Dawn Chorus Walk Bailieborough on Sunday 19 May

Photo Michael Mc kiernan

The group met at the Castle Lake car park at 4.30am on Sunday 19th May. Thankfully it was a pleasant dry morning. Birds such as song thrush, mistle thrush and blackbird were already singing and a few bats were having a final feed before heading to roost as we set out from the car park. 

listening to a whitethroat Photo Michael Mc kiernan

Over the course of our walk around the lake the songs of many species of bird were heard including wren, robin, chaffinch, goldcrest, blackcap, chiffchaff and willow warbler. A whitethroat was also heard in the young conifer plantation- a new record for the forest! We were also treated to brief views of a sparrowhawk.

Castle Lake 

We stopped at the lake to view the great crested grebes and to listen to the song of a

sedge warbler. There was great excitement to see that the mute swans had hatched at least 4 new cygnets! 

Enjoying an early breakfast in the forest

We finished up the morning with tea and refreshments and an added treat for all was close-up views of a treecreeper. We watched him feed as we enjoyed our tea and treats.

Thanks to everyone who brought along refreshments on the day - much appreciated!

Click here for more information on Castle lake Woods looped walk.
Click here to visit The Birdwatch Ireland website.

We will be taking a break over the summer and events wil recommence in September.

Dawn Chorus Walk Arva Sunday 19th May

Photo by Heather Bothwell

Report By Heather.

The Cavan branch of birdwatch Ireland took the annual dawn chorus walk

 to Arva this year. This is a chance to celebrate spring and publicise birdwatch ireland. It was a mild morning after the previous days rain and there was lots of bird activity. plenty of singing thrushes, blackbirds, robins, wrens, goldcrests and warblers including whitethroat. We walked up Brankill lane and down to Garty lough. Afterwards the intrepid Arva birdwatchers gathered in the Breffni Arms for coffee , with many thanks to Eamon Gray who had not long been to bed!!!

National Dawn Chorus Day.Events in Cavan on Sunday 19 May

Blackcap photo by Michael Mc Nulty

Listen to the song of the Blackcap and many more at a Dawn Chorus Event in May!
To celebrate National Dawn Chorus day two events will take place in Co. Cavan on Sunday 19th May.This will be a great opportunity to learn more about birdsong and enjoy an early morning walk at dawn. Follow this link to read more about the Dawn Chorus here
Walks will take place at the following locations:
Arva.
Meet at the car park of veterinary surgeons, Hoffman & Kaufmann,Tyusker,Arva at 5.00am.
 Contact Heather on 087 6699681 

 Bailieborough,Castle Lake Woods.

 Meet at the Lakeshore car park, Lear entrance at 4.30am.

Directions: take the Shercock Rd out of Bailieborough. Turning left at Lakeland Daries, proceed for 2km approx and the forest entrance is on your left.

River Bird Survey

By Brian Caffrey.

We are looking for breeding records of river birds (between mid-March and mid-June) from 2004 up to the present season to help us examine links between water quality and biodiversity.

 Ireland supports a rich and diverse network of river systems. They are often not so easily accessible, making it difficult tomonitor the health of this habitat for biodiversity. However, Ireland's river are highly attractive and are well visited by tourists, anglers and other recreational users. 

 Please visit our River Birds page for further details about this group of birds. This spring/ summer, we urge you to keep your eyes peeled if you are out and about on a river or its banks. We are looking for details of your sightings of all riverine species, but especially Kingfisher, Dipper, Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail and Sand Martin. But we would also like to know about rivers where these birds were absent.

The survey form is available here.

Completing it is really easy. And please complete the questionnaire even if you
saw no riverine birds.

Launch of the Bird Atlas 2007 - 11

 by Brian Caffrey.

I am delighted to announce the launch of the Bird Atlas 2007-11 pre-publication book offer (please see attached).Order now at our special pre-publication price of €54 and save a third off the retail price!

Be one of the first to receive Bird Atlas 2007–11, the most important British and Irish bird book for decades. The most complete and comprehensive overview of bird distribution and change in Britain and Ireland. Over 1,300 maps describe patterns of distribution, abundance and change for nearly 300 species.

Discover the changing fortunes of the birds of Britain and Ireland, with the help of authors Dawn Balmer, Simon Gillings, Brian Caffrey, Bob Swann, Iain Downie and Rob Fuller. Have the latest scientific findings about distribution and change at your fingertips, including chapters telling the atlas story and highlighting the factors influencing our changing bird fauna... all to be revealed when the book is published in autumn 2013.

How to order:

1)      Online at http://shop.birdwatchireland.ie/birdwatchireland/product_info.php?products_id=929

2)      By Post: send the attached order form to: BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20, Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow

4)      By Phone: call us on 01 2819878

Don’t miss this great offer – order by the 31^st July 2013

Presentation By Dick Coombes on 9 April in Virginia

Dick Coombes Birdwatch Ireland

A presentation by Dick Coombes took place in the Riverfront Hotel, Virginia on Tuesday 9^th April at 8pm after the AGM. Dick is the Countryside Bird Survey co-ordinator with Birdwatch Ireland and has studied great-spotted woodpeckers closely since they were first recorded breeding in Ireland back in 2009. A few years prior to this they had been recorded breeding in Northern Ireland and in 2008 a juvenile bird was sighted at a bird feeder in Co. Wicklow! It was confirmed that great-spotted woodpeckers were breeding in the woodlands of Wicklow in 2009 and since then the birds have been gradually spreading along the eastern side of the country.

Are they breeding here in Cavan? To date there have been a few reported sightings of woodpeckers in the county but breeding has not yet been confirmed. We have lots of suitable habitat here. Their favourite nesting habitat is mature woodland where they can find trees with some element of rot, preferably an oak. Dick described what signs we should be looking out for:

 Between March and April we should listen out for the sound of woodpeckers drumming- a very distinctive sound that indicates a woodpecker is holding a territory. To hear an example of what a woodpecker drumming sounds like, follow this link: 

http://www.wildechoes.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:great-spotted-woodpecker&catid=42:picidae-woodpeckers&Itemid=62

Also keep an eye out for the presence of feeding holes or evidence of nest hole excavation in mature trees.  The nest holes can be difficult to spot as they are generally located quite high-up on trees but if you keep looking up and listening who knows what you might discover! Please pass on any records of sightings to Dick Coombes at rcoombes@birdwatchireland.ie

A special word of thanks to Dick for a most enjoyable and informative presentation. It was evident that Dick has put in a lot of work over the last few years studying these birds and that although it has been demanding he has enjoyed it all very much and has a great affection for these very special birds!