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Dalkey Tidy Towns

Wildlife in the Township of Dalkey

BIRDS
Aside from the plants the birds are the most obvious of Dalkey’s wildlife. The Peregrine Falcons have recently returned to the area and can be seen jousting with the resident Ravens. Occasionally a Buzzard a recently arrived species in Ireland can be seen quartering the hillsides. Dalkey Island and the Muglins provide habitats for many of our breeding and coastal seabirds.

The islands and the Dalkey coast are also important sites for passage migrants in spring and autumn. In addition a notable feature of Dalkey Sound is the daily passage in winter of skeins of Pale Breasted Brent Geese from their nesting grounds in Dublin Bay to feeding grounds down the coast (such as the Kilcoole Marshes).

Bird Survey :- as have been observed at the		Monthly - Newsletters
Rampart Bank, Vico Road

R & B	=	resident in the area & breeding
W V	=	winter visitor
M & B	=	migratory & breeding

Auk, Little	W V	Long Tailed Tit (pic)
Blackbird	R & B	Linnet	R & B
Blackcap (pic)	R & B	Magpie	R & B
Blue Tit (pic)		Mallard	R & B
Chaffinch		Martin, House	R & B
Chiffchaff (pic)		Martin, Sand	R & B
Coal Tit (pic)		Merganser, Red-breasted	R & B
Cormorant	R & B	Oystercatcher	R & B
Cuckoo - Baby (pic)		Pigeon, Wood	R & B
Dipper (pic)		Pipit, Rock	R & B
Diver, Black throated	WV	Raven	R & B
Diver, Great Northern	W V	Razorbill	R & B
Diver, Red throated	W V	Reed Bunting	R & B
Dove, Collared	R & B	Robin	R & B
Duck, Tufted	WV	Rook (pic)	R & B
Dunnock (pic)	R & B	Scoter. Common	R & B
Fieldfare	W V	Shelduck	R & B
Fulmar (pic)	R & B	Sparrowhawk Fermale (pic)	R & B
Gannet	R & B	Spotted Flycatcher (pic)
Godwit, Bar-tailed	WV	Starling	R & B
Godwit, Black-tailed	W V	Stonechat (pic)	R & B
Goldcrest	R & B	Swallow	M & B
Goldeneye	W V	Swan, Mute	R & B
Goldfinch	R & B	Swift	R & B
Goosander (pic)	R & B	Teal	R & B
Goose, Brent (pic)	W V	Tern, Arctic	R & B
Grebe, Black-necked	W V	Tern, Common	R & B
Grebe, Great Crested	R & B	Tern, Roseate	R & B
Grebe, Little	R & B	Tern, Sandwich	R & B
Grebe, Red-necked	W V	Thrush, Mistle	R & B
Grebe, Slavonian	W V	Thrush, Song	R & B
Greenfinch	R & B	Tit, Blue	R & B
Guillemot	R & B	Tit, Great	R & B
Guillemot, Black	R & B	Wagtail, Grey	R & B
Gull, Black-headed	R & B	Wagtail, Pied	R & B
Gull, Great Black-backed	R & B	Waxwing (pic)
Gull, Herring	R & B	Wheatear (pic)	M & B
Gull, Lesser Black-backed	R & B	Wigeon	M V
Gull, Mediterranean	vagrant	Wren	R & B
Heron, Grey	R & B
Jackdaw	R & B
Kestrel	R & B
Kittiwake	R & B

What is a Tern?
There are 5 species of tern breeding in Ireland. They all look like a small slender gull, but with long pointed wings. Their distinct forked tail has given them the name "Sea Swallow". They hover and dive to catch small fish and sand eels. Bird Watch Ireland have a lot of information on the Terns nesting & breeding in Dalkey
Please go to http://www.birdweb.net/tern.html for photographs and a lot more information, also http://www.birdwatchireland.ie

BUTTERFLIES
Aside from wild flowers and birds, butterflies are one the most noticeable of our fauna. Ireland with only 28 resident species is like Britain (with only 59) way down on the European hit list - 560 species occur in Europe! About 17 of the Irish species are found in this area. However the 3 commonest migrant species to Britain and Ireland, the Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow are all found in the Dalkey area adding colour and variety to the bio diverse richness of this district.

Butterfly Survey
as have been observed at the Rampart Bank, Vico Road

Common Blue	Painted Lady (pic)	Small Heath
Grayling	Peacock	Small tortoiseshell (pic)
Green-veined White	Red Admiral	Small tortoiseshell
Large White	Ringlet	Speckled Wood
Meadow Brown	Small Copper	Wall Brown
Orange Tip

Two day flying moths have been observed :-
6 Spot Burnet & Cinnabar

Reptile Survey
as have been observed at the Rampart Bank, Vico Road

The Common Lizard is in current residence.

Mollusc Survey

A rare snail also living here, more information later

LAND ANIMALS

Badgers :- are present, but due to hunting no information will be displayed on any area information boards.

Goats :- are ever present on Dalkey Island, though completely wild they do have a divine hand ( in the context of a local vet ) watching over them. More information

Foxes :- six or seven are resident on Dalkey Hill, Unfortunately the one resident in the old Bulloch Quarry who visited Bulloch Harbour on a regular basis has not been seen since the start of April 05, and must be presumed dead

Rabbits :- only a few are left in a area of Dalkey Hill, as they have been hunted by youths with dogs

Red Squirrels :- currently it has been noted that there are a small number on Dalkey Hill, and an ever increasing number of Greys.

Rats :- plenty on Dalkey Island

SEA LIFE
Dalkey Sound is also notable for its extensive littoral and marine fauna, being one of the most bio diverse on the east coast of Ireland. Added to that the resident population of Grey Seals, whose accumulation in Bulloch Harbour daily at feeding times is a local tourist attraction, are joined by common and Bottleneck Dolphins adding to the wealth of marine fauna and flora. See list below of Fish in the area, though some have been fished out

George posing for his photograph at Bulloch Harbour

Coliemore Harbour

On one of the piers of the harbour there is an unusual looking building, originally it was built for the lifeboat. Later it became the marine biology station attached to University College, Dublin. where students come to study marine life. The deepwater of the sound, the rocky area and the sand banks beyond Sorrento point make it a compact area for investigation with easy reach of Dublin. Here can be found flowering plants, seaweed's, lichens, coelenterate, crustacea, mollusc, fish, and on occasion, mammals. It is now going to be the new sewage pumping station.

This list covers around 30 years of fishing off of Dalkey, some in deeper water.
Today some of the common species are becoming a rarity.

FISH	Suggested Bait to be Used
BASS	Crab	Herring Fry	Small Mackerel	.
BREAM	Mackerel Strips	Herring Strips	.	.
BRILL	Soft Crab	Lug	Mussel	Rag
COD	Crab	Fry	Worms	.
CODLING	Crab	Fry	Worms	.
CONGER	Crab	Pollack	Pouting	.
CRAB	.	.	.	.
DAB	Lug	Mussel	Rag	.
DOG	Lug	Mackerel Strips	.	.
FLOUNDER	Lug	Mussel	Rag	.
GURNARD	Feathers	Rubber Eel	.	.
LING	Mackerel Strips	Pilchard Strips	Pollack Strips	.
LOBSTER	Any Rotting Fish	.	.	.
MACKEREL	Feathers	Spinner	.	.
MULLET	Cheese Bread ........	Fish Livers	.	.
PLAICE	Soft Crab	Lug	Mussel	Rag
POLLACK	Feathers	Herring	Mackerel	Sand Eels
POUTING	Lug	Mussel	Rag	.
RAY ( SKATE )	1/2 Half Mackerel ( head to tail )		.	.
SOLE	Lug	Mussel	Rag	.
WHITING	Lug	Mussel	Rag	Fish Strips

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