The first chicks and a record year!

It happened. The record has been broken. There are an astonishing 108 active pairs of Little Terns in Kilcoole. The previous record was 106 pairs in 2006. Incredibly, we are still finding nests and are expecting some more to relay. We were agonisingly stuck on 99 nests on Saturday the 14th of June but we completed the century with a tentative single early Sunday morning. This was perfect timing for the hugely successful Carlow and Wicklow Branch of BirdWatch Ireland outing later in the morning. Darren and I were both involved with the Baltray Little Tern Project last year which was also a record year so our good luck continues. However, we are under no illusions and records do not matter in June. We will see how the Little Terns are doing in August! Nevertheless it is great to see so many of them nesting here and with the good weather we hope this excellent start continues. 

Kilcoole Little Terns © Peter Cutler

The good news does not stop there as our first Little Tern chicks of the year hatched today! K1, found on the 25th of May, had 2 chicks this morning. When we checked the nest the second chick had just hatched and it was unusual to see the egg shell still in the nest and yolk on the head of one of the chicks! K1 was laid earlier than the rest of the group so most off the hatching will take place later this month. There are a staggering 244 eggs on the beach. This makes the colony all the more attractive and vulnerable to predators. The colony is now a beacon to predators with so many birds and eggs and the density of nests is so high that any stray dogs (or members of the public!) have a much higher chance of crushing eggs if they enter the colony. 

The first Kilcoole Little Tern chicks 2014 © Anne-Lise Gerard & Andrew Power (Picture taken under NPWS  licence)

We started seeing some strange creatures drifting under the bridge into the lagoon a couple of days ago. We now have up to 40 Barrel Jellyfish washed up into the lagoon. Some of them are gigantic and can be up to 80 cm in diameter and weigh 35 kg! Check out this link to find out more - http://www.jellyfish.ie/irish_sea_jellyfish.asp#2. The good weather has also brought out the more colourful day flying moths such as the Hummingbird Hawk moth, the Six-Spot Burnet moth and the Cinnabar moth. The Oystercatcher chicks that hatched last week seem to be doing very well and starting to bulk up in size. We've also got another Oystercatcher pair nesting in the south end of the colony which gives us a total of 3 nests in close proximity. This gives the terns in the south end of the colony 6 hefty bodyguards. 

Barrel Jellyfish © Anne-Lise Gerard 

Kilcoole Oystercatcher chick © Anne-Lise Gerard & Andrew Power (Picture taken under NPWS  licence)

Andrew Power and Darren O'Connell

The trials, tribulations and triumphs of a Little Tern Warden

* Before we update you on all the exciting news from the Little Tern Project I would like to remind everyone that there will be a joint Carlow and Wicklow Branch of BirdWatch Ireland outing to Kilcoole on Sunday the 15th of June. We will be meeting at the Kilcoole Railway Station carpark at 10:00am. This is always a great opportunity to meet some of the conservation team and get a guided tour of the Little Tern Colony!

Kilcoole Little Tern © James Murphy

It has been a strange week here in Kilcoole full of highs and lows. The nest explosion has continued and we're still finding more by the day. We have more than double the amount of the nests than the previous year! However, we were brought back to reality on Monday morning the 9th of June (the day the Earth stood still) after we discovered that 10 nests were depredated in the space of a couple of hours! 4 nests were completely destroyed and 6 were partially depredated, 4 of which were later abandoned. We did not see the culprit but based on the evidence it was almost certainly a corvid. It was most likely one of the usual suspects, Hooded Crows or Rooks, but we're not ruling out the Jackdaws, who have become ever bolder in entering the colony in search of food. It was hard to take at the time, especially as we were steamrolling our way to 100 nests! Luckily this attack has come early in the season, meaning that affected Little Tern pairs have a chance to relay, so all is not lost. For the moment the attack remains an isolated one but we will remain vigilant. The topography of the beach is more erratic than in previous years which leaves plenty of blindspots for predators to exploit and there is no predator out there as canny as a corvid.

Usually corvids leave no trace after taking eggs but on this occasion they left a messy scrape behind © Anne-Lise Gerard

Disturbance in general has been quite high this week with a number of unleashed dogs wreaking havoc on the foreshore and we recently discovered a nest, with the egg intact, covered in blood. A grim sight and proving to be a bit of a mystery. Before Monday morning we lost one nest to an unknown predator but we suspect it to be an Oystercatcher. Oystercatchers do not really look for Little Tern nests but, like most animals, they are opportunistic and will not tern down a free meal! We also lost one nest to the tides. We have a number of nests that are precariously placed on the foreshore that we are keeping a close eye on. The Spring tides are fast approaching but the forecast is looking good so fingers they can get through the next week.

Kilcoole foreshore vulnerable to high tides © Kristina Abariute

The road to recovery has already begun. We have subsequently found  7 nests and we know there are more out there. We now have a staggering 91 active nests with a combined total of 216 eggs! In the knowledge that there are more nests to find and that there are 10 pairs that need to relay, we know that we have over a 100 breeding pairs in Kilcoole which is great news. We are also expecting the first Little Tern nest (K1) to hatch in the next couple of days. Our first Oystercatcher nest hatched yesterday and we now have 3 prehistoric looking chicks running around on the beach to join the Ringed Plover chicks!

Kilcoole Oystercatcher chicks © Kristina Abariute & Andrew Power  (Picture taken under NPWS  licence)

 Kilcoole Ringed Plover chick © Kristina Abariute & Andrew Power (Picture taken under NPWS  licence)

There is always exciting wildlife to be found  in Kilcoole. The good weather has brought out the butterflies, damselflies and lizards but the highlight of the last couple of weeks has to be this stunning Osprey which briefly flew south past the colony!

Kilcoole Osprey © Niall Keogh

Andrew Power and Darren O'Connell

Egg explosion! (not literally)

On the 28th of May we had but one nest. In the space of 5 days there has been an explosion of egg laying on the beach and we now have 40 nests, with a combined total of 61 eggs! The terns have evidently taken advantage of the good weather and we're expecting this trend to continue.

Little Tern nest © Andrew Power (Picture taken under NPWS  licence)

Many terns have been nesting beside the colony's Oystercatcher pair, perhaps taking advantage of the their guard dog capabilities! The Oystercatchers will call loudly and aggressively chase away any potential predators from their nest site. However the Oystercatchers receive little gratitude for their services as the terns continuously mob them while they are in the colony!

Noisy neighbours! Little Tern and Oystercatcher side by side © Peter Cutler

As always there is plenty of wildlife here in Kilcoole. A family of Otters have been making regular appearances around the camp and a very lonely Whooper Swan can be heard and seen most days calling to itself. It should have migrated by now but may have been injured. For the last few days there has been a Curlew Sandpiper hanging around with a flock of Dunlin which was a nice surprise.

Kilcoole Curlew Sandpiper © Peter Cutler 

Darren O'Connell and Andrew Power

Some nasty weather and the first nest!

After a promising start in Kilcoole, the poor weather of late has given us a minor setback. The wind, rain and cold have delayed the Little Terns nesting and we have only just found that elusive first egg today, but we're not complaining! We were getting a little anxious but after the stormy weather on the 23^rd of May we’re glad they were a little late. The strong northeast winds coupled with the high tide took down part of our seaward fence and washed plenty of seaweed onto the beach which later attracted foraging Hoooded Crows, a major foe of the Little Terns. 

 The nasty weather on Friday © Andrew Power

The tides even managed to encroach as far as one of the Ringed Plover nests and one of the Oystercatcher nests. The resourceful Ringed Plover parents incredibly moved all four of their eggs out of the nest scrape about 30 cm away from the threatening tide to safety! The tide briefly and gently covered the Oystercatcher nest but we expect everything to be okay as eggs are resilient and durable. Both the Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers were incubating on their nests as normal when the weather calmed down.

The original nest scrape is on the left and the 4 eggs moved by the parents can be seen on the right © Andrew Power

It was sad to find an injured Guillemot in the colony that had obviously suffered from the horrible weather. It died shortly after we found it showing how tough the conditions were. Hopefully the bad weather will at least encourage the Terns to nest higher up on the beach.

A casualty of the bad weather © Andrew Power

To end on a positive note the first Ringed Plover chicks of the year hatched successfully on the 21^st of May, nice and early.  We have also seen plenty of fledglings on site such as Pied Wagtails, Stonechats and Robins. The weather has certainly improved for the moment and it was great to see so many butterflies fluttering about, we spotted the first Painted Lady and Common Blue of the year today. We have a long season to look forward to and hopefully the sun will keep shining!

Kilcoole Ringed Plover with young © Andrew Power

Andrew Power 

A new season starts and farewell to our great leader!

The 2014 Kilcoole Little Tern Conservation Project has well and truly started. The wardens are on site, the fences are up and we are eagerly waiting for the first Terns to nest. The signs are good with flocks of well over 100 Little Terns roosting on the beach at night (max count 141). Ringed Plovers (6 nests) and Oystercatchers (2 nests) have started nesting within the colony and we expect the Terns to join the party any day now.

 Oystercatcher nest, Kilcoole © Andrew Power

We would like to take this opportunity, before the season really kicks off, to thank Niall Keogh for his substantial contribution to the project over the years. It was a strange feeling deleting Niall’s profile off the blog and moving into ‘his’ caravan! Niall started volunteering in Kilcoole as a teenager and has been a full time warden in Kilcoole for the last 4 years. His presence on the beach was almost as reliable as the Terns themselves, so much so that a day rarely goes by without a member of the public asking where Niall has disappeared to!

Both Darren and I would not be working on this project if it were not for Niall. I was first introduced to him in 2010 and quickly became a volunteer and a good friend. I joined him in Kilcoole as a full time warden on the project last year. Niall first met Darren last summer in somewhat more unusual circumstances during the  Bioblitz in Glendalough. Darren slipped on the boardwalk and Niall helped Darren stem the bleeding on his knee (a wound which ended up requiring six stitches)! Next thing Darren knew he was volunteering in Kilcoole and shortly after became a full time Little Tern Warden in Baltray.

Niall is spending his summer in Scotland (where he very much enjoys the food, drink and birds) and on the R.V. Celtic Voyager surveying seabirds and cetaceans. Niall recently saw a Bermuda Petrel, the first ever sighting in Europe, way off the Kerry Coast so he is just about managing to cope without the Little Terns this year. He has assured us that he will be volunteering here on his days off. In fact Niall has already spent several days down here volunteering already and fittingly he found the first nest of the year while I was asleep. Luckily we saved face and found a couple more after he left! Niall has even generously donated a spare tripod to the project this year. His good deeds go on….

Niall marking the first nest of 2014. Photo by Ríona Howard

So on behalf of the project team we thank Niall for all his hard work, help and commitment to the project!




Andrew Power and Darren O'Connell

Little Terns spotted at Kilcoole... and Dublin City!

The first Little Tern sighting of the year at Kilcoole (and Ireland) came on the 10th April when BirdWatch Ireland's own Dick Coombes saw one day roosting in the lagoon adjacent to the colony site. It was not seen thereafter and was assumed to have continued on North. This was a particularly early record but was soon followed up by a couple of other reports from sites in Co. Galway.

The next batch of Little Terns appeared in Co. Wexford with 7 at Rosslare Backstrand on 12th April. Over 20 birds were present there again yesterday plus another 4 at Tacumshin Lake.

With that, I took myself off down to the colony site at Kilcoole this morning and sure enough two adult Little Terns were present feeding actively offshore with a group of their larger relatives, Sandwich Terns. Great to see the bouncing flight style & hear the distinctive call again!

We'll expect more terns to start arriving from the end of April on wards with laying due to commence in about the third week of May.

In the meantime, I'd like to take the time to highlight a great project being run at the moment by DAVE which "aims to use art and social media to raise awareness of some of the endangered species in Ireland by placing free art in urban spaces." Essentially, a piece of art depicting a threatened Irish species is placed somewhere in a town or city (Dublin, Galway etc.) and a picture of it is posted online with some basic directions/hints as to where it is. If you find the piece then you get to keep it! (as long as you then share a pic of it's new home)

Just over a week ago, a pic was posted by DAVE of a Little Tern painting which was up for grabs in Smithfield, Dublin. As it happens, myself & fellow tern warden Andrew Power were in Dublin at the time so we legged it as fast as we could to Smithfield only to find the painting gone! But all was not lost. While en route, we sent out a few sneaky texts to friends in Dublin who we knew were nearby! Sure enough the painting was found by one of them just before we got there and they have kindly donated it to the Kilcoole Little Tern Conservation Project. The painting will find its place down at the colony site later this summer!

Pic posted online by DAVE with the info "A Little Tern in Meetinghouse Lane, Dublin city."...

Wardens arrive to find it gone!...

But thanks to our good friend Brian we now have it!

Be sure to follow DAVE on Facebook and Twitter for more updates on wildlife art which will be presented around the country.

Volunteers Needed For Upcoming Breeding Season

We're looking for volunteers to assist with the conservation of Little Terns at Kilcoole this season.

 

No experience is necessary, all we ask is that you're keen to help out & willing to learn lots about seabirds in the process!

Some of the typical duties which are often carried out by volunteers include:

• Assisting with the construction of protective fencing around the tern colony at the start of the breeding season.
• General ecological monitoring throughout the summer (flock counts, chick feeding studies etc.).
• Liaising with members of the public, providing general information on the terns & conservation project as well as facilitating viewing of breeding birds from a safe distance through telescopes.
• Ensuring disturbance from humans & dogs is kept to a minimum.

So if you'd like to spend some time this summer helping to protect one of Ireland's rarest breeding birds then please get in touch with us by e-mail on littletern@birdwatchireland.ie