Category Archives: Wildlife

2024, Birds, Wildlife

Our Ballyboughal Swift Colony takes flight

As mentioned in our previous swift post last year here the Ballyboughal Hedgerow society started on an ambitious project of trying to help the endangered Swift by setting up a colony in the Ballyboughal area.
Well we have some amazing news, we have what we hope are a breeding pair in one of the nest boxes. Have a look at this incredible footage. More swifts have been seen in the area so we hope this initiative goes from strength to strength.


On the 21st of May we had our first egg

On the 22nd of May we had our second egg

On the 12th of June we get a glimpse of the first chick

On the 20th of June we get a good look at the chick. We can also confirm that sadly only one egg has hatched.

On the 15th of July we can see how big the chick has grown in 3 weeks. This is possibly because it has no siblings and two parents feeding it constantly. Chicks fledge on average after 45 days so this chick should fledge in 12 days.

On the 19th of July, not much happening, just growing away. Mam and Dad are now away for long stretches of the day. Unlike other species we are not seeing much wing stretching or any other type of exercise.

On the 23th of July, the chick has fledged. They have left the nest not to return, even for a sleep. To the best of our knowledge the bird will remain in the air for the next few weeks over Ireland flying 24hrs a day. It will then migrate to Africa and again fly 24hrs a day without landing and return to Ireland next May. As this bird will not be at breeding age it will not land and will roam the skies 24hrs a day over Ireland for the summer. It will then return to Africa for another season. In May of 2026 this bird will eventually come back to Ireland and land for the first time to nest and hopefully successfully breed. Fly well little one, it has been a pleasure knowing you.

2023, Birds, Event, Uncategorized

Barn Owls of Fingal talk with John Lusby of Birdwatch Ireland

Hi Folks,

We are delighted to be working together with Garristown Biodiversity Group to host a webinar with a Birdwatch Ireland barn owl specialist John Lusby giving a talk on Barn Owls of Fingal.
Its next Wednesday 1st March at 7.30pm
You can register at the link below if you or anyone you know would like to attend
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/barn-owls-in-fingal-tickets-558539315127

BarnOwlTalkPoster

2022, Birds, Wildlife

Swifts

The common Swift (Apus apus) is an iconic migratory bird of the Irish summer and one of the fastest flying Irish birds. Unfortunately, swift numbers are in decline throughout Ireland, primarily due to loss of nesting sites.

Swifts nest in recesses in buildings, typically under the eaves of old houses. Swifts return to the same nest site yearly and nest sites are generally lost if rooves are upgraded or replaced. To mitigate this loss, specially designed swift nest boxes and even swift bricks can be installed to provide suitable nesting sites.

Swift Next Boxes on the side of a building
Swift Next Boxes on the side of a building

A triple entry anti-predator swift nest box and swift caller sound system was sited in Ballyboughal in December 2021.

The sound system, which plays a male and female swift duet, are well-known to attract swifts, notifying them of vacant nest sites and ultimately greatly increasing the chances of the nest boxes being occupied. Swifts regularly visited the site inspecting the nest boxes throughout the summer of 2022.

Here’s hoping for swifts to occupy and successfully breed in the summer of ’23 or ’24, establishing a new breeding colony of swifts in Ballyboughal. 

For more information on these beautiful birds, visit 

Provided by Darren Griffith, 19 December 2022

Birds, Wildlife

The Barn Owl Project

Here at The Ballyboughal Hedgerow Society, we have been working closely on a Barn Owl project, alongside a neighbouring environmental group called the Garristown Biodiversity Group. They started the barn owl project in 2021, aiming to build and install barn owl boxes to support and grow the existing barn owl population.

Photograph of a Barn Owl

Barn Owls, or Scréachóg Reiligh as Gaeilge, are native to Ireland but their populations have been in decline due to the increasing loss of nesting sites, Traditionally, these birds would have nested in hollows in very mature trees in the ancient forests of Ireland. Following the deforestation of Ireland, they adapted and moved into barns and old buildings that had nooks and crannies where they could nest, but these types of buildings are increasingly being sealed.

To plan for this project, the group first created a survey which was sent far and wide across Fingal using community Facebook groups. The survey mainly asked for sightings of barn owls within the last 3 years in the Fingal area. They got a great response and had 28 positive sightings from all over Fingal.

With this information in the bag, it was time to get cracking on the project, and the first port of call was to link in with John Lusby of Birdwatch Ireland and give him details of the plan, the designs they intended to follow for the nest boxes, and the prerequisites that needed to be met on a site before installation. Throughout several calls and emails with John, the group added to their knowledge and strengthened the list of prerequisites to be checked before the box building started.

The prototype boxes were built – one external and one internal – in January 2021. The initial plan was to build five external boxes and five internal boxes, to be installed before the end of 2021. A notice was placed on the Garristown Biodiversity Group’s Facebook page, and locals started to get in touch with suggested locations and show their support for the initiative. Ballyboughal Hedgerow Society had also received a grant to buy two barn owl boxes, so we teamed up to source suitable locations.

     

In 2021, ten boxes were installed, and by November 2022, a further three boxes had been installed, with 2 more to be installed before the end of the year.

The boxes are installed from St Margaret’s to Ardcath, and from Ashbourne to Rolestown – and everywhere in between! Three are currently installed in Ballyboughal, with a fourth to go in before year’s end.

      

Over the next few years, we will use non-invasive monitoring of the boxes to check our success levels. We will expand the project by installing more boxes if we see a big uptake. We are hopeful that these nest boxes will provide much-needed spaces for barn owls to lay their eggs and raise their chicks, and hopefully, it will go a small way towards reversing the fortunes of this declining population.

What can you do to help?

One of the biggest contributors to the decline in Barn Owls is the use of rodenticide, which owls ingest after eating poisoned rodents. If you feel you have no option but to use rodenticide, please follow the guidelines published by John Lusby and Teagasc here.

Article provided by Stephen Whelan, 30th Nov. 2022