Nature in the News

Eddie B

Stigura wrote: »

" Live "? Or are they recycling zombie news? Check the dates!


https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/giant-rat-copyu-dublin-canal-16011982

Thst one ended up being nothing more than an otter.:rolleyes:

Eddie B

This needs to happen here too.

https://inhabitat.com/france-is-the-first-country-to-ban-all-five-pesticides-linked-to-bee-deaths/

Alun

Eddie B wrote: »

This needs to happen here too.

https://inhabitat.com/france-is-the-first-country-to-ban-all-five-pesticides-linked-to-bee-deaths/

Linked to on that same page ...

https://inhabitat.com/bee-hive-vandalism-in-iowa-kills-tens-of-thousands-of-honeybees/

Why? I mean, why????? What would possess someone to do something like that?

New Home

"We were just having a laugh"/"We were bored", etc. :mad: Bring back public flogging, says I.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

West of Ireland: Three whales stranded in a week.


https://www.rte.ie/news/connacht/2019/0403/1040494-beached-whale/

Another in Sligo and the position of this one allows examination.

https://www.rte.ie/news/connacht/2019/0404/1040638-beach-whales/

Eddie B

Any truth to these story's, or is this just another Looney getting his picture in the papers? Thoughts?

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/dog-attacked-panther-before-owner-2719360

Mr Crispy

I mean, it's not impossible. But in this case, I think the guy is just looking for attention. There's a load of contradictions in the article. For example, the guy says the RSPCA took casts and confirmed it was a big cat print, but the RSPCA spokesperson says no such thing in their own statement. The dog-owner is seemingly an "expert" on big cat behaviour as well :rolleyes:

I shouted to it and was waving my arms around and it actually started to run towards me. That's very unusual for a big cat so it's obviously adapting to its environment.

Yeah, bullshit.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Eddie B wrote: »

Any truth to these story's, or is this just another Looney getting his picture in the papers? Thoughts?

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/dog-attacked-panther-before-owner-2719360

Pure hogwash.

Eddie B

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

I mean, it's not impossible. But in this case, I think the guy is just looking for attention. There's a load of contradictions in the article. For example, the guy says the RSPCA took casts and confirmed it was a big cat print, but the RSPCA spokesperson says no such thing in their own statement. The dog-owner is seemingly an "expert" on big cat behaviour as well :rolleyes:



Yeah, bullshit.

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Pure hogwash.

Yes my thoughts too.

All the sightings by this individual, (big cat expert), and not a single photo. Farmer "knows where it's den is" :rolleyes: and they never even thought of putting up a trail cam beside this so called den.:rolleyes:

The comment underneath the article makes for interesting reading.

New Home

I like the fact that they used the term "big cat", which could also just be interpreted as "a large cat".

fryup

a Lynx ?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

fryup wrote: »

a Lynx ?

Don't you start.

It's not anything.

New Home

Aliens. Definitely.

New Home

How people and companies are allowed to get away with stuff like this in the first place is beyond me.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/russia-whale-prison-orca-beluga-putin-nakhodka-a8802186.html

Hopefully they can recover and no permanent damage has been done to them.

recedite

New Home wrote: »

How people and companies are allowed to get away with stuff like this in the first place is beyond me.

Fair play to Vlad Putin for intervening.


Meanwhile, in South Africa: Poacher killed by elephant then eaten by lions.

Del.Monte

Seagull hysteria how are you! Newstalk's lunchtime news bulletin today reached new heights with a report on an escaped Eagle Owl.

https://www.newstalk.com/news/eagle-owl-loose-co-kildare-846299



According to the breathless news reader it is capable of taking out a full sized deer.

Lock up your women and children!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Del.Monte wrote: »

Seagull hysteria how are you! Newstalk's lunchtime news bulletin today reached new heights with a report on an escaped Eagle Owl.



According to the breathless news reader it is capable of taking out a full sized deer.

Lock up your women and children!

Well, one study states

Among the ungulate prey recorded are three species of deer and five species of goat-antelopes, in addition to piglets of wild boar (Sus scrofa). Only the weight of the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has been widely approximated when taken and specimens killed have included: a 10,000 g (22 lb) deer,a 13,000 g (29 lb) specimen and even, in the small adult size range for this deer, 17,000 g (37 lb), all considerably larger than the eagle-owls themselves and far larger than any prey known for other owls. In studies from Bavaria and Austria, the average weight of roe deer caught was only 1,500 and 2,500 g (3.3 and 5.5 lb), indicating very young deer being typically taken. Even if taken as newborn kids, fawns or calves, the young of other ungulates taken would weigh at least 2,500 to 7,000 g (5.5 to 15.4 lb), from the birth weight of ibex (Capra ibex) to that of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

ZX7R

Del.Monte wrote: »

Seagull hysteria how are you! Newstalk's lunchtime news bulletin today reached new heights with a report on an escaped Eagle Owl.

https://www.newstalk.com/news/eagle-owl-loose-co-kildare-846299



According to the breathless news reader it is capable of taking out a full sized deer.

Lock up your women and children!

I kid you not ,there is a couple of articles about this on Facebook and some of the people's posts would make you chringe.
Mother's not letting there kids go to school for fear of kids been taking, people afraid to walk there dogs ect.
I really fear for and embarrassed by the society I like among.

OwlEye

Luckily I haven't been eaten then.....

ZX7R

OwlEye wrote: »

Luckily I haven't been eaten then.....

You got it back that's good

OwlEye

Nah, different bird.:)

Melodeon

ZX7R wrote: »

I kid you not ,there is a couple of articles about this on Facebook and some of the people's posts would make you chringe.
Mother's not letting there kids go to school for fear of kids been taking, people afraid to walk there dogs ect.
I really fear for and embarrassed by the society I like among.

My fear is that some Think-Of-The-Childer eejit will take it upon themselves to eliminate the 'danger' that's being hyped up.

cd07

Hopefully the bird will be returning soon. Way too many raptor/owl fearing clowns out there! As for them taking a full grown deer!!!.....Jesus wept!!

recedite

Would be nice to release a few more of them now, and maybe they would breed.
I think these could do well in our climate, and be a wildlife asset to the country. With the anti-poison legislation we have now, they would have a good chance, and being largely nocturnal would protect them mostly shooting.

magicbastarder

that doesn't seem to have aided barn owls, unfortunately.

recedite

Barn owls are still taking poison indirectly via sick mice and rats. Poisoning rodents is fully legal.

Larger birds of prey were more vulnerable to taking poisoned bait directly, but this practice has been outlawed since about 2010 (I think)


Not sure exactly how eagle owls would fit in, I'd imagine they would eat some rats but their preferred prey would be a bit larger, like rabbits and hares. These should be poison free.



Here's a study that says barn owls have been in decline for "25 years". I wonder if a study that narrowed down the timescale to the last 10 years would be any more optimistic?

Stigura

ZX7R wrote: »

I kid you not ,there is a couple of articles about this on Facebook .....
I really fear for and embarrassed by the society I like among.

Was that a slip, or a really pretty pithy pun? :pac:

Stigura

recedite wrote: »

Would be nice to release a few more of them now, and maybe they would breed.

Whilst I normally like your posts ~ finding you knowledgeable and even handed; Here I must disagree.

There's a documentary out there that shows they're actually absolute bath studs for taking other birds of prey! It's pretty much their staple diet, it seems.

I've actually seen footage of one taking a large looking BOP juv. from the nest. Astonishing footage. Bunch of extremely well grown, fair old sized birds. All sitting on this cliff face looking nest site. When a pair of orbs appear.

Split second later, the owner appears and a 'chick' disappears! Blink and ye'll miss it stuff. Eagle Owl.

No. Personally, I prefer our Goshawks.

ZX7R

Stigura wrote: »

Was that a slip, or a really pretty pithy pun? :pac:

Just bad spelling ment to say live not like

recedite

Stigura wrote: »

No. Personally, I prefer our Goshawks.

You have to admit though, they are a fairly spectacular owl.

Strawberry1975

Would complement My Study in a Glass Case would keep the
Pheasant
Barn Owl
Fox
Badger
Hare
Mink
Company

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Maybe we'd get back to reality and the Nature News.


A recently discovered new, if extinct, hominid species

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47873072

Base price

Ffs :mad:
https://www.thejournal.ie/falcons-wexford-4589520-Apr2019/?utm_source=facebook_short&fbclid=IwAR2aJC7zkP-KEBejW52b5AXR_jscuthQ3Y3YWSxOmUn2oxFdfjS0QpxxAfc

Stigura

Read that. Googled this:


https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=pigion+racing+wexford


Just saying .....

recedite

On the other hand, if a pair of peregrines nested in a quarry, how would that affect the quarry? Would they be required to interrupt the work/cordon off the area?

Stigura

What if a pair of Hen Harriers nested on a British grouse moor?

OpenYourEyes

recedite wrote: »

On the other hand, if a pair of peregrines nested in a quarry, how would that affect the quarry? Would they be required to interrupt the work/cordon off the area?

Peregrines would generally choose an inactive cliff face to nest on, so there's generally no problem. I've never heard of it being an issue in Ireland and those nesting in active quarries tend to have breeding success similar to those in inactive/abandoned quarries!

recedite

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

those nesting in active quarries tend to have breeding success similar to those in inactive/abandoned quarries!

Not if they're dead.
You hear of people knocking down house martin's nests, because they don't like the inconvenience. But in fairness, they don't tend to publicise it either. So if the quarry owner was the one who reported the poisonings, he is probably innocent of the whole thing.

Base price

recedite wrote: »

On the other hand, if a pair of peregrines nested in a quarry, how would that affect the quarry? Would they be required to interrupt the work/cordon off the area?

As the working layer of the quarry is depleted new rock is blasted creating a new lower level. The sides of the old layers creates optimum nesting sites for peregrines and those nest sites could be several hundred meters from the active quarry iykwim.

OpenYourEyes

recedite wrote: »

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

those nesting in active quarries tend to have breeding success similar to those in inactive/abandoned quarries!

Not if they're dead.
You hear of people knocking down house martin's nests, because they don't like the inconvenience. But in fairness, they don't tend to publicise it either. So if the quarry owner was the one who reported the poisonings, he is probably innocent of the whole thing.

Yeah I've never heard of any incident of quarry owners killing or destroying a nest attempt of Peregrines - little or no conflict there at all. If you hear about Peregrines being poisoned in Ireland you can be almost certain it was pigeon fanciers. If they were shot away from breeding site it might be some ignorant person with a gun, but when it's poison and at a breeding site and particularly in Waterford or Wexford then it's pigeon fanciers.

That's not to say all pigeon fanciers poison Peregrines, but it is to say that all the people who poison Peregrines are pigeon fanciers, who unfortunately give the rest of the people involved a bad name!

Base price

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Yeah I've never heard of any incident of quarry owners killing or destroying a nest attempt of Peregrines - little or no conflict there at all. If you hear about Peregrines being poisoned in Ireland you can be almost certain it was pigeon fanciers. If they were shot away from breeding site it might be some ignorant person with a gun, but when it's poison and at a breeding site and particularly in Waterford or Wexford then it's pigeon fanciers.

That's not to say all pigeon fanciers poison Peregrines, but it is to say that all the people who poison Peregrines are pigeon fanciers, who unfortunately give the rest of the people involved a bad name!

TBH I never thought about pigeon fanciers.

I sometimes submit wildlife sightings to http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/ but I never submit sightings of buzzards (which are common in my area) for fear of identifying their location.

OpenYourEyes

Base price wrote: »

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Yeah I've never heard of any incident of quarry owners killing or destroying a nest attempt of Peregrines - little or no conflict there at all. If you hear about Peregrines being poisoned in Ireland you can be almost certain it was pigeon fanciers. If they were shot away from breeding site it might be some ignorant person with a gun, but when it's poison and at a breeding site and particularly in Waterford or Wexford then it's pigeon fanciers.

That's not to say all pigeon fanciers poison Peregrines, but it is to say that all the people who poison Peregrines are pigeon fanciers, who unfortunately give the rest of the people involved a bad name!

TBH I never thought about pigeon fanciers.

I sometimes submit wildlife sightings to http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/ but I never submit sightings of buzzards (which are common in my area) for fear of identifying their location.

Most bird conservation NGOs accommodate this by only displaying bird of prey records at a course resolution - so rather than showing where the buzzard was recorded they'd just show the 10km square where it was recorded, so they give people with a genuine interest an idea that buzzards are around but at the same time make them impossible for anyone with bad intentions to track down etc.

Worth checking what the NBDCs policy is on that, and emailing them with your concerns if their level of protection isn't up to scratch!

Base price

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Most bird conservation NGOs accommodate this by only displaying bird of prey records at a course resolution - so rather than showing where the buzzard was recorded they'd just show the 10km square where it was recorded, so they give people with a genuine interest an idea that buzzards are around but at the same time make them impossible for anyone with bad intentions to track down etc.

Worth checking what the NBDCs policy is on that, and emailing them with your concerns if their level of protection isn't up to scratch!

Unfortunately Biodiversity Ireland show the spatial coordinates for every record e.g. black headed gull 53.44576763, -6.13779496

OpenYourEyes

In more positive news, An Post have just announced two new bird stamps: a summer-plumaged Golden Plover and a (very) Roseate Tern. Worth a look:

https://www.anpost.com/Media-Centre/News/EUROPA-stamps-celebrate-our-National-Birds

80sDiesel

Lost river returns to Somerset 70 years after it dried up

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/12/lost-river-returns-somerset-70-years-after-dried-up?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

magicbastarder

a few months ago, i went on a binge of watching dam removal videos on youtube (mostly made in the US); this is probably the most visually interesting one, but look for a series about the removal of the elwha dam in washington state, there's some interesting info in some of the videos on how quickly the river recovered and what other changes were wrought:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LxMHmw3Z-U

the amount of silt that has built up behind the dam is amazing.

cd07

Stigura wrote:

What if a pair of Hen Harriers nested on a British grouse moor?

Check out raptor persecution Scotland and you'll see all the carnage on British grouse moors

corks finest

magicbastarder wrote: »

a few months ago, i went on a binge of watching dam removal videos on youtube (mostly made in the US); this is probably the most visually interesting one, but look for a series about the removal of the elwha dam in washington state, there's some interesting info in some of the videos on how quickly the river recovered and what other changes were wrought:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LxMHmw3Z-U

the amount of silt that has built up behind the dam is amazing.

Good info

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Kakapo breeding success, good news.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-47960764

Eddie B

More bad news

https://www.thejournal.ie/extinction-turtle-4595736-Apr2019/?amp=1