Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Situated 2 km north of Donabate, this is a relatively small, narrow estuary separated from the sea by a sand/shingle-bar and divided by the Dublin-Belfast railway line. The estuary drains almost completely at low tide, exposing extensive mudflats with some saltmarsh. The largest municipal dump in Ireland is situated on the north-east shore of the site.
This is an important site for wintering waterfowl. Additional species wintering in numbers of national importance include
Tadorna tadorna (827 birds, 1996),
Anas crecca (677 birds, 1995),
Pluvialis apricaria (4,000 birds, 1996),
Vanellus vanellus (7,735 birds, 1996) and
Tringa totanus (861 birds, 1996).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Since starting in 1970, municipal rubbish-dumping has destroyed 44 ha of intertidal mudflat. Infestation of remaining mudflat by non-native cord-grass
Spartina threatens habitat quality, and there is increasing pressure on the site from recreation, amenity and adjacent urban development. BirdWatch Ireland owns a 24 ha reserve of wet grassland, bordering the inner part of the estuary, and, with support from the local authority, have recently constructed a hide on the estuary's south shore. The site lies within a proposed candidate Special Area for Conservation (Rogerstown estuary; area not known).
National High
International Partial196 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Rogerstown Estuary, 196 ha). 368 ha of IBA covered by Wildfowl Sanctuary (Rogerstown Estuary, 368 ha). 195 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Rogerstown Estuary, 195 ha). 196 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Rogerstown Estuary, 196 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Rogerstown estuary (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/rogerstown-estuary-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.
