Winterwatch on BBC2

mattser

New series tonight at 8p.m.

magicbastarder

good man, i'd forgotten.

Bob s

I watched this tonight and they mentioned a few groups like trees for life and cairngorms connect how come there aren't any groups doing these things in ireland ?

magicbastarder

haven't watched it yet (have it recorded) - doing what things?

Bob s

Trees for life where capturing red squirrels and releasing them in different locations and cairngorms connect are Trying to connect small pockets of forests in the highlands to make one large one.Surely some areas of donegal and the West would be suitable for projects like these.

magicbastarder

the problem with planting trees is you need land, or else the co-operation of the landowner. land is not cheap in ireland.

bkrangle

Bob s wrote: »

Trees for life where capturing red squirrels and releasing them in different locations and cairngorms connect are Trying to connect small pockets of forests in the highlands to make one large one.Surely some areas of donegal and the West would be suitable for projects like these.

There are definitely groups in Antrim and Down capturing grey squirrels in an effort to boost the red population. They also do surveys of red squirrel and pine marten populations.

magicbastarder

the vincent wildlife trust do good work re pine martens; i think they're more focussed on helping pine martens than targetting greys, one will follow the other.

https://www.vincentwildlife.ie/

Bob s

magicbastarder wrote: »

the problem with planting trees is you need land, or else the co-operation of the landowner. land is not cheap in ireland.

But the upland areas of donegal and the West the land shouldn't be too expensive .I don't see why we couldn't have projects like the ones in the highlands if we did maybe some day we would be able to reintroduce species like the capercaillie and osprey

Tiercel Dave

I didn't see the programme. I live west of the Shannon and, in my opinion, the biggest threat to the Hen Harrier and the Red Grouse is increased afforestation. Maybe if there were decent 'corridors' provided for it might help. Here I see Grouse numbers dwindling but no new blood arrives in because of tracts of forestry acting as a barrier. Red Squirrels abound though and there is a healthy population of Martens too. 'Spose I'm a bit of a 'nimby' with regards to more trees.....

Bob s

I always wondered how reforestation affected red grouse , I know that dense forest would mean less habitat for them but what about very sparse pine trees like in the caladonia forest in Scotland a lot of light is able to get to the forest floor so it is covered in Heather so there is plenty of food for them . In some countries red grouse are also called willow grouse because of where they live.

magicbastarder

Bob s wrote: »

But the upland areas of donegal and the West the land shouldn't be too expensive

even at 2k an acre, land gets pricey if you want to buy, say, 100 acres.
which is why we need governmental support for such initiatives, but our current government is one which has just promised to increas biodiversity by promising beehives in public parks.

rivermisty

Bob s wrote: »

I watched this tonight and they mentioned a few groups like trees for life and cairngorms connect how come there aren't any groups doing these things in ireland ?

There are, the Native Woodland Trust is dedicated to increasing Ireland's native forest cover and there's a Red Squirell project run by DLRCoCo which traps and removes Greys from killiney hill. Although, there's still plenty of greys there.

The problem with re-introducing forestry to a lot of our uplands is due to massive numbers of sheep and deer. Cull those and it should regenerate naturally.

fryup

do we have any bittern in ireland?

Bob s

fryup wrote: »

do we have any bittern in ireland?

As far as I know we might get the odd visitor in the winter but I don't think they breed here any more

TopTec

Packham and Strachan are engaging and personable which makes listening to them a pleasure. The other two, Yole and ??, could be cardboard cut outs with a tape player saying their words. Fake laughter and poor timing of their lines makes it a chore with them. I tend to pause the programme for a while then jump through their sections.


Some very interesting sections, especially those with other outside contributers makes it worth tuning in but the gimmiky 'experiments' are a mess and need getting rid of.


TT

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Disappointed with it and I wonder has it run it's course. Chris is just annoying at this stage. I think I shan't be watching any more of this series or Springwatch.

fryup

one week is fine, and one of springwatch would be fine too instead of three which is too drawn out

baaba maal

Thaddeus Bald Gypsy wrote: »

Disappointed with it and I wonder has it run it's course. Chris is just annoying at this stage. I think I shan't be watching any more of this series or Springwatch.

Yes, I don't know if Chris and Michaela really don't get on or are just hamming it up, but their sniping at each other is really getting in the way of the programme.

Joe_ Public

Chris and Micheala strike me as being the best of friends, on screen and off. The chemistry between them is the best thing on the show imo, but the departure of Martin Hughes Games was a blow. Iolo tries hard but he was always better as a fringe presenter. All opinions but i will always be a fan of Chris. Basically get five weeks of him a year, could easily digest 5 more.

OpenYourEyes

I don't always get to watch every episode of the 'Watches' when they're on, but I thought last week was excellent. I think Chris and Iolo are fantastic - both are obviously very knowledgeable and very passionate about wildlife and nature, and it shows! Michaela and Gillian are grand too, bearing in mind that the show is aimed at people with all levels of experience and knowledge about nature. I certainly don't miss Martin Hughes Games at all I must admit. I've heard, completely anecdotally, that MHG was a bit of a pain to work with, and from someone else that they met Iolo while working on a conservation project and he couldn't have been nicer.

The show covers such a broad range of topics, gets some fantastic footage, does a great job of explaining different facets of ecosystems and individual species adaptations, and most importantly it continues to capture the imaginations of a huge audience. Long may it continue!