FLORA & FAUNA...
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BIO DIVERSITY OF PROSPECT BAY
> ON OUR DOORSTEP
> NATURE TRAIL
Take only photographs – leave only footprints!
BIO DIVERSITY OF PROSPECT BAY
TOP
We are constantly amazed by the variety of plants, insects, birds and
animals that inhabit our little piece of Ireland. It seems every week
we discover a bug or toadstool we hadn’t noticed before, or enjoy
a new visitor to the bird table.
We are lucky of course in having such a variety of habitat within our
thirty acres – rough pasture, woodland, reeds and marshland, limestone
outcrops, sandy lake foreshore and the lake itself. Of course, ‘owning’
land is rather a misconception by man, so we hope by making others aware
of what is here there will be a desire to look after it long after we’re
gone!
Lake dwellers
Brackley Lake is not listed as being of major importance to wildlife,
owing to its waters being quite acidic, fed from the mountain bogs of
Cuilcagh, and therefore not enough food to sustain large numbers. Nonetheless
we are able to enjoy a wide range of permanent water fowl such as great
crested grebe, tufted duck, mute swans, and teal, plus many visitors;
whoopers, Canadas, black headed gulls (who nest on a small islet on
the lake) and cormorants to name a few.
Curlew
(listed on RSPB/Birdwatch Ireland Red List) nest on the opposite shore,
and we regularly see kingfishers in the shallows of the bay and at our
duck pond. There is a substantial number of heron, though locals know
them as ‘cranes’. We have wigeon and snipe of course, and
several other small wading birds.
Wildlife Sanctuary
We have now designated one remote section of foreshore as a wildlife
sanctuary, and are establishing trails to access hides. This area has
many varieties of willow, sedges and reeds, with holly, ash, hazel and
birch. In the spring it is a mass of colour from blackthorn, catkins,
pussy willow, celandines, wood anemones, primrose, bluebells and bugle.
In
summer honeysuckle, dog rose, arum lilies, wild iris and large yellow
water lilies compete for attention, though by then it is the damselflies
in all their electric colours that steal the show. In late summer/autumn
the hips, haws, holly and ash erupt in an explosion of red, but none
quite so impressively as the white-spotted scarlet fly agoric ‘faerie’
toadstools of which push through the leaf litter in the dampest parts
of the wood.
Duck killer!
Perhaps the most elusive creature on the lake is the otter, as usually
the only time we know he’s about is when our pet ducks disappear
or chaos erupts in the middle of the night. We used to blame mink until
we saw one otter happily go after the ducks in the middle of the morning.
Its an uneasy balance between admiring otters and wanting to let your
ducks free range!
ON OUR DOORSTEP TOP
Simply looking out of the windows here is a great opportunity to observe
some of the other inhabitants of Prospect Bay. Almost all the more common
birds are present, and our garden planting was done very much with them
in mind.
Little
wrens and field mice love the fruit from the ornamental strawberry plants;
bees literally cover the fuschias; the robins guard their territories
from every nearby branch and fence post. Blackbirds in the ivy covering
an old stone shed forage for worms in competition with the mistle thrush,
while unruly gangs of goldfinch bully each other and the blue tits until
the peanut feeder is won. Grey wagtails moved into the ornamental ivy
on the front wall opposite the pond, and house martins and swallows
circle and swoop over the pond and house roofs all summer while their
chicks peek out of the mud bowls built into the eaves – and poop
all over the window cills!
A nest box on the wall beside the breakfast room was very successful
once we reduced the size of the entrance hole to deter starlings (although
one looked so determined to get in we expected him to reappear with
a chain saw). A pair of blue tits decided it would suit, and five youngsters
fledged in a row one morning last summer; considerately waiting until
we were all watching before they made (mostly) impressive departures.
This year we plan to rig up a mini cam, and to establish some more nesting
boxes around the property in the hope of attracting other species to
Prospect Bay such as owls and dormice.
Other regular bird visitors include reed buntings, cuckoos, large groups
of fieldfares, bull and green finch, kestrels and merlins. However there
are many more we are unsure of, only being keen amateurs, so guests’
observations are appreciated. We calculate that ten birds seen here
regularly are on the Birdwatch Ireland/RSPB Amber List.
Our
favourite neighbours are the hares. The Irish hare is a distinct species,
and we are fortunate to have many. They haven’t minded us building
the house, or cars coming and going – they just carry on around
us. We mostly see them grazing the lawns (and nibbling our new trees)
at night, and early mornings, and last spring we came across two tiny
leverets which was a great photo opportunity.
Badgers have occupied the woods, and foxes and hedgehogs are seen often, but recently we discovered a new cat-like inhabitant, casually trotting past the car park with a blackbird in its mouth, heading back towards the woods. Our first pine marten!
After
we began to investigate we discovered that actually the pine marten
is reasonably common in this part of the country and increasing in number.
Just up the road the woods around the Marble Arch Caves have pine marten
nest boxes in the trees and also fixed to disused quarry walls courtesy
of a recent Channel Four (UK) Wildlife Programme, which was re-housing
a marten which had invaded the roof space of the caves’ reception
building.
NATURE TRAIL TOP
Prospect
Bay’s new nature trail will allow guests to more easily traverse
the property, with small notice pegs at various spots identifying particular
flora and fauna visible at certain times of year. We’d like to
show you some badger sets, where the wild strawberries and raspberries
are growing in the banks, the pastures where the wild orchids pop up
like a measles rash, and info on the hundreds of inhabitants of our
favourite oak.
We will update this page as soon as the trail is finished. In the meantime,
bring your wellies!
Links:
www.birdwatchireland.ie
www.birdsireland.com
www.ppa.ie/WildIreland.html
- wildlife magazine
www.quercus.ac.uk
pine - martens/Irish hare in Northern Ireland
www.coford.ie - national pine marten
survey of Ireland
www.breifne.ie bio
diversity, geology and more relating to this region
www.antaisc.org
Irish environmental protection body
www.iwt.ie Irish Wildlife
Trust
