June 2010 – issue 2

A dry sunny spring has encouraged visitors to Reserves but may prove difficult for breeding waders as their feeding habitat dries out.

Edwin Poot’s daughter names konik foal. Portmore. On Wednesday 2nd June The Environment Minister Edwin Poots MLA made a private visit to Portmore Lough Reserve. His daughter Lydia aged 10 named one of this years foals ʹCookieʹ. Lydia also enjoyed catching damselflies and identifying them.

Reed Warblers at all time high. Portmore. 34 reed warblers were counted on territory at Portmore Lough Reserve at the end of May. There has been a steady increase since 7 were recorded in 2004. A search for garden warbler and spotted flycatcher did not produce any birds.

Tern Rafts modified. Portmore. With 56 nests recorded on the tern islands space is now at a premium. If only 2 chicks per pair fledge by the end of July there will be over 200 terns at Portmore. A low floating raft has been made to accommodate new fledglings that land in the water and cannot take off again. This will enable them to dry out and fly or be fed. Temporary perches have been placed in the water to accommodate the large numbers. The population is estimated at 100prs.

Cycle man visits Portmore. Portmore. Gary Prescott who is cycling to all RSPB Reserves visited Portmore on the 2nd June. He spent a full day working with the wardens and volunteers. A keen birder and dragonfly man he was able to add Irish Damselfly (Seen at the Montiaghs) to his life list.

Bird news at Lough. Belfast Harbour Both arctic and common tern numbers are up at the reserve. Definitive numbers will become apparent at the end of the breeding season. 4 pairs of lapwing bred on D2, and 1 chick has fledged. 13 pairs were on the NCA, with 2 chicks fledged and one well feathered.

Dry weather affects lagoon. Belfast Harbour The prolonged dry weather caused the lagoon to completely dry up in recent weeks. With assistance from NI Water and some much needed rainfall, water levels are back to normal.

Volunteers get together. Belfast Harbour The volunteer team at Belfast Harbour recently met for the first of their quarterly get togethers. The first meeting held at the observation room was a great success and all enjoyed a presentation by Director James Robinson.

Membership recruitment on course. Belfast Harbour and the Seabird Centre Staff and volunteers at the Harbour have worked hard to recruit new members since the beginning of the financial year with half of last years total recruited since April. The Seabird Centre is on target with 40 members recruited by June 1st so our goal of 142 this year is well within our sights!

Work continues on management plan. Sliabh Beagh The overall plan structure consists of a technical document and ‘glossy’ strategy document. The technical plan will be used to satisfy statutory requirements of NPWS/NIEA and to negotiate e.g. restoration areas with Forest Services and landowners. The “glossy” version will be used by the Truagh Development Association to use for public site promotion and specific project funding applications.

Management plans for landowners assessed. Futurescapes Management Plans for individual landholdings have been assessed by NIEA and DARD. All NICMS agreements have consent (3) while 6 plans have been assessed by NIEA. CDP site visit took place on 11/06/10 – we expect all consents to be in place for the management plan by early July 2010.

Habitat restoration on peat extraction sites. Futurescapes Reserves Ecology will pay a visit to the peat extraction site at Newferry Bog (north of Lough Beg) in July 2010 to make recommendations re potential habitat restoration/creation post peat extraction. In addition, at Ballyscullion Moss (a ca.150ha peat extraction site to the east of Lough Beg) the RSPB, NIEA, dan Planning Service are engaged in an approach to seek to secure a restoration plan for the area post peat extraction.

Landscape scale restoration in Antrim Hills an d Ferm anagh. Futurescapes The RSPB and NIEA have agreed to work towards the landscape‐scale restoration of blanket bog and peatland habitats in the Antrim Hills while seeking to deliver ecosystem services. A management plan will emerge by May 2011. This approach incorporates the Antrim Hills SPA and the Garron Plateau SAC/ASSI. The RSPB and NIEA have agreed to work towards the landscape‐scale restoration of lowland wet grassland habitat in the Upper Lough Erne area. A management plan will emerge by May 2012.

Breeding success on islands. Lower Lough Erne Many chicks are now out and fledgling on Hare and Horse Islands although final numbers are not yet available. Breeding has been less successful elsewhere with foxes possibly present on White Island South for the first time. Presumably, they got access during the freeze.

Gulls and terns move from Gravel Ridge Island. Lower Lough Erne Following designation as an ASSI last October the black‐headed gulls and Sandwich terns abandoned for the first time since at least 1969. The gulls have partly relocated to Cruninish ASSI but the terns are probably on Lough Swilly or Tory Island.

Bird news at Aghatirourke. Lower Lough Erne No golden plovers are present. However 5 pairs of snipe are with a few red grouse were recorded. Skylarks have had a good year with meadow pipits faring less well.

Woodpeckers confirmed. Lower Lough Erne Great Spotted Woodpeckers were confirmed in Fermanagh and may have been present since last year. Also present in West Tyrone.

Visitor Numbers Up. Rathlin Seabird Centre Total visitor numbers as of the 1st June ‐ 3361, up 239 on this time last year.

Visitors, are you a member? Rathlin Seabird Centre Of the 2487 visitors in May, 730 were members including 7 life members, 300 were school children and 500 were non‐English speakers. That leaves just under 1000 viable membership candidates including families so our membership team have recruited close to 4% of the potential membership!!

Rathlin Form: Rathlin The NI Executive will implement a three way working partnership between itself, the islanders and any other interested parties to take forward the purpose, aims and objectives that have been developed by the Rathlin Development and Community Association. RSPB are represented on this working group by the Reserves Manager and the Warden. The first meeting of the Rathlin Forum was held in May and it was a useful meeting which identified issues and paved the way forward for better communication.

Chough News - The Story so Far. Rathlin 2010 has been a strange year. Quite what happened is difficult to know, but it looks as though the male from the 2009 pair is the bird that was found dead and it is certainly the case that a young male from last yearʹs brood has returned. In itself that is an interesting development ‐ it survived and has returned to its natal site ‐ encouraging news! We still donʹt know where it and the adults spent the 09/10 winter but the observation of a single chough in SE Down in late spring hints at an Isle of Man connection. The nest was checked on 25th May and no eggs were found.

NIEA Grants Team Visit Rathlin Island. Rathlin The entire NIEA Natural Heritage Grant team spent a great day on Rathlin visiting the areas of the reserve that they awarded grants to over the past 5 years. They were taken on a guided tour by the Rathlin Warden, Assistant Warden and the Reserves Manager. For some of their team it was their first visit. They all left enthused by our work!

RSPB colleagues visit Rathlin Rathlin Early summer months saw a number of meetings with colleagues from the Lodge, Scotland, and NIHQ discussing a range of topics from people engagement, corncrake recovery, Health and Safety and acquisition. Neil Cowie, an RSPB Reserves Ecologist based in Scotland visited during the first week in May and carried out habitat assessments for corncrake over the whole island.

Royal visitors on Rathlin: Rathlin The Earl and Countess of Wessex visited the island on 9th June. They enjoyed a private visit to the Seabird Centre and were welcomed there by staff and volunteers.

Media news: Rathlin Rathlin will feature in several TV programmes, including the popular UTV series Lesser Spotted Ulster, a TG4 documentary and the island also featured in the Financial Times travel section.

New species nesting. Rathlin A great skua was sitting on 2 eggs by 25th May, this is the first breeding pair in NI. The nest was later seen with shell fragments – the young were hatched but not seen. In addition, a siskin resident over winter was feeding young in June – the first breeding record for the island.

For further information about our nature reserves and other work in Northern ireland, visit our website at www.rspb.org.uk/northernireland