From BTO’s Birdtrack August 2011 Update:
“As waders migrate south through Britain and Ireland, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the fortunes of a ‘resident’ wader species. During the last Breeding Atlas, in 1988-91, the Irish population of Curlews was estimated at around 5,000 pairs. This spring, BirdWatch Ireland carried out the first survey specifically to find breeding Curlew in Ireland. Over 60 sites in Donegal and Mayo that were occupied by breeding Curlews during the 1988-91 Atlas were revisited and, shockingly, the results indicated that only six still held breeding pairs. Just four pairs were recorded in Donegal and four in Mayo, indicating that there are likely to be fewer than 200 breeding pairs left in the whole country – a 96 percent decline in 20 years.”
That IS shocking! Have ag. practices changed that much in Ireland in a little more than two decades?