Peregrine Falcons shot in Lisronagh.

All through the winter and spring, a pair of Peregrine Falcons roosted on the bell tower of the ruined church at Lisronagh, between Clonmel and Fethard. When the pair was still there in June, I thought they must be nesting. On 15th June I went into the church to see if there were chicks visible or if the parents would react to my presence. To my horror I found the adult female dead on the floor, at the base of the bell tower. She had been shot. I immediately contacted Sean Breen, the local NPWS Conservation Ranger and he, in turn, contacted the Gardai in Clonmel. Within a few days we got news of another Peregrine which had been shot and wounded near Cahir. It was taken to an animal welfare facility in Kilmallock but it will never fly in the wild again. In the meantime, two young Peregrines fledged from the Lisronagh nest and the male continued to feed them. At some stage in July came more bad news - the male had been killed, probably shot. The two young Peregrines were not able to hunt for themselves and probably starved to death. As this case is still being investigated by the Gardai, I cannot go into more detail. These large falcons are protected under the Wildlife Act in Ireland and are listed in Annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive, which requires governments to make special efforts to protect them. The Peregrine was almost driven to extinction in the 1960s, due to persistent organochlorine pesticides. When these were banned, the numbers of Peregrines slowly recovered. Normally a very wary bird, it was remarkable that this pair would nest so close to where school children played every day. The church is less than 100 metres from Lisronagh National School. The people of Lisronagh had taken these birds to their hearts and were disgusted when they heard the news of the persecution of their falcons. We don’t know who carried out this despicable act or what their motives are. Birds of prey, also known as Raptors, have been persecuted for many years and the practice is barbaric and illegal. Most people will be aware of the numbers of White-tailed Eagles that have been poisoned. These birds were part of a reintroduction project in Co. Kerry. Only last week, a county Councillor from Limerick called for an ‘open season’ on Hen Harriers unless changes are made to the designation of SPAs (special areas of conservation). As top predators, raptors are an integral component of a healthy and functioning ecosystem. Several of our birds of prey were driven to extinction by human influence during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The modern day cruel and indiscriminate use of poisons in addition to other forms of persecution has the potential to not only devastate their populations once again, but also impact on a wide range of other wildlife and seriously damage our “green” image, of particular importance to our agriculture and tourism sectors.

The Skylark

‘Up springs the Lark,

Shrill-voiced and loud, the messenger of morn.

Ere yet the shadows fly, he, mounted, sings

Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts

Calls up the tuneful nations’.

The song of the Skylark is so exuberant and uplifting to our ears that it is not surprising that poets have been moved to write about it over the centuries. It is a bird of open country and never perches on trees. To make sure his song is heard, the male Skylark flies high into the sky and sings an exhilarating song which can continue without a break for many minutes. With the increase of intensive agriculture, especially the fertilising of grassland and the switch to winter-sown cereals, the Skylark has disappeared from many parts of lowland Tipperary. It is still found breeding in areas of rough grazing, bogs and upland areas.

In the autumn the Skylarks leave the upland areas and move down to more fertile farmland. Large flocks can be found on stubble fields in October. These flocks may contain migrants from Scotland or the Continent. These birds probably move on and it is not known whether our breeding birds leave the country for the winter. The origin of Skylarks in stubble fields in winter in this part of the country is unknown. It is possible the all the females move further south in hard weather and that the males remain near their breeding grounds. It is possible to solve these puzzles by trapping the birds and making them with an individually numbered aluminium ring on one of their legs. The hard part is actually catching these birds. Because they remain in open country, they do not fly into mist nets readily and they are usually shy of any kind of trap.

Many people have difficulty in identifying the Skylark. They appear to be similar to the Meadow Pipit which is very common and widespread. The Skylark is bigger than the Meadow Pipit and has noticeably longer wings. In flight, the call of the Meadow Pipit sounds like “pit, pit, pit”, whereas the Skylark’s call sounds like “zirrup”. In the summer time, they both sing while high in the air. On the way back down, the Meadow Pipit falls like a paper plane while the Skylark drops straight down to earth.

Autumn hedgerows

There’s a definite feel of Autumn about. There are cold mornings, and almost all of the swallows have gone. After the very poor summer we had, there are very few wasps and other insect species around. The first skylarks have deserted the high ground on the Comeraghs and Slievenamon and are searching for food in the stubble fields.

 Even in late Autumn, there are still some wild flowers in bloom. The Herb-robert is a favourite of mine. It's a type of geranium which has red stems and pink flowers with 5 petals. It grows on walls and under hedgerows and flowers from May to October. In my garden the Red Clover and Dandelions are still in bloom and are visited by late-flying butterflies such as the Red Admiral, Peacock and Small Tortoishell. There are still Speckled Woods to be seen along the hedgerows. There are still a few purple flowers on the Bush Vetch which is a climber in hedges but the best climber of all is Traveller's Joy. It is a type of clematis which has feathery seed heads and this gives the plant its other common name, Old man's beard. There is a huge bank of this creeper near the parking area at Marlfield lake.



The leaves on the Beech trees are turning a warm red-brown colour but they are no match for the brilliant yellows and reds of the Maple. There are plenty of rose hips on the Dog-rose and plenty of haws on the Hawthorn. The brambles produced a poor crop of blackberries this year and many just didn’t ripen.  With a poor year for insects, nuts and berries, the peanuts in the feeders in my garden will be in big demand. My bird-table is situated across the road from a long line of Beech trees and the Blue Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinches will make the most of the beech-nuts before they visit my garden. The Blackbirds and Song Thrushes are concentrating on the Elder berries and Blackberries and the Mistle Thrushes are busy feeding on the berries of the Rowan or Mountain Ash. In the next few days, the first Redwings will arrive from Iceland and Scandinavia and will start feeding on the ruby coloured haws on the Hawthorns.



Scarlet Elf's Cap



Autumn is the time of year for fungi and most varieties are found in the leaf-litter on the woodland floor.  Some are easily identified like the Scarlet Elf’s Cap, Puff ball, Shaggy Ink Cap or Lawyer's Wig and others are quite difficult to identify. Because many of these fungi are poisonous it is best not to eat them unless you are with an expert. However, they are worth having a good look at. There are Russulas with moist red or purple caps, Wood Blewits and a lovely purple one called Amethyst deceiver. The most prized of all is the Penny Bun or Boletus edulis.  Once again I stress, if in doubt, don't eat them. I know of two ladies who accidentally ate Death Cap fungus during September. One was very ill and the other had to have a liver transplant.

The hungry hedgehog

Hedgehogs are amazing little creatures. They evolved about 20 million years ago. Because they have been so successful, they have changed very little over this time period. The hedgehog seems to have been introduced to Ireland in the 13^th century, either accidentally or for food. The Irish name for the Hedgehog is Grainneog which means the horrible one. This name seems a bit harsh, especially since this animal causes no problems for us. In fact, a hedgehog can be a great help to the gardener.

Hedgehog eating dogfood

In Ireland, hedgehogs hibernate from about December to April. They spend the coldest months tucked up in a nest under a shed or in a hedge. They come out of hibernation occasionally, to urinate or even to move to a new nest. I have noticed several dead hedgehogs on roadsides recently. Death on the roads may be significant but is not thought to be a major factor controlling hedgehog numbers. Interestingly, more males than females are killed on the roads, probably because they travel further in search of females.

They forage at night for beetles, worms, caterpillars, slugs, earwigs and millipedes. They will occasionally eat birds' eggs, fruit and berries, when they are available. By eating slugs and snails, the hedgehog does the gardener a favour. Their eyesight is poor but their sense of smell is well developed. They make snorting noises as they search for food and this is probably where the 'hog' part of its name came from. A hedgehog may travel up to 3km in a night in search of food. You could attract them to your garden by putting out dog-food for them at night. This supplementary food might become critical in early winter when the hedgehog has to accumulate fat for hibernation. They must reach a weight of 450g in order to have enough reserves to make through the winter. Milk and bread are not suitable food for hedgehogs.

Apart from road deaths, causes of mortality in hedgehogs include poisoning from eating slugs which have eaten toxic slug pellets and predation by badgers and foxes. The hedgehog's usual defence of rolling itself into a tight ball, with only spines sticking out, is no match for the powerful jaws of a badger. They also have a tendency to fall into cattle grids.

Over the past few years, a hedgehog has taken up residence in our garden. He or she seems to be a loner because we have never seen more than one at a time and we have never seen young ones. In the past week, our hedgehog has been out looking for food in the garden in broad daylight, two hours before sunset. I put out some tinned dog food for him and he ate half a tin in one night. I hope that hunger has not forced him to forage early. Although it has been a very poor summer, the numbers of worms and slugs should not have been adversely affected.

Birds of a feather

I was out walking recently along a hedgerow in a stubble field at Baptist Grange. I picked up this beautiful feather and took it home to identify it. From my reference book I was able to identify it as a primary feather from a Long-eared Owl. It has three very important characteristics. Firstly, it has cryptic colouring with patches of dark brown and fawn. These colours allow the owl to roost in a tree during the daytime and to be perfectly camouflaged. Secondly, it is quite broad for a primary feather. The wing of an owl is broad to give maximum lift because they hunt by quartering the ground in slow flight. Thirdly, the surface of the feather is very soft and feels like a very soft tissue. This allows the owl to have almost silent flight, so that its prey doesn’t hear it coming.

Birds are the only creatures on the planet to have feathers. Birds evolved from reptiles many millions of years ago. They still have reptilian features like horny scales and claws on their legs and they lay eggs. It appears that feathers evolved from modified scales but we can’t be certain. The first bird to appear in the fossil record 140 million years ago, Archaeopteryx, had a full set of feathers and it was flying about, over the heads of dinosaurs.

Long-eared Owl feather

Feathers have many functions. First and foremost, they facilitate powered flight. A bird can spread its wings and take off because these structures are strong but very light. The wing feathers provide the lift while the tail feathers act as a rudder to control direction. Body feathers are responsible for insulation. The down from the body of the eider duck is famous for its insulating properties.

The feathers can also be used in communication. In this part of the world, the plumage of female birds is usually subdued because they don’t want to draw attention to themselves as they sit on the nest. The males however, are free to display what fine specimens they are. The huge energy that goes into growing a peacock’s tail, for example, shows how important the display is to that species. A displaying Snipe can use its outer tail feathers to produce a ‘whinneying’ sound as it flies over its breeding grounds.

But these beautiful plumes suffer wear and tear during the breeding season. The old feathers are dropped and a new set of feathers are grown during the moult every year. These new feathers are carefully maintained by preening. Each feather has a central vane and this supports the barbs which bind together using barbules. These barbs are re-arranged during preening. Birds spread oil on their feathers to maintain them and to make them waterproof. The oil comes from a gland just above the tail.

2012 – A terrible year for breeding birds.

It’s been a terrible year for breeding birds in Tipperary and certain groups of birds have been particularly badly hit. I have already written about the plight of our Kingfishers and it likely that most pairs of Kingfishers produced no young at all this year. The other large group which has suffered are the insect-eaters. The summer has been so wet and miserable that very few insects emerged. Species which catch insects in the air such as Swallows, House Martins, Sand Martins and Swifts will have had a hard time finding enough food for themselves, never mind feeding hungry chicks.

Swallow's nest with 5 eggs in 2008

Our Swallows arrived at the usual time. I saw my first Swallows near Moyglass on 27^th March. They flew around our house all through April and May but they were very slow to build a nest. This was clearly a sign that the females could not get enough food to get into breeding condition. They finally got going in June and laid their first egg on 24^th June. This was three to four weeks late. In 2010 their first egg was laid on 12^th May and the average over the past 6 years has been the 23^rd May.

This year they laid 4 eggs and only 3 chicks successfully fledged. The average number of chicks they usually have is 4.4 and, very importantly, they usually have two broods. The second clutch is usually started in mid-July. I usually have two pairs nesting at the house, but this year only one pair nested. In an average year the Swallows at our house in Lisronagh would produce 16 or 17 chicks whereas this year they only produced 3. So their productivity this year only one sixth of what it should be.

Of course, Swallows have been migrating to this misty island for thousands of years and are able to deal with one bad summer. They usually bounce back the next year and produce more chicks and in the long run, everything balances out. But what if the next summer is unusually wet and the following one is unusually wet? What if the pattern of our weather has changed due to climate change? We seem to get good weather in April and September and monsoon type weather during May to August. The Swallows have evolved to migrate and breed here during what should be the ‘summer’ months. They can’t just change their flight plans.