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Birds at Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve in Co Mayo receive ‘much-needed boost’ as 143 chicks raised this summer
Birds at Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve in Co Mayo receive ‘much-needed boost’ as 143 chicks raised this summerDescribed as a “bumper breeding season” by the independent conservation charity, Birdwatch recorded at least 143 chicks raised by 67 pairs of the bird at the Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve this summer, giving the “nationally endangered species a much-needed boost”.
After Belfast burned: What happened to immigrant families whose homes were attacked? Saturday hospital unit staffed by consultants saw just five patients over three months The charity launched “habitat restoration” efforts in 2001 and enjoyed “some initial successes” in the following years. By 2004, “numbers began to decline once more”, it said.
Having “identified foxes as the main predators” of the birds’ eggs, the charity implemented “a predator exclusion fence” in the autumn of 2011, and later extended the protected area with support from two local farmers. In 2024, the fence was upgraded to exclude “two other significant predators”: otters and American minks. Breeding numbers have “continued to rise” since then, BirdWatch said.
The Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve, on the Mullet Peninsula in Co Mayo, where some 10 per cent of Ireland's Lapwing birds lay their eggs. Photograph: Dave Suddaby/BirdWatch IrelandHe likened the barrier to “a typical sheep fence, with the square wire mesh fencing”, featuring “a smaller gauge of mesh, so foxes can’t get through it”.
“But they could potentially jump or climb over it ... so, on top of that, there’s now also four strands of high-voltage electric fencing, an electric pulse going through the top of the fence,” he said. “Anything trying to climb over, or attempting to jump over, will get a severe zap, and that discourages them from trying again,” he said.
The largely black and white bird, with green, purple, blue and gold feathers stroked across its body and a wispy crest atop its head, is a native species to the island. The 'predator exclusion boundary fence' at Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve, an electrified fence to keep red foxes and other predators away from areas where Lapwings lay eggs.
Photograph: Dave Suddaby/BirdWatch Ireland In 1990, the lapwing was declared the national bird by a committee of the Irish Wildbird Conservancy, a precursor to BirdWatch Ireland, although it has never been officially deemed so by the Government. The Annagh Marsh Nature Reserve is home to 10 per cent of the national breeding population – about 600 breeding pairs. This is about a 90 per cent decrease from pre-1990s levels, “showing just how severely threatened the species is”, according to BirdWatch.
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