Northern Ireland Seabird Report 2022
Author(s): Booth Jones, K.
Published: March 2023
Publisher: British Trust for Ornithology Pages: 92pp
ISBN: 978-1-912642-46-5
Download article 2.75 MB application/pdf
This is the 10th edition of the Northern Ireland Seabird Report, covering 2022, and is the published outcome of the work of the Northern Ireland Seabird Network of volunteers, overseen by BTO on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. At the core of the Seabird Network in Northern Ireland are the surveyors. Some work for government bodies such as NIEA, and others on behalf of non-government organisations such as RSPB, Ulster Wildlife and the National Trust. All are important contributors through the provision of data for 2022 and previous years, and provide advice and guidance from their expert staff.
The report highlights that Fulmars continue to be at a low ebb in Northern Ireland, with numbers at most sites monitored in 2022 mostly stable or declining slightly. Kittiwake numbers continue to increase at monitored sites, while the numbers of Common Terns appear to have recovered after a bad year in 2020, when the total coastal Northern Irish population (including Belfast Lough RSPB, Carlingford Lough, Cockle Island, Larne Lough and Strangford Lough) more than halved from 2019 levels due to losses at Larne and Belfast Loughs.
The report also documents the impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza on Northern Ireland's seabirds, reveals how detection dogs are being used to monitor burrow-nesting species, explores the foraging behaviour of Black Guillemots, and highlights the monitoring work being done in Strangford Lough.
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