Cranes found nesting in Ireland
A pair of Common Cranes have been found nesting on a rewetted bog in the midlands of Ireland.
The discovery was announced energy company Bord na Móna and if successful it will be the first time in over 300 years that Cranes will have bred in Ireland for 300 years. Cranes have nested in 2019 and again in 2020 but were unsuccessful
Although Cranes haven’t bred in Ireland since the 1700’s there has been an increase in sightings in recent years, due in large part due to conservation work in the UK where numbers have been increasing.
Bord na Móna’s lead ecologist Mark McCorry said.
“Pairs of common cranes usually take several years to successfully fledge,” he said. “This is why this sighting is particularly significant. Not only are we actually seeing these birds nesting in Ireland for the first time in 300 years, but we are very optimistic that this third attempt may yield the first crane born here in centuries.”
The crane is deeply connected to the culture and history of Ireland, with the bird central to folklore tales such as Fionn MacCumhaill; the druids, St Colmcille and the Book of Kells. Their Gaelic name – corr – can be founded in many place names, such as the Curragh in Kildare which means “crane meadow”.
Birdwatch Ireland spokeswoman Oonagh Duggan said it was “exciting to think” that cranes may naturally recolonise in Ireland.
“If we rewet bogs, it could be so exciting for a lot of different species. It’s an opportunity to return the land to the birds who lost out. They are voting with their wings. The conditions are right,” she added.
How rewetting commercial peatlands is managed will be critically important, she underlined, especially in the context of wind farm development and biomass production.
Bord na Móna has ceased peat production and is using its land bank for renewable energy, carbon storage and recycling. It has already rehabilitated nearly 20,000 hectares of bogs, resulting in the return of indigenous flora and fauna to large tracts of the countryside.
Last year the company also announced that 33,000 hectares is to be rehabilitated as part of its Peatlands Climate Action Scheme that will operate with €108 million in Government funding and €18 million from Bord na Móna.
4 May 2021
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