Bypass will wreak havoc on protected species
The proposed new bypass routes through Menlo are ‘bird-brained’, according to a local wildlife expert, who says a road will destroy the area as a sanctuary for rare species.
A new road will kill more than two birds with the one bypass stone – the motorway would result in the widespread deaths of endangered barn owls, as well as other protected and rare birds that visit Menlo because of its unique landscape.
Tom Cuffe, a Menlo resident and expert with BirdWatch Galway, says the area is rich with rare and beautiful birdlife, and it would be “criminal” to destroy it.
Mr Cuffe said the road poses a threat to barn owls nesting in Menlo Castle, and to the peregrine falcons, kestrels and stock and rock doves that are to be found in Anglingham Quarry.
“All birds are protected,” explains Mr Cuffe.
“Even the humble crow is protected. You have categories of birds where there is more protection – for example the peregrine falcon, has a higher category of protection. The stock and rock dove are on the decline because of our feral pigeons are diluting the genes. The kestrel, our most common bird of prey, has a protection order on it and they’re nesting in Menlo.”
The barn owl is now on a critical list of endangered species. Up to 10 barn owls have been killed in traffic collisions since the opening of Tralee bypass last month. The same would happen in Menlo, warned Mr Cuffe.
There have been rare sightings of a white-tailed eagle twice this year at Menlo, including a white-tailed eagle roosting on the western side of the River Corrib at Menlo Castle. Last week there was a sighting of a rare bittern at Menlo Church.
“Right now if you were to do a survey of bitterns in Ireland, there would probably just be two. They were a native bird but because of habitat loss they are now extinct. A guy was doing a survey in Menlo last week and saw a bittern. It could be passing through or it could be down there for the past 10 years – we don’t know. That’s off the scale – that for us is so mega, a bittern is just so rare,” said Mr Cuffe.
He said birds are attracted to the unique marshy and wetland areas of Menlo.
For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune