Duck nesting tubes installed along Lough Ree
An unusual-looking straw roll on a tall frame sticking out of the water may have piqued the interest of boaters or those looking out along the shores of Lough Ree in recent days.
They are specially made duck nesting tubes that have been installed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) along different points of the lake in a bid to increase the number of native wild ducks.
Owen Murphy, who is Warden of Lough Ree and the Mid Shannon Callows area, believes this is the first time the initiative has been undertaken in the Midlands region, and he has been installing the devices recently in the Lecarrow area, moving then to the inner lakes in from Coosan Point and Coosan Lough before the breeding season kicks in on March 1.
“My plan is to place them in groups of five to ten from the south end of the lake to the north end. The thinking is that a lot of duck eggs are predated – that means a fox will scare a hen off a nest and eat the eggs or crows, magpies, mink or seagulls will do the same. They'll feed on the eggs or new ducklings. Studies have shown that of 100 nests only 20 will hatch,” he explains, saying that in all, 50 tubes will be put in place along the lake.
“They have done studies in the US that have shown that approximately 80% of eggs will hatch with the tubes. The reason for that is that ground predators can't get up to the tube and it's covered by a roof so avian (bird) predators can't see them,” he tells the Westmeath Independent on Monday.
The frames the tubes sit on were specially made by Achmuty Ironwork before Owen rolled straw into a wire frame on top, then filling the inside with nesting material, because, unlike other birds, ducks don't gather material to bring it to the nest.
While the duck population is good on Lough Ree, the NPWS warden says that this project is a bid to keep it that way, but it is also a drive to keep duck numbers up so that other less numerous birds are not as vulnerable to predators. Ducks are an important food source for raptors (birds of prey) and, in turn, a healthy duck population reduces the predation pressure on less numerous species such as curlew, redshank, lapwing, common tern and common scoter.
Obviously, the uptake of ducks using these nest tubes will be much higher, the fewer people interfere or investigate them. So public awareness is very important, Owen stresses. Research to date shows that uptake in the use of the tubes is fairly high by ducks because they are sheltered and quiet, but he hopes by next year to have firm data on numbers from this innovative project.
Lough Ree is now a vitally important site for breeding waterbirds in Ireland, some would argue the pre-eminent, especially for curlews, and he hopes that this initiative will help to bolster Lough Ree's standing even further into the future.
“For curlews – Lough Ree has the largest breeding population in the country – around 16-20 breeding pairs from a population of 100-120 in the entire country, that's about one sixth to one eighth. It's also an important site for lapwing and redshank, which are down elsewhere, and for the common scoter duck Lough Ree is the most important breeding ground in Ireland – there are only seven or eight pairs.”
In 2020, the lake also boasted the first confirmed breeding record of a marsh harrier in Ireland since the early part of the 20th century, Owen, who is in his fourth season working on the lake, points out. The area is now reaping the benefits of bird breeding programmes put in place to protect waterbirds over the last decade, and as a result, is getting a lot of interest from the wildlife community and ecology experts, he ends.