Nature in the News

Graces7

Rare white giraffes.. evil, evil poachers have killed a female and calf, leaving a solitary male as the only white giraffe left in existence.. Utter outrage Cannot post link

Eddie B

Alun wrote: »

I thought that was already a well known fact?

Also that reds, being smaller and lighter, can escape from martens more easily on thinner, lighter branches that greys wouldn't use.

I honestly don't believe the size of the red squirrel is a major factor. Any squirrel would be a match for a marten during a chase through the tree's. Taking the squirrels on the ground is more likely the most common method of attack IMO.

purplesnack

Graces7 wrote: »

Rare white giraffes.. evil, evil poachers have killed a female and calf, leaving a solitary male as the only white giraffe left in existence.. Utter outrage Cannot post link

It's absolutely disgusting. Such a totally unnecessary loss of innocent life. I seriously question the mentality of anyone that can take a life so needlessly

Scotty #

https://twitter.com/DailySabah/status/1238117548991877120

OpenYourEyes

For anyone looking for something nature-related to do at home during the current restrictions, I've updated the BirdWatch Ireland website with some info about nestboxes - which ones to get, how to make them and where to put them - see the link below and follow the various links therein for more details!

https://birdwatchireland.ie/spring-into-action-with-a-nestbox-in-your-garden/

Birdnuts

The ongoing destruction of habitat and wildlife in various blackspots around the world plays a big role in the spread of Covid and other deadly plagues

http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/conservation-time-coronavirus-message-ceo

Birdnuts

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/27/wildlife-charity-heal-rewilding-buy-uk-land-nature?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2pxf3pwxc6Tr9PF88NyFWFRTv1By_lbo4BvZLQoXKhtFAeITCBhNxk79M#Echobox=1585338407

I'm of the opinion that we need something similar here given the poor state of many so called "designated" sites and the failure of schemes like REPS etc. to turn back the tide of loss.

magicbastarder

problem is, buying land here is such an expensive proposition.

Birdnuts

magicbastarder wrote: »

problem is, buying land here is such an expensive proposition.

It depends - poorer quality can be got for alot cheaper then might attract the likes of dairy farmers etc.

Birdnuts

http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/news/reviving-fen-therapy-europes-lungs-belarus

Would be good to see such lessons transferred here for our belegured Fens

Keplar240B

The earth is healing

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=kyNXZ_1585567264

fryup

the earth is healing 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcDvM3PdVsc

FFVII

I noticed a massive drop off in bird numbers this past year, like everything else, I just put it down to the planet getting trashed, a step closer to most of our demises (cough covid) but I heard today a guy saying 5G is after killing all the birds....wtf I thought but theirs actually a good bit of results when you search it!?


https://duckduckgo.com/?q=birds+and+5g&t=fpas&ia=web

https://smombiegate.org/list-of-cities-towns-councils-and-countries-that-have-banned-5g/

Good few individual areas banning it for now.

Eddie B

FFVII wrote: »

I noticed a massive drop off in bird numbers this past year, like everything else, I just put it down to the planet getting trashed, a step closer to most of our demises (cough covid) but I heard today a guy saying 5G is after killing all the birds....wtf I thought but theirs actually a good bit of results when you search it!?


https://duckduckgo.com/?q=birds+and+5g&t=fpas&ia=web

https://smombiegate.org/list-of-cities-towns-councils-and-countries-that-have-banned-5g/

Good few individual areas banning it for now.

Haven't read any evidence to prove any of it is true. The dead birds thing is rubbish. Also causing the virus, however that is meant to work

magicbastarder

Where do you live? Highly unlikely 5g was rolled out there last year. It's barely available in Ireland. There are usually panic laden articles like this every time one of these new technologies are rolled out.

OpenYourEyes

FFVII wrote: »

I noticed a massive drop off in bird numbers this past year, like everything else, I just put it down to the planet getting trashed, a step closer to most of our demises (cough covid) but I heard today a guy saying 5G is after killing all the birds....wtf I thought but theirs actually a good bit of results when you search it!?


https://duckduckgo.com/?q=birds+and+5g&t=fpas&ia=web

https://smombiegate.org/list-of-cities-towns-councils-and-countries-that-have-banned-5g/

Good few individual areas banning it for now.

Let me assure you that 5G is not causing any bird declines. I've had to do a lot of research in the last two years into declines of different species of birds, and there's none that say 5G will or is having an impact. It's a conspiracy theory, it happens every time a new technology is rolled out, and it's simply not true.

I'm involved in the three biggest bird surveys in this country, and plenty more individual species surveys, and I can tell you there hasn't been a massive dropoff in bird numbers in the last year.

appledrop

No drop off in birds were I live.

One of few pluses of this virus is I'm really enjoying watching birds in garden during this spring.

We have loads daily at birdfeeder + a pair of collared doves + wooden pigeons in or garden daily who must have a nest nearby as they are all over it each other! I never realised they could be so affectionate towards each other.

We also have a mating pair of blackbirds. Cant wait till all the chicks hatch + will be able to follow them daily while working from home.

We would never get to see this properly if running around like normal!

Birdnuts

https://www.newsweek.com/wolf-northern-france-100-years-1498914

Their getting closer;)

magicbastarder

not just ireland, unfortunately:

Wildfires rip through Poland's biggest national park
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52392231

Alun

magicbastarder wrote: »

not just ireland, unfortunately:

Wildfires rip through Poland's biggest national park
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52392231

There's been one in the forests surrounding the area of the Chernobyl reactor too, which has become something of a wildlife conservation area after the accident there.

Ulmus

Some good news.
https://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-city-council-wilding-5083456-Apr2020/

Del.Monte

It needs to be rolled out by councils across the country as councils are responsible for so much destruction of hedges etc., and the creation of prairies of cut grass to no discernible purpose.

SnowyMuckish

Saw that article!delighted with the news, at least it’s a small step in the right direction!

Ulmus

The public grassy areas and road verges were mown as usual in Dublin 11. I was disappointed as I thought the Council would implement radical change. They'll probably leave token, small patches uncut. So much time and effort is spent cutting the grass but it keeps the workers busy.

Harry Palmr

Australian flat worms discovered in west Cork in veg plot.

https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2020/0504/1136386-flatworm-cork/

Three invasive Australian flatworms have been discovered in Co Cork.

A spokesperson for Friends of the Irish environment said she discovered the flatworms in her vegetable patch in the Beara peninsula in West Cork.

Caroline Lewis told Morning Ireland that she had never seen one before (they are bright orange and flat) and warned that it could have significant effects on the environment and economy because it is an invasive species and could compromise soil fertility because it eats earthworms, which are essential to soil fertility.

So if you see a can of Fosters and a cork hat at ground level you know what's happening.

edit - not the first known examples it turns out. Dick Warner in what must have been almost his last article in the media was phlegmatic about them

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/dick-warner/dick-warner-invasive-australian-flatworm-leaves-mixed-feelings-444449.html

magicbastarder

i've found new zealand flatworms in my garden. i'd read that they don't like heat, and can confirm that they certainly don't like being hit with a gas torch.

SnowyMuckish

Great idea! Lovely way to pass time with children and get them into nature. That’s the ‘Living Things’ strand ticked off the science curriculum during lockdown!

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/newsireland/biodiversity-experts-ask-irish-people-to-reconnect-with-nature-during-lockdown/ar-BB13HCqC?li=BBr5MK2

magicbastarder

copied and pasted from the golden eagle trust facebook page:

An Attack on Nature Protection in Cork.

Carbofuran is a banned root crop pesticide that continues to be used to deliberately kill birds of prey across Ireland. Some months ago, a landowner discovered dead Buzzards on his property, near Timoleague, County Cork and contacted the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). 23 dead Common Buzzards were found during subsequent searches of the adjacent land. Toxicology tests, carried out by the State Laboratory, showed that the Buzzards had consumed Carbofuran, we believe. The landowner was completely unaware that a third party was leaving out poison nearby. This is the biggest illegal act against birds of prey in Ireland, over the last two decades.

The continued wilful persecution of birds of prey is decreasing the population of Peregrines, Hen Harriers, Buzzards and the reintroduced native populations of Eagles and Kites, in some parts of Ireland. It can be very difficult to find the evidence that could link an individual with an act of poisoning and thereby present sufficient evidence before a judge in order to secure a successful prosecution.

Therefore, the Golden Eagle Trust is calling on Government Departments to draft and enact a defined piece of legislation which makes it illegal for anybody to be in possession of Carbofuran and several other lethal substances, whose former agricultural uses have been banned and phased out. We are also calling on the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to revisit their discussion on whether it would be helpful to establish a small (one or two person) Wildlife Crime Unit within NPWS, in order to provide specialized advice and expertise in responding to reported wildlife crime incidents and presenting a strong legal case to the State Solicitors and to be put before the Courts; whenever the evidence allows a case to be initiated.

It is difficult to assess the effectiveness and enforcement of National and European wildlife legislation in Ireland and the degree of deterrent it might offer, arising from successful Irish wildlife court cases; as court cases or successful wildlife crime prosecution figures are not readily available. However, a crude review of available internet media sources, might suggest that there has not been any successful wildlife crime court case, over the last 4 or 5 years, in Counties Cork or Kerry, for example. The general public have a very important role in reporting dead birds of prey to NPWS and they in turn, need appropriate laws, staff resources and appropriate management facilitation in implementing the law, where the evidence allows it, in some of these ongoing poisoning incidents.

Whilst there may be several legitimate administrative reasons for the lack of clarity surrounding Ireland’s biggest raptor persecution case, arising from the current Coronavirus crisis; there is also a competing responsibility to keep communities informed of nearby risks related to illegal poisoning activity. The wider context reveals an unfortunate pattern of Peregrines being killed at the same nests annually and Common Buzzards and Red Kites being poisoned, in localized areas, on a regular basis. It can be extremely difficult to identify the perpetrators of these crimes against nature and therefore the legislation needs to keep abreast of the collated RAPTOR Protocol dataset and counter, the primary threats that the accruing results suggest.

In July 2010, the Grant Thornton, ‘Organisational Review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), suggested in Section 4.5.1 (Page 55) that;
“Enforcement and prosecution activity is represented as being low with only some 30 cases per annum being prosecuted. Progress in this area seems to vary depending on Division.”

The Golden Eagle Trust wonder if the level of nature protection enforcement activity might have fallen even further since 2010? We are concerned that a lack of Ministerial, Departmental or Party-Political support, for some aspects of the Law, may have weakened NPWS managerial resolve, in some areas, over the last decade. In a small number of places, recreational family groups, dog walkers and landowners may need to be especially vigilante as regards the possibility that poisoned meat baits have been left out in the open. This incident revives the independent expert opinion and concern (as set out in the Grant Thornton Organisational Review) whether some NPWS managers need more support and resources in progressing illegal wildlife activity cases? The unpalatable alternative, is that the Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht transparently seek to repeal defined aspects of Irish or European Wildlife Legislation, which they may no longer endorse.

Regardless of the context; we are shocked by the number of dead Buzzards found in Cork and the 23 associated positive toxicology results – it is a wake-up call to us all.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3105628219495070&id=144404808950774&__tn__=K-R

cd07

When are people going to be held responsible and convicted probably for these poisonings? Absolutely sickening act of cruelty

OpenYourEyes

Statement from BirdWatch Ireland on the Buzzard poisonings: https://birdwatchireland.ie/birdwatch-ireland-condemn-mass-poisoning-of-buzzards-in-county-cork/

Picked up by RTE: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/0512/1138015-calls-for-wildlife-crime-unit-after-buzzard-poisoning/

and the Golden Eagle Trust interviewed by the Irish Examiner: https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/trust-calls-for-wildlife-crime-unit-after-mass-buzzard-poisoning-in-cork-999057.html