Volunteer enquiries to:Dick Coombes (CBS Co-ordinator),BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20, Block D,Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Greystones,Co Wicklow, A63 RW83Tel: (01) 2812408E-mail: rcoombes@birdwatchireland.ie

Your dawn counts are truly valuable

CBS News

The Countryside Bird Survey is a joint project of BirdWatch Irelandand the National Parks and Wildlife Service (of the Department ofCulture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht)

Swallow – symbol of summer. Found in 90% of CBS squares, showing a stable trend overall,but anecdotal reports suggest declines in some regions.

Quite a few of you reading this will be about to launch into CBS fieldwork for the 23rd season. Many more of youwill have been doing the survey for perhaps five, ten or fifteen years. And then for some of you, this business ofcounting birds on early morning walks will be a whole new experience. To all of you we say a very big thank you!

NEWSLETTER OF THE COUNTRYSIDE BIRD SURVEY • ISSUE No 19 MARCH 2020

Rich

ard

T M

ills

covered last year was 329, the highestreturn since the survey began.The level of effort and commitment put

in by survey participants is phenomenal –to date, nearly 15,000 early morningcounts have been carried out and anastounding 44,600 km walked within thesquares. Add to this the time anddistances walked and driven to get to thesurvey squares, not to mention the timetaken to input the data later. And as forthe number of birds counted so far, wellthat runs to close to 2.4 million!There is no stopping now. The natural

environment is under pressure from manyquarters and the farming community isunder pressure too, both to be ever moreproductive and, indeed, to simply survive.With your help, the Countryside BirdSurvey will continue to keep a watchful eye

on our bird populations and providerobust data to help inform the relevantpolicy and decision makers in governmentcharged with maintaining and improvingIreland’s biodiversity.Spring is in the air! The show goes on.

Enjoy your fieldwork.

Dick Coombes,CBS Co-ordinator

Two decades of monitoring have given usmuch valuable information about how ourbreeding bird populations are faring. Weknow that most species are doing okay – at least since 1998. But we must not befooled by the stable trends shown by somespecies such as the Yellowhammer, whichhas contracted its range in Ireland byalmost 60% in the 40 years between thefirst bird atlas (1968-72) and the mostrecent one (2007-2011). Most of thedecline happened in the 1960s and 1970s,as a result of drastic changes in farmingpractices, and this was before theCountryside Bird Survey commenced. So, in1998, CBS counts for many farmland birds,including Yellowhammer, were low, so anyincreasing or stable trends calculated fromthat point onwards should be interpreted asbeing purely relative to that low base.Imagine if the CBS had started in the 1960s.But the CBS has produced some good

news stories too. We have seen astonishingincreases in the numbers of Goldfinch andBlackcap. CBS has shown significantincreases in Redpoll, Chiffchaff and HouseMartin too. The survey has also shown howresilient some species can be. The severewinters of 2009 and 2010 took a heavy tollon the populations of Stonechat, GreyWagtail andMeadow Pipit, but in just afew years all of these have bounced back.The CBS is all about trends – comparing

the numbers from one year to the next.Producing these trends is a lengthy processwhich starts with you, setting that alarmclock, driving to your square and countingthose birds. The CBS needs around 230participants every year to survey a minimumof 300 squares across the country. We aredelighted to report that the total number

Counting birds in ancient ClonmacnoiseMaura Noonan gives an account of her experiences in her CBS square in Clonmacnoise, Co Offaly, since 2000.

It was the year 2000. Joe Proudfoot hadarrived in the world in early February. I’mnot saying there was a connection, butmy husband at the time contacted DickCoombes to offer our services to survey a

square. We were given a choice of three, soearly one morning Paul set off to visit each ofthem and he unreservedly opted for squareN0030 – better known as Clonmacnoise.Founded by St Ciaran in the 6th century,

Clonmacnoise is one of the oldest and mostimportant Early Christian settlements in Europe.It was built where an ancient east-west roadwayknown as Slighe Mhór crossed the RiverShannon, having traversed the bogs of centralIreland along a route known as Esker Riada.

And so it was that on May 6th, 2000, we setoff at the crack of dawn to do our first CBS,listening to a CD of birdsong on the journeyfrom Dublin. Two hours and 34 species later, I was hooked!The first five 200m sections run south along

the banks of the Shannon. From the get-go,birds abound: in the bushes around theinterpretive centre; in the flooded fields to thenorth; Swallows and Swifts fly up and downthe river, not to mention all the waterfowl onthe river itself. Most years we have flocks ofBlack-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels, one

year we had a Ruff, and another year a WaterRail. Then there was the year the SandMartins had just arrived and were flyingupriver in their thousands. A Hen Harrierglided down the river once and, in 2018, as Iwas returning to the car, a White-tailed Eaglewas perched on a post on the opposite sideof the river.We’ve seen a great selection of waterbirds,

including Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Shelduck,Shoveler, Redshank, Lapwing, Curlew, GreatCrested Grebe, Snipe, Ringed Plover, Dunlin,Common Sandpiper and Golden Plover –the wonder of migration. There is a hedgerowwhere we always get Reed Bunting.And then there was 2012. On June 25th I

recorded a Little Egret. We had never seen aLittle Egret in Clonmacnoise before and didnot get a second one until 2019. And earlierthis year Joe informed me that a Great WhiteEgret had been reported from Clonmacnoisein April 2012!After the first five sections we cross the

road and climb onto a ridge of eskers. It’sanother world, one that abounds withCowslips and hares… and barbed wire fences!But the view is spectacular and by this time ofthe day leisure boats are snaking up and downthe river. There are not too many species here,but we regularly spot a Kestrel, Buzzard orSparrowhawk from our lofty height and weoften hear the iconic call of a Cuckoo.We finally drop off the esker onto the fringes

of a massive raised bog covered with sallytrees, gorse and heather. There is usually achoir of birds singing from a hawthorn copse insection 8 – this is where our birdsongidentification skills are put to the test. We getmany regular songbirds here includingBlackcap, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, WillowWarbler and Goldcrest, and usually a Redpolland a Bullfinch to complete our finch list.There has been no change in the habitat in

eight of the sections since I started surveyingin 2000. But the last two sections were

scraped almost clean a few years ago, leavinga much thinner border of sally and gorse.Fortunately, some fields nearby are left tonature’s own devices, so numbers of songbirdshave remained fairly constant.Foot-and-mouth disease got in the way in

2001, and twins born in May got in the way in 2004, but I have surveyed the squarebiannually every year since. It has been a realfamily event, with my Dad, both my brothers,my niece, my nephew and of course my ownchildren all coming for different visits.Not surprisingly, as Joe got older, our

species numbers improved: our best year was2019 when we had 57 species on the earlyvisit and 54 species on the late visit. We arestill getting new species most years, Jay beingadded in 2019, White-tailed Eagle in 2018and both Siskin and Fieldfare in 2016. Todate, we’ve had a total of 84 species.Clonmacnoise is a magical, mystical place,

especially at first light with not a soul orsinner about. And although I dread the alarmclock on those mornings, there is always asense of thrill and excitement as I start off onsection 1 and do my first scan of the river and floodplains.So, roll on April, when we will hit the road

yet again and do our bit for conservation, and you never know what might fly up theriver this year.

Clonmacnoise Castle, Co OffalyPhoto: Maura Noonan

Inset: BuzzardPhoto: Dick Coombes

BullfinchPhoto: Dick Coombes

Common SandpiperPhoto: Dick Coombes

CBS News No 19 March 20202

A milestone publication on our countryside birds

CBS News No 19 March 2020 3

common breeding birds and providescomprehensive information on the currentstatus of Ireland’s commonest breeding birds.What you might not know, however, is that

these CBS data were also used to informIreland’s national reporting as required underArticle 12 of the EU Birds Directive,highlighting the value of these data and themassive contribution made by volunteers,without whom a monitoring scheme such asCBS could not be carried out.This information should be shared as

widely as possible: the report is availableonline1 and each current CBS participant willalso receive a hard copy in the post in thecoming months in recognition of theircontribution to this important survey.

■ CBS is funded by the National Parks andWildlife Service and coordinated by the CBS Office,based at BirdWatch Ireland. The volunteer surveyeffort is also supplemented to a significant degreeby both BirdWatch Ireland and the National Parksand Wildlife Service staff.

ReferencesBalmer, DE, Gillings, S, Caffrey, BJ, Swann, RL,

Downie, IS & Fuller, RJ (2013) Bird Atlas 2007-11: the breeding and wintering birds of Britainand Ireland. BTO Books, Thetford.

Gibbons, DW, Reid, JB & Chapman, RA (1993)The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain andIreland: 1988-1991. T & AD Poyser, London.

Sharrock, JTR (1976) The Atlas of Breeding Birds inBritain and Ireland. T & AD Poyser, Berkhamsted.

1 www.bit.ly/IWM115

The severe declines in Swiftpopulations are by now welldocumented: these summermigrants are facing a housingcrisis of their own throughout

Ireland. BirdWatch Ireland has beencollecting nest site records in countiesaround the country for the past number ofyears to help inform our conservation effortsin response to these worrying declines.BirdWatch Ireland conducted its first

County Swift Survey in the summer of 2017,

in Offaly, and since then six more counties –Laois, Tipperary, Westmeath, Sligo, Meathand Wicklow – have been fully surveyed byour Urban Birds Project team, branchvolunteers and citizen scientists.These efforts have been complemented by

surveys undertaken by our branch membersin Kildare, west Cork and Dublin.All of this accumulated knowledge helps

the work conducted by the ever-increasingnumber of Swift activists and groups aroundthe country who are proactively addressingSwift declines through direct conservationaction.In the last three survey seasons, just shy

of 1,400 Swift nest sites were identified inover 600 structures in the seven counties.Strong numbers, one might surmise, but weknow large colonies can vanish overnightwhen buildings containing nesting Swifts aredemolished and redeveloped withoutknowledge of the birds or any mitigatoryaction being taken.Identifying and protecting existing

populations is a vital step in arresting Swiftdeclines, and it feeds the efforts to providenew and permanent accommodation forIreland’s nesting Swifts.

The County Swift Survey effortcontinues this summer. You can help byentering your Swift sightings or details ofnest sites by clicking the Swift button on the‘Submit Sightings’ page of the NationalBiodiversity Data Centre’s webpage at:www.bit.ly/swiftrecords.■ The County Swift Surveys are made possible withfunding from the Department of Culture, Heritageand the Gaeltacht – National Biodiversity ActionPlan Fund, the Heritage Council and the localauthorities in each county.

The County Swift Surveys

A detailed analysis of CBS data from the twenty-year period 1998-2016 has produced exceptional findings. Lesley Lewis reports.

Ricky Whelan reports on how BirdWatch Ireland, its branches and citizen scientistseverywhere are documenting Swifts in our towns and villages.

The Countryside Bird Survey(CBS) is one of Ireland’s longestannual bird monitoring schemes,with sustained coverage across awide range of habitats and

geographical regions, capturing trends inIreland’s common breeding bird species.Last December saw the online publication

of a new report, Countryside Bird Survey:status and trends of common and widespreadbreeding birds 1998-2016. Using the datacollected through CBS, this report providesdetailed accounts for 52 bird species, whichincludes updated population estimates, andboth 10-year and 18-year population trends,for each species. Each species account alsoprovides trends in breeding distributionsbased on comparisons over time, using datafrom both CBS and previous breeding birdatlases (Balmer et al, 2013; Gibbons et al,1993; Sharrock, 1976).The report concludes with an assessment

of the current environmental and man-madepressures and threats facing Ireland’s

SwiftPhoto:Richard T Mills

Swift. Photo: Richard T Mills

4

“Apart from city centres, there isvirtually no habitat in Britainand Ireland where Cuckoos donot occur.” That was the

opening line of the text for Cuckoo in thefirst breeding bird atlas, the fieldwork forwhich was carried out in the years 1968-72.Sadly, that statement no longer holds. Thedistribution map in that publication showsCuckoos present in almost every 10kmsquare in the country. Forty years on, theequivalent map in the 2007-11 bird atlasshows a swathe of large gaps, especially ineastern and southern counties, representinga range contraction of over 25%. So,Cuckoos are in a bit of trouble.However, they are holding their own in the

west of Ireland, the highest densities being inGalway and Clare, and the latest CBS trendshows numbers to be stable since the surveybegan in 1998 (declines would have occurredbefore CBS started).Cuckoos command quite large territories

and so are not common anywhere. Their highdependency on hairy caterpillars as a foodsource means that Cuckoos are now mainlyfound in marginal habitats such as bogs,mountains and coastal dune systems. Today’sintensive agricultural practices result in areduced abundance of insect life, so much ofour lowland farmland areas no longer supportCuckoos.Cuckoos spend the winter in the humid

zone of Africa, well south of the Sahara, andtheir main arrival in Ireland takes place duringthe second half of April. The earliest onrecord is April 2nd and any claims of earlierdates in the letters’ pages of newspapers arealways suspect. A badly heard Collared Dovecould just about pass for a Cuckoo, but thereal deal is unmistakable and indeed thebird’s common name is the ultimate exampleof onomatopoeia in action. The Cuckoo’ssong is an iconic sound of the countrysideand to hear it is a welcome sign that springhas arrived.

CBS News No 19 March 2020

Species Focus

Cuckoo

High

Low

Increasing

Stable

Declining

Aside from its characteristicvocalisations, the Cuckoo isequally renowned for itsreputation as a broodparasite. While the malesings from bushes andfence posts to stake out the territory, the female watches for and finds nests of other, smaller birds. She will remove one egg and lay one of her own ineach of up to 25 different nests, all this timedto when the host clutches are being laid. Atthis point, the adult Cuckoos relinquish allparental responsibilities.The egg colour mimics that of the host’s

eggs and has a shorter incubation period. The newly hatched chick, bald and blind,instinctively heaves the other eggs or chicksout of the nest and is fed till it reachesmonstrous proportions by its “adopted”parents.In Ireland, the Cuckoo’s main host species

is the Meadow Pipit, another species foundmainly in marginal habitats nowadays. InBritain, Dunnock and Reed Warbler are alsowidely used, while in Europe, over 100different species have been recorded. AdultCuckoos begin their departure southwards inJuly – the juveniles will follow a month or solater, completely unaided.Research into why Cuckoos are in decline

has identified depleted food availability(caterpillars) on the breeding grounds as onefactor. But what might be happening duringtheir migration? The loss of half the Cuckoopopulation in Britain over the last twenty yearshas prompted the British Trust for Ornithology

(BTO) to launch an innovative project to findout. Each summer since 2011, the BTO hasbeen fitting male Cuckoos (80 so far) withsatellite tracking devices. The results arefascinating. Cuckoos spend a mere 15% oftheir year in the UK, almost 50% in Africaand, significantly, 38% on migration.The birds take two distinct southbound

routes – some going via Italy and the easternMediterranean, others via a westerly routethrough Spain, looping around west Africabefore heading further south. Birds taking thislatter route were found to suffer higher ratesof mortality on migration. So, do someunfavourable environmental conditions prevailin the countries along that route? The workgoes on. Amazingly, all tagged birdseventually converge on the Congo River basin– in relative terms, quite close to each other.These revelations just add to the catalogue

of amazing facts that surround this interestingbird whose lifestyle could, at the very least,be described as “colourful.”

Dick Coombes, CBS Co-ordinator

CuckooPhoto: Colin Rigney

Cuckoo abundance change from 1988-1991 to 2008-11. From the Bird Atlas 2007-11, courtesy of BTO

Cuckoo breeding abundance 2008-11.From the Bird Atlas 2007-11, courtesy of BTO

In flight, the Cuckoo resembles a Sparrowhawk.Host birds may betray the location of their

nests as they react to the perceivedpredator threat.

Photo: Richard T MillsBackground photo: Dick Coombes