Nature on your farm.

Genghis Cant

kollegeknight wrote: »

Are they not protected now?.

They are indeed protected.
I think around 07 a bye law came in allowing you to keep 1 eel under 12". It lasted to 2012 and from then it became illegal to fish for or be in possession of any eel .
A wonderful creature. There's as much not known about them as there is known about them!

Base price

In my Grandparent's house, the scullery door had a short iron spike near the top that was used to pull the skin off eels. From memory they used to slit the skin near the head, catch the flap of skin on the iron spike and pull the eel through the skin iykwim. I've remember seeing the operation as a child.

Lime Tree Farm

Base price wrote: »

In my Grandparent's house, the scullery door had a short iron spike near the top that was used to pull the skin off eels. From memory they used to slit the skin near the head, catch the flap of skin on the iron spike and pull the eel through the skin iykwim. I've remember seeing the operation as a child.

I used to hear you couldn't kill an eel.

This from the internet: But, why do eels move after death? The movements are caused by muscular contractions, and they may occur at the time of cooking an eel. Eeels have a special type of nervous system which makes it react to heat or other sensations after its death.

Eels have their brains in their heads and their nerve endings wherever they need sensation. However, eels have a secondary 'heart' in their tail, just behind the last vertebra.

vincenzolorenzo

My dad often told the story that many years ago when they were kids there was work going on in the canal up the road from them, presumably Board of Works. They were putting some sort of electrical charge into the water (no idea why) and the fish would all float to the top. They were down watching and one of the men gave him a 'dead' eel. He wrapped it around the handlebars of the bike and headed off up the road. Half way home he could feel something moving on his arm and there was the eel back alive. Needless to say the bike was abandoned and he legged it!

Base price

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

My dad often told the story that many years ago when they were kids there was work going on in the canal up the road from them, presumably Board of Works. They were putting some sort of electrical charge into the water (no idea why) and the fish would all float to the top. They were down watching and one of the men gave him a 'dead' eel. He wrapped it around the handlebars of the bike and headed off up the road. Half way home he could feel something moving on his arm and there was the eel back alive. Needless to say the bike was abandoned and he legged it!

They used to stun the fish with electricity and collect them when they were dredging the canals. They would move the fish to a section that had been previously cleaned before dredging the next section.

forgottenhills

When I was young we had a worker on the farm who used to fish for bream. He would catch the odd eel so my mother would cook it fresh whenever that occurred. I still an remember after all these years that a fresh fried eel is absolutely delicious! The best tasting of all coarse fish imo and I have tried quite a few in my time.

I used to fish the odd time in a local river myself when I was a teenager. Coarse fishing for perch or pike. I once landed an eel and it was a nightmare as the hook was caught right down his gullet and getting him off the line was an ordeal. Once off the line I just let him go and he plopped back in the water. It was like wrestling with a slimy snake.

Base price

forgottenhills wrote: »

When I was young we had a worker on the farm who used to fish for bream. He would catch the odd eel so my mother would cook it fresh whenever that occurred. I still an remember after all these years that a fresh fried eel is absolutely delicious! The best tasting of all coarse fish imo and I have tried quite a few in my time.

I used to fish the odd time in a local river myself when I was a teenager. Coarse fishing for perch or pike. I once landed an eel and it was a nightmare as the hook was caught right down his gullet and getting him off the line was an ordeal. Once off the line I just let him go and he plopped back in the water. It was like wrestling with a slimy snake.

We used to catch a lot of them in a local river and as you say they are a nightmare to control. A tip is to pull handfuls of grass and cover them. They relax, stop wriggling about and are easier to unhook.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Never heard a squirrel before. https://twitter.com/DaniConnorWild/status/1275349417508384768?s=19

Base price

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Never heard a squirrel before. https://twitter.com/DaniConnorWild/status/1275349417508384768?s=19

It's body language is avoiding/moving away from the microphone. I wonder (in squirrel speak) if it's saying - F'off, this is my nut and you ain't getting it

Birdnuts

Great to see the Reds making a comback - they probably would have been totally wiped out if the Grey's had got across the Shannon back in the day to invade their last strongholds like the Burren etc.

Thargor

Birdnuts wrote: »

Great to see the Reds making a comback - they probably would have been totally wiped out if the Grey's had got across the Shannon back in the day to invade their last strongholds like the Burren etc.

Saved by the pine martens:

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-red-squirrel-extinct

Lime Tree Farm

Bird Songs - I thought this was a nice one.

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

Lady Haywire

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

Bird Songs - I thought this was a nice one.

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

Huh. Never knew a jay sounded so similar to a buzzard flight call!

Say my name

I saw a white moth last night hovering over pasture.
It was the size of a butterfly. But most impressive the way it could hover just above the grass in the one spot.

Looking at in the nightlight you could be forgiven thinking it was a fairy.
But Google today says it must have been a white ermine moth.

Lime Tree Farm

I thought I heard the sound of a Curlew in flight today - the call sounded like at 1.34 onwards in this video - not the full call of the migrant Curlews we hear in Winter. Native Curlews are in decline - be great if it was a Curlew call that I heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws7jH6wNKN4

Lady Haywire

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

I thought I heard the sound of a Curlew in flight today - the call sounded like at 1.34 onwards in this video - not the full call of the migrant Curlews we hear in Winter. Native Curlews are in decline - be great if it was a Curlew call that I heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws7jH6wNKN4

1.34 is also a robin, I was confused for a second there until I seen you meant the alarm call.

Say my name

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

I thought I heard the sound of a Curlew in flight today - the call sounded like at 1.34 onwards in this video - not the full call of the migrant Curlews we hear in Winter. Native Curlews are in decline - be great if it was a Curlew call that I heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws7jH6wNKN4

There's a local to me posted a sound like a corncrake on other social media. Turns out it was a whitethroat churring.
I heard a young owl last night a few fields over as well.
Another one dung beetles seem to be doing well this year too.

Wildly Boaring

Base price wrote: »

They used to stun the fish with electricity and collect them when they were dredging the canals. They would move the fish to a section that had been previously cleaned before dredging the next section.

Still do

I've done river works, say minor diversions or minor dredging.

You liaise with Fisheries. Once they permit the work you block the stretch from above.
Next morning or day later the Fisheries will come down, you block the bottom. They'll stun and safely move anything that's left.

HillFarmer

With the greens now in government whats the overall view on this thread?

For me, even though I'm a farmer I'm pretty happy tbh and am hopeful we will see bio diversity take a much bigger step forward.

However I think i'm pretty alone in this having spoke to a few farmers locally.
I looking forward to new schemes to increase nature as much as possible over the next 10 years.

Say my name

HillFarmer wrote: »

With the greens now in government whats the overall view on this thread?

For me, even though I'm a farmer I'm pretty happy tbh and am hopeful we will see bio diversity take a much bigger step forward.

However I think i'm pretty alone in this having spoke to a few farmers locally.
I looking forward to new schemes to increase nature as much as possible over the next 10 years.

For me personally it's all optics. Virtue signalling and attacking the other side to justify yourself by the Greens.

I've never been in reps or any of the schemes up to now. Yet I know and have always known the value of hedgerows and waterways fenced off.
You do it off your own bat. If you're waiting for a scheme. You're waiting for these self important "advisors" fresh out of college to come on your farm and tell you what to do.
Nobody wins except the advisors. The farmer resents being told what to do and just does the bare minimum to cover their ass.

Some farmers are like advisors. Thinking there's a never ending supply of money going to be coming from on high. When the reality is that pot is getting smaller every year. And farmers are being asked to do more for the same money that they used to get. Not to mention administration and their advisors taking from that pot too.

Doesn't impress me.

Say my name

At the end of the day it's just letting your farm get a bit more "scruffy" and letting more nature have some room.

The current mindset of the old school is that denotes a 'bad' farmer.
However the current generation and some of the old school see through this and know the value it brings to life.

Capercaillie

Say my name wrote: »

For me personally it's all optics. Virtue signalling and attacking the other side to justify yourself by the Greens.

I've never been in reps or any of the schemes up to now. Yet I know and have always known the value of hedgerows and waterways fenced off.
You do it off your own bat. If you're waiting for a scheme. You're waiting for these self important "advisors" fresh out of college to come on your farm and tell you what to do.
Nobody wins except the advisors. The farmer resents being told what to do and just does the bare minimum to cover their ass.

Some farmers are like advisors. Thinking there's a never ending supply of money going to be coming from on high. When the reality is that pot is getting smaller every year. And farmers are being asked to do more for the same money that they used to get. Not to mention administration and their advisors taking from that pot too.

Doesn't impress me.

Some scheme genuinely help both farmer and biodiversity, results based schemes. Farmer in consultation with ecologist/agri-consultant decide what plan to follow. Technical advice given to specific fields is given.
In GLAS most the advisors hadn't even any background in ecology, how are they supposed to advise farmers. The standards set so low, didn't help either.

HillFarmer

HillFarmer wrote: »

With the greens now in government whats the overall view on this thread?

For me, even though I'm a farmer I'm pretty happy tbh and am hopeful we will see bio diversity take a much bigger step forward.

However I think i'm pretty alone in this having spoke to a few farmers locally.
I looking forward to new schemes to increase nature as much as possible over the next 10 years.

I'd agree with Say my name and with the best will in the world I believe you'll regret the above. The greens are now in charge of land use policy, you should inform yourself on the stuff coming out in regards to all peatland types and the knock on effects that will come from there. I can tell you from experience with our new super junior they're dangerously ill informed on hills. There's an ex green senator advocating no ag related payments on peatlands, also looking to be applied are levels of "strict protection" and "appropriate protection" two levels above National Park status and three to four levels above current SAC. 13% of Ireland is designated, 30% is what the new designations will cover (that's not a 30% increase, it's a 300%+ increase). These are coming through the greens as well as the EU's biodiversity 2030, farm to fork 2030 and GAEC2. Should these be applied there will not even be an avenue to apply for planning permission on lands, privately owned or not, in ag or not. Welcoming Irish greens to ag and land use is like welcoming a petrol tanker to a house fire.

Dinzee Conlee

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd agree with Say my name and with the best will in the world I believe you'll regret the above. The greens are now in charge of land use policy, you should inform yourself on the stuff coming out in regards to all peatland types and the knock on effects that will come from there. I can tell you from experience with our new super junior they're dangerously ill informed on hills. There's an ex green senator advocating no ag related payments on peatlands, also looking to be applied are levels of "strict protection" and "appropriate protection" two levels above National Park status and three to four levels above current SAC. 13% of Ireland is designated, 30% is what the new designations will cover (that's not a 30% increase, it's a 300%+ increase). These are coming through the greens as well as the EU's biodiversity 2030, farm to fork 2030 and GAEC2. Should these be applied there will not even be an avenue to apply for planning permission on lands, privately owned or not, in ag or not. Welcoming Irish greens to ag and land use is like welcoming a petrol tanker to a house fire.

It’s hard to know what’ll happen for farming overall...
The greens have some scary stuff, but then some of the things that are currently happening such as turf cutting I do think should be reviewed...
But then - we’ve had years and years of FF and FG governments, and look at us.

So maybe the conclusion is we’re fcuked no matter who is in power?

I do hope the greens make some kinda improvements, as I feel FG and FF have shown they don’t really give a sh!te... but I do accept that’s hope more than anything.

NcdJd

There is a lot of quail this year in the barley and corn where I live. Recorded them but don't know if this will upload.

NcdJd

There is a lot of Quail this year in the barley and corn where I live. Can't upload the audio file.

Base price

NcdJd wrote: »

There is a lot of Quail this year in the barley and corn where I live. Can't upload the audio file.

I think you need to have 50 posts before you can upload a photo.

Lime Tree Farm

Base price wrote: »

I think you need to have 50 posts before you can upload a photo.

I think that should read 5 posts before attaching a link or a photo.

memorystick

Just after seeing some type of a seagull in the heart of the midlands. Why?

Base price

memorystick wrote: »

Just after seeing some type of a seagull in the heart of the midlands. Why?

We have black headed gulls and common gulls living and breeding on the lakes around us in Longford and Cavan. I see lots of them especially when we plough the WBC every year or spread slurry.