It is just before 5am at the East Coast Nature Reserve. The site is drenched in darkness but alive with birdsong, one of the loudest sounds in nature.
This 220-acre nature reserve in Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, belongs to BirdWatch Ireland, the country’s largest conservation organisation. Irish Country Living is greeted by Niall Hatch, head of communications at BirdWatch Ireland along with six volunteers.
All of us were awoken by our alarm clocks at an ungodly hour in the morning. We are meeting here, bleary-eyed, to listen to the dawn chorus – the early morning bird song that harmonises our skies from the months of April to June.
“There are two ways to approach a dawn chorus,” Niall begins. “Some people like to try and identify every single species and put a name to everything. Other people like to let the orchestra wash over them.” We opt for the latter and pause for a few moments to soak in the chirruping, cheeping and chittering.
Niall says that about 90% of what we can hear is the mellow and flute-like song of blackbirds. “Birds’ eyesight is better than ours,” he explains. “They gather light better than us and it is the birds with the largest eyes, like the blackbird, that sing first.
“When a bird is singing, it is giving its location to every predator in the neighbourhood, so a bird generally won’t sing until there’s enough light to see danger coming.”
The birds are singing for two reasons: they’re looking for love and looking to protect their patch. “The birds aren’t singing because of the glory of spring or because they care what we think about them. The sound is very aggressive to them,” explains Niall. “It’s all tied in with their breeding behaviour and male birds do most of the singing. As breeding season approaches, the males are singing to establish and defend their territory. They’re saying: I’m here, this is my spot.
“The other thing they’re trying to do is impress a female. That singing prowess is a sign that he is in good health, that his territory provides all of his dietary and shelter needs, that he’ll be a good provider for her and any chicks they have together. It’s very aggressive macho behaviour,” jokes Niall.
Niall looking for birds from the hide. \Claire Nash
Birds singing
We stand for a few more moments in the blanket of darkness, as Niall explains what we are hearing: the songs, phrasing and pitch. He points out the fast and twittery song of the robin, one of the only Irish birds that sings all year round. We hear the very loud and fast trill of notes from the wren, a very common bird in Ireland – which actually outnumbers humans. Then we hear the shrill and repetitive sound of the song thrush, and the low coo-ing of wood pigeon.
“Sometimes people say, all birds sound the same. I used to be like that as well,” says Shane Kerr, one of the volunteers. “But when you get to know them, just like Niall has pointed out, you never forget it.
“You won’t know what it is but you’ll know it’s different and like anything else, the more you practise, the more you get it.”
We start to slowly walk through the nature reserve, which includes a mix of habitats like woodland, reed beds and calcareous fen [a rare type of wetland which is considered a priority habitat by the EU]. Niall points out the goldcrest perched on the top of a conifer tree, Ireland’s smallest breeding bird species that is only 9cm long and weighs five grams. “To put that in context for you, a 20-cent coin weighs six grams,” explains Niall.
“It’s the highest pitch bird song in Ireland that is still in human hearing ability.” We strain to hear it, as Niall points out the songs of the great tit and willow warbler, the latter has just arrived in from Sub Saharan Africa.
Niall Hatch, head of communications at BirdWatch Ireland and a keen birdwatcher. \Claire Nash
“It’s a descending series of notes,” says Niall. “I think of it like a leaf fluttering down. They’re extremely common in Ireland with over one million pairs nesting each summer.”
We amble towards the reed beds and board walk, where Niall spots two whimbrels [a close relative of the curlew] flying past. Morning sun is now breaking overhead, casting strokes of dusty pink over the still landscape and a heavy mist is thickly setting. “Beats the television, doesn’t it?” one volunteer says. We all nod in agreement.
Every year Niall takes to the airwaves of RTÉ Radio One on International Dawn Chorus Day for a live broadcast of birdsong and commentary. This year, Niall was down at Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve near Cobh in Co Cork for the live RTÉ broadcast on Sunday, 4 May.
“I find it particularly great to see how the dawn chorus resonates with so many people. The listenership is amazing and there’s so many messages coming in through the programme, people who are enjoying it or sharing their own dawn chorus experience. There are far more people out there who love the dawn chorus than one might think,” Niall reflects.
Although International Dawn Chorus Day is behind us, many BirdWatch Ireland volunteers around the country are hosting their local walks on 11 May and Niall wants to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in one of his favourite events in the birding calendar year.
“When you’re doing a dawn chorus and you set the alarm, you think, ‘oh it’s so early’. But then when you’re out, you feel revitalised. It’s very special.
“A lot of people don’t realise just how good a dawn chorus is even in the local park, as they aren’t up at dawn listening to it,” says Niall. “Birds sing throughout the day but do the vast bulk of it in the morning.”
Now light, we wander up to the hide – a wooden shelter enabling you to observe wildlife without disturbing them – fitted with rectangular glass panelling that overlooks a huge wetland and towards Wicklow head. “This is a good place to look for marsh harrier [bird of prey] and you often see otters trotting around here and splashing the water,” says Niall.
We don’t see any otters but we do spot a little grebe [a small water bird] hiding in the water reeds and a buzzard zooming towards us.
The reserve in Kilcoole opened in 2009 and has been managed to minimise disturbance to wildlife. It’s clearly working. We’ve seen and heard 27 species of bird this morning alone – but Niall reminds us that Irish birds are facing many threats, and that many species are in decline.
“The biggest issue of all is habitat destruction, there are fewer and fewer places for birds to breed and hold territory in. If their habitat disappears, the birds disappear and that means they die, there’s nowhere else for them to go.
Group of BirdWatch Ireland volunteers walking through the reed beds on the boardwalk just as the sun was breaking. \Claire Nash
Depleted country
“Unfortunately, Ireland is quite a depleted country, we have among the lowest level of tree cover of anywhere in Europe, only 11% [far below the EU average of 38%]. Couple that with issues such as climate change, disturbance, pollution, pesticides, they’re all just chipping away at bird populations.”
As the dawn chorus is winding down, we retreat back to our cars, muddied boots crunching against the gravel. The blackbirds have long stopped singing, although we do spot a goldfinch making a twittery sound.
Now 7am, the bird song has quietened. The day is just beginning.
See birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved
It is just before 5am at the East Coast Nature Reserve. The site is drenched in darkness but alive with birdsong, one of the loudest sounds in nature.
This 220-acre nature reserve in Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, belongs to BirdWatch Ireland, the country’s largest conservation organisation. Irish Country Living is greeted by Niall Hatch, head of communications at BirdWatch Ireland along with six volunteers.
All of us were awoken by our alarm clocks at an ungodly hour in the morning. We are meeting here, bleary-eyed, to listen to the dawn chorus – the early morning bird song that harmonises our skies from the months of April to June.
“There are two ways to approach a dawn chorus,” Niall begins. “Some people like to try and identify every single species and put a name to everything. Other people like to let the orchestra wash over them.” We opt for the latter and pause for a few moments to soak in the chirruping, cheeping and chittering.
Niall says that about 90% of what we can hear is the mellow and flute-like song of blackbirds. “Birds’ eyesight is better than ours,” he explains. “They gather light better than us and it is the birds with the largest eyes, like the blackbird, that sing first.
“When a bird is singing, it is giving its location to every predator in the neighbourhood, so a bird generally won’t sing until there’s enough light to see danger coming.”
The birds are singing for two reasons: they’re looking for love and looking to protect their patch. “The birds aren’t singing because of the glory of spring or because they care what we think about them. The sound is very aggressive to them,” explains Niall. “It’s all tied in with their breeding behaviour and male birds do most of the singing. As breeding season approaches, the males are singing to establish and defend their territory. They’re saying: I’m here, this is my spot.
“The other thing they’re trying to do is impress a female. That singing prowess is a sign that he is in good health, that his territory provides all of his dietary and shelter needs, that he’ll be a good provider for her and any chicks they have together. It’s very aggressive macho behaviour,” jokes Niall.
Niall looking for birds from the hide. \Claire Nash
Birds singing
We stand for a few more moments in the blanket of darkness, as Niall explains what we are hearing: the songs, phrasing and pitch. He points out the fast and twittery song of the robin, one of the only Irish birds that sings all year round. We hear the very loud and fast trill of notes from the wren, a very common bird in Ireland – which actually outnumbers humans. Then we hear the shrill and repetitive sound of the song thrush, and the low coo-ing of wood pigeon.
“Sometimes people say, all birds sound the same. I used to be like that as well,” says Shane Kerr, one of the volunteers. “But when you get to know them, just like Niall has pointed out, you never forget it.
“You won’t know what it is but you’ll know it’s different and like anything else, the more you practise, the more you get it.”
We start to slowly walk through the nature reserve, which includes a mix of habitats like woodland, reed beds and calcareous fen [a rare type of wetland which is considered a priority habitat by the EU]. Niall points out the goldcrest perched on the top of a conifer tree, Ireland’s smallest breeding bird species that is only 9cm long and weighs five grams. “To put that in context for you, a 20-cent coin weighs six grams,” explains Niall.
“It’s the highest pitch bird song in Ireland that is still in human hearing ability.” We strain to hear it, as Niall points out the songs of the great tit and willow warbler, the latter has just arrived in from Sub Saharan Africa.
Niall Hatch, head of communications at BirdWatch Ireland and a keen birdwatcher. \Claire Nash
“It’s a descending series of notes,” says Niall. “I think of it like a leaf fluttering down. They’re extremely common in Ireland with over one million pairs nesting each summer.”
We amble towards the reed beds and board walk, where Niall spots two whimbrels [a close relative of the curlew] flying past. Morning sun is now breaking overhead, casting strokes of dusty pink over the still landscape and a heavy mist is thickly setting. “Beats the television, doesn’t it?” one volunteer says. We all nod in agreement.
Every year Niall takes to the airwaves of RTÉ Radio One on International Dawn Chorus Day for a live broadcast of birdsong and commentary. This year, Niall was down at Cuskinny Marsh Nature Reserve near Cobh in Co Cork for the live RTÉ broadcast on Sunday, 4 May.
“I find it particularly great to see how the dawn chorus resonates with so many people. The listenership is amazing and there’s so many messages coming in through the programme, people who are enjoying it or sharing their own dawn chorus experience. There are far more people out there who love the dawn chorus than one might think,” Niall reflects.
Although International Dawn Chorus Day is behind us, many BirdWatch Ireland volunteers around the country are hosting their local walks on 11 May and Niall wants to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in one of his favourite events in the birding calendar year.
“When you’re doing a dawn chorus and you set the alarm, you think, ‘oh it’s so early’. But then when you’re out, you feel revitalised. It’s very special.
“A lot of people don’t realise just how good a dawn chorus is even in the local park, as they aren’t up at dawn listening to it,” says Niall. “Birds sing throughout the day but do the vast bulk of it in the morning.”
Now light, we wander up to the hide – a wooden shelter enabling you to observe wildlife without disturbing them – fitted with rectangular glass panelling that overlooks a huge wetland and towards Wicklow head. “This is a good place to look for marsh harrier [bird of prey] and you often see otters trotting around here and splashing the water,” says Niall.
We don’t see any otters but we do spot a little grebe [a small water bird] hiding in the water reeds and a buzzard zooming towards us.
The reserve in Kilcoole opened in 2009 and has been managed to minimise disturbance to wildlife. It’s clearly working. We’ve seen and heard 27 species of bird this morning alone – but Niall reminds us that Irish birds are facing many threats, and that many species are in decline.
“The biggest issue of all is habitat destruction, there are fewer and fewer places for birds to breed and hold territory in. If their habitat disappears, the birds disappear and that means they die, there’s nowhere else for them to go.
Group of BirdWatch Ireland volunteers walking through the reed beds on the boardwalk just as the sun was breaking. \Claire Nash
Depleted country
“Unfortunately, Ireland is quite a depleted country, we have among the lowest level of tree cover of anywhere in Europe, only 11% [far below the EU average of 38%]. Couple that with issues such as climate change, disturbance, pollution, pesticides, they’re all just chipping away at bird populations.”
As the dawn chorus is winding down, we retreat back to our cars, muddied boots crunching against the gravel. The blackbirds have long stopped singing, although we do spot a goldfinch making a twittery sound.
Now 7am, the bird song has quietened. The day is just beginning.
See birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved
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