New Warden

We're delighted to announce that Laura Nuttall has joined the 2012 Kilcoole Little Tern Conservation Project team & has started her new position as a Day Warden today.

Laura has worked for BirdWatch Ireland & the RSPB on a range of projects since 2008. These have included Dunlin breeding ecology in Co. Mayo, Golden Plover habitat use & productivity, waterways bird surveys focussing on Kingfisher, low tide counts and Bird Atlas surveying. She has also worked on two desk studies, one looking at long term trends in wintering waterbirds and another on the potential impacts of flood risk management methods on birds. With the exception of the Golden Plover project, all of these have been in Ireland. She is now looking forward to spending this summer as a warden at the Kilcoole Little Tern colony and to meeting as many of our readers as possible. In her spare time Laura enjoys climbing hills. 

Numbers Building

Wet, windy & miserable! Pretty much sums up the past week for us down here on the beach. Strong South Easterlies coupled with a Spring tide hammered the colony site on Monday, with waves reaching well up beyond the half way mark in places. Exactly the sort of weather event we don't want in a month or so! Thankfully none of the Little Terns have started nesting yet, with most birds spending alternate days fishing at sea. 

Little Tern © Ronnie Martin

Serious bit of weather! © Niall Keogh

Flock sizes have been fluctuating markedly throughout the week, typical for this time of year as birds move between sites before finally settling down to breed. At times the colony can seem almost deserted, then all of a sudden a flock of 50-80 terns will land in, forming a raucous line along the foreshore with birds displaying to each other between bouts of preening. Our peak count was of c.120 terns during the rough weather on Monday, 70 of which were resting along the K-colony foreshore whilst another 50 were out to sea. Amongst the resting flock was a tern sporting a blue plastic ring, most likely one of two blue colour-ringed birds we have seen here in 2004, 2010 & 2011. The terns were more settled yesterday with several pairs prospecting for nest sites & even a failed mating attempt noted. It's starting to feel like a real colony now. 

Little Terns in courtship flight (male on the left with the fish) © Ronnie Martin

Foreshore antics! © Niall Keogh

Our first nests were discovered on 12th May last year (quite an early date) so I reckon if we don't find any by the end of this weekend it will be next weekend before any action happens (the traditional first egg laying dates would be around 18th-21st May). The system of fencing around the main colony is nearly finished with the landward section, including designated viewing areas for the public, fully set up. We're just waiting for the high tides & rough weather to abate before deciding on where to place the seaward length of fence.

Other species of birds breeding locally have been performing well too. The Lapwing in Webb's field are now up to 20-22 pairs (15 of which have a min. of 40 chicks), a few pairs of Shelduck have been mooching about potential nest sites, the Skylarks in the K-colony dunes are busy feeding their first brood, 4 pairs of breeding Ringed Plovers have been found within the tern colony area & 2 pairs of Oystercatchers have also been seen mating and are expected to lay eggs any day now.

Shelduck © Niall Keogh

Ringed Plover © Ronnie Martin

An incubating Ringed Plover keeping a watchful eye! © Niall Keogh

Ringed Plover egg & chick © Niall Keogh

Skylark chicks in the nest © Niall Keogh

Oystercatcher at the K-colony © Niall Keogh

Wader passage has been much the same since my last update with max. daily counts as follows: Dunlin (91), Whimbrel (82), Oystercatcher (36), Turnstone (29), Sanderling (15), Black-tailed Godwit (13), Ringed Plover (10), Curlew (5), Grey Plover (2), Redshank (1), Bar-tailed Godwit (1) & Snipe (1).

Other birding highlights include: a 2nd calendar-year Little Gull in The Breaches, a Red-breasted Merganser flying South & a 2nd calendar-year Mediterranean Gull flying North at sea on Sunday 6th. A rather tired looking Lesser Redpoll was seen in the K-colony dunes on Monday 7th (bizzare record!) & a stunning 2nd calendar-year type female Marsh Harrier flew through on Tuesday 8th. Another Marsh Harrier was also seen on Tuesday by Brian Haslam, this time a 3rd calendar-year type male, south of The Breaches.

Whimbrels (curved bills) & Bar-tailed Godwits (straight bills) © Ronnie Martin    

Summer plumaged Red-throated Diver just offshore © Ronnie Martin

Summer plumaged Dunlin on the beach © Ronnie Martin

Moving In

After a very wet week it looked as if setting up for the project was going to hit a serious wall. Every year we have to bring the wardens luxury accommodation (three caravans!), all the necessary fencing equipment & signs across 'Webb's field' NPWS nature reserve, to the camp site located just beside the main Little Tern colony (aka 'K-colony'). For the past two years this has been relatively easy to do due to dry conditions but the tracks across the reserve were flooded during the week & by Thursday it seemed as if they were still too muddy to drive across let alone drag a caravan with us! Thankfully the tracks had dried out sufficiently enough for us to bring all the caravans & equipment across yesterday afternoon, so as of this weekend the 2012 Kilcoole Little Tern Conservation Project is good to go! First job on the list is to put the perimeter fence & information signs up around the K-colony indicating which sections of the beach & coastal path are safe for the public to use.

The numbers of Little Terns present has increased dramatically since my last blog post. There are now 70+ birds present at the K-colony, most of which are already going through the motions of courtship. Superb aerial displays, males presenting Sandeels to females & even some apparent nest-site selection have all been observed in the past two days. Once we have an idea of where the terns seem to be settling down to breed then we'll make a start on putting up the protective flexi & electric fencing.

A male tern presenting a sandeel to a female © James Hayes

Little Terns chilling out on the foreshore © Niall Keogh

Before moving the caravans across Webb's field, I censused the area for breeding Lawping in order to mark out a safe route for us to cross. To my surprise there were even more breeding pairs than I had ever anticipated! Up to 17 pairs are present, consisting of 10 pairs with chicks, 4 pairs sitting on nests & another 3 pairs which seem as if they are holding territory. A fantastic result for them so far & the large number of chicks present indicates there hasn't been any major Fox activity in the area lately. We'll be sure to keep a close eye on their numbers over the season. One brood of four chicks were sighted near the track whilst we were driving across the field so I took the opportunity to ring them.

Lapwings © Niall Keogh

There are still some nice numbers of migrant waders present with peaks counts over the past few days as follows: 145 Dunlin, 53 Whimbrel, 47 Oystercatchers, 33 Ringed Plover, 7 Sanderling, 6 Turnstone, 6 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Curlew, 1 Redshank & 1 Common Sandpiper. Of particular interest were a couple of 'arctica'-type Dunlin & 'tundrae'-type Ringed Plover which are on their way to breeding grounds well to the North as their names suggest!

Other sightings of note in the area: 16 Light-bellied Brent Geese, 5 Gadwall, 3 Wigeon, 3 Shoveler, 7 Teal, 13 Shelduck (including a prospecting pair), a Peregrine, 5 Little Egrets, a male White Wagtail, 6 Wheatears, 5 Sedge Warblers, small numbers of House Martins, Sand Martins & Swifts, good numbers of Swallows (200-300 North per. hour on Thurs), 3 Stock Doves, a singing Yellowhammer & a nice pair of Stonechats at the BirdWatch Ireland reserve.

Male Reed Bunting at the BirdWatch Ireland reserve © Niall Keogh

Some of the Brent Geese in Webb's field © Niall Keogh

Rail Safety

All BirdWatch Ireland and National Parks & Wildlife Service staff involved with the Kilcoole Little Tern Conservation Project met on site today with representatives from Iarnród Éireann and were briefed on rail safety for this seasons work. As we operate directly alongside an active railway line it is imperative that we are fully trained on how to work safely in the area. Many thanks to Iarnród Éireann for taking us through the procedures.

Otherwise it was a miserable, wet & windy day but there was plenty of activity in the area. About 20 Little Terns were seen in flight at one stage together over the K-colony, whilst sightings on the marsh included 75 Dunlin, 20 Turnstones, 20 Ringed Plover, 7 Whimbrel, c.80 Herring Gulls, c.35 Great Black-backed Gulls, a Light-bellied Brent Goose, 5 Teal, a Wigeon, a Shoveler, 2 Stock Doves & a Kestrel.

Of particular interest was a 2nd calendar-year (i.e. 1st-summer) Little Gull which was seen flying around The Breaches. Little Gulls are often found sheltering on the marsh or estuary at Kilcoole during inclement weather. They can be recorded throughout the season but sightings of immature birds such as this are most frequent in May.

This 2nd calendar-year Little Gull was photographed in The Breaches back in May 2010 © Niall Keogh

April Recce

A pioneering Little Tern, the first of the year at Kilcoole was noted on 18th April (Ian Stevenson per. IrishBirding). Over the next 10 days more reports came in right around the coast from Louth to Galway so I decided to pop down to Kilcoole last Friday (27th April) for a general look around & to see if any more birds had arrived. I always like to get a feel for the site in advance of the project season (which starts this week).

Whilst strolling along the coast towards the main breeding location (known as the 'K-colony') the distinctive sound of a Little Tern rang through my ears for the first time in 8 months, but I couldn't see it! Perhaps my wardening skills were rusty after the winter break? 

A short while later I was standing at the K-colony with my neck cranked backwards, staring up in awe at a pair of terns in full display flight, wheeling around with incredible speed. All the while a second courting pair were present nearby in The Breaches, themselves holding their heads back, necks fully stretched & wings lowered, seemingly mocking me with their posture. 

Adult Little Tern (better pics to follow, promise!) © Niall Keogh

The state of the beach was less heart warming however. Strong North Easterlies lashed the coast in recent weeks which, in conjunction with some high tides have re-profiled the beach such that the overall height is much lower than would be desirable, potentially reducing the amount of available 'safe' nesting habitat from future extreme weather events. Several years worth of dried seaweed & encroaching maritime vegetation have also been cleared back right up to the sand dunes making the beach much more open...easier for wardens to keep a watchful eye on nesting terns but perhaps also for predators to spot eggs & chicks!

I'd like to think I'm being overly pessimistic here but in any case we should all hope for settled weather this summer for the sake of the birds!

K-colony site, swept clean! © Niall Keogh

Heavy rain has resulted in higher water levels than expected for the time of year on the coastal marshes at Kilcoole. As such, there was some excellent numbers of Spring migrant waders present on Friday: 64 Whimbrel, 206 Black-tailed Godwits, 43 Golden Plover, 42 Oystercatchers, 89 Dunlin, 32 Ringed Plover, 19 Turnstone, 7 Curlew, 2 Redshank, 7 Bar-tailed Godwits & 4 Common Sandpipers were all counted on the NPWS reserve (known as 'Webb's Field') alone. Between 10-12 pairs of Lapwing are breeding here also, some of which already have small chicks. A rather encouraging increase on previous years tallies so far.

Other species of interest on the marsh included 18 Shelduck, 5 Teal, 3 Wigeon, a male Shoveler, 4 Light-bellied Brent Geese, 4 Little Egrets, 19 Great Black-backed Gulls, a Stock Dove & a singing male Stonechat. A Swift was seen overhead, 22 Swallows & 4 Sandwich Terns migrated North and a female Kestrel was showing well, hunting along the dunes.

The Breaches have been re-opened recently. Good news for terns, waders & Otters © Niall Keogh  

A tern nest marker stone from last year. That's good ink! © Niall Keogh  

Oycs & Ringos

Not only have the Little Terns done well this year down at the Kilcoole colony but so have the Oystercatchers & Ringed Plovers. This isn't surprising given that they also benefit from the extra protection from predators & human disturbance afforded by the fencing & 24 hour a day wardening. 

A total of 15 nesting attempts were made by 7-8 pairs of Ringed Plovers, comprising of 2 pairs in the N-colony, 4-5 pairs in the K-colony & another pair just to the north of the K-colony fencing in the buffer zone. Most of these pairs laid early enough to allow them to raise their first brood & then try again for a second. 

The two pairs that bred in the N-colony were predated at the egg stage, most likely by Hooded Crows, but one pair did manage to hatch it's chicks from a second nesting attempt. Otherwise, only a handful of eggs failed to hatch & these usually involved eggs in second clutches which is to be expected.

So all in all, 43 chicks hatched with a maximum of 37 fledging of which 31 were ringed. This is a great result compared to last year when 6 pairs bred but hardly raised any young to fledging for reasons unknown.

Various Ringed Plover chick pics. They're definitely the coolest little fellas on the beach! © Niall Keogh

The two pairs of Oystercatchers that nested on the beach (a pair each in the K & N-colony) both laid 3 eggs of which which 2 hatched from each nest. The parent Oycs did a great job keeping their young well fed & out of danger, chasing every gull & crow that approached in anyway close with the result that all 4 Oyc chicks fledged & can now been seen feeding in The Breaches estuary. A third pair also bred nearby in Webb's field, fledging two young. Again, another improvement on last year when both pairs on the beach fledged single young each whilst the Webb's field pair was predated at the egg stage.

A well grown Oyc chick from the OC2 pair in the K-colony being fed by a parent © Jamie Durrant

One of the two Oyc chicks from the pair that bred in Webb's field. Both chicks were caught & ringed © Niall Keogh

Despite doing well off the back of nesting within the fenced area of the beach, the poor Oycs did have to put up with a summer of being harassed daily by the Little Terns! © Jamie Durrant

Winding Down

Well, it's all getting very quiet down here folks. The number of terns at the colony has been decreasing dramatically over the past two weeks, with max. flock counts (adults + juveniles) dropping from 135 on 15th July to 105 on 20th and from 80 on Wednesday (27th) right down to c.60 birds this morning. The strange thing is that we don't really see any of the terns actually leave (i.e. a group heading off to the south) but it's certainly noticeable in the differences in flock counts from day to day.

Amazingly, there's still one active nest left, K119 which has 2 eggs...and it's due to hatch any day now! I would have thought that this pair would have given up by now & abandoned the nest but they've stuck with it. Fair play! But then again even if the eggs do hatch in the next day or so the chicks won't fledge until late August, so they'll definitely be the last birds on the beach.

White flecking appearing on the forehead, dark shadowing forming behind the black bill tip & around the nostril...all signs of winter plumage starting to show through. © Niall Keogh

Jason at the colony information stand, trying to keep up with the demand for BirdWatch Ireland pin badges which are selling like hot cakes!!! © Niall Keogh

The breeding figures for the season still stand at 99 pairs but now with 157 young, of which 117 are fully fledged juveniles & 40 are unfledged chicks (the majority of which will be on the wing in the next 10 days). It's great to be able to look down the foreshore & see groups of fledglings lined up, preening themselves whilst they wait (im)patiently for their parents to arrive with the next fishy meal. There's also quite a few young terns giving fishing for themselves a go too. Some seem to be just getting wet for the sake of it, as all they manage is a quick splash whilst others are more adept, picking up sticks, dropping them into the water & then retrieving them which must be an attempt at honing their accuracy. Although entertaining as it is to watch, the benefit of this kind of 'playing' will really become the difference between life & death later this autumn when juvenile terns have to begin fending for themselves. 

Little Tern fledgling - seeing them like this really makes all the effort worthwhile! © Niall Keogh

We've also been investigating some aspects of Little Tern feeding ecology this summer, with two of our volunteers, Ruby Stansfield & Rosie Newton, carrying out a short diet study of small (<1 week old) chicks. For the most part, sandeels prevail as the dominant food source but during the first few days, chicks are being fed heavily on gobies caught in the nearby lagoons & estuary. Older chicks & fledglings are certainly getting fed more specifically on clupeids, most likely sprat, which are often found discarded in the colony during nest checks.

Plenty of clupeids like this one can be found throughout the colony as they were probably too big for the chick to swallow! © Niall Keogh 

Goby sp. caught in Webb's field lagoon, perhaps Pomatoschistus microps? © Niall Keogh

Still no trouble out of any of the local Foxes or Hedgehogs yet this season (touch wood) but the falcons are certainly making their presence felt. A male Kestrel swooped into the K-colony yesterday afternoon, grabbing an 8 day old chick which he promptly dropped as I ran straight for him across the beach! Save for a small puncture wound above the left leg, the chick was unharmed & ran off strongly down the foreshore after a thorough examination just to make sure it was ok...lucky divil! The last thing we need now in the final weeks of the project is for a Kestrel to start picking off our remaining chicks so Kestrel Watch 2011 has been initiated!

A pair of Peregrines that bred in east Wicklow this season have produced two young, both of which can be seen flying up & down the coast most mornings, chasing everything in sight from Little Terns to Shags! In fairness, they seem to be just practising their hunting skills and more than likely wouldn't be capable of taking a tern but saying that I'll still be giving them the evil eye anytime they make an appearance!!!

Juvenile Peregrines. Not the easiest of birds to photograph but you can just make out the blue colour rings on their legs, fitted by NPWS rangers as part of their Peregrine monitoring program © Niall Keogh