Birdwatching kits available from Mayo Libraries
Pictured at the launch of the initiative were, from left: Austin Vaughan, Mayo County Librarian; Joanne Grehan, Director of Services for Planning, Economic Development, Environment and Climate Change; Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Cllr Sean Carey; Síofra Kilcullen, Director of Services for Corporate Services, Human Resources and Organisational Efficiency including Libraries; Denis Strong, Senior Divisional Manager, NPWS; Brian Hughes, Conservation Ranger, NPWS; and Sheila Murphy, Mayo Biodiversity Officer.
Mayo County Council celebrated National Biodiversity Week with various activities throughout the county. National Biodiversity Week encourages the public to celebrate, discover and engage with our natural world and biodiversity.
As part of the week, Mayo’s Biodiversity Office in partnership with Mayo Libraries engaged with the public about the importance of celebrating and exploring Mayo’s birdlife. Mayo is uniquely positioned in supporting rare and threatened bird species due to its location, habitats and conservation efforts of many EIPs, LIFE projects, NPWS, and landowners and farmers.
On Wednesday, May 20th, at Castlebar Library, Mayo Biodiversity Office and the Mayo Library launched Mayo Birdwatching Kits, which is a novel initiative to support the public with engaging in Mayo’s nature.
The birdwatching kits will allow for people with all backgrounds, ages and birdwatching experience to explore and embrace Mayo’s abundance of vast and diverse birdlife. The kits hope to encourage and make engaging with nature and birdwatching accessible to all, from interested members of the public, community groups, to schools and youth groups.
The kits allow for members of the public to use field equipment, books and guides to make learning, discovering and exploring nature open to everyone. It also encourages Citizen Science among the public and showcases how our actions and records are critical to build a picture of nature in Mayo, to aid conversation efforts and projects.
The birdwatching kit contains a set of high-quality binoculars, a how to guide in logging citizen science records, a foldout guide to the top Irish birds, two guidebooks, all within a waterproof rucksack.
Cathaoirleach Cllr Sean Carey, who launched the initiative, emphasised the importance of biodiversity throughout the county.
“It is fitting that we are here during Biodiversity Week, because this week reminds us - year on year - that the natural world is not something we’re separate from. It is not something we visit on holidays or admire from a distance. It is the living fabric of the county we call home. And in Mayo, we are extraordinarily fortunate in what that fabric contains.”
From June onwards, Mayo library members will be able to borrow the birdwatching kits from all fourteen libraries in the county through a deposit scheme, opening opportunities for birdwatching and citizen science to all members of the public. Mayo County Council wishes to build upon these kits by adding in additional wildlife surveying equipment and guides over time.
"In Mayo, we are fortunate to have a county of extraordinary natural richness. These kits represent what biodiversity action looks like in practice, providing a tangible resource that puts nature directly in people's hands," said Cllr Carey.
The launch also included a series of short talks from NPWS Conservation Ranger Brian Hughes on Lapwing Conservation in Shrule Turlough, Lynda Huxley of Swift Conservation Mayo on the efforts to conserve the swift across the county, Ecologist Jackie Hunt of LIFE on Machair on conservation works in north-west Mayo for waders and Graham Cawdell of Birdwatch Mayo, on the range of activities the group run to explore and celebrate birdlife.
The Birdwatching Kits is a partnership between Mayo County Council’s Biodiversity Office and Mayo County Library. It is funded through the Local Biodiversity Action Fund which is administered by the National Parks and Wild Service.
