Effects of this summer on wildlife

slowburner

I'm sure everyone is fed up to the gills with talk about this dreadful summer.
But wouldn't it be interesting to note observations about the effects on wildlife?

For example, since May I have only heard one grass hopper chirruping.
I could count on one hand, the number of wasps I have seen, but bees seem to be holding up.
I have seen a 'launch' of ants in early July, which I would normally associate with this month.
Not to mention the hyper-abundance of slugs (must be good for some animal?).

I note too, that the oak trees have pushed out new growth over the past couple of weeks, as have the willows.

V_Moth

Generally a very poor breeding season for birds:

• Little Tern: Complete failure of all breeding colonies
• Common Tern: The Dalkey Island colony failed.
• Quail: None heard at traditional breeding sites this year
• Corncrake: Only 20 calling birds on Tory this year, down from 100 last year. By this stage, I think that this species won't have a viable population in the next 5-10 years.

Also, the numbers of moths and butterflies seems to be down on last year.

Birdnuts

Heard the Grey Partridge project in North Dublin was badly hit too with most if not all the clutches washed out of it:(

Mothman

I think there are winners and losers every summer, though there have been high profile losers this year that V_Moth and BN have mentioned.

The wasps nests have failed here, but without doubt there will be tales of wasps in a month.
Of the nests in my garden, they have been very successful. The damp ground has worms nearer the surface.

Some moths are doing well and others are down. Every year brings this.

Thinking about it, a drought (such as 1995) is probably overall worse! though we don't get them often.

Kess73

The lack of wasps is actually something I had a conversation about last week irl. There is normally a nest on my land every year but so far this year I have seen nada.



My local birds seem to have had a mixed year, and the surplus of certain food types and the lack of other food types brought about by the weather really seems to be highlighted by what species have has multiple broods and which species have done poorly.

I seemed to have had an explosion of dunnocks so far this year, and my regular robins (plus their local rivals) all seem to have had two healthy broods this year.

The house sparrows and starlings look to have had healthy increases in their numbers near me also, with one of my smaller trees literally having scores of this season's young sparrows in it daily to ravage the seed feeders.

I have gone from being pretty much a goldfinch free zone to being a goldfinch creche this year, and have had what seems to be an increase in young wren also.


But my tit population seems lower this year. The regular great tits and blue tits only seemed to have one brood apiece, and I have only seen two fledgling coal tits whereas most years the garden nearest the house gets mobbed with them.

My greenfinch population seems to have almost vanished over the past two years as I have gone from having them as a daily sight (and in large numbers) to being lucky to spot one solitary bird a week. No bullfinch at all this year and my chaffinch population saw no noticeable increase either.

What was also missing was magpie in any great number. They were a very common sight, but now I only see three to four on a daily basis whereas before I could see up to three times that number when I walked my fields. Have not seen one young magpie either this year which is unusual to say the least.

My resident sprawks seem to have had a poor year as well and I only saw one fledgling from them this year and most years they generally get two to three new recruits that I get to watch cruising and learning their trade. More worryingly I have not seen this year's lone fledgling once since about a week after it left the nest and the two adults were back into their non breeding season routines soon after that so I don't hold out much hope.


Been an increase in kestrel sightings for me though.

Maudi

V_Moth wrote: »

Generally a very poor breeding season for birds:

• Little Tern: Complete failure of all breeding colonies
• Common Tern: The Dalkey Island colony failed.
• Quail: None heard at traditional breeding sites this year
• Corncrake: Only 20 calling birds on Tory this year, down from 100 last year. By this stage, I think that this species won't have a viable population in the next 5-10 years.

Also, the numbers of moths and butterflies seems to be down on last year.

We look foward to our buddelia blooming for the butterflys we have visit...not this year..i saw maybe 3/4..the wild honeysuckle again devoid of bees...even the fly and blubottle numbers seem to be noticeably down..the tits..finches.sparrows..wrens..doves.thrush and magpies are all regular visitors to the feeders and seem to be ok...but the slugs!!biblical amounts of the pests..

Mickeroo

The summer seems warmer than last year, but a lot wetter to me. Whether that's accurate or not I have no idea

bernard0368

I have noticed the following in the area where I usually run the dogs,

Not a wasp has been seen.
The common blue butterfly is also not to be seen they were everywhere last year.
There are hundreds of small frog the likes of I have never seen the grass is alive with them in areas.
The grasshoppers seem healthy.
The small birds are down however the bullfinches are doing strong with the numbers up by at least double.
I have not seen the kestrels this year.
Also the dragon flies are rare.

tricky D

Blue tits and Goldfinches well down.

Robins and Dunnocks up. Robins might have had second brood.

House Martins not going for a second brood, unlike last year.

Black slugs up.

pedantic

V_Moth wrote: »

Generally a very poor breeding season for birds:

• Little Tern: Complete failure of all breeding colonies
• Common Tern: The Dalkey Island colony failed.
• Quail: None heard at traditional breeding sites this year
• Corncrake: Only 20 calling birds on Tory this year, down from 100 last year. By this stage, I think that this species won't have a viable population in the next 5-10 years.

Also, the numbers of moths and butterflies seems to be down on last year.

There were 14 Little tern fledged in Baltray, Louth. Inishglora off Belmullet had 20 fledged from 100 pairs.

Common terns were fledged from Rockabill. There were over 2000 pairs with productivity at 0.3 chicks per pair. The roseate terns had 1200+ pairs with productivity at 0.8 chicks per pair.

Quail have an unusually breeding biology. They are double-brooded. The quails that breed in Ireland first breed on mainland europe, they then move onto Ireland to have their second brood. There were strong Northerly winds in spring this year, coupled with bad weather meant they didn't come. Quail don't breed every year in Ireland and this year was one of those years. Last year had good numbers of quail in their dtonghold of Athy, Kildare.

Corncrake: There were 7-8 calling corncrake on Tory this year. The max number of Corncrake on Tory in the last 15 years has been 32 calling males.
The final tally for Corncrake this year looks like West Connacht 42-45, down from 48 last year. Donegal 80, down from 86 last year. One in Shannon Callows and one in Cork

Birdnuts

Mickeroo wrote: »

The summer seems warmer than last year, but a lot wetter to me. Whether that's accurate or not I have no idea

This July was the coldest in 40 years in some places - last summer was cold too but was only wet in the extreme West. Going back further its been 2006 since we had a decent summer and I'm not suprised numbers of butterflies, moths, etc. are at basement levels.

slowburner

Kess73 wrote: »

The lack of wasps is actually something I had a conversation about last week irl. There is normally a nest on my land every year but so far this year I have seen nada.



My local birds seem to have had a mixed year, and the surplus of certain food types and the lack of other food types brought about by the weather really seems to be highlighted by what species have has multiple broods and which species have done poorly.

I seemed to have had an explosion of dunnocks so far this year, and my regular robins (plus their local rivals) all seem to have had two healthy broods this year.

The house sparrows and starlings look to have had healthy increases in their numbers near me also, with one of my smaller trees literally having scores of this season's young sparrows in it daily to ravage the seed feeders.

I have gone from being pretty much a goldfinch free zone to being a goldfinch creche this year, and have had what seems to be an increase in young wren also.


But my tit population seems lower this year. The regular great tits and blue tits only seemed to have one brood apiece, and I have only seen two fledgling coal tits whereas most years the garden nearest the house gets mobbed with them.

My greenfinch population seems to have almost vanished over the past two years as I have gone from having them as a daily sight (and in large numbers) to being lucky to spot one solitary bird a week. No bullfinch at all this year and my chaffinch population saw no noticeable increase either.

What was also missing was magpie in any great number. They were a very common sight, but now I only see three to four on a daily basis whereas before I could see up to three times that number when I walked my fields. Have not seen one young magpie either this year which is unusual to say the least.

My resident sprawks seem to have had a poor year as well and I only saw one fledgling from them this year and most years they generally get two to three new recruits that I get to watch cruising and learning their trade. More worryingly I have not seen this year's lone fledgling once since about a week after it left the nest and the two adults were back into their non breeding season routines soon after that so I don't hold out much hope.


Been an increase in kestrel sightings for me though.

Your magpies have come here, unfortunately.
Greenfinches absent here too, most tits are scarce, apart from long tails but their numbers are down too.

An odd thing I've noticed (like tonight) is enormous numbers of extra plump slugs coming out of the long grass onto the lawn, and enjoying each other's company very much indeed

The introduced birds of prey to Avoca seem much more dispersed lately - or could their numbers be down too?

Birdnuts

slowburner wrote: »

The introduced birds of prey to Avoca seem much more dispersed lately - or could their numbers be down too?

The weather has not been conducive to the type of thermals that buzzards/kites enjoy soaring on, which might explain that. No doubt some nests failed due to the bad weather too.

V_Moth

pedantic wrote: »

There were 14 Little tern fledged in Baltray, Louth. Inishglora off Belmullet had 20 fledged from 100 pairs.

Common terns were fledged from Rockabill. There were over 2000 pairs with productivity at 0.3 chicks per pair. The roseate terns had 1200+ pairs with productivity at 0.8 chicks per pair.

Quail have an unusually breeding biology. They are double-brooded. The quails that breed in Ireland first breed on mainland europe, they then move onto Ireland to have their second brood. There were strong Northerly winds in spring this year, coupled with bad weather meant they didn't come. Quail don't breed every year in Ireland and this year was one of those years. Last year had good numbers of quail in their dtonghold of Athy, Kildare.

Corncrake: There were 7-8 calling corncrake on Tory this year. The max number of Corncrake on Tory in the last 15 years has been 32 calling males.
The final tally for Corncrake this year looks like West Connacht 42-45, down from 48 last year. Donegal 80, down from 86 last year. One in Shannon Callows and one in Cork

You are right, I managed to get the figures for Donegal and Tory mixed up. Still, the trend for this species is very sad.

Also, I am well aware of Rockabill, having been lucky enough to work there as a warden for a season or two .

pedantic

V_Moth wrote: »

You are right, I managed to get the figures for Donegal and Tory mixed up. Still, the trend for this species is very sad.

Also, I am well aware of Rockabill, having been lucky enough to work there as a warden for a season or two .

There has been alot of work being put in by the NPWS putting in early cover beds for Corncrakes. That is the major problem for corncrakes in Donegal and Mayo. I'd be hopefull they won't be lost. The two bads summers haven't helped. Nothing you can do about that.

The wardens on Rockabill do a great job, increasing the Roseates from 200 pairs to 1200 pairs. Only for lads like yourself they would likely be extinct.

Silvics

With the heat and sunshine of this past Thursday and Friday, the meadows were awash with butterflies, fuchsias had some bees and apart from flying ants that was it. As the silage was being cut, dozens of frogs of all sizes were on the move.
Just one swallow is left here, from a group of ten. Songbirds reduced significantly this year, though doves have moved in.
I've not seen any caterpillars this year, the green dock beetle conspicuous by its absence, and apart from rowan, little in the way of berries on trees.

vandriver

Have sparrows had a good year,or just in my garden?Also echo the complete lack of wasps.

Kess73

vandriver wrote: »

Have sparrows had a good year,or just in my garden?Also echo the complete lack of wasps.

I think housesparrows have had a good year. My own garden saw plenty of new additions on the sparrow front as well as being pretty much a creche for all the nearby sparrows, but I have also seen large numbers of them all over the county.


I think that their very broad diet comes into play as changes in weather will not have the same hard effect on them as it will have on more specialized feeders.


Was out in county Limerick yesterday evening and I saw what had to be the largest amount of swallows I have ever seen in one area.

Birdnuts

I've seen a suprising number of Spotted Flycatcher broods about the place in the last week or so.

V Bull

vandriver wrote: »

Have sparrows had a good year,or just in my garden?Also echo the complete lack of wasps.

Same here, lots of sparrows in my garden with little or no bee's or wasp's.

Also a good year for Long-tailed, Blue, Coal & Great Tits, lots of them visiting my garden...

Kess73

Saw my first wasp of the year this evening and within 30 seconds there were two of them in my line of sight.

slowburner

I came across a bunch of hover flies in a boggy patch of field when out for a stroll yesterday.
They were all hugging the ground, and only moved when disturbed.
First I've seen this summer, around here, and they're usually abundant.

fleabag

Where I am in Co. Limerick there are loads of magpies and the jackdaws seemed to have had a really good year - as many as 20 at one time. Swallow broods seem the same as last year but I noticed one pair of swallows built a new nest in the same barn and left the previous nest unoccupied. Usually see lots of chaffinches but very few this year, also fewer blue and great tits. Last year there were bullfinches too but I've seen none so far this year.

Some insects seem right down - maybe 2 bumble bees all summer, about 3 wasps, 3 ladybirds - makes me sad just typing it. More frogs and slugs - the two go together though methinks.

Plenty of wood pigeons as well and saw long tailed tits earlier this summer for the first time ever.

As soon as the weather turns better the moths and butterflies and damselflies seem to reappear and in the same numbers as I remember.

I suppose some species will have been affected but I wonder too if my personal sightings are really down or just seem lower because I'm not haunting the fields as much as I usually would due to the wetter weather.

OBROIN

On the Little Tern project in Baltray: there were 24 chicks fledged in very trying times this year!!

whelzer

I've got a lot frogs in my garden - Dublin 7. At least 4 adults and a load of little fellas who are growing nicely. Have had a few hop into the house which the children enjoyed:eek:.

I presume the damp conditions have helped them - I've no pond or water feature. One thing which I've started doing this year is to "mulch" the beds running down the garden sides with lawn clippings. Basically I shove handfulls around the shrubs, bushes, flowers - weeds are non existent and there is a huge amount of wildlife among the layers of decaying grass...beetles, earwigs, worms, slugs, snails etc.

I hope they stay - will they able to breed? I can't put in a water feature yet - nippers too young.

seven_eleven

Not a wasp in sight for me, and they're usually swarming this time of the year as I regulalry cut grass around the neighborhood. I see the odd bee but they dont seem to be too bothered by my presence.
Ive seen quite a few frogs all over my neighborhood, alot more than usual actually, I just wish they would stay out of the grass , luckily Ive never killed one yet but several have been run over or stepped on by people over the years.

Moths also seem to be down a good bit. I remember 2 years ago I couldnt even open the window at night unless I wanted 20+ in my room.

oldfart

I am glad there are no wasps this year!!

I heard no conrcrakes on tory this year - last year heard them loads!!

Kess73

Wasp numbers are starting to grow where I am in Limerick, and there has been an explosion in caterpillar numbers. Specifially Cabbage Whites so there may be a surge of Cabbage White butterflies soon.

Lots and lots of Red Admirals about as well where I was seeing only the odd one or two earlier in the summer..

My buddleia bushes are finally getting attention. :d

magicbastarder

from not seeing any butterflies up till now, the other day we counted 12 on a single verbena in the garden.

Birdnuts

Kess73 wrote: »

Wasp numbers are starting to grow where I am in Limerick, and there has been an explosion in caterpillar numbers. Specifially Cabbage Whites so there may be a surge of Cabbage White butterflies soon.

Lots and lots of Red Admirals about as well where I was seeing only the odd one or two earlier in the summer..

My buddleia bushes are finally getting attention. :d

Don't think I've seen a wasp this year!!:eek: - More butterflies about in recent weeks though.

IrishHomer

Good summer for badgers, ground stayed soft for digging and wet summer brings plenty of slugs etc :-)

bogtreader

The swallows i have kept an eye on there was three nests No1 had 5 chicks fledge,
No2 had 3 chicks fledge and No3 had 3 chicks as well and all fledged.They flew the nest last Thursday the sixth of september.Hardly any wasps around but we are over run with spiders
much to my wife and daughters upset.