Helping Breeding Waders on the Shannon Callows
The Shannon Callows is one of the key areas in Ireland for our four most common species of breeding waders: Curlew, Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe. Sadly, numbers have been declining, due to a combination of nest and chick predation and loss of habitat quality. In 2007, as part of the Breeding Wader Management Project on the callows funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, BirdWatch Ireland identified three priority sites where the habitat could be improved, namely Esker and Inishee Islands in Co. Galway and Devenish Island in Co. Roscommon. With additional funding from the Heritage Council and Galway County Council, most of this work took place in August this year.
A major part of the work on Inishee involved the erection of a predator-proof fence around the island, some 3km in length, designed to exclude foxes and mink. This was a new strategy to protect nesting waders on the callows from predation, and early indications are that it has been very effective, with many more birds fledging this year compared with recent years. In addition, lowering and re-profiling of existing drains, creating new drains, a scrape and a small dam and sluice all served to create more suitable chick feeding habitat inside the fence. The removal of trees and bushes has reduced the number of available perches from which crows and birds of prey are known to hunt.
Lying adjacent to Inishee is Esker Island, which suffered from extensive scrub encroachment, making it unsuitable for nesting waders and providing habitat for predators. Removal of the scrub and standing trees and creation of a new scrape have restored the habitat and with a suitable grazing regime, we are very hopeful of seeing a return of Lapwing and Redshank to the island next year.
Devenish Island in Co. Roscommon, once an important site for Lapwing and Redshank, has been undergrazed in recent years and large tussocks of Tufted Hair Grass predominate. The removal of trees and scrub has improved the habitat and the next phase of work will involve removing the tussocks with a flail mower. Hopefully we will see an increase in wader numbers here too next year.
Our thanks are due to the landowners on these islands, who have been willing to allow us to carry out this work; indeed we are grateful to all the farmers on the callows who have worked with us to improve conditions for breeding waders in recent years, and we hope to soon see a recovery in numbers as a result.