Get closer to the wild side of Ireland
Dr. Una Fitzpatrick, Ecologist with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, explains why we need to conserve our pollinators, and how you can help. The staggering value of pollination Pollination services provided by insects, mainly bees, have been valued at €153 billion a year. With 71 out of the 100 crops that provide 90% of food [...]
Two secondary school students from Co. Cork are in the process of conducting an intriguing experiment to ascertain how birds are influenced by colour, and how that affects their foraging and feeding habits. Jemma Dearden and her friend Gill Blackburn, who are currently in the transition year at Loreto Convent Secondary school in Fermoy, were short listed [...]
I was hanging out washing yesterday lunchtime when I noticed this rook eyeing up the chimney. We’ve just lit the wood-burner in the kitchen, and while there was no visible smoke coming out of the chimney, I’m pretty certain there was a steady stream of hot air flowing from it. The rook, which looked wet… [...]
All over Ireland gardeners are on a mission to eradicate weeds… but is there a different approach that can help the gardener AND help Ireland’s Wildlfie? **** Weeds! The very mention of them can send gardeners into spasm. Throughout summer well into autumn we fight a never-ending battle with weeds. It’s a futile exercise, because [...]
The last few sunny days has seen a veritable irruption of freshly emerged Red Admirals (Vanessa atalanta) in the garden. Some of them still had “crinkly” edges to their wings, where they hadn’t pumped up / dried out properly yet. This particularly fine specimen posed for photos. Absolutely stunning butterflies.
Living and working in the country is often quite tranquil, but this morning the calm was shattered when this male sparrowhawk dropped in for an impromptu visit. Suddenly the background harmony of birdsong was replaced by a cacophony of anxious alarm calls as blackbirds, swallows, house sparrows, chaffinches and tits all screamed their warnings. Trouble [...]
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