September 2010 – issue 3 Continued good weather through spring and summer has allowed reserve operations to start on time after the bird breeding season. This is a welcome change after three consecutively flooded summers. Himalayan balsam. Fermanagh Control of this invasive species continues apace given the opportunity to manage plants before seeding afforded by the absence of breeding terns on Gravel Ridge Island. Reserves staff meet with Forest Service and NIEA. Fermanagh Negotiations with Forest Service have begun into renewing our lease over Castlecaldwell Forest and islands first signed in 1969. In addition Brad Robson met with NIEA staff in Upper Lough Erne to advise on habitat. Visitor from Tristan da Cunha. Fermanagh Kirsty Green from the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department visited Northern Ireland in late July spending an afternoon at NIHQ before travelling to Fermanagh Reserves where she assisted with the control of invasive species, looked at reserve management planning, annual breeding bird monitoring and habitat management for breeding waders. She then visited Rathlin Island to see the Seabird Centre and island projects. Funding progress. Fermanagh Progress continued in pursuit of Rural Development Plan funding for a major habitat restoration project on Lusty More and White Island North. Successful breeding season. Fermanagh A good breeding season with especially encouraging numbers of fledged juvenile curlews seen. This is unusual since tall vegetation generally makes it hard to find chicks. At least 10 juvenile curlews were seen on Rabbit Island and 6 on Hare Island. Unusual butterfly spotted. Fermanagh Large numbers of Silver‐washed fritillaries were present on Lusty More and in Castlecaldwell Forest. Major investment for people at Portmore. Portmore. The fundraising team and Portmore wardens have attracted match funding to develop Portmore Lough Reserve as a year round visitor attraction. A staggering £280K from DARD/RDP and NITB has been secured. New toilets, office and a community room. Portmore. The above development includes an energy efficient wooden chalet style building with public toilets, a long needed warden’s office, a store and a community room for meetings and events. Work starts immediately and will be due for completion before Christmas. All-weather path and replacement boardwalk to the hide. Portmore Funding will allow year round access for wheelchair users with a ramped access to the hide. The initial route planned through the adjoining wooded bank has had to be modified due to increased badger activity. Eel fishing ban. Portmore Eel fishing using fyke nets on tributaries into Lough Neagh and on the Lough itself has been banned since 1st June. This includes Portmore Lough and the new law has implications for the game‐keeper who controls shooting at Portmore through an arrangement to fish commercially for eels. The ban is part of a Europe wide measure to conserve eel stocks. Work with Lough Beg landowners. Futurescapes All consents for the Lough Beg Management Plan are now in place. The Lough Beg Management Group was established on 2nd August 2010. The group consists of local farmers/landowners and RSPB staff and the role of the Management Group is to allow RSPB staff to work closely with landowners who are implementing the Lough Beg Management Plan. Nobel laureate supports RSPB. Futurescapes World renowned poet Seamus Heaney kindly agreed to write the foreword to the glossy version of the Lough Beg management plan which goes to print to coincide with the start of large scale habitat restoration work. Given the many demands on Mr Heaney’s time, this reflects his strong links to the area. Developing a partnership with NI Water. Futurescapes RSPB is working in partnership with NI Water the largest landowner on Garron Plateau towards implementing landscape scale conservation work of peatland/blanket bog on their land at Dungonnell Reservoir and the catchment area for Quolie Reservoir. Lack of food affects breeding terns. Belfast Harbour There was an almost total collapse of the tern colony this year with each pair laying only 2 eggs instead of the usual 3. Sadly from the first clutch hatched, one chick died within the day, the same occurred with most other clutches. A scan of the large island showed 20 abandoned nests. Based on last years figures and the number of terns present this year, it would be safe to say that tern productivity was down by 90% We suspect the collapse was due to a lack of food with few sand eels or fry being brought in. Flounder was the predominant fish brought in and the chicks can’t swallow them. Some pairs of common tern tried again, laying only one egg but none were successful. Volunteer team delivering on membership. Belfast Harbour Forty volunteers are now on the books and the results are beginning to show with the total number of new memberships in the first quarter of this year reaching 13. The total for all of 2009 was 17. With a target of 35 for 2010, we hope we are well on the way to beating the target! Reserve spreading the word to local businesses. Belfast Harbour The first issue of Harbour Highlights, a newsletter giving information on the reserve was recently distributed to staff at Clare House the office building overlooking the nature conservation area. We have already received positive feedback from staff there and we hope it will encourage them to visit Belfast Harbour. Chough and corncrake update. Rathlin Although the male chough died during the incubation period, the female remained and was joined by a ringed male offspring from last year, and the 2 birds are present at the time of writing. Two unconfirmed reports of corncrake calling were recorded at Kebble and north east of Roonivoolin. Skua nest monitored. Rathlin Further monitoring of the nest suggested that if the eggs hatched, the young did not survvive. The most likely reason being that the pair was young, this was their first nesting attempt and as they were not vigilant the young were predated. Mixed fortunes for seabirds. Rathlin Auks had a slighly better year with a small increase in most numbers except for black guillemots. Fulmars had another poor year. Kittiwakes seemed to start off well, but deteriorating weather conditions, poor feeding and predation resulted in fewer chicks than expected fledging. Rare birds and cetacean sightings. Rathlin A bee‐eater was sighted by Director Dr James Robinson and a couple of marsh harrier sightings have also been reported. A humpback whale was spotted off the West Lighthouse with porpoises and pilot whales also seen. Ecologists meet with reserves staff. Rathlin Dr Jo Gilbert head of Reserves Ecology and the reserves ecology project officer spent 2 days on Rathlin in July. Prior to the visit Anja Rosler carried out a grassland survey of reserve areas. Weather affects silage crop. Rathlin A cold long spring leading into a very dry May/June resulted in the silage crop being much reduced this year. From the same 40 acres cut last year, yielding 336 bales, we have copped only 148 bales in 2010. Management work continues. Rathlin Topping of bracken and thistle has been ongoing through the period at Kebble, Knockans, Craigmacagan and Roonivoolin. Road repairs at Kebble have been undertaken, with 25 tons of stones being used to fill potholes and work has commenced on replacement fencing at Knockans. Encouraging statistics at Seabird Centre. Rathlin 13,500 visitors have been welcomed to the site this season and a strong team of 42 volunteers has contributed 70% of all hours worked with 152 memberships recruited to date. Albino guillemot stands out. Seabird Centre Rathlin Visitors were delighted to spot a white guillemot nicknamed “Waldo” at the base of the stack! Visitors impressed by work on reserve. Rathlin John McMillen Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency enjoyed a visit to Rathlin on 3rd August where he met with staff and was given an overview of our work at the site. DOE Minister, Edwin Poots visited with the NIEA team and they were escorted to the Seabird Centre and around the Roonivoolin trail. NIEA Assistant Director, Bob Bleakley, commented that the Minister was ‘genuinely impressed’ and believes he will be an ‘enthusiastic advocate for the tourist potential of the island’. For further information about our nature reserves and other work in Northern ireland, visit our website at www.rspb.org.uk/northernireland .