Open day at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre tomorrow
Nuala Madigan from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre
Although we are well into spring, unfortunately the amount of rainfall we have been experiencing probably has made you rethink that woodland, park, bogland or canal walk!
Whatever the weather the Irish Peatland Conservation Council plan on celebrating one of our first Féile an Dúlra, festival of nature open days tomorrow, Sunday, April 21 to celebrate World Curlew Day.
With funding support from Kildare County Council, this festival day will be free for you to come along and enjoy a bogland walk with us. We will be meeting at 10am at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre (R51V293) before we walk to Lodge Bog to explore the management practices undertaken on this reserve to maintain suitable habitat for the curlew before we return to the centre for a cup of tea.
We cannot guarantee a fine day or even a sighting of the curlew but we will provide lots of fascinating information on this iconic bogland bird. You might be wondering why there is a day to celebrate the curlew (Crotach as Gaeilge).
This initiative was established to raise awareness of the plight of the curlew. Did you know that since the 1980’s there has been a 98% decline in curlew populations in Ireland?
Habitat loss is believed to be the main driver for the curlew’s population decline and with populations so low today, 105 breeding pairs in 2021, this has both limited the curlews ability to find a mate and then protect their nests from predation.
The curlew is a wader with long legs and neck, a bulky body and curved beak. Their call is an unmistakable ascending "cur..lee, cur..lee" whistle. In summer they spend their time inland on boglands and wet grassland habitat but as they use their long beaks to probe into pools and the soft peat of boglands in search of invertebrates in winter they move to the coastline where they are sure the water will not freeze unlike that of its the freshwater inland habitats.
If you would like help identifying a wildlife observation in your community you can contact me on [email protected].