Speaker for Tuesday 12th November 2013 - Mr. Michael Conway
Talk by Michael (Mick) Conway on local wildlife
Club President Graham Kane welcomed club members to the meeting and then introduced our speaker for the morning Mr. Michael (Mick) Conway, who gave a fascinating and unique illustrated talk about the wildlife that members could see in he local area, and specifically at the Roe Valley park.
Mick began his talk by introducing the members to his wonderful collection of stuffed birds and animals, which he used to illustrate his talk – it certainly made an enjoyable change to the ubiquitous 'PowerPoint' picture shows!
(Just some on the 'props' Mick used - Photo from Des Moore)
(For more photos 'Click' this link)
Starting with the Robin, we began our look at local wildlife, and learning some interesting facts and figures about it too. For instance, there are around 3 million Robins to be found, and uniquely, the Robin is the only bird that sings in the winter months.
Most of the indigenous birds in Ireland are essentially 'Forest' birds, as our island was once (around 7,000BC when people first arrived at Mountsandal) 95% covered with dense forest. By 4,000BC farming people began to arrive in Ireland, and so the forests began to shrink. Today less than 5% of Ireland is forested, and that is mainly the imported Pine, rather than the traditional 'broad leaf' deciduous trees. Forest bird species are mainly in decline, although some are learning to adapt, the Robin being one.
Mick then went on to talk about the Chaffinch (note the striking bill difference between this and the Robin, even if the both have a 'red breast'!). From there we had a look at the Thrush (which can almost see behind it's self due to the positioning of it's wide angle eyes), before going on to the birds of pray in Mick's collection.
Starting this section with the Sparrow hawk (in serious decline, now only about 30,000) and the very rare native 'Long Eared Owl' (a totally nocturnal bird). Here we had a spot of member participation, when Ian Murray volunteered to assist Mick by acting as a mouse to his 'Owl' attack. Such are the Owls double layer, soft feathers that it can fly silently to swoop down on its live food supply.
Our demonstration was followed by a look at the Magpie (a recent import to Ireland, first released here in the 1850s), which eats other birds' eggs and babies – ugh! And then the increasingly rare Cuckoo – these migrate the Congo area of Africa, with the yearly expansion of the Sahara Desert, many just don't make it across.
Local mammals were the next area of wildlife to look at, and Badgers were the first. The Roe Valley Park has a large and thriving 'Set', but you would have to visit at night to see any live badgers (our 'stuffed' version looked lovely). Next we saw a Fox (which is becoming increasingly 'urbanised' and the Irish version is DNA linked to Northern Spain, NOT the UK!) then an Otter, a Hare (Arctic variety, so could have been 'local' during the Ice Age), a Rabbit (introduced in 1800s and makes a good food source to local Weasels), a Hedgehog (currently hibernating – even if our was stuffed – and severally under threat, down from 20 million to around 1 million), then Squirrels, original Red and the recent (1812) Gray, which has decimated the Red population. Finally, we had a quick look at local Bats – there are nine species in Ireland, the biggest is only about adult thumb size, the smallest less than half that. All are very helpful, as even the smallest bat will eat around 3,000 midges a night to survive.
Finally we got a look at some birds from he coastal areas. Starting with Gulls, we saw the smaller common Gull and were able to compare it (the Irish version is DNA linked to Northern Spain, NOT the UK!)
This interesting and highly enjoyable talk was followed by an equally interesting Question and Answer session. Just some of the topics raised were: 'Would the wildlife on the Ben AONB be affected by the proposed massive wind farm'? – Unlikely to be a problem (once the work done, main problem would be the 'look' of it for humans). 'Do you do your own Taxidermy?' - No, it's a specialist job, and very expensive. 'Has the Jay population increased'? - Possibly as they are now seen more in the forested areas. 'Is it a help to feed the birds in winter'? - Not really, they can manage, and if more live, then there's less food all round, also it encourages rats into the garden, so Mick doesn't feed at all. 'What about the Corncrake'? - This is another victim of climate change; they too have to cross the Sahara, so far less are making it over. And shortage of time then meant we couldn't ask more.
A vote of thanks was proposed by Dermot Jennings, who congratulated Mick for his interesting, informative and very educational talk, which was uniquely presented throughout and enjoyed by all. This was passed on by the President. The members showed their appreciation.
(Secretary, Mike Turner)
