Nature in the News

splish · 16-10-2014 01:24PM

Field to be transplanted – ten miles down the road

In what is thought to be a first in Ireland, a group of conservationists are saving a field resplendent with orchids and wildflowers from being buried beneath a new motorway.

whyulittle · 27-11-2014 01:33AM

Ringer rings Blackcap in UK, catches it again in Portugal!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2848167/Birdwatcher-tags-bird-Portugal-weeks-spotting-home.html

OpenYourEyes · 27-11-2014 10:31AM

Grey Seals have been found to be predating on Harbour Porpoises! Below is the link to the scientific paper on it, if you're not of a scientific persuasion you'll get all the facts you need from the first paragraph/abstract there.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1798/20142429

I've also seen that some of the tabloids have picked up on the story, and are unsurprisingly taking a very sensationalist route with it. Unfortunately that kind of rubbish sticks in the minds of the general public, whether its true/applicable or not, as we often see with a number of other species that they pick on from time to time.

OpenYourEyes · 27-11-2014 12:44PM

A piece about shrews and the importance of submitting records of any sightings (and the same goes for any other species!)

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/access-science-the-taming-of-the-greater-white-toothed-shrew-is-essential-1.2013248

OpenYourEyes · 27-11-2014 12:52PM

GMIT marine researcher Heidi Acampora (pictured below) is looking for help from the public to identify and/or collect any dead seabirds in their locality so she can use them in her PhD research:

http://www.gmit.ie/research-marine-biology/help-needed-gmit-seabird-project

The IWDG are delighted to announce that Aer Lingus are flying Leona, the loggerhead turtle to Gran Canaria on Tuesday 2 December:

http://www.iwdg.ie/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2437

recedite · 02-12-2014 12:21AM

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1798/20142429

I've also seen that some of the tabloids have picked up on the story, and are unsurprisingly taking a very sensationalist route with it. Unfortunately that kind of rubbish sticks in the minds of the general public, whether its true/applicable or not, as we often see with a number of other species that they pick on from time to time.

They have an interesting theory at the end of the article, suggesting that the seals have learned this behaviour only in the last decade, originating as a development from the opportunistic killing of injured porpoises caught in fishing nets. But now they are hunting healthy ones.

Over a similar timescale, the grey seals off the Dublin coast have become more aggressive, with boat owners blaming the seal sanctuary for releasing hand reared pups, and the seal sanctuary blaming boat owners for throwing their catch overboard. (I would not give any credence to the "sex-starved" angle in the story)

I wonder if there could actually be a cultural connection between the Dutch seals and the Irish Sea seals, such that their attitude to humans is different now, more assertive, since they started seeing porpoises as food.

Leopard seals must have evolved after some cultural shift, no longer confining themselves to just fish, but attacking other species of seals too. Also there are differences between the orca populations in the Pacific where there are transient pods that eat seals and other marine mammals, and those in the Atlantic which seem to confine themselves to fish.
Whether these are cultural or genetic differences is unclear, but it shows that such behaviours can evolve over time.

OpenYourEyes · 02-12-2014 02:10PM

Birdwatch Ireland and the Irish Raptor Study Group have called for an end to the continued villification of the Hen Harrier.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2014/1202/ireland/groups-call-for-an-end-to-vilification-of-hen-harrier-300405.html

http://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/groups-call-for-an-end-to-the-vilification-of-the-hen-harrier/

For anyone in facebook I'd recommend following the Irish Raptor Study Group - over €400 million of money from the EU which was specifically meant to go to farmers to manage land in natura 2000 sites was diverted during the last rural development programme. Also the Glas Hen Harrier scheme is capped at a certain level, whereas grants for forestry aren't capped at all.

I always try to point it out, but it's not farmers that are bad for wildlife in this country, it's the policy makers!!

whyulittle · 02-12-2014 02:22PM

These are some of the figures given at the talk in Clara Bog Visitor Centre last week.

One lad didn't want anything to do with the Hen Harrier, he didn't know why he didn't want anything to do with, he just didn't want it. :rolleyes:

OpenYourEyes · 02-12-2014 02:28PM

whyulittle wrote: »

These are some of the figures given at the talk in Clara Bog Visitor Centre last week.

One lad didn't want anything to do with the Hen Harrier, he didn't know why he didn't want anything to do with, he just didn't want it. :rolleyes:

Just to add to that, from the Irish Raptor Study Group facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/345679678896374/photos/a.345694388894903.1073741826.345679678896374/566160513514955/?type=1

Hill farmers participating in GLAS in Natura2000 sites will get €370 per hectare per year for 5yrs (capped - not to exceed more than €5,000 per year).....or the hill farmer can abandon his lands and shift to non-native conifer plantation Forestry and avail of a €3700 grant + €454 per hectare per year for 20yrs (uncapped). The Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine's agenda is very clear. There is a reason for Ireland's rural decline, rural depopulation, rural unemployment, the industrialisation of our European protected sites and resulting upland biodiversity loss. Concerned???

magicbastarder · 04-12-2014 02:49PM

not sure if it's nature in the news, per se, but derek mooney is leaving his afternoon slot on RTE1 to make more nature programmes:

http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/derek-mooney-leaves-show-1814834-Dec2014/

Capercaille · 06-12-2014 11:40AM

http://www.npws.ie/legislationandconventions/Public%20Consultation%20Section%2040.pdf

I fear this.................................

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 06-12-2014 01:21PM

Capercaille wrote: »

http://www.npws.ie/legislationandconventions/Public%20Consultation%20Section%2040.pdf
I fear this.................................

Not good! I am quite astounded by this. As it stands the regulations on hedge cutting are flaunted by almost every tidy towns group in the country. To give any more leeway on verge cutting is tantamount to throwing the restrictions out altogether. I accept that burning prior to March is difficult and ineffective but there has to be a better solution than permitting burning when ground cover and feeding habitat is vital.

recedite · 06-12-2014 10:06PM

If you told the tidy towns people they could cut the hedges in August, they would probably wait till then. If you tell people they can't cut hedges at all during the summer, or any time from March until the start of September, they are more likely to ignore the law. And when lots of people are seen to flout a law, it becomes more socially acceptable for others to flout it.
August would also be a good month for controlled burning, if that is to be allowed.

Capercaille · 06-12-2014 10:20PM

Hen Harriers under forestry threat
http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?cate=__15727

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 06-12-2014 10:23PM

recedite wrote: »

If you told the tidy towns people they could cut the hedges in August, they would probably wait till then. If you tell people they can't cut hedges at all during the summer, or any time from March until the start of September, they are more likely to ignore the law. And when lots of people are seen to flout a law, it becomes more socially acceptable for others to flout it.
August would also be a good month for controlled burning, if that is to be allowed.

Not a hope of them waiting until august. They cut around here every June because of a adjudication that takes place in June. August is too late for them.

Zoo4m8 · 06-12-2014 11:17PM

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

Not a hope of them waiting until august. They cut around here every June because of a adjudication that takes place in June. August is too late for them.

What do they use?..tractors and hedgecutters?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 07-12-2014 09:35AM

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

What do they use?..tractors and hedgecutters?

T
Yes, of course!

Zoo4m8 · 07-12-2014 06:40PM

Moses Faithful Slime wrote: »

T
Yes, of course!

Hmmm..new one on me , round here they uses strimmers and handheld hedge trimmers, in fact on one of the entry roads they have planted the verges with various shrubs and got one of the landowners to replace a fence with a gorse hedge which he trims with a hedgecutter as the rest of us do to our roadside hedges in the closed season.
In fact I don't know any tidy towns committee in any of the nearby villages using commercial hedge cutting equipment in or out of season.

Capercaille · 07-12-2014 07:38PM

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

Hmmm..new one on me , round here they uses strimmers and handheld hedge trimmers, in fact on one of the entry roads they have planted the verges with various shrubs and got one of the landowners to replace a fence with a gorse hedge which he trims with a hedgecutter as the rest of us do to our roadside hedges in the closed season.
In fact I don't know any tidy towns committee in any of the nearby villages using commercial hedge cutting equipment in or out of season.

The tidy town committee in the town near me use tractor hedge trimmers during the summer as well. One summer they trimmed (hacked) my hedge as well. A native hedgerow which they said was "wild looking".

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 07-12-2014 08:37PM

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

Hmmm..new one on me , round here they uses strimmers and handheld hedge trimmers, in fact on one of the entry roads they have planted the verges with various shrubs and got one of the landowners to replace a fence with a gorse hedge which he trims with a hedgecutter as the rest of us do to our roadside hedges in the closed season.
In fact I don't know any tidy towns committee in any of the nearby villages using commercial hedge cutting equipment in or out of season.

4 villages within a 6 mile radius of me and they all use tractor cutters in summer on the hedgerows. I wrote to the dept about it last year but their reply was basically that they would do nothing about it.

Zoo4m8 · 08-12-2014 08:36AM

Every council will quite happily cut out of season as ours do but I assume you wouldn't credit a well meaning group with the 'we don't give a toss 'actions of another...
This is distracting from the wider issue of cutting times and it's far more important that the status quo remains because there will be some landowners quite happy to take advantage of any laxity.
As for burning, I have had to order a wood chipper because the restrictions the local council have in place are very onerous and as there are a lot of trees on this patch which require maintainence plus dealing with windfalls it was the only option.
Then of course we have a very active warden to keep an eye on things and if he doesn't spot an infringement then a 'concerned 'citizen will..
Incidentally, as I'm here,I watched developers take out 400 meters of large hedge in June one year during the 'boom'.. Very upsetting to watch six or seven magpies hunting through the destruction picking out fledglings ! And where were was the outcry? Right..deafning silence..
What, me cynical?

Capercaille · 11-12-2014 01:51PM

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/hedges-with-gaps-to-count-in-efa-calculations-170748/

OpenYourEyes · 11-12-2014 02:44PM

Capercaille wrote: »

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/hedges-with-gaps-to-count-in-efa-calculations-170748/

Can't read the article without an IFJ subscription!

Zoo4m8 · 12-12-2014 07:40AM

Capercaille wrote: »

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/hedges-with-gaps-to-count-in-efa-calculations-170748/

Probably a safe bet to say that the majority of your readers on this forum won't have a IFJ sub.... You might have to expand a little further..

OpenYourEyes · 12-12-2014 10:10AM

I'm not religious, but it's good to see the Pope yesterday tweeting about the importance of ecology:

https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/542982208093298688

...and catholic bishops from every continent calling for an end to the 'fossil fuel era':

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/11/3602596/bishops-end-fossil-fuels/

If the catholic church (and/or other sizeable religions) were to take on the issue of ecology and climate change, it could have very significant knock-on benefits for the world (...not to mention for the church too).

recedite · 12-12-2014 01:19PM

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

Probably a safe bet to say that the majority of your readers on this forum won't have a IFJ sub.... You might have to expand a little further..

Here's another article. Basically, the slashed hedge in the previous IFJ picture will now count as an EFA "environmentally focused area", and having a certain % of arable land described as an EFA qualifies the farmer for particular rate of grant money.

Capercaille · 12-12-2014 06:35PM

recedite wrote: »

Here's another article. Basically, the slashed hedge in the previous IFJ picture will now count as an EFA "environmentally focused area", and having a certain % of arable land described as an EFA qualifies the farmer for particular rate of grant money.

That's basically it. I looked at the IFJ there now and I can't seem to find it. IFA want any bit of a hedge to qualify for eligibility of subsidies (whether the hedges are any use for biodiversity is irrelevant to them).

OpenYourEyes · 12-12-2014 08:40PM

Just to add to that, a load of agricultural consultants are being hired to advise on the agri-environment schemes etc., but they're not looking for ecologists!

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/80-glas-advisor-jobs-with-frs-and-teagasc-170923/?utm_source=Irish+Farmers+Journal+-+Newsletters&utm_campaign=435f8083b3-Newsletter_21_Non_Subscribers_18_7_14_7_18_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_efb977c6d0-435f8083b3-114793621

Its no wonder that we have such a terrible track record with agri-environment schemes, and environmental issues in general. It's criminal the way we use a 'green' and environmentally friendly image as a selling point for our agri-food industry when it couldn't be much further from the truth.

Zoo4m8 · 12-12-2014 08:55PM

Why would they need ecologists to implement guidelines already decided by Brussels ? One presumes ecologists would have been involved at the initial guideline formation.. It's not your trade by any chance...:)

The advisors sole remit would be to advise farmers on how to implement what are increasingly complicated schemes without loss of payment through penalties.

Zoo4m8 · 12-12-2014 09:13PM

Capercaille wrote: »

That's basically it. I looked at the IFJ there now and I can't seem to find it. IFA want any bit of a hedge to qualify for eligibility of subsidies (whether the hedges are any use for biodiversity is irrelevant to them).

That's not basically it.. Firstly hedge types have not been decided, (not sure where the IFA comes in but then I haven't heard anything from them)
Secondly this is just a small part of a new scheme called ' Greening' and what it means is that a tillage farmer with over thirty hectares of arable must submit 5% of the tillage area to an EFA , Enviormental Focus Area, for next year with percentages increasing in 2017. There is no extra payment, there is no special payment, if he doesn't do this he will lose thirty percent of the payment he would normally be entitled to.
As I said hedges are a part of this, other areas that count as EFAs include drains, buffer strips ( fallow strips by hedgerow) groups of trees/ copses, fallow arable land , catch crops or green cover.
For the life of me I cannot see why this is not welcomed , why is it necessary to constantly focus on the negative? All the areas mentioned above are bio/ diverse if implemented properly .
There is far more to this scheme and even if I could be bothered I'm certainly not getting into it here.

Nature in the News

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