A couple of visits were made to the Maharee islands in the past week to check on breeding birds and, as is so often the case, there is good news and bad. The bad? Only one pair of Little Terns, and they were flying half-heartedly around the main nesting beaches and heading away for long periods. It looks as though they have failed to nest this year as they are really getting to a point where it would be too late to lay.
One of three small areas of shingle (centre left) on Illauntannig, the only island were Little Terns can nest, and horribly empty this year (Michael O'Clery).
There was a brief mini-revival of Little Tern fortunes on the Maharees last summer, see this post HERE, but really, this species is barely hanging on as a breeding species in the county.
Little Tern, Illauntannig, 23rd June 2019 (Michael O'Clery).
Little Tern, Illauntannig, 23rd June 2019 (Michael O'Clery).
Also more bad news, the main island, Illauntannig now no longer has any other breeding terns. Arctic and Common Terns have abandoned it, as have all Common Gulls.
But there was some good news. There were good numbers of Arctic Tern on one of the other nearby islets, perhaps 70 to 80 pairs, sharing the colony with 7-10 pairs of Common Tern and one pair of Sandwich Terns. Not too bad compared to recent years, though far from peak numbers generally around 2005 to 2007.
Some loafing terns at the edge of the main tern colony. Right to left: Two adult Common Terns, a first-summer Arctic Tern and an adult Arctic Tern (Michael O'Clery).
Other good news was that, while Common Gulls have abandoned their former island stronghold Illantannig, they have relocated to another islet, Illaunanoon, and seem to be doing well with around 70 pairs. There were only three pairs nesting here in 2007. There could also be more on some of the other islands not yet visited this summer.
Some of the Maharee islands as seen from the SW looking toward Kerry Head in the distance. Illaunanoon, with the large Common Gull colony, is bottom left. Illauntannig is the larger island in centre middle distance, June 2019 (Michael O'Clery).
Common Gulls, Maharees (Michael O'Clery).
Arctic Terns, Maharees, June 2019 (Michael O'Clery).
Kayakers landing at the tern colony causing all the nesting birds to flush repeatedly and at length, June 2019.
Disturbance on the Maharees is a real issue, and is perhaps the reason Illauntannig is now devoid of nesting gulls and terns (Illauntannig is much the easiest island to land on). However, even during my brief visit, at the newly located tern colony I saw two kayakers land and cause the entire colony to flush, leaving young chicks vulnerable and exposed. The two human intruders really seemed to have no idea that their incursion might be a issue, as they climbed the modest islet and looked around, before settling at the edge of the colony for a sandwich and a sunbathe, seemingly oblivious to over a hundred screeching terns right above their heads.
This sort of disturbance as a one off is unlikely to affect the overall success of the colony, but if it is happening frequently it will surely be to the detriment of the birds. Delicate eggs and chicks can chill, or be exposed to sun or predators. Please people - stay away. A hundred screeching birds dive bombing you are trying to give you a message and it's not that hard to figure it out.
