Cabragh Wetlands: The curlew and the role played by Cabragh Wetlands

Patrick Pearse, in his Irish lament, Bean tSléibhe ag caoineadh a mic”, contains the line “Do labhair an naosc binn is an crotach glórach” - the sweet snipe and the noisy curlew called”.

At that time, over one hundred years ago, the landscape was full of wetlands, marsh, turloughs and mudflats. As late as the 1970’s, the multinational company, Guinness, identified the cry of the curlew as an iconic sound of Ireland with its famous Sally O' Brien advertisement- “You won’t hear the cry of the curlew out here”. Here being the sandy deserts of northern Africa.
In the late 1980’s, in the Irish Breeding Atlas Survey, there were around 6,000 breeding pairs in the Republic of Ireland and David Cabot in his book , “Complete Irish Birds” estimated that 1000-3000 pairs bred on moorland, lowland bog and lowland rough agricultural ground in 2002.

Birdwatch Ireland reminds us that today, there are fewer than 150 breeding pairs according to a national survey commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Sevice. On November 4, 2016, University College Dublin hosted a one day workshop to formulate ways to halt its extinction.

The curlew is still under extensive threat and Cabragh with its mudflats is an important feeding ground as are the Littleton bogs as a breeding site. The demise of the bogs provide a wonderful opportunity in our struggle to save the curlew.
The curlew is the largest and most familiar of wading birds, very well known to us in Cabragh during the winter months when the lands adjacent to us become mudflats and the curlews in typical bent position against the wind which gives it its Irish name, crotach, hunker down with hundreds of lapwing. This is one of the reasons why the “adopt a plot scheme” is so important as this is the very ground that the survival or the extinction of this bird that is so characteristic of Ireland will be played out.

It is easily identified by a streaky brown plumage, a long curved bill, long legs and when in flight, a white rump . It has a melancholy curlew call synonomous with wild and remote places and it also has a musical bubbling song on the breeding grounds. It is a shy and wary bird not allowing close approach but it has a swift confident flight , often high, before suddenly descending to the ground. It can be seen flying singly or in loose flocks, in lines or v’s and can live for thirty one years. It is also a shore bird and there it catches in the mud ragworm, crabs, sandhoppers, molluscs and shrimps.
In wet pastures it turns to insects, larvae and earthworms. It is site faithful during and between winters and breeding seasons. Most curlews born in Ireland stay here for the winter and are joined by British bred birds as well as many birds from northern Europe.

Usually, four eggs are laid in a shallow depression lined with plant fragments. The eggs are pale green in colour with darker green, brown or purple blotches and are incubated mainly by the hen. They fly when five or six weeks old.
What is it with the long curved bill? It is very long and downwardly curved. It enables the curlew to probe more deeply than other waders and therefore can access a different food store than its competitors. The curvature allows it to work more effectively within a burrow and to grab hold of whatever lurks inside. The curvature also gives the tip of the bill a wider turning circle. Like most things in nature the design fits the job. Next time you are in the dentist’s chair you will note that the mirror and probes apply the same theory.

However the curvature also makes the beak inherently weaker so in order to prevent it snapping, it is fitted with internal struts. The tongue, therefore, is not as long as the beak so the curlew must pull its food out of the mud and juggle it slightly before swallowing.

So if you meet me walking the paths in Cabragh staring to the sky and listening intently, do not think that I am snooty or unsociable. I am waiting for that magic moment when I hear the cry of the curlews as generations before us have done.
This week saw the publishing of the figures for carbon emissions-farming, recycling and electricity generation are making great progress but we still have a long way to go.

However, if the attitudes of the Ursuline Transition year pupils who have recently completed a series of visits to Cabragh , there is great hope.

Wash your hands, social distance, wear a mask.
Stay safe.
Slán go fóill.