Welcome to 2020's Creature Calendar - Mid and East Antrim Borough
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Welcome
to 2020’s
Creature
Calendar
Our gardens are a vital resource for wildlife, and shelter, letting some areas grow wild or
providing corridors of green space between installing nest boxes? Recording wildlife is also
open countryside, allowing species to move important, why not get out and about in 2020
about. In fact, gardens across the UK provide and let us know what you see?
more space for nature than all the National
Nature Reserves put together. So why not try
to improve your garden for wildlife by planting You can find out more at
native plants and trees, providing some water www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/biodiversity
Starling
Starlings are one of our most familiar resident birds in Northern
Ireland, present in a wide range of urban and rural habitats. Our
resident population is joined by migrant visitors from Europe in
the winter.
Starlings look black at a distance but on closer inspection they
are glossy with a metallic sheen of purples and greens. They
are noisy little birds with a wide vocabulary of songs and calls
and are excellent mimics.
Did you know starling flocks can number in the hundreds
of thousands? One of the best ways to see starlings is at a
large roost site at dusk in winter. Their coordinated aerial
display is called a murmuration and is an impressive site.
Starlings have undergone a severe decline in the mainland
UK and are listed as UK Birds of Conservation Concern, but
the population in Northern Ireland seems to be stable.
You can help starlings and all your favourite garden birds
in winter months by leaving out fat balls or homemade bird
cakes made with lard and packed with seeds, fruit or dried
mealworms. Make sure your garden has a source of unfrozen
water for drinking and bathing. Provide shelter for birds to
roost in by installing next boxes, planting dense hedges such
as privet or hawthorn, or allowing ivy or holly to grow.
Get involved in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch between 25
and 27 January. Your results help experts understand how bird
populations are doing in Northern Ireland. Just watch the birds in
your garden or local park for one hour and upload your findings at
www.rsbp.org.uk
Hedgehog
Hedgehogs will be coming out of hibernation soon. Hedgehogs
usually hibernate from November through to mid-March, but
they can sometimes be seen out and about during this period
changing nesting sites.
Hedgehogs eat beetles, caterpillars, earthworms and
slugs, so can be a real help to gardeners. Did you know
hedgehogs can travel around one mile every night
through our parks and gardens to find food and a mate?
So, if you have an enclosed garden you might be getting
in the way of their plans!
You can help in your own garden by creating a
hedgehog hole in your garden fence to create one
big hedgehog highway, building a hedgehog home or
leaving piles of leaves for them to hibernate in, and by
gardening organically - pesticides such as slug pellets
are very harmful for hedgehogs.
For more information visit www.hedgehogstreet.org
If you see a hedgehog that looks unwell it might need
a helping hand. Sick, injured and orphaned hedgehogs
are susceptible to hypothermia. Staggering is a sign
of hypothermia and so is ‘sunbathing’ as they spread
themselves out in the sun in an attempt to get some heat
into their bodies.
For more information visit
www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/found-a-hedgehog
Minke Whale
The minke whale is the smallest and most common of
the baleen whales and can be found around the coast of
Northern Ireland. Minke are fast swimmers and can reach
speeds of up to 20 kilometres per hour and can stay
underwater for up to 20 minutes.
Minke whales can live for up to 50 years and live
alone or in small groups. They feed on small fish
such as herring, but will also eat squid and krill, and
can weigh between five to 10 tonnes. Minke whale
vocalisations can be as loud as 150 decibels - that’s
the same as a jet plane taking off! This allows them to
communicate over long distances underwater.
They are more common in cooler waters and can
often be seen inshore. Sightings off the coast of
Northern Ireland have increased over recent years
as whale-watching becomes more popular and
because minke whales are notoriously inquisitive and
will often approach boats.
The best places for whale-watching are headlands,
islands and bays when the sea is calm. Portmuck
Islandmagee and Garron Point Carnlough are good
places for whale watching in the Borough.
The minke whale is a protected species in Northern
Ireland so if you see a minke whale you can report it to
Ulster Wildlife or CEDaR. E: cedar.info@nmni.comBarn owl
Barn owls can be spotted at any time of the year and
have a distinctive white heart-shaped face and black
eyes. They are mainly nocturnal but on still, moonlit
evenings you might be able to spot a barn owl hunting
over field edges and roadside verges. Barn owls hunt
for small mammals, such as house mice and wood
mice, making them a great friend to farmers and
homeowners alike.
Did you know barn owls don’t actually hoot, they
screech? So, throughout history, barn owls have
been known by many different nicknames, such as
‘screech owl’ ‘ghost owl’ and ‘church owl’.
The barn owl is one of Northern Ireland’s most
iconic species but unfortunately one of the most
endangered, with less than 50 breeding pairs
estimated to be left in Northern Ireland. One of
the reasons is lack of suitable nesting sites. With
the help of local schools we have installed three
custom built barn owl boxes across the Borough for
these beautiful birds, and continue to monitor them.
The barn owl is now one of our rarest and most
endangered birds, red-listed on the Irish Birds of
Conservation Concern and protected under the
Wildlife (NI) Order 1985. Nest sites are protected all year
round even if they are not in use.
If you see a barn owl please report it, this will add to
valuable research. For more information visit
www.ulsterwildlife.org/barnowlBees
There are hundreds of bees in Northern Ireland including
bumblebees, honeybees and solitary bees. Bees are very important
for the environment and for people too, and have recently been
declared the most important living beings on earth. Did you
know pollinators are essential for the production of food and
contribute an estimated £1.8bn to the UK’s farming economy
every year?
Bee numbers have dramatically declined by almost 90%
in the last few years. The uncontrolled use of pesticides,
deforestation and lack of flowers are the main reasons for
their extinction.
We are working to raise awareness of bees and provide
habitat by planting large urban wildflower meadows.
Our meadows are sown with native wildflower seed mix
including corn poppy, ox-eye daisy and field scabious,
which are all brilliant for bees.
You can help bees in your own garden by eliminating
pesticide use, letting a few areas go wild, and by planting
pollinator friendly plants. Bees need a wide range of plants
that flower from spring to autumn to feed from. These
include alyssum, cornflower, sunflower, michaelmas daisy
and sweet william for nectar in summer; bluebells, rosemary,
geranium and honeysuckle in spring; and ivy can provide food
in early and late parts of the year.
A full list of plants that bees will love is available at www.rhs.org.ukLizard
The Common Lizard is Northern Ireland’s only native reptile. They are
only active during the day because they need heat from the sun or their
surroundings to raise their temperature before they can start moving.
Also known as the ‘viviparous lizard’, the common lizard is unusual
among reptiles as it incubates its eggs inside its body and gives birth
to live young rather than laying eggs. Adults hibernate in winter,
emerge in spring, find a mate in April and May, and produce three
to eleven young in July. They eat spiders, small insects, worms,
caterpillars and other invertebrates.
Did you know, if threatened by a predator, the common lizard
will shed its tail in order to distract its attacker and make a
quick getaway? The lizard can then regrow its tail, although it is
usually shorter than the original.
You can look out for lizards on sunny days, basking on rocks or
stone walls. Choose a warm, dry day, find a south facing slope
with patches of bare ground that warm up quickly, next to areas
of cover into which the animal can flee if disturbed, then sit
quietly and wait!
Good places to see lizards in the Borough are Blackhead Path,
Knockagh and Slemish Mountain - generally the wilder parts of our
coast and uplands. Lizard sightings can be reported to CEDaR at
cedar.info@nmni.com.
In Northern Ireland lizards are known as European Protected Species
and given special protection by the law which makes it an offence to
kill, injure or capture them.Butterfly
Northern Ireland is home to around 25 species of butterfly including
peacock, ringlet, green-veined white, meadow brown and orange
tip. Butterflies live in a wide range of habitat including meadows,
grasslands, forests, hedgerows, parks, gardens, sand dunes and
sea cliffs.
Your garden, no matter how small, can help butterflies by
offering supplies of nectar. Butterflies particularly love
buddleia, lavender, marjoram and verbena – why not plant
some in your garden or in pots on your windowsill? You can
also help butterflies by using peat-free compost and not
using pesticides - they kill butterflies as well as other
mini-beasts such as beetles and spiders.
Almost half of our butterflies are priority species so all data
recorded is important. You can get involved in Butterfly
Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count this year from 17 July to
9 August 2020. Find out more and report your sightings at
www.bigbutterflycount.org
Great places to go on a butterfly hunt in the Borough include
Diamond Jubilee Wood Whitehead, Carnfunnock Country
Park and Peoples Park Ballymena. Bring a picnic, make a day of
it and share your photos on social media using #MEAdventuresBat
Did you know there are over 1,300 types of bat in the world
but only 8 bat species are native to Northern Ireland? All of
our bats are small, shy, harmless mammals. The smallest,
the pipistrelle, weighs as little as a 2p coin and is known
to gobble up more than 500 insects in an hour!
Blind as a bat? Contrary to what some people believe,
bats are not blind and in fact are believed to have
better eyesight than most humans.
The best time to see bats is at dusk on warm and dry
summer evenings. International Bat Night occurs
on the last Saturday in August each year and is a
great opportunity to get out and look for these
fascinating mammals.
Some great places to see bats are Ecos Nature
Park, Galgorm Wood and Bashfordsland Wood &
Oakfield Glen. How many can you see or indeed
hear? To really experience the bat’s world it’s
worth borrowing a special detector to hear the
high-frequency clicks and buzzes of bats using
echolocation to hunt.
Bats and their roosts are protected by law in the UK
and Ireland as they are vulnerable to disturbance. This
means it is a crime for someone to hurt or kill a bat, or
to destroy their roost. For more information you can visit
The Northern Ireland Bat Group www.bats-ni.org.ukRed squirrel
The red squirrel is one of our most iconic mammals immortalised as
‘squirrel nutkin’ by Beatrix Potter. Red squirrels play an important
role in regenerating woodlands as they bury nuts and seeds which
grow into future trees that sustain a host of native woodland
dwellers such as pine martens and jays.
Red squirrels eat a variety of seeds, nuts, funghi, bark, buds and
berries. Red squirrels do not hibernate, in very cold weather
they will stay in their nests for a day or two, but they cannot
survive for longer periods without food.
The red squirrel is believed to have been present in Ireland
since the end of the last Ice Age but unfortunately they are
currently in decline. Did you know grey squirrels are a major
threat to the survival of the red squirrel population? Greys
are larger than reds and can out-compete them for food, and
also carry a viral disease (Parapox virus) which can be fatal to
reds if transmitted.
North-east Antrim has the largest number of red squirrel
only areas in Northern Ireland. Red squirrels were recently
reintroduced to Carnfunnock Country Park and are also
present at Straidkilly Nature Reserve in Glenarm. Seeing a flash
of red for the first time is a very special moment and something
that everybody should experience – and now you can! Autumn
is the best time to see them as there are fewer leaves on the
trees, making them easier to spot as they gather food ahead of the
winter. Why not take a walk and see what you can see?Beetle
Did you know there are over 350,000 beetle species in the
world with many more beetles still undiscovered? Some
beetles who call Northern Ireland their home include
the devil’s coach horse, great diving beetle, whirligig
beetle and seven kinds of ladybird.
The 7-spot Ladybird is the ladybird that everyone is
familiar with. The 7-spot ladybird is also a migratory
species so large numbers fly in from the continent
every spring, boosting our native population.
Adults hibernate in hollow plant stems and
cavities, sometimes clustering together in large
numbers.
The bright colours of ladybirds warn predators
that they do not taste good, although some birds
may still have a go at eating them!
All beetles are gardeners friends as they help
manage garden pests such as greenfly. You can
encourage beetles and other insects into your
garden by putting up a bug box, letting some areas
grow wild and planting a variety of native flowers,
shrubs and trees.Pine Marten
The pine marten is one of Northern Ireland’s most elusive
animals. It was once widespread but habitat loss has
reduced the range of this species.
Pine marten are most likely to be found in coniferous
and mixed woodland where they can nest in hollow
trees and old animal homes. Pine martens have
chocolate brown fur and a creamy yellow bib and
are about the size of a domestic cat. They even
make shrill, cat-like calls.
Pine martens are carnivores and will eat anything
they can catch including small mammals and
ground nesting birds but they will also eat eggs,
fruit, nuts, berries and fungi.
Northern Ireland is one of their last remaining
strongholds in the UK, along with Scotland,
and they are also found across the Republic of
Ireland. Pine Martens are listed as UK Priority
species and are protected in Northern Ireland by
the Wildlife (NI) Order 1985.
They can be seen throughout the year however as
they are active mainly at night they can be hard to
spot. If you are lucky enough to see a Pine Marten
you can report the sighting to cedar.info@nmni.comFind the word Marten L B A M R A U A O E A W A Y A M A P Q A Z H W Q A F T E X M A A A R L H R A O A C X T R T A O T Y D A I U A A A H A A F N G Y A Z A I A A O A M M A A Q S D A O H
Heron
Heron are unmistakeable birds - tall, with long legs, a long beak and
striking grey, black and white feathering - and can spend hours on
the river bank, simply watching and waiting for prey.
Herons are predators and hunt for fish, amphibians, reptiles,
insects, small mammals such as voles, and even small birds
such as ducklings.
Did you know herons nest in colonies called ‘Heronries’?
These are often in the top of trees. They make large nests
out of twigs and lay three to four eggs. The young will fledge
from the nest after about one and half months.
Our grey herons do not migrate so can be seen at any
time of the year around any kind of water including lakes,
rivers and estuaries and even garden ponds. Some great
places to spot heron in the Borough are Ecos Nature Park,
Portglenone Marina and Larne Lough.
Winter is still a good time to get outside and get close to
nature. Along the shore look out for harbour seals, wildfowl
and wading birds. As well as heron, kingfisher and otter can
be found in our rivers throughout the season.
Did you know there are seven local nature reserves in the
Borough managed to provide as much needed habitat for
our wonderful wildlife? They are Beach Road Whitehead,
Bashfordsland Wood and Oakfield Glen Carrickfergus,
Carrickfergus Mill Ponds, Chaines Wood Ballygally, Cranny Falls
Carnlough, Diamond Jubilee Wood Whitehead, and Straidkilly
Glenarm. Just wrap up warm and bring your binoculars!For more information
For more information on the wonderful wildlife
in the Borough you can download the
Local Biodiversity Action Plan below.
www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/biodiversity
T: 028 9335 8231
E: biodiversity@midandeastantrim.gov.ukYou can also read
