Little Terns at Kilcoole

Del.Monte

Anybody know if the terns are being protected this year? Birdwatch Ireland can't even organise a blog about it this year. All that is online is a Facebook page belonging to the Munster Hunt Saboteurs talking about the culling of foxes near the colony. Thanks.

OpenYourEyes

Del.Monte wrote: »

Anybody know if the terns are being protected this year? Birdwatch Ireland can't even organise a blog about it this year. All that is online is a Facebook page belonging to the Munster Hunt Saboteurs talking about the culling of foxes near the colony. Thanks.

Yes the Tern project is going ahead/ongoing at the moment. Some nests lost to high tide recently, first chicks expected soon, social distancing of staff etc having to be done.

Del.Monte

@ OpenYourEyes - Thanks for the update and I would have posted earlier save that Boards wouldn't let me log in.


Anyway, I find it dismal the Birdwatch can't even sort out the blog - I have offered to operate it for them it they let me have some news. And, it can't be put down to Covid-19 it's the same shambles and excuses every year and I have to drag it out of them.

The poor performance of IWC/Birdwatch in comparison to the likes of the RSPB and the National Trust in the UK is one of the reasons that I lost interest in nature back in the early 1980s. Kilcoole should be a showpiece operation, generating cash and volunteers for the organisation.

The other two Little Tern projects at Portrane and Baltray are staggering along this year and that's from the horses mouths. Depressing stuff that can only happen in Ireland - seemingly.

OpenYourEyes

People think that BirdWatch Ireland have a lot more resources than they do, unfortunately. You'd be surprised how much time it takes to do those blogs, and a wardens day is very full. I did blogs for a tern project for three years, but it was essentially in my own time - doing the protection and monitoring work in a tern colony takes up a full working day if not more. So couple that with the fact that some wardens have more of a knack or interest in blogs than others, and it means these things do fall behind. There is a blog coming though, but it should be realised that when there isn't a blog, it's not due to laziness or a lack of appreciation for the value of blogs etc. When it comes to contracts such as the Little Tern project, things are generally run on a very tight margin and there are more than enough deliverables in the contract to keep all staff very busy from start to end of season.

More generally within BirdWatch Ireland there's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario (no pun intended) with regards spreading the word about the work they do. You need staff to spend time on social media, websites etc, but to hire staff to do that you need 'unrestricted funding' (i.e. funding that didn't come from a specific contract for a specific piece of work). How do you get unrestricted funding? Memberships and appeals, for which you ideally need a full-time member of staff to work on social media and websites etc... which you can't hire without enough unrestricted funding.... etc etc.

It would be worth your while sending a polite email to the new CEO and possibly the chairman of the board, suggesting that you feel BirdWatch Ireland are good at their work (if you feel that way) but poor at spreading the word about the work they do (if I'm interpreting your above post correctly) and that you feel money would be well spent on hiring for a position to work on those things full time.

None of what you've said (again, assuming I'm interpreting you correctly) is news to BWI staff or something that hasn't been thought of before, but at the end of the day it's a money issue unfortunately.

Del.Monte

Still no blog - that I can see - but here's a link to a piece about the Little Tern/Fox controversy: https://www.greystonesguide.ie/a-time-to-be-born/

Working class heroes

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058009566

There was a good debate on this subject previously but was inexplicably closed.

2011

Working class heroes wrote: »

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058009566

There was a good debate on this subject previously but was inexplicably closed.

It was only "inexplicably closed" if you ignore the fact that it was a car crash with personal insults being traded and multiple warnings ignored.

If you have an issue with moderation report it, but do not derail threads on this forum to debate it. Thank you.

Working class heroes

2011 wrote: »

It was only "inexplicably closed" if you ignore the fact that it was a car crash with personal insults being traded and multiple warnings ignored.

If you have an issue with moderation report it, but do not derail threads on this forum to debate it. Thank you.

You are most welcome.

OpenYourEyes

First blog for the Kilcoole Little Project for this year - lots of nests, most of which have chicks at this stage!

https://birdwatchireland.ie/the-re-tern-to-normality-at-kilcoole-little-tern-conservation-project/