Nature in the News

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You never know what's to be found in an old drawer.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47976205

New Home

See? I always say "Keep it, you never know when it might come in handy!", and they call me a hoarder. But it looks like I was right. :pac:

recedite

Eddie B wrote: »

More bad news

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

The female’s death came a day after zoo officials made a last-ditch effort at artificial insemination...
The zoo had tried unsuccessfully for several years to get the pair to mate and reproduce naturally. It will now conduct an autopsy to determine what caused the animal’s death.

Its fairly obvious what caused the death.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Report your Curlews


https://www.rte.ie/news/enviroment/2019/0418/1043437-curlew-day-ireland/

Royal Legend

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!

The quarry was inactive, the falcons were nesting there for around the last 8 years if my local info is correct, they were often seen many miles to the south coast hunting, so the guess is that they also would have hunted in towards New Ross and may have hunted racing pigeons, hence the link.
The location of the birds was kept very quiet over the years as there was a fear that they would be killed.
As far as I am aware there was also a young bird that survived, not sure what is to happen to it.
There are also a few pairs of breeding buzzards in the area around Campile, just up the road to Ballykelly where the falcons were poisoned.

cd07

Royal Legend wrote:

The quarry was inactive, the falcons were nesting there for around the last 8 years if my local info is correct, they were often seen many miles to the south coast hunting, so the guess is that they also would have hunted in towards New Ross and may have hunted racing pigeons, hence the link. The location of the birds was kept very quiet over the years as there was a fear that they would be killed. As far as I am aware there was also a young bird that survived, not sure what is to happen to it. There are also a few pairs of breeding buzzards in the area around Campile, just up the road to Ballykelly where the falcons were poisoned.

Sounds very like pigeon fanciers. Unfortunately peregrines do take a few racing pigeons but speaking as someone who races pigeons if your pigeon is out-witted by the peregrines well they ain't much use for racing. Plus peregrines were here long before the sport of pigeon racing

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The bees of Notre-Dame;


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47995604

New Home

I was thinking about all the nests that would have been there, too, the other day. Thank God for small mercies, at least the bees are safe.

catrat12

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Report your Curlews


https://www.rte.ie/news/enviroment/2019/0418/1043437-curlew-day-ireland/

I have to birdwatching Ireland and heard no reply
I have loads of these in field beside me

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

catrat12 wrote: »

I have to birdwatching Ireland and heard no reply
I have loads of these in field beside me

Don't bother reporting to Birdwatch Ireland. Report to the NPWS.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Trinity zoologists discover new bird species.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/birds-of-a-feather-two-new-species-discovered-by-trinity-zoologists-1.3869530

OpenYourEyes

catrat12 wrote: »

I have to birdwatching Ireland and heard no reply
I have loads of these in field beside me

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Don't bother reporting to Birdwatch Ireland. Report to the NPWS.

Assuming you emailed or facebook-messaged BWI You should have gotten a reply - we reply to everyone, though if you emailed some of the busier field staff it can take a while to get a reply.

Re: Curlew, at this time of year there are still flocks of nonbreeding Curlew around. Generally if they are breeding Curlew there are likely to be one or two couples of birds, but depending on what you mean by 'loads' they might be birds that are either too young to breed, or birds that are still intending to migrate to more northerly lattitudes to breed in the coming days!

Eddie B

catrat12 wrote: »

I have to birdwatching Ireland and heard no reply
I have loads of these in field beside me

Any chance they are Whimbrel?

Graces7

In good contact with Birdwatch Ireland re the curlews here and also the grasshopper warbler . getting good personal responses.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Suffolk Broads restoration.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-48051836


Surely we can emulate projects like this.

magicbastarder

Researchers left 'speechless' by mysterious deep ocean creature
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/researchers-left-speechless-by-mysterious-deep-ocean-creature-1.3872742

Del.Monte

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Suffolk Broads restoration.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-48051836


Surely we can emulate projects like this.

Booterstown Marsh would be a good candidate but given that I proposed doing something about it to An Taisce when I was still at school - more than 40 years ago - I wouldn't hold my breath.

recedite

magicbastarder wrote: »

Researchers left 'speechless' by mysterious deep ocean creature
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/researchers-left-speechless-by-mysterious-deep-ocean-creature-1.3872742

Seems to be a couple more similar beasts over on the right of the picture.
It looks to me like they are trailing a kind of anchor, and they can adjust their buoyancy when they want to move.
I'm no expert, but they are probably not all that extraordinary.

Capercaillie

Del.Monte wrote: »

Booterstown Marsh would be a good candidate but given that I proposed doing something about it to An Taisce when I was still at school - more than 40 years ago - I wouldn't hold my breath.

eNGOs in Ireland do not have a good track record at managing/creating nature reserves well.

Birdnuts

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Suffolk Broads restoration.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-48051836


Surely we can emulate projects like this.

This is what BNM should be doing with their vast landholdings of degraded bogs - especcially along the Shannon.

Birdnuts

magicbastarder wrote: »

Researchers left 'speechless' by mysterious deep ocean creature
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/researchers-left-speechless-by-mysterious-deep-ocean-creature-1.3872742

Hope is doesn't turn out to be a plastic bag - I'm only half joking too:(

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

A Spy Whale???

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48090616

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Primitive humans passed on genes for high altitude survival.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48107498

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Humpback whales off Cork: Drone footage.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0502/1047113-whales-cork/

recedite

"Socialising"... its the No-Sharks Disco

Whales and dolphins only.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cocaine found on Shrimp.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2019/0502/1047015-shrimp-cocaine-england/

New Home

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Cocaine found on Shrimp.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2019/0502/1047015-shrimp-cocaine-england/

There's no hope for humanity, is there.

recedite

That is surprising alright.
BTW I've never seen shrimp like that in freshwater. I'm inclined to think maybe the journalist used a stock photo of marine shrimps. I wonder would the article be referring to the tiny gammarus which you would sometimes see scurrying around in the mud at the bottom of a pond? I think I'd call them a "louse" rather than a shrimp.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

recedite wrote: »

That is surprising alright.
BTW I've never seen shrimp like that in freshwater. I'm inclined to think maybe the journalist used a stock photo of marine shrimps. I wonder would the article be referring to the tiny gammarus which you would sometimes see scurrying around in the mud at the bottom of a pond? I think I'd call them a "louse" rather than a shrimp.

What they studied are Gammarus pulex, which, while not taxonomy a true shrimp, are known as Freshwater shrimp. They are widespread and very common in Britain and Ireland. They favour fast flowing streams and rivers.

cameramonkey

I dont understand how Cocaine got into them, is someone flushing cocaine and ketamine, into the rivers in England?

The report dosnt say how they think the drugs got into their system.

New Home

Water pollution, I'd say - the filters and the purifiers aren't able to deal with those pollutants.

I don't know how true that was, but a good few years back I remember reading about male fish showing mutations that would make them display female characteristics (not only externally, but down to their reproductive systems, too) and back then it was imputed to the hormones flushed with the urine of women taking oral contraceptives. I'd assume this was something similar.

magicbastarder

yep, i assume some of the coke is passing through people's systems unmetabolised, and the water purification process isn't keyed up to deal with that.

i remember the reports of the fish with the hormone issues, i think it was in florida it was first noted?

tricky D

It's from the pee along with a plethora of other substances, with hormones to which you refer, being scariest imho.

New Home

Antibiotics, anyone?

EDIT: As for the fish, I honestly can't remember where it was first observed, I just remember being horrified by it. I also remember reading that those hormones were having a similar effect on human embryos... (again, not sure how true that was, but it sounded plausible).

So much for the three-eyed Springfield fish...

recedite

I'll have a single of chips and a leg of cod please.
But no scampi, thanks.

New Home

recedite wrote: »

I'll have a single of chips and a leg of cod please.
But no scampi, thanks.

'cause they are highly addictive, right? :rolleyes:

Graces7

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Assuming you emailed or facebook-messaged BWI You should have gotten a reply - we reply to everyone, though if you emailed some of the busier field staff it can take a while to get a reply.

Re: Curlew, at this time of year there are still flocks of nonbreeding Curlew around. Generally if they are breeding Curlew there are likely to be one or two couples of birds, but depending on what you mean by 'loads' they might be birds that are either too young to breed, or birds that are still intending to migrate to more northerly lattitudes to breed in the coming days!

I had a very prompt and detailled reply to my query from Birdwatch .

Graces7

This makes for hard reading

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/key-questions-answered-on-the-global-assessment-of-the-state-of-nature-922309.html

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Species in danger.

Nothing really surprising and you have probably seen or heard the wall to wall radio and tv news coverage today already.


https://www.rte.ie/news/enviroment/2019/0506/1047749-un-environment/

HoteiMarkii

Graces7 wrote: »

This makes for hard reading

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/key-questions-answered-on-the-global-assessment-of-the-state-of-nature-922309.html

In another thread in this forum, you were sympathizing with a poster who wanted rid of harmless solitary bees from their garden. If we allow habitat destruction in our very own gardens ........well, you know where I'm going with this, right?!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Brain surgery on a rare Kakapo chick.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48229317

recedite

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Brain surgery on a rare Kakapo chick.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48229317

Interesting news, but not necessarily a good idea if you want to maintain a healthy breeding stock. Darwinian natural selection, it is not.

New Home

Healthy breeding stock?!? With 144 birds left, I think we're way past that.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

recedite wrote: »

Interesting news, but not necessarily a good idea if you want to maintain a healthy breeding stock. Darwinian natural selection, it is not.

Ach, the species is nearly extinct. It shows how important each and every one of them is when such lengths are gone to to save one. In addition, every defect as with humans, is not hereditary.

cameramonkey

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2314711771920056&id=144404808950774&__tn__=K-R

"2018 Breeding Season Outline
Golden Eagle Trust

Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagles had another good year in 2018 and three young fledged in the wild. One coastal pair reared two young and the pair in the Bluestack Mountains reared a single chick again. No pairs laid eggs in the Derryveagh Mountains in 2018. This follows on from 3 young fledged in 2017 also. 18 young have fledged in County Donegal since the first successful breeding in 2007.

5 territories were occupied including, South Derryveagh, North Derryveagh/Glenveagh National Park (where the 17-year old female disappeared in 2017, presumably from natural mortality or old age), Inishowen Peninsula, Bluestack Mountains and the Glencolumbkille Peninsula/Slieve Toohey.

3 Scottish Golden Eagles were translocated and released in Southern Scotland in 2018. This release programme aims to release 6-10 birds in Southern Scotland over the coming years and we should expect the occasional released bird to disperse across to Northern Ireland and Donegal.

White-tailed Sea Eagle
Unfortunately, at the start of the breeding season; our two most productive breeding pairs (on Lough Derg, Mountshannon and Portumna) suffered the loss of their respective females during February and March. The Mountshannon female was confirmed to have died from Avian Influenza and the missing Portumna female is presumed to have died from Avian flu also.

However, of the 12 territorial pairs at the start of the breeding season; 10 pairs laid eggs. 6 pairs hatched young and 4 of these pairs fledged one chick each (4 chicks fledged in total). Of the 4 pairs that failed at egg stage, two breeding sites involved “Trios”, which seems to have been part of the reason why the clutches failed.
Of the 12 pairs at the start of the season, 7 were in County Kerry, two were in County Cork (Garnish Island and Glengarriff), two in Galway and one in Clare. 3 of the single chicks fledged in Kerry and a single chick fledged in Connemara (SW od Oughterard). 23 White-tailed Eagles have fledged in the wild in Ireland, since 2013.

A nest camera was fitted near to the nest on Garnish Island, in the pre-breeding season, by NPWS and OPW, but unfortunately this breeding attempt involved three adults and failed.

Red Kite
The Wicklow kite population continues to expand year on year. It is easy to forget that the early part of the 2018 breeding season was quite cold and wet and a number of established kite pairs failed early. However, it is clear that there were over 80 pairs of territorial kites in Wicklow this year, which were monitored by a combination of voluntary and some paid fieldwork.

At least 63 young Red Kites fledged in County Wicklow this year and we expect many others fledged elsewhere in the county also. In Dublin, there were 5 territorial pairs in a pocket of rich farmland near Ashbourne. 4 Dublin chicks were ringed and a 5th newly fledged juvenile kite was seen near Ashbourne Golf course (from an unlocated nest).

So, in total, we believe that there were over 85 pairs of kites in Wicklow and Dublin in 2018 and there was an absolute minimum of 68 young kites fledged on the east coast in 2018.

IRISH BREEDING TOTALS 2018

Golden Eagle
5 Territorial Pairs 3 young fledged

White-tailed Sea Eagle
12 Territorial Pairs 4 young fledged

Red Kite
85+ Territorial Pairs 68+ young fledged"

Not a bad year especially considering the deaths of the WTE due to avian flu.

deise08

I can see pitchfork s and torches after this photo now.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7014551/amp/Photo-giant-bird-prey-lamb-claws-emerges-Scotland.html

recedite

Good photo alright. Would be interesting to find out whether the lamb was alive or dead when it was taken, but I guess we'll never know.

gozunda

deise08 wrote: »

I can see pitchfork s and torches after this photo now.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7014551/amp/Photo-giant-bird-prey-lamb-claws-emerges-Scotland.html

To be fair the article highlights concerns amongst other things percieved danger - to "people's pets - cats and dogs and so on. Do pet owners use pitchforks to attack predators?

I reckon it's arbarent behaviour tbh. That said it does show the size of prey these birds can manage.

New Home

"But...but... that could of being a child!"

(Grammatical errors fully intentional)

gozunda

New Home wrote: »

"But...but... that could of being a child!"
(Grammatical errors fully intentional)

I reckon there will always be hyperbole in reaction to such incidents. But the usual will no one think of the children! is the classic;)