We are very pleased to announce the ‘2022 Llŷn & Iveragh Chough Count’, organised by LIVE and the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). Chough surveys will take place simultaneously on the Iveragh Peninsula (County Kerry, Ireland) and the Llŷn Peninsula (Gwynedd, Wales). We hope to encourage as many volunteers as possible on Iveragh and Pen Llŷn to carry out chough surveys on the morning of Saturday the 12th of March. This will provide valuable information on the chough populations of our two peninsulas.
How do I conduct a survey?
You conduct a survey by walking along a fixed route (usuallybetween 2 to 6 kilometres), while constantly scanning the surrounding landscape for choughs and listening very closely for their calls. You can record your survey on a ready-made ‘data sheet’, which either Fiach or Rob will provide you with when you email them. You can also find tips on how to identify Red-billed Choughs when in the field at the following links.
In the lead up to the Llŷn Chough Count, there will be limited availability on a chough survey workshop at Mynydd Mawr at 10am on Saturday the 26th of February. The workshop will be hosted by Jack Slattery, the RSPB Cymru Conservation Officer for Eryri, Llŷn and Môn.
The Red-billed Chough
The Red-billed Chough is an iconic species on Iveragh and Pen Llŷn. It is also a protected species which has suffered population declines in recent decades. Iveragh and Pen Llŷn are two strongholds for the choughs of Ireland and Wales, with each peninsula hosting significant numbers of birds. The traditional farming practices, coupled with the peninsulas’ coastal landscapes, provide the combination of nest sites, foraging habitats and food sources that choughs need to sustain healthy populations.
Although the chough populations on Iveragh and Pen Llŷn are relatively stable, they are sensitive to changing farming practices and weather patterns, as well as disturbance and developments. For this reason, there is a need to monitor chough populations to better understand the threats they face. Coordinating a half-day Chough Count allows us to estimate the number of choughs that call the Iveragh and Llŷn peninsulas home. The Chough Count can also tell us more about key areas for choughs on each peninsula, as well as the habitats they rely on.
Collaboration between Ireland and Wales
With the help of their volunteers, the RSPB have previously coordinated a Chough Count on Pen Llŷn. The approach taken on the Llŷn Peninsula has been to design routes that their volunteers can walk along while searching for choughs. This approach has been very successful and has yielded some extremely valuable data on Pen Llŷn’s choughs. This year, LIVE will assist the RPSB’s count on Pen Llŷn and we will replicate their approach on the Iveragh Peninsula. Surveys conducted by volunteers during the Llŷn Chough Count will contribute to their long-term monitoring programmes on the species. Surveys conducted by volunteers during Iveragh’s first-ever Chough Count will inform a report on ‘The Red-billed Choughs of Iveragh’, due to be published in late 2022. The Irish data will also be shared with public databases such as the National Biodiversity Data Centre and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Maps of the Iveragh peninsula in southwest Ireland and the Llŷn peninsula in northwest Wales.
How can I get involved?
We are asking all participants to get out to survey on the morning of Saturday the 12th of March – finishing your survey no later than 2pm. If weather conditions are too bad on Saturday, the count will be postponed until the following day – Sunday the 13th of March.
If you would like to participate in Iveragh’s Chough Count you can contact Fiach at: fbyrne@ucc.ie. Fiach can provide you with a route that would be particularly useful to survey. Alternatively, if there is a route that you would like to suggest, you can pass the details of this route over to Fiach.
If you would like to participate in Pen Llŷn’s Chough Count you can contact Rob at: robert.parkinson@nationaltrust.org.uk. As this is not the first Chough Count to be held on Pen Llŷn, Rob has a ready-made list of routes that need to be surveyed.
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