Nature News

[isha]

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2023/06 ... h-ireland/

Agh no!!! Stay away Oak Processionary Moth! Not welcome here.

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[CelticRambler]

Definitely not the kind of creepy you want crawling around Ireland.

But WTF? - The public have been urged to be vigilant after an invasive species of moth has been detected in Ireland for the first time.

First of all, it's the public has been urged - don't they teach grammar to journalists any more? And second of all, if the public is being asked to be vigilant, wouldn't it be a good idea to say where exactly the little feckers were found instead of the very vague "Dublin housing estate" and maybe give a link to the Department's statement/advice on the matter?

Then again, probably no point in bothering with the latter, as the Department doesn't think it's newsworthy enough to publish the information in any googlable form.

[isha]

I've passed on the news to my sproglets with identifying photos and one sprog says he thinks he saw one of them in his bathroom last night, west of Ireland

[CelticRambler]

They'd also be far better publishing pictures of the little feckers' nests, instead of close-ups of the caterpillars. If you're close enough to see the kind of detail in those pictures, you're too damn close and risk never seeing anything ever again.

Their pine tree cousins here in France are endemic, and it's the nests you see first, which should put you on your guard. It's usually dogs that give the second warning, when the poor unfortunates (running off the lead) think it'd be fun to sniff at that fuzzy line squirming across the path and end up with a face full of poison.

[Del.Monte]

https://raptorpersecutionuk.org/2023/07 ... -poisoned/

And so it goes on.

[isha]

We have a lot of swallow nests around the house and garage which I tolerate because someone I'm married to won't let me even reduce their comfort but anyway, aside from their shit I like them too. We've had them for decades. In all that time I've seen a handful of dead chick corpses. In last 24 hours I've found three adult swallows dead . Bird flu????? What do you think?

[Apelles]

Not sure that it's bird flu.

"Defra and the UKHSA says the risk of avian flu in common garden bird species such as finches, sparrows, tits, warblers, robins, wrens, swallows as well as pigeons is very low."
https://www.countryfile.com/news/bird-f ... m-impacts/

[isha]

Thanks. Good to hear. The nest looks damaged so maybe that's it. Although I don't know why an adult bird couldn't fly from a damaged nest. I dunno.

[Apelles]

A damaged nest and dead sparrows might indicate that the nest was attacked by other birds . . Crows or magpies being the most likely culprits, they'll steal the eggs or eat the chicks.

https://www.sonomabirding.com/do-crows-eat-other-birds/

[isha]

sad.

Glad it is not bird flu though

[Del.Monte]

You've got to laugh as RTE picked up on a press release from Ulster Wildlife and carried on 'Belfast Live' in the wee small hours this morning: https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/enda ... n-27514087 and ran with it: https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2023/0 ... servation/ ... RTE announced the news like it was the return of the Dodo but it turns out that it was about the successful breeding of two pairs of Lapwing on a County Down bog. I have news for you - RTE - Lapwings, while being on the endangered species list, breed throughout the country. Typical lazy, silly season reporting.

[isha]

Lovely photo of the 300 years old Sycamore Gap Tree which was cut down in an act of vandalism by a 16 year old. It was a woeful thing to do, I understand people are heartbroken and I would be too if I knew the tree and the place. But weirdly I also get nervous about the tidal wave of whipped up hate that will come his way.
Though it's very sad about the tree also. Trees are very important.