While The Avondhu may not have an April Fool’s joke to share with readers this year, it will be no joke for Birdwatch Ireland who on this Sunday afternoon (April 1) will attempt to remove a family of Great Spotted Dingaloos that have found a home for themselves under one of the eyes of Fermoy Bridge.
“We are very excited about this as there has only ever been one pair of these rare species found in Ireland,” Mitchel Morcumbe, a Birdwatch volunteer told The Avondhu.
“We understand there are three, if not four birds in the nest and we are very thankful to a local conservationalist who brought it to our attention on Tuesday.”
While people will be very welcome to see Birdwatch members (who will be kindly backed up by the local Sub Aqua Club) attempting to remove the birds (technical name Dendcropos ultra), they are asking people not to converge on the bridge from 2.30pm onwards.
“People wishing to get a vantage point are asked to assemble either down Ashe Quay (below toilets for best view) or across by Thomas Street,” Mr Morcumbe said, stressing that the lower quay (O’Neill Crowley Quay) will not allow people a good view because of the angle of the eye of the bridge.
Mr Morcumbe says the operation could take anything up to two, even three hours (or more), depending on whether the birds are in the nest which, he says, ‘is barely visible’.
“They are known to frequent the nest early morning time and again in the early afternoon as they travel for food in late afternoon and into the night time.”
The birds are light(ish) grey in colour but with a very distinctive brown spot under the tail area.
“We are all fired up for Sunday. There will be 7 to 8 of us and the local Aqua Club will be on hand should we need their help. If we succeed in capturing the birds, locals will be invited to view them before we take them back to Wicklow where they will be ringed and tested prior to being release again into the wild,” a very excited Mr Morcumbe concluded.
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