O Curlew, cry no more in the air,
Or only to the water in the West;
Because your crying brings to my mind
passion-dimmed eyes and long heavy hair
That was shaken out over my breast:
There is enough evil in the crying of wind.
W.B. Yeats
Leopard Slug pictured on Ardee Bog
The Curlew is one of Ireland’s most distinctive and ubiquitous birds, and its song has long been associated with the arrival of spring in Irish folk culture. Unfortunately today, the Curlew is one of Ireland's most endangered birds, having suffered an 96% slump in its breeding population since 1990. According to our friends at the Irish Peatland’s Conservation Council
“Curlew nest on the ground so they require an open landscape where they can spot potential predators. They require mixed vegetation height so they can hide from predators, and they need soft ground for probing and shallow pools rich in invertebrates for chicks to feed on.”
As a ground nesting bird their devastating decline in Ireland is due to it’s exposure to a number of different threats including an increase in predators including the fox, grey crow, magpie and buzzard (which have increased in numbers in recent years), devastating habitat loss due to human development and modern farming practices, including silage cutting - that being said some farmers are very sympathetic to the Curlew and other ground nesting birds and make efforts to protect them. Here on Ardee Bog we are still privileged to hear the song of the Curlew. Friends of Ardee Bog led by Curlew team leader Anne Lennon have organised a monitoring programme, involving field trips to gather records of its presence here in Ardee Bog over the last five years and ongoing.
Overwintering Curlews pictured on Ardee Bog
We have recorded and mapped the Curlew at eleven key feeding and possible nest sites on Ardee Bog and its surrounding bufferzone habitat. Notably four of these sites are in the direct path of the proposed N52 Ardee bypass, indicated by the orange line.
Nesting Season
From March-July we need to be extra careful to protect nests. Curlews nest on the ground and so are particularly vulnerable to disturbance from walkers, dogs, and farm equipment. Let's work together to make sure curlews have a successful nesting season by walking carefully and keeping dogs on leads in nesting areas.
Curlews in flight on Ardee Bog
Join our Curlew Survey Team.
We record every sighting of Curlews in and around Ardee Bog. We have a dedicated WhatsApp group to report sightings. If you would like to be part of this work join Friends of Ardee Bog or reach out to ardeebog@gmail.com to find out more.
