Glenveagh Nature and Outdoor Learning Centre

This months featured bird:

Corr réisc / Heron

Previous featured birds:

Osprey

Jay

Sparrowhawk

Merlin

Red Throated Diver

   

 

Featured Bird

Corr réisc

Grey Heron

Ardea cinerea

Watch out for the Grey Heron.

These huge birds live here all year round.  They are found on shallow waters, both inland and on sheltered coast.

They are about 100cm tall, with a wingspan of up to 175cm!

They hunt by stealth, waiting in shallow water; staying very still, then striking with speed for its prey.

They feed mostly on fish in shallow waters, but will sometimes take frogs from bog pools and small birds such as ducklings in the spring, small mammals and occasionally insects.

In winter they tend to move to coastal waters, which will not freeze as much.

As many as 3,650 pairs breed in Ireland

Numbers increase to about 10,000 in the winter as young birds from northern Europe are driven from established territories by older birds.

You can see Grey Heron’s at this time of year in Glenveagh along the shores of Lough Veagh, especially near dawn and dusk. 

Listen out for their distinctive harsh ‘kronk’ call which can carry long distances.

 

Previous featured birds.

LÓMA RUA

Red-Throated Diver

Gavia stellata

The Red-Throated Diver is the symbol of Glenveagh National Park.

It is one of our rarest breeding birds, about half a dozen pairs breed every year, all in the Northwest.

Divers are known as Loon’s in North America.  The word Loon comes from an old word meaning lame. 

They are specialised water birds, their legs being so far back that they cannot walk on land.  They have to push themselves on their bellies to their nests.

But in the water they are powerful swimmers and have the ability to alter their buoyancy so that they can partially submerge themselves in the water, leaving only their bill and eyes above the surface.

Unlike most birds they have solid bones.  They need a large area to take off from.

In Glenveagh they can be seen fishing at the shallower end (northern end) of the main lake.  They have a duck like call when they are flying off to other feeding grounds.  Watch out for them circling high over head if you hear their call.

In the water their bill is held pointing slightly up from horizontal.

Meirliún

Falco columbarius

Merlin

  • WHERE TO FIND THEM IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

In spring they have been seen in the skies above the Visitor Centre.  Keep a watchful eye on the bog where they hunt in the spring/summer.

  • NOTES

A very fast specialized hunter of meadow pipits, these amazing acrobats will fly at 1 metre from the ground pursuing their prey for a long time.  Sometimes they hunt in pairs.  Often sits on a prominent perch in between hunts.  They can be very aggressive towards any other bird of prey in the area while nesting.  As they sometimes nest in trees or near woods this makes for a safe habitat for other woodland birds which are not their prey.

  • DESCRIPTION

Small falcon.  27 – 33cm body length.  52 – 69cm wingspan.  Male Merlin is the smallest falcon in the northern hemisphere.  Rapid wing beats.  Flies low and fast while hunting.  Short pointed wings, quite wide in the ‘arms’.  Light colour underneath with stripped tail.

  • SONG

Only heard in breeding season, male calls when displaying, female if disturbed on the nest.  A shrill kii-kii-kii.

  • NEST/YOUNG

Nests on the ground, sometimes in rocks and occasionally on old crow’s nests in trees.  They have one brood. 

  • HABITAT

Mostly open heath / bogland.  Moves to coastal areas in the winter.

  • DIET

Mostly small birds, in particular Meadow Pipits.  Very occasionally small rodents and bats.  Sometimes dragonflies and moths.

 

Coirneach

Pandion haliaetus

Osprey

  • DESCRIPTION

Large Raptor, 52 – 60 cm, wingspan 190 – 240cm.  Grey/brown on top, with a white head, dark eye stripe and white underparts with dark patches.  Long quite narrow wings with separate feathers or ‘fingers’ on the ends.   Shortish tail.  Shallow powerful wing beats and hovers when looking for prey, then diving feet first.

  • SONG

Not often heard, but have a very high pitched loud ‘kew-kew’ sound,  also sometimes a more whistling ‘pyep’

  • NEST/YOUNG

Passage migrant through Ireland, no known breeders at this time.

  • HABITAT

Mostly large freshwater lakes or rivers.  Occasionally coastal.

  • DIET

Virtually exclusively fish.  Very few other birds of prey feed on fish, and none exclusively.

  • WHERE TO FIND THEM IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

In spring and autumn they can be occasionally seen around Lough Veagh, perching on dead trees or patrolling the lake, especially further up the glen (sthwest end).

  • NOTES

A very rare visitor to Glenveagh and Ireland, but the last two autumns there has been a number of sightings.  This year there has been numerous Osprey sightings from mid September to mid October.  They migrate possibly from more northern latitudes to Spain and North West Africa.  They will stop in suitable locations on route.

 

 

SCRÉACHOG

Garrulus glandarius

(Eurasian) Jay

  • DESCRIPTION

35cm, wingspan 58cm.  A very colourful member of the crow family.  Pinkish to grey brown body, black and white tail with a blue flash on the wing.  Black stripe coming out from the beak.

  • SONG

Harsh loud ‘kschaach’ or 'kaa' is usual, although known to have other sounds including similar call to the buzzard.

  • NEST/YOUNG

A cup of sticks/twigs with softer inner lining usually in the fork of a tree 1.5 or more metres above ground.

  • HABITAT

Woodland, deciduous or coniferous, sometimes in parks with a lot of trees.

  • DIET

Prefers acorns which are stored for winter but will take other tree seeds.  Often takes eggs and young of small birds in the summer.  Also eats berries, slugs, insects and small mammals.

 

  • WHERE TO FIND THEM IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

Woods along the view point trail and woods along the glen walk from the castle to the waterfall.

  • NOTES

Jay’s are here all year round but are elusive.  You will hear their loud screeching call more often than you will see them.  They can carry acorns several kilometres to their winter stores.  Forgotten winter stores are important sources of regeneration for oak trees.  Jay’s raise a crest of feathers on their head when agitated.  Ireland’s Jays are a race unique to this country.

 

 

Spioróg

Accipiter nisus

Sparrowhawk

Sperber

Epervier d’Europe

  • DESCRIPTION

29 - 34cm.in length.  Grey above, white with black bars or stripes across breast.  Male more orange on breast and inside of wings.  Small raptor.  Tail longer than width of wings.

  • SONG

Kewkewkew sound in breeding season.  Juveniles can be quite noisy with a thin sounding pii-ih repeated.  Silent outside breeding season.

  • NEST/YOUNG

Breeds in woodlands, sometimes using other abandoned nests.  Usually nest is built 6 – 12m up a tree.  Dry twigs creating a flat loose structure, lined with leafy twigs.  Usually 4 – 5 eggs, incubated for 32 – 35 days by female.  At 15 days after hatching the chicks can feed themselves and after 32 days they can fly, but depend on parents for another month or so.

  • HABITAT

Woodlands, decidous and coniferous.  Occasionally seen in gardens and parks.

  • DIET

Nearly exclusively small birds.

  • WHERE TO FIND THEM IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK
  • A pair bred successfully in 2010 in the pine forest on the Derrylahan nature trail.
  • NOTES

A specialist at catching small birds, they will often fly very low, following hedgerows or natural boundaries to flush out their prey.  Have been known to follow prey into cover on foot.  Extremely agile amongst trees/shrubs.  Their flight pattern helps to identify them, they glide for a few seconds, followed by short fast wing beats, and then gliding again.

 

 

Fiach Dubh

Corvus corax

Raven

Kolkrabe

Grand corbeau

  • DESCRIPTION

44 - 51 cm.  Wingspan 81 – 94 cm.  The largest of our crows, the raven is metallic black with a heavy grey bill.  A wedge shaped tail helps to tell it apart from other crows while in flight.

  • SONG

Loud very deep short call, repeated.  A faster hard sound is its alarm call.

  • NEST/YOUNG

A large mass of sticks bound together with earth and moss.  Nests on cliffs or high in trees.  Have eggs late January to early march to take advantage of new born mammals.  Usually 4 – 6 eggs.  Incubated by female only for 21 days.  Chicks fledge after 35 – 49 days, independent after four weeks or so.

  • HABITAT

Sea cliffs, old forest or mountainous regions.

  • DIET

Scavenger.  Carrion of all kinds.  Also eggs, weaker small mammals, slugs and worms.

  • WHERE TO FIND THEM IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

There is a pair breeding in the Derrylahan pine forest, they can be seen anywhere along the glen.  Also often seen at the head of the valley.

  • NOTES

The wedge shaped tail and a very powerful slow wing beat with fast flight help tell this bird apart from other crows while flying.  The end of the wings can sometimes look swept back.  They pair for life and unlike other crows they keep to themselves.

 

 

Gobadan Coiteann / Ladhran Locha

Common Sandpiper

Actitus hypoleucos


  • DESCRIPTION

Small wader.  Length 20cm.   Wingspan 32cm.  Sandy Brown on top and head, white below, with speckled brown collar.  Long bill, short legs.  Long tail, rear end of bird habitually bobs, especially when it has just landed.  Flies low over the water.  Stiff swept back wings and a neat appearance.

  • SONG

Alarm call is a short high pitched whistle, repeated three times, often while in flight.  Song high pitched short ‘tittyweety-tittyweety’. 

  • NEST/YOUNG

A shallow hollow on the ground by the edge of streams or lakes, often by vegetation, lined with loose material.  4 eggs are normal.  Incubation, 4 weeks.  Young can fly by 13 days, fly well by 21 days, independent by 4 weeks.  1 brood per season.

  • HABITAT

Breeds beside lakes, stony rivers/upland streams.  While migrating, settle for a wide variety of sandy/muddy and stony shorelines, preferring fresh water. Wintering take up territories similar to breeding territories

  • DIET

Crustaceans, insects, worms, and other coastal creatures.

  • NOTES

Most waders’ spend their winter in Ireland and return to more northern latitudes to breed.  The Common Sandpiper is unusual in that it returns to Ireland in late April to breed.  It has a short breeding season, usually going back south by mid to late July.  It travels as far as West Africa, south of the Sahara.  A few birds winter further north from the Mediterranean to southern Britain.

  • WHERE TO FIND THEM IN GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

Along the edge of the lake, sometimes in short grass, other times bobbing on small stones by the water’s edge.  At least 3-4 pairs breed here, near the Derrylahan Nature trail, on the way to the castle, by the entrance to the castle and further up the glen.

 

 

Fainleog

Hirundo rustica

Swallow

Rauchschwalbe

Hirondelle de cheminee

National Parks & Wildlife Service, 7 Ely Place, Dublin 2. Phone: +353 1 8882000 Fax: +353 1 8883272