During Heritage week Kathryn and I went back to Inishee Island to
finish up work on the fence for the year. We rounded up a great group of
volunteers who all worked so hard to get the work done in two days.
All the birds were gone and it was very quiet – a big change
from earlier on in the summer when all you could hear were the calls of
breeding Lapwing, Redshank and Curlew and the chipping and drumming of breeding
Snipe!
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| ©K.
Bismilla |
It was incredible to see how much the vegetation had grown back along the fence! You wouldn’t have known myself and John had spent days trampling it down and cutting it back a couple of weeks earlier!
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| ©K.
Bismilla |
The first job we had to do was to open the gaps in the fence. It was
nice to see the operation of the fence the whole way through as I had been
there when we closed the gaps back in May. The gaps are opened to allow the
cattle access to the area outside of the fence for grazing. This stops the
river margins from becoming rank, which can be a deterrent to breeding waders,
and also gives the farmer back valuable grazing area.
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| ©K.
Bismilla |
While half of the volunteers got to work opening the gaps
the rest of us commenced work tackling the overgrown vegetation. We had our
work cut out trampling it down and cutting it back with hedge clippers. In some
places the reeds were growing well above our heads and it was strenuous work!
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| ©K.
Bismilla |
Every time we go to the island we bring a voltage checker to
check the current that runs along the electric fence. I saw just how important
it is to keep on top of the vegetation because when it touches off the electric
wire it drains the current.
With the gaps opened,
the vegetation controlled and electric fence running smoothly, it was time to
leave the island for the last time. It feels good knowing that the work we did
on the fence will make a real difference protecting breeding waders on Inishee
Island next year and hopefully for many years to come!
Kathryn
and I have also been getting out to some of the other management sites along the Callows where we have seen flocks of post breeding Lapwing and the odd solitary Snipe. There is definitely something special about the farmland of the Shannon Callows… especially knowing that it is one of the last strongholds for our rare breeding waders!
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| ©K.
Bismilla |
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| An old drain, which is perfect chick rearing habitat ©K.
Bismilla |
