MICKEY Culbert’s powers are extensive. And not just over everything that goes on in the Falls Park, where he’s Park Manager. When Dúlra met up with him last week for a stroll and a chat, it seemed that even nature itself was under his spell.
We’d just started our dander near the bowling club when he suddenly stopped dead and pointed out towards the wee river. “Look,” he whispered, contained excitement in his voice. “Do you see it?”
Dúlra looked down at what is arguably the most beautiful, stunning bird on god’s earth. Standing in the water of the Ballymurphy stream was a creature that looked like it had fallen from heaven, its coat white as snow. It was a little egret, an Irish bird that we hunted to extinction many centuries ago and which has just returned in the last decade or so.
“That’s a first for the Falls Park,” said Mickey as the gracious bird took off and flew over our heads, landing at the top of a tree where Dúlra was able to photograph it for the record books.
You couldn’t have imagined a more exciting start to our walk – and Dúlra had the fleeting thought that Mickey set the whole thing up!
And in a way, he had. Because it’s by incrementally improving the park year after year that birds like the egret have returned. Last year Mickey and his team cleared rhododendron from the banks of the wee stream – backbreaking work but one that is necessary to allow native plants and trees to grow once more. And it’s those trees our birds and animals love, not the rhododendron that should only grow in the Himalayas.
WELCOME SIGHT: The little egret is a hugely important marker of success
“The egret is a keystone indicator species showing the health of the river,” said Mickey. “It’s really great news that it's happy to fish here. And as far as I know it’s the first one we’ve had in West Belfast, although one was reported recently in the Bog Meadows.
“We want to get nature back here – and the egret is a sign the ecosystem is working.”
Mickey started as park manager in 2008 and the whole area has gone from strength to strength under his stewardship. You can already see the young alder and birch taking root on the bank – but they are just a small part of the urban forest that is thriving in the Falls Park. Mickey and his team say they’ve planted so many trees that they have a problem – there’s no more available land to plant on!
“We’ve now reached critical mass in the West, there’s nowhere else to plant trees. But now we have to be smart – you can hide a multitude of trees in hedgerows, it’s one of the most biodiverse environments in Ireland.”
One hedgerow in the park that Mickey was proud of was planted in 2012 – and it’s a dense tangle of blackthorn, hawthorn and hazel. Robins and wrens were darting through it while Dúlra visited. And it’s not just Mickey and his team who normally plant the trees, schoolchildren do too.
“Each class plants a copse, so it’s theirs. We have people coming back as adults to see the trees they planted and it’s great to see that.
“We call it ANV – added nature value. The blackthorns are especially popular, and not just with the birds. St Gall’s Men’s Shed come here every winter to collect the sloe berries to make gin. Those wee bottles have travelled the world.
“But this year suddenly there were no sloes. That’s how nature works. But the men weren’t to be defeated and they’ve ordered rhubarb and are going to make rhubarb and ginger gin!”
Mickey – who was shortlisted this year for an Aisling Award for his work – has another foe in his job to rival rhododendron: the grey squirrel.
Unfortunately the animal – again one that we introduced into Ireland to the detriment of our own native red squirrel – is ever-popular with the schoolkids. Mickey hasn’t the heart to break it to them that they are going to have to be culled.
“The grey squirrels are destroying us!” said Mickey. “We harvest seeds and acorns from all the trees here but we just can’t keep the squirrels out of the nursery. They always find a way in and eat them all.”
Another problem here – as in all parks – is ash dieback.
“We planted loads of ash in 2009 to mark the 150th anniversary of the GAA, but all of them are now dead or dying. It’s tragic,” said Mickey.
The latest initiative he’s involved in is cycling trips, with the park’s new fleet of 12 ebikes, with men’s and hen’s sheds in particular enjoying them. “We’ve been exploring all the greenways and even as far away as the Silent Valley,” said Mickey.
“It’s like biodiversity by bike and we do the history of the area as well as the wildlife and how the Irish language connect the two. And we’re highlighting the inadequacy of cycling in West Belfast.” And he knows what he’s talking about – Mickey’s been knocked down twice!
“We want to highlight greenways and why we need more of them. We have a plan to go to the west of Ireland - there are 360 landowners in west of Ireland greenway, and they’ve all agreed to allow access. Imagine doing that around Lough Neagh?”
Dúlra left Mickey just as yet another class of primary schoolchildren arrived, their faces full of wonder as they walked through the autumnal beauty that is everywhere in Falls Park. A new generation discovering the wonders of nature on their doorstep, in no small part due to the lifelong dedication of Park Manager Mickey Culbert.
• If you’ve seen or photographed anything interesting, or have any nature questions, you can text Dúlra on 07801 414804.
