Rare curlew nest destroyed in fires
ONE of Ireland’s most threatened birds, the rare curlew, was among the wildlife casualties of the recent gorse fires in Sligo.
Conservation Ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service Miriam Crowley is reporting the curlew nest has been destroyed in the fire near Geevagh.
“They were there last year and came back this year. That was one of only three curlew nest sites in Sligo. They’re so rare, it’s such a shame,” said Miriam.
There are two other curlew nesting sites near the River Moy and near Riverstown.
Fire crews from Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon and Longford fought the extensive outbreak in the Sligo/ Roscommon border area near Geevagh, Kilronan and Ballyfarnon on Friday May 5th.
There was an extensive outbreak on Arigna Mountain, with heavy smoke drifting down from the mountain over Geevagh, Ballyfarnon, Kilronan and onto Keadue.
Miriam has also been assessing the damage to wildlife on Killery Mountain, the scene of a massive blaze across Slish Wood on Wednesday May 3rd.
“There was a lot of damage done. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
The fire was sparked at the height of the nesting season and the timing was very bad in relation to ground nesting species such as red grouse, golden plover as well as all the tree nesting species.
“I got a report of a bird of prey calling in distress, so obviously its nest was being destroyed,” said Miriam.
“It was screeching, a peregrine or perhaps a buzzard. Everything was burnt to a crisp. There’s no chance of finding anything ( alive),” she said.
“Foxes would run or go down into their dens. The little ones would be capable of running by now,” she said.
Deer too are expected to have ran to safety, but their most pressing problem now is food.
“There’s nothing left to eat in Slish Wood. They’ll have to move closer to the Union Wood area, thereby increasing pressure on other areas. Fires like that upset everything,” she said.
Inspecting the blackened landscape, Miriam said the area was “eerily silent.”
“There was no birdsong. You don’t realise how strange that is until you experience it,” she said.
But on a positive note, she said the area is already starting to green up again and many species may move somewhere else and try to nest again.
“I would appeal to people just to respect the wildlife and the nesting season and not to be burning, especially in dry weather,” she said.
Other wildlife damage was done to nestlings, parent birds sitting on eggs, meadow pipits, cuckoo, skylarks, grasshopper warblers and all tree nesting species.