15th April Bird Watching on Bull Island

On Sunday 15th of April about twenty IWT members turned out on the Causeway road on Bull Island for an event led by Sean Hogan, an experienced birdwatcher. The North Bull Island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, RAMSAR site and a Special Area of Conservation. Sean had some telescopes on standby and those present got to see and identify Bar and Black-tailed Godwits in their reddish-brown summer plumage, Shelduck, Mallard, Little Egret, Teal, Curlew, Heron and Brent Geese among others.

Sean was a mine of information, and even those who thought they knew a thing or two about birds learned a lot that they did not know before. For example, unlike other ducks, Shelduck lay their eggs in burrows and later each year leave their chicks a hundred at a time in a 'creche' with one of the adults while the others head off to a safe offshore sandbank to moult their feathers. Sean also talked about the Little Egret which is a recent arrival to our shores, only having started to breed in Cork in 1997. Since then it has spread north through Ireland and can be seen regularly around Dublin Bay. The Bull Island and other tidal estuaries like it are a huge source of protein for seabirds, especially in winter. In fact each square metre of mudflat contains more protein than the equivalent size of rainforest! (Photos courtesy of Niall)



Sean in the blue wooly cap shows us the shelduck 

Sean also had some advice about binoculars and telecopes. The rule of thumb for binoculars is that when you divide lens size by magnification the result should be more than 5 e.g. lens size of 42 and magnification of 8. The crucial factor is the amount of light that the lens let in. A decent pair of binoculars can be got for about €100 - 150 and it is important to take the time to try out different kinds to find the one that suits, as each person's preference is different. Regarding telescopes good options are zooms lens with magnification of 20 to 60 or alternatively a wide angle fixed lens of about 32 magnification. A good one won't be got for less than € 200 and the sky is the limit for the more expensive ones.

The best guide books are 'Complete Guide to Irish Birds' or 'Pocket Guide to the Common Birds of Ireland' , both by Eric Dempsey, or the 'Collins Bird Guide to birds of Britain and Europe'

After seeing the birds of Bull Island the group crossed over to St. Anne's Park to hear some birdsong. Coal tits, wrens, robins and blackbirds were heard, and for a few moments there was great excitement when it was thought that woodpeckers had arrived in the park! Alas it turned out to be Grey Crows pecking at the branches of a nearby tree to get building material for a nest. Despite that minor disappointment the group went away very happy with what they had seen and heard, and a lot more knowledgable.

6th March Green Drinks - Green Roofs

Tuesday 6th March saw the monthly Green Drinks talk in Messrs Maguire, 2 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2. The topic this month "Green Roofs and living walls and their potential to reduce rainfall runoff and attenuate stormwater flood events". The presentation was given by Sadhbh Ní Hógáin, who is a Structural Engineer with an MSc in Architecture. Her past work ranges from design engineering to academic research to domestic refurbishments, and she has recently studied how to construct green roofs, and their benefits to society, industry and the environment.

Green roofs have many benefits. Their major benefit is to reduce the rapid runoff of rainwater from roofs by storing the water in the soil or gravel, and releasing it slowly. This helps to prevent flooding in urban areas, which is becoming a greater concern due to global warming. As well as reducing rainfall runoff, they help to improve air quality by bringing plants into the city areas and they also have a major biodiversity benefit by providing habitats for wildlife such as insects and birds. Green roofs also improve energy efficiency by providing insulation to the building beneath them. All these benefits are shared by green walls, but there is generally less of an effect with them, due to the limitations of a vertical surface.

Green roofs come in various forms. They can be simply a low maintenance thin layer of gravel which will support low growing plants such as sedum, and which only need an annual weeding to keep them working; or they can be a more ambitious affair with shrubs and even small trees, which can act as a rooftop garden or green haven in the 'urban jungle'. Provided the proper support has been built into the roof by a qualified engineer, there is no danger of roofs collapsing under the weight of soil or other material.

Green roofs originated in Iceland, where the inhabitants simply covered their roofs in green turf to provide insulation in the harsh environment. Since those humble beginnings, green roofs are rapidly being adopted in their various modern forms around the world as an essential part of the move to a more sustainable lifestyle.
(Images from Sadhbh)



Green Roof from Iceland where the concept began



Cross Section of green roof



Cross Section of Green roof

3rd April Green Drinks Lifeline Project

This month in our collaboration with leafliving.com a group of about thirty people heard Kaethe Burt O'Dea speak about the Lifeline Project and the influence of environment and behaviour on health in  the urban context. The LifeLine project is a site specific proposal for a multifunctional access route to the future Dublin Institute of Technology and HSE site at Grangegorman from the north. The LifeLine is a linear park that would begin at Broadstone, follow the disused link to the Midland Great Western Railway that travels north through Cabra to meet the canal at Phibsborough and continue to follow the canal to the west of the city into the countryside west of Dublin. As a multipurpose landscape the LifeLine would provide a surface for mixed activity (cycling, walking, running, games, casual play) and facilitate movement in, out, and around the city, as the amenity could ultimately link into a circcular greenway around Dublin. LifeLine has been actively working with the Railway Procurement Agency on the project. 

Lifeline is also a community led campaign exploring wasted resources (people, places, materials, systems) in Dublin, Ireland. The project covers areas such as the intensification of local food production, urban biodiversity, eco tourism, green transport and innovative models of healthcare, recreation and waste management.

10th March Tree Week

On Saturday 10th March, Dublin Branch IWT celebrated trees by inviting the citizens of Dublin to learn about, enjoy and value trees in two of Dublin’s well known outdoor parks. Sarah Rubalcava led the walk up 
Killiney Hill and Niall Mac Coitir led the walk in St Anne’s Park, Raheny.

Niall and Sarah hugging a native oak

Both walks were well attended. On Niall's walk among the trees shown were the yew, one of Ireland's native trees which can live to a thousand years. The oldest known tree in Ireland is believed to be 700 years old and is in the grounds of Maynooth College. It is called Silken Thomas' yew, as the famous Irish rebel is said to have rested there the day before he was taken prisoner by the English. Another tree seen was the beech, which gets its name from the Anglo-Saxon word for book - buch  - as the old English were said to carve their runic letters into it. St. Anne's also features many unusual trees, like the Hollyoak in the picture below, clinging on to the side of a cliff!



Yew tree

Beech tree

Hollyoak hanging on for dear life

3rd March Mammal Conservation Workshop

Dublin IWT Blog – MISE Project
Sarah Rubalcava

On the 3rd March, members of the Dublin Branch joined Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council volunteers in a joint venture called the MISE Project. We met at 9.30 am in Marley House, Rathfarnham. The grandeur of the rooms seemed fitting for the important business of conserving some of Ireland’s small mammals.

Mammals in a Sustainable Environment (MISE) Project (an EU funded project covering parts of Ireland and Wales) is an exciting new project and breathes fresh air into any person interested in wildlife and conservation. The project partners on the Irish side include Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), Waterford County Council and the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Conserving and monitoring biodiversity, sharing skills across the border region, local communities and volunteers are firmly at the heart of this initiative.

In Ireland, otters, pine marten, red squirrels, bats and other small mammals are being surveyed and monitored. The MISE Project is using non-invasive methods to survey these animals. These non-invasive methods include the collection of hair tube samples for squirrels, otter spraints and pine marten scats (otter and pine marten poo in other words!) and bat droppings. The Dublin Branch will be developing the otter and red squirrel surveys over the coming months.

Before heading out on the field training part of the day, we were given an overview of present status and ecology of pine martens, squirrels and otters.
Sadly due to the recent discovery of squirrel pox in the Dublin Mountains, hair tubes surveys will not be used but instead it is hoped that visual surveys can be carried out.

After the talks we headed out and walked a length of the small river in Marley Park and managed to find otter spraints and a footprint or so we were told. We then travelled to the local Coillte forests at Ticknock where we found signs of red squirrels eating. Earlier that day, we were told that the forests still had red squirrels and it is hoped that squirrel pox doesn’t impact too heavily on the locals.

When the day concluded this is what one participant said:

“It was a really fun morning and I learned way more about otter surveying through the hands-on approach of this training day than I could ever have from a book.” - Aoife.

This is an excellent opportunity to learn and gain valuable experience, meet like-minded people and to be more proactive in conserving Ireland’s biodiversity. (photos courtesy of Joy)


http://www.miseproject.ie/

Looking for otter poo

Otter tracks

Nibbled by red squirrel

Tuesday 7th Feb Green Drinks

Green Drinks 7th February - Badgers and TB

The Green Drinks talk this month was given by Conn Flynn, Conservation Officer with the IWT, who set out the situation regarding badgers and TB in Ireland and explained the IWT's campaign against badger culling. Conn informed the thirty or so people present why the IWT is so opposed to the government's policy of culling and why vaccination is a better, more effective and humane alternative. There are about 70,000 badgers in Ireland - an average of about one badger per km2 and about 30,000 setts. The government has culled a massive 90,000 badgers since 1984, so much so that the badger's existence in Ireland may be threatened, and yet despite this the numbers of cattle infected with TB have barely fallen.

A £50 million scientific study in England carried out over 10 years found that badger culling made no difference to TB infection rates, and can even make things worse by causing infected badgers to flee to new uninfected areas. Furthermore Scotland has managed to stay free of bovine TB without having to carry out culls at all. The real key to reduction is controlling cattle movements, and in particular, to test animals before they are moved to another location - something which is not done in Ireland at the moment.

Alongside this there should be vaccination of badgers to remove them as a source of infection, as a humane alternative to the unnecessary and cruel killing of badgers by catching them in snares and then shooting them, as is done at present. Although the Department of Agriculture has begun a small trial programme of vaccination in Monaghan, the large scale culling of badgers is continuing despite the evidence and the IWT has begun a campaign to petition the government to stop culling for good. You can sign the petition by logging on to the IWt's website at www.iwt.ie

Sunday 29th January Bull Island birdwatching

On Sunday 29th January about fifteen members of the Dublin Branch braved the cold and the rain to attend a bird watching event led by birding enthusiasts Sean Kelly and Niall Keogh on Bull Island - Dublin’s well known nature reserve. They were rewarded for their efforts by seeing a variety of birds - lapwings, redshanks, black-headed gulls, knots, teal, shovelers and Brent Geese among them. Bull Island has an excellent range of coastal birds, especially its overwintering flocks which come to avail of the many invertebrates (worms and things)that live in the mudflats. Niall Keogh explained how Dublin's Brent Geese are unique because of their lack of fear of humans compared to the geese on the continent- probably due to the fact that they won't be shot on sight! So much so that they have been known to get in the way of golfers trying to play on the Island's golf courses. Dublin's Brent Geese have also taken to grazing on the city's open spaces and playing pitches in a big way, to the extent that this is now a major source of their food supply.
After about an hour the freezing cold and rain put an end to the outing, but enough birds had been seen to make it all worthwhile.