TOWIE, but they're amateurs compared to these grouse with their red hot eyeshadow and flashy tailfeathers.
Early birds get the nest box
Speaking of birds getting the jump on the mating and nesting season, serious ‘swift-ians’ are watching out for starlings trying to gazump swifts arriving back in search of their regular nesting boxes.
Maybe this is the year swifts come to stay at the RSPB headquarters, though in 2011 a family of great tits found the accommodation very much to their liking. That's nature for you!
Starlings are earlier starters than swifts and the most opportunistic can nab good nest boxes before the swifts have even left Africa on their long journey back here to breed. Swifts only have until July to raise their families, so if they don’t get the opportunity to nest and lay eggs early, it could be a year lost. Not good news when swifts have suffered such severe declines, mainly due to loss of suitable nesting places. Already many swifts are returning from their epic journeys to find that favourite spots they have returned to year after year are gone for other reasons, such as modernisation of old buildings.
Starlings are now sporting the yellow beaks which means they are in the mood for lurrrve. So some swift followers who have the birds in residence year after year are taking pre-emptive action and blocking their boxes until the regular tenants arrive.
Starlings sometimes take up residence in swift boxes.
You can do your bit to help swifts find a home at your home, by installing a nest box this spring and see if any of these high-flyers come calling. They may only be checking out the site for next year, but if swifts show any interest, it could be a great start. The RSPB website has loads of swift info as does saveourswifts.co.uk.
"What am I doing hanging about here when I could be at Millbrook?" Cormorant spotted near Libsurn City Centre
What else is new along the Lagan? A new riverside park near Lisburn City Centre, celebrating the linen heritage and natural assets of the Lagan. Now that ‘the city that has it all’, has a wonderful new water feature, word is getting out, at least among the bird population who have flocked to the place. David Scott tells us why Millbrook is well worth a visit.
Millbrook Huguenot Riverside Park Open
Spotted (and striped) at Millbrook - fieldfares, a cousin of the thrush
The new riverside park along the River Lagan at Millbrook Huguenot close to Lisburn City Centre has been completed. The project has seen improvements to the pathways, installation of a play area, fishing stands and pond dipping platforms. In addition the important local linen heritage has been conserved with the discovery and restoration of the remains of a beetling mill and mill pond sluice gates.
The area has also been planted with wildflowers including flax seed to represent the linen heritage; this should provide a riot of colour once spring is properly here.
The work is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through Laganscape, a Landscape Partnership Scheme, along with a contribution from Lisburn City Council who initially developed the idea for the project.
Alderman Jim Dillon, Chairman of Lisburn City Council’s Economic Development Committee, said, ‘We are pleased to have been able to deliver this wonderful project, creating a much more accessible area for visitors from close by and farther afield. The Council now fully appreciates the rich heritage story that there is to be told from the features that were uncovered during the work and we hope to work with the local community over the coming months to capture all of this.’
Head of HLF Northern Ireland, Paul Mullan, added: ‘We are delighted to be involved in this latest initiative of the Laganscape project which will bring great joy to the local community. The preservation of our industrial heritage, in addition to the improvements and installation of new features, will ensure that the area is valued as an important space for everyone to use and enjoy.’
King of the Birds surveys his gorgeous new domain and is pleased. (Wren)
Laganscape volunteers have been in clearing some of the scrub and will be in putting up bird boxes and planting trees this year. It is also hoped that further extension of the paths and improvements to the ‘Blue Bridge’ will happen in a phase 2 in 2012.
Haven for small birds...and heaven for anyone who loves watching them. (Long tailed tit)
I would highly recommend a visit if you are in Lisburn - the variety of small birds is fantastic. I was down there in the middle of January and saw gold finches, greenfinches, goldcrests, bullfinches, house sparrows, wrens, robins, fieldfares and both types of thrush, to name those I can remember from a ten minute walk!
Just because it's March! (wild primrose)
Photos provided by the LVRP
Come and take a look...
Don’t you just love having something to look forward to? I can’t wait to check out the beautiful new Minnowburn Pond. The National Trust has been hard at work for many months improving this wetland site, and the result sounds as if it is going to be brilliant. Even better, with new paths and benches (coming soon), the Pond is now much more accessible for everyone.
First step to transformation - digging out the silted up pond.
Craig Somerville, Belfast Area Warden for the National Trust, tells us about the new and improved wetland site at Minnowburn.
Work is nearing completion on a wetlands project at Minnowburn. The old pond, which had completely silted up, was dug out with help from Rivers Agency back in 2006. This latest phase, a partnership between Laganscape and the National Trust, has seen the creation of accessible paths, a willow weave bird hide and a dipping platform.
The work has been funded through the Laganscape project, which is a Heritage Lottery Fund Landscape Partnership Scheme. David Scott, Laganscape Project Officer said, “The National Trust team at Minnowburn came to Laganscape with a few ideas and it has since developed into a great project. This shows what can be achieved when organisations such as ours work in partnership to deliver projects that have a real benefit for everyone.”
One dipping platform coming up!
The area is a wonderful habitat for all sorts of wildlife, and the National Trust will use the dipping platform for educational work with local schools. It all looks a bit muddy at the minute, but give it a few months and the new landscape will have naturalised just beautifully.
On Saturday 11th February, a large team of volunteers from Laganscape and the National Trust came along to plant about 600 native trees and build the willow weave bird hide which looks magnificent.
Willow weavers at work.....A big thank you to the crew who made it all possible.
“The whole project is designed to get people closer to nature”, says David. “The paths give access for all and in the coming years we will endeavour to make the area even more wildlife friendly with the management of a wildflower meadow. Look out for interpretation features and some nice wooden benches to be added soon.” (So it's nice to know there's even more to look forward to!)
Where's the water?! The 'pond' before the 2006 work.
David and Craig also ask that if you are taking your dog along for a walk around the pond, please keep it on a lead. The pond is a sensitive ecosystem and we have to be careful not to disturb it too much or let any invasive species get a foothold.
I’ve got my wellies ready!
More good news – the swans are back at Stranmillis, hopefully to stay. Now seen two weeks running: an adult swan and a young swan born last season and still showing some grey feathers.