Birds of a feather flock together
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF WRAPPED UP WARM AND HEADED TO THE BLACKDITCH WILDFOWL RESERVE IN NEWCASTLE WHERE FEATHERED VISITORS FROM ARCTIC LANDS WERE INTRODUCED BY WICKLOW BIRDWATCH CHAIRMAN JOE LENNON
IT’S wonderful to have access to this area,’ declared one woman who turned up for the annual walk around the Birdwatch Ireland wildfowl reserve at Newcastle.
Wonderful? Really? What is so wonderful about these sodden fields littered with rushes? What is so wonderful about this marshy land, much of it submerged under water at this time of year? In a county famous for its mountains, the reserve is billiard table flat, a piece of drab low-lying territory stuck between the railway line and the firmer ground further inland.
On the morning of the pre-Christmas walk, this slice of marginal terrain was looking, frankly, at its most desolate. Temperatures were cold and the breeze made the cold all the colder, while a moody sky threatened imminent rain and drained the countryside of all colour. But the people who showed up for the annual wildfowl walk were all hardy folk, snugly dressed and not disposed to complain about minor inconveniences.
We were not expecting Mediterranean sunshine and dry paths under foot. All we sought was an expert to be our ornithological guide through this unique place. And our expert was duly on duty.
Joe Lennon, with a camouflage patterned sleeveless jacket on his back and a telescope slung over his shoulder inspired our instant trust. By the time he had given finished with us, we would be of the unanimous view that this was a slice of paradise rather than a bleak backwater. Joe was introduced by reserve warden, the soft-spoke Andrew Lynch, who told us that our guide was taking us into the largest wetland complex on the east coast of Ireland, no less.
Then Joe took over, first distributing a sheet of paper bearing illustrations of some of the birds we might hope to see. This briefing document seemed a good idea as it was most unlikely that we would see any lapwings or whooper swans, for instance, up close. And it was most unlikely that we would see a curlew at all, since the once plentiful species is under very real threat of extinction. At least we had a picture.
Clutching our sheets, we set off on foot down the Sea Road towards the railway crossing, a score or so of hardy walkers. As we made our way over the tracks and turned south along the sea wall, Joe explained why we were here. He waved at the fields over to our right and noted that they are grazed by cattle in summer time, just like any other agricultural field.
However, then the reserve then becomes saturated during the wintertime and the farmers withdraw their stock to make way for lighter creatures. The inundation is not spectacular but is best described as ‘shallow flooding’, transforming the summer meadows into winter pools and marshes and fenland.
It makes a perfect feeding ground for flocks of feathery migrants who come from as far away as Greenland and Siberia to take a break in Ireland’s mild climate. They soon become accustomed here to the rumble of passing trains and to the roar of light planes taking off from the nearby aerodrome, though they continue to find helicopters alarming.
‘This is what we were hoping to see,’ declared Joe Lennon grandly, planning his tripod on the pathway and pointing his telescope inland at some silhouettes in the distance. Peering into
the ’scope it was possible to pick out some detail of the silhouettes which turned out to be wigeon happily paddling around one of the pools.
Joe’s ability to spot birds is remarkable, at one stage detecting a blur in the corner of his eye and calling us urgently to see a line of golden plover whirr overhead. They were in a hurry, flashing past in a matter of seconds, but there was no dodging the Lennon radar. On this occasion, however, he was really less interested in the plovers and concentrating more on the ducks and waders. With his assistance we delighted in the presence of a large flock of godwits and the sharp-eyed amongst us picked out redshanks ghosting across the grass.
Among the company was Deirdre Burns, Wicklow County Council’s heritage officer, clearly delighting in the experience of what she called grandly ‘this jewel of wetland’. The local authority has been supporting a series of walks such as this, and she indicated that the support is likely to continue.
Our party came to a halt opposite the redbrick ruined remains of the old Cable House, once an important hub for communications across the Irish Sea. In the wind and the wet, with the waves heaving on the rocks behind us, we took it in turns to follow the wildfowl through the lens and we pondered the immense journeys which brought them here. Ducks which decide that they may run out of food if they remain in the Arctic think nothing of flying from Iceland to Ireland in one hop.
‘Ireland is the favourite stopping off point for the wigeon,’ mused Joe. ‘We also get large numbers of teal.’ He became most excited at the prospect of spying a shoveler or two – yet another species of duck, this one resembling the common mallard to the untrained eye. He let the mask of dispassionate observer slip as he described them frankly as ‘gorgeous’. The various kinds of duck, swan and goose may be observed, not only here at the reserve in Newcastle, but also at various points in the precious habitat of The Murrough between Wicklow Town and Kilcoole.
While the shoveler and teal sported and played in full view, we were led to believe that there might be snipe and water rail concealed and invisible in the reed beds beyond. Among the observers on the walk was the learned Doctor Steve Newtown of Birdwatch Ireland, a man who clearly knows a stonechat from a stone.
He reported that the population of winter water fowl across Ireland is reckoned to have dropped 40 per cent in the past 20 years. The good news is on the other hand that East Wicklow has been largely defying the downward trend.
It is suspected any decline is related to conditions in Greenland, Iceland and Scandinavia where milder winters, caused by climate change, may mean that there is less impetus to migrate here. Swans coming from the Russian tundra, which once used to feel compelled to fly as far as Ireland for a good feed, now call a halt to their journey instead in Denmark.
The good doctor was able to stand over his statistics as the flocks are given regular censuses, with volunteers such as Joe Lennon conducting regular counts. After the formality of the walk, your reporter enjoyed a stroll with Joe along the board-walk through the reeds and a chat in the timber hide which is open to the public throughout the year.
The Bray resident is the current chairman of Birdwatch in County Wicklow and very familiar with the marsh, fen, reeds and woodland of the 92 hectare Black Ditch reserve. The land, which used to be part of a commercial farm, was acquired with the assistance of EU money more than ten years ago.
Joe revealed that the membership of Birdwatch in the county stands at 365 – ‘we could use a few more’ – part of an organisation which claims 15,000 members nationwide. He was first awakened to the wonders of birdlife by his late grandfather who bought the Dundalk native his first pair of binoculars at the age of nine. He was prompted to explore the fields around Dundalk and then venture into the wilds of the Cooley Peninsula.
He continues to extol the attractions of Louth to anyone who will listen, though he has been living for more than three decades in County Wicklow. A retired civil servant, he feels that birds are a great gateway to understanding nature for people because they are part of our everyday life. Mammals tend to be elusive and insects are so small but, put out a few peanuts on a window ledge and the birds will come a-flocking.
He has friends whose ornithological mission is to track down rare species, the more obscure the better. Joe, on the other hand, finds delight in the common birds, tracking their behaviour and their movement
He makes a point of logging code numbers on the rings which enthusiasts put, for instance, on the greenshank waders which inhabit the reserve. He heads frequently to Sandycove in Dun Laoghaire to spot gulls that were ringed in Germany: ‘It is a great kick for me to see how far they have travelled.’
Such observations feed into the scientific monitoring of the birds in a world racked by climate change and global warming. He urges anyone with an interest to follow him to Newcastle, where the reserve was officially opened to the public by President McAleese back in 2009. Dogs are not allowed but people are welcome to wander around the various signposted walkways or linger in the hide at any time of the year. They might pick out a red kite or white egret, two species which have successfully re-introduced themselves to Wicklow in large numbers.
IRELAND IS THE FAVOURITE STOPPING OFF POINT FOR THE WIGEON. WE ALSO GET LARGE NUMBERS OF TEAL AND THE SHOVELERS ARE GORGEOUS