Donal Hickey: look but don't get too close to those bird nests
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It’s becoming a growing problem each summer — people taking photographs at, or near, birds’ nests, especially seabird colonies. Understandable, given that everyone has a camera on their mobile phone and opportunities for a good picture are hard to resist.
There is, however, a red line — a rule that the welfare of the subject must come first. This is according to Birdwatch Ireland which is appealing to people not to go too close to nests.
A big risk is that if a parent bird gets frightened, they can leave, or even completely abandon, the nest, leaving chicks without food and exposing them to predators.
By approaching a nest, you can draw the attention of predators like magpies and cats to it, which can move in when you leave. Cats, even domestic ones, are among the biggest killers of birds.
In the days when more children walked to school, they looked out for birds’ nests in roadside hedgerows. We remember how some would claim ownership of their own secret nest and keep a detached eye on it each day until the chicks (we called them ‘gearrcachs’) had fledged and flown.
And children were always told to keep a distance from nests, which enhanced their regard for nature.
Birdwatch tells us that extinction-threatened birds such as corncrakes, curlews and birds of prey are being disturbed by photographers, or even being lured by recorded bird sounds. This is really stretching things.
It’s illegal to disturb, or photograph, nesting birds without a licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Birds see humans as predators, so they act accordingly by trying to escape.
Many people are drawn to seabird colonies and don’t realise when they’re causing disturbance to birds. What can look like an eye-catching photo of a gannet, puffin, or a gull, might actually be of a bird that is very stressed and in fear for its egg, or chick.
Research shows seabirds can have elevated heart rates and stress levels for hours after a human approaches their nest, even though they didn’t fly off and, on the surface, might appear to have been happy to tolerate the human.
“Really what they’re thinking is that they’ve put months of work into getting to this stage of nesting, and they don’t want to give that up unless they absolutely have to,’’ says Birdwatch.
“Remember, as far as that bird knows you’re a predator! In the natural world, there’s nothing good about a large animal trying to seek out your nest. It can only be a bad thing."
Meanwhile, some Clare birders tell us there are great places on Loop Head to watch thousands of nesting guillemot, razorbill, kittiwake, chough, shag and other seabirds, at present — but keep your distance.