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On Tuesday our class went to room 11, the project room, to watch a slide show about the birds and insects that live on the Grand Canal. The presentation was made by Ms Faith Wilson from BirdWatch Ireland. She told us lots of interesting facts about the birds that live in the canal and the birds that live on the banks of the canal. Some birds like the chiff chaff and the willow warbler come from Africa every year as summer visitors.The gold crest is Ireland’s smallest bird. The second smallest bird in Ireland is the wren. Sometimes you will see feathers along the canal but this doesn’t mean that any birds are necessarily dead. They are only moulting. The coot can lay up to six to nine eggs in its nest. The male mallard has a bottle green head. Birds have different shaped beaks so that they can find food for themselves. Faith told us many more interesting facts but I think that the pictures of the birds was the best part of the show. It was all very interesting. Afterwards we wrote about the birds and drew lots of pictures some of which you can see below. Birds in the Canal
Birds on the Bank of the Canal
The Jackdaw The Jackdaw is Ireland’s smallest crow. It is well known for its rather funny appearance and funny looking white eye. It is mainly black though the sides of the head are greyish. The Jackdaw struts rather than walks and the call is a sound like “chack”. Like the starling the jackdaw has streetwise habits and he lives comfortably with humans. He finds his food in many different places. Tit bits are found in open fields as well as on the seashore.
The grey wagtail is a bird that likes watery habitat like running streams and rivers. The back is blue-grey; the wings and tail are blackish, the tail has white outer feathers. There are clear black and white head markings,more noticeable on the male. The under parts are lemon-yellow, deeper under the tail. In winter the summer feathers of the male are dulled and so the male and female look very alike. The call note is tinny.
The Dunnock commonly misnamed the Hedge Sparrow (for it is not a sparrow) it is a quiet and small little bird. It is aptly named dun-ock or óg (meaning little dark one)as it is dark brown, streaked darker on the back and tinged with grey on the head and underparts. The call is a monotonous “jeep” and the song is a little refrain .
The Song Thrush
The tiny Wren is one of Ireland’s most familiar and common birds. It can be seen everywhere . It is a lively little bird with a cocked up tail. The plumage is heavily barred on the sides and tail and there is a warm rusty tinge on the rump and tail. The Wren’s song is loud for such a small bird and the call is sharp chick. The wren is well-known and famous because of St. Stephen’s Day. My granny told us lots of stories about the wren and St. Stephen’s Day .
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The Reed Bunting is similar in size to the yellow hammer,
with streaked black and white outer tail feathers, but the male has a black head
and throat and whitish under parts. The female is different. She is usually
brown but is richly streaked with black. The main habitat is in a reed bed or
marshy ground but the reed bunting is also found in scrub, sometimes well away from water, and
in gardens. Its tail is black and white. It is a middle sized tail. The bill is
black, short and stubby. It lays 4-5 pale gray and black eggs. It eats seeds.
The Song Thrush is Irelands finest song
bird. Its plumage is warm brown above, pale below and heavily speckled with
black. The spots run into one another in dark blotches and streaks. The under
wings are honey coloured, sometimes visible in flight, and the call is a distinct "tsip". Song Thrushes are familiar garden birds, feeding on
worms, grubs and using stones as "anvils" for breaking open snails.
The thrush keeps beating the shell against the stone until it breaks and then the
bird has a nice juicy supper.
