News
2016 Garden Bird Study
Millstreet Tidy Town Association are delighted to announce that the Nest Boxes are ready to be picked up for the Garden Bird Study. We have 20 free Nest Boxes to be given to residents around the town to aid us in a Garden Bird Study and all you have to do is open the box once a year after the birds have nested and take a few notes on the nesting habits of these birds and that’s it. Please contact us here on the website or Facebook Page or email address to get a Nest Box. Easy Peasy. We would sincerely like to thank the Millstreet Mens Shed for building these beautiful Nest Boxes. Beautiful craftsmanship as always.
Tranisiton Year Project 2016
After a hugely successful project last year, this year Tony Keneally is working with Transition Year Student in Millstreet Community School again this year. This years project is about the study of Barn Owl and Kestrel in the area of Millstreet. As part of this project the Transition Year Class constructed 2 Nest boxes for each species. The first 2 boxes will be erected in undisclosed locations to maximise the probability of these two very solitary birds, nesting in the boxes so an in-depth study can carried out regarding the birds. The second 2 boxes, we require the publics assistance. If you have seen a Barn Owl or Kestrel in your area could you please contact us as we would really like to erect these Nesting Boxes in an area where these birds have been seen. Contact us via email @ millstreettidytown@gmail.com Facebook or twitter. Alternatively here on the website. We look forward to the project that will be submitted by the Transition Year Students and as last year the project chosen by Tony Keneally will be submitted with our National entry this year.
New Wildflower Area in Millstreet Park
Millstreet Tidy Town are delighted to announce that Denis and all his hard workers at FÁS have completed all the Wild Flower Areas in the Town Park. All 3 beds have been sprayed in preparation for planting in April/May. This is an ongoing project as part of our work with Wildlife Biologist, Tony Keneally. The Wild Flower Areas will be a beautiful addition to the Town Park. Our greatest thanks to Denis and the lads and all their tireless work.
BirdWatch Ireland Talk
BirdWatch Ireland Cork Branch are holding an Information Evening about Birds of Towns & Villages in Co. Cork. Enhancing bird habitats within your community. A talk by Brian Caffrey of Birdwatch Ireland. Venue: Corrin Event Centre, Fermoy, Wednesday 23rd March 2016 8pm to 9.30pm. Join us from an informative evening of birds, nest boxes and wildlife.
Garden Bird Nest Box
Would you like a Free garden bird nest box?
Millstreet Tidy Towns is actively involved in conserving and enhancing wildlife in the Millstreet area and we have recently had a Biodiversity Action Plan produced for Millstreet. As part of this plan we have made 20 garden bird nest boxes and we are now looking for suitable homes within Millstreet for each box. The nest boxes were made by Millstreet Mens Shed and they are of a very high quality.
The boxes are suitable for Blue Tit and Great Tit which readily use nest boxes. The boxes can be placed on the wall of a building or on the trunk of a tree. Suitable homes would include houses that have a garden with some amount of cover including shrubs, hedging and trees. Houses with cats as pets are not suitable. Boxes will be fitted by Millstreet Tidy Towns/Mens Shed.
By taking a box you are providing a safe and secure nest site for our garden birds and helping in their conservation, as well as enjoying watching the birds use your nest box.In return,we would ask that you complete a once yearly survey detailing the type and number of birds using the birdbox.
If you are interested in taking a box please contact us here and leave your name, address and contact number and we will be in touch with you. Deadline for applications is Thursday, 24th of March. All applications will be vetted for suitability of location by Tony Keneally our Wildlife Biologist.
List of ways to contact us: www.millstreettidytown.ie
www.facebook.com/millstreettidytown
New Twinning Signs
Millstreet Tidy Town are delighted to share the news that the Millstreet – Pommerit-Le-Vicomte Twinning signs have been replaced with new signs, with a grant received for Cork County Council. Millstreet Tidy Town attempted to have these unsuccessfully cleaned up over the last number of years and discovered that it really was time for these to be replaced. The new signs are a welcome sight to the lead roads into town. Big thanks to the FÁS workers for installing the new sign. Well done to all involved.
Fabulous Comment Received
Just got this from Michael over @ Millstreet.ie, a post sent to their Facebook Page.
“Hi millstreet town, How’r you all doing back there i passed though on valentines day and must tell you your town is a credit to ye so clean such a pleasure to drive through, well done to all off you involved”
Well done everyone, really nice to get a compliment. Thank you so much to this gentleman for such a lovely compliment.
Millstreet BNS visit from Wildlife Biologist
Millstreet Tidy Town Association are delighted to be working with Wildlife Biologist, Tony Keneally this year. Last week he paid a visit to 3rd Class of Millstreet Boys National SChool. Here is how they got on:
“The children were taking part in the Winter Garden Bird Survey run by Birdwatch Ireland. A feeding station with 2 peanut feeders was placed in the lawn outside the window of 3rd class. The kids have to record the different species of birds they see on or around the feeder. At the end of the week they fill in a form recording the highest number of each species seen during the week.
The survey runs from December – February and is a great way of raising awareness of the different species of garden birds, as well as being a valuable source of information for Birdwatch Ireland who can monitor the trends in bird numbers based on results submitted by schools and individuals.
I visited the school twice, once to give them posters and identification tips on the birds they were likely to see. My second visit was to check the progress and see how the kids were getting on.
At the start the kids knew 1 or 2 species whereas on my second visit they can identify at least 6 different species of bird and know about another 8 species. So overall it has suceeded in raising awareness and the kids have learnt to recognise different species.
Green Dog Walkers Campaign
Afternoon all, Green Dog Walkers Campaign is an initiative being run by Cork County Council to raise awareness through Dog Owners and Dog Walkers about the dangers of Dog Fouling. Lets face it people, whether you are walking a lap of the park, or Drishane Road, back the West End, it ain’t very pleasant if you step in dog poo. I know the weather is not the greatest @ the moment but as it will gradually start to improve, more and more of us will be out walking. The Green Dog Walkers campaign aims to get dog owners to just be mindful of the mess your pooch may leave behind. So what can we do, Sign a pledge card. That’s it. We are trying to get people to pick up poo. The pledge card is your promise to your community that you will be conscious of your doggies poop and pick it up. Simple but effective. Like most things if we all just mind our own little spot it makes a huge difference. Pledge cards are currently available in Millstreet Veterinary Clinic on Macroom Road. So please pick up a card and sign the pledge to clean up the poo from your pooch.
Welcome to 2016
![SM-MTT-logo[1] (312 x 312)](http://millstreettidytown.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SM-MTT-logo1-312-x-312.jpg){kind=logo}
Happy New Year to Everybody. Apologies for the lack of communication for last number of weeks. This is now to end. Back to regular updates and posts. I can here all the shouts of joy from here. So what better way to start a New Year than to reflect on the achievements of the previous year. There is so much to choose from. Well we had a very successful Anti Litter Challenge campaign this last year. We have an eye on first place for 2016. Then there is also the various projects that Tony Keneally, Wildlife Biologist has been heavily involved in with both the National and Secondary Schools. Also brilliant results in the National Tidy Town for this past year, only narrowly missing out on a Bronze Medal. Millstreet won a Pride of Place award in October. New Water Butts were placed throughout the Town, as were hanging baskets and Nest boxes. Let’s not forget about the new Footpaths. These are only a few of the amazing accomplishments achieved by volunteers, FÁS workers, Council Workers and many more. All kindly giving up their time and energy to make our town a wonderful place to live. So what are the hopes for 2016. Well aim high is what I think. Anyone fancy volunteering email, tweet, Facebook, there no shortage of ways to communicate your interest to us. There is always plenty of work to be done. So as we begin to see a stretch starting to creep back into the evening and the rain has finally stopped, I found a nice little New Year’s quote that kind of sums up the feeling really.
“Be More Awesome Than Last Year”