Nature News

[765489]

Not slug pellets with Irish Rail - rat/rodent poison in bait points in places all over the rail network where there is nothing for rodents to get into. Nice little earner for Rentokil or whoever .......

Thats madness. I stopped using Rat poison 20 years ago. Too much of a risk for the likes of owls and recently buzzards. If I ever see a rat now in around the house, it's a rat trap with a bit of peanut butter on it tied to a stake in an enclosed place that the fox can't get to it.

[Del.Monte]

Just another example of waste at CIE and at the same time potentially damaging to wildlife.

[Del.Monte]

I finally got around to photographing one of the many bait points at Enniscorthy railway station yesterday and here's the picture.



What is the point of this - there's nothing and nowhere in the station for rodents to get into and the station is just yards from the Slaney i.e there will always be rats etc. wherever there's water so it's an exercise in futility adding to CIE's massive losses and potentially poisoning wildlife - and I don't mean the rats. Incidentally, CIE urgently need another attractive warning poster to advise people not to go near the very accessible bait points.

[Del.Monte]

Offaly County Council has apologised for removing a hedgerow near Geashill.

Cllr Mark Hackett raised the removal of the hedgerow during the March meeting of the Council and received a follow-up call from the Director of Services with responsibility for this area. The Director told the councillor that the removal of the hedgerow was, while compliant with legislation, poor practice.

During the March meeting Cllr Hackett pointed out that he got quite a few calls from members of the public distressed by the sight of the destruction. "Why was this work done?" he asked. "Was it for road widening? Whatever the reason, it shouldn't have happened because it's not supposed to happen during the bird nesting season when countless birds including blackbirds, wrens, thrushes use these vital natural corridors for nesting. I thought this kind of thing was behind us in our society."

The section of road is two miles from Geashill on the road to Tullamore. A long section, of many metres, of hedge and trees was removed by the Council workers.

"If this work had to be done," continued Cllr Hackett, "then it should have been done outside the bird nesting season."

According to Section 40 of the Wildlife Acts it is an offence to destroy vegetation on uncultivated land during the bird nesting season, which runs from March 1 to August 31 each year.

“Fair play to the Council,” commented the councillor, speaking after his follow-up conversation with the Director. “They could have used the fact that removal of hedgerows for road safety is allowed at any time of the year, but instead they held their hands up and said this shouldn't have happened.

“I understand that it was an error due to the unavailability of a contractor in January and the postponement of road improvement works. The Council acknowledged that the work, if not started before the nesting season should have been postponed until the end of it. I take this as a positive sign that biodiversity is a major consideration of the Council. Mistakes happen but with each mistake comes learning. I received an assurance that something like this wouldn't happen again and I am happy with that.” https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/midla ... c.whatsapp

[Del.Monte]

God help us but is there no end to the stupidity of our 'pandemic' wildlife converts. Below from Facebook today - whatever happened to reading books or common sense? Between this sort of nonsense and 'rescuing' every fledgling and bringing them to a wildlife rehabilitation centre or the vet....



This is equally relevant.

[765489]

Feckin hell, just leave the poor things alone, that's the parent's job ffs.

[Del.Monte]

The Hawaiian Po’ouli - another sad tale of probable extinction: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... are_btn_fb

[kadman]

Feckin hell, just leave the poor things alone, that's the parent's job ffs.

The only species on this planet that needs intervention to survive and exist in harmony with all other species and gaia....is us.
All other species would exist and flourish both flora and fauna if we lived more in tune with nature instead of fekking it up for our short term gain.

[kadman]

[765489]

Am I loosing the plot thinking this trash article is about cuckoo spit that is everywhere this time of the year ? Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

https://www.rsvplive.ie/news/warning-is ... m-27249708

[Del.Monte]

Very confusing article, looks like cuckoo spit to me.

[isha]

Yeah I thought that too when I saw the article yesterday. Same spitty stuff I've seen forever. But I guess if you are a journalist then everything and everyone everywhere has to be in danger all the time

[Del.Monte]

Yeah I thought that too when I saw the article yesterday. Same spitty stuff I've seen forever. But I guess if you are a journalist then everything and everyone everywhere has to be in danger all the time

Plus, the first rule of journalism is to get all your facts wrong.

[Del.Monte]

More good news about the return of cranes to Ireland - Two common cranes have successfully hatched two chicks at a rewetted peatland in the Republic of Ireland. Their exact location is being kept secret to protect and conserve the birds and avoid them being disturbed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw98ee8wd84o

[Del.Monte]

https://www.independent.ie/business/far ... 72847.html

Bastard, he didn't know that Swans were a protected species! I'd give him a five minute head start and come after him with a shot gun myself. How an imbecile that doesn't know that Swans are protected is capable of holding a gun licence beggars belief.

[Del.Monte]

And Buzzards and Ravens in Wicklow.
https://www.thejournal.ie/farmer-fined- ... 4-Jul2022/

[765489]

The goats are doing well in Howth. Keeping the wildfires at bay so far anyway. Next stop Killiney. We had a couple of goats around here locally that were brought in by a well know developer some years ago as they apparently bring luck to a place. Eventually he was told to get rid of them due to complaints from neighbouring farms as they had a tendency to ramble.

https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2022/0 ... ayo-goats/

[Del.Monte]

I heard that on both RTE and Newstalk today. Ciaran Cuddihy went on and on about it like it was the splitting of the atom or a cure for cancer - great for filling up the programme.

[765489]

I heard that on both RTE and Newstalk today. Ciaran Cuddihy went on and on about it like it was the splitting of the atom or a cure for cancer - great for filling up the programme.

The first thing that came into my head when this was initially announced was that I would be hearing on the news that the poor little things would be burned alive in a fire started by some clowns with a disposal bbq. That lady I'd say is watching them all the time and would also be keeping an keen eye out for idiots with ciggerette lighters so that probably is another reason there's no fires around where they are located.

[Del.Monte]

There's talk of a management plan for Bray Head - about 50 years too late - and it's a place that regularly goes ablaze. I suppose goats would be cheaper than employing a ranger or two. However, I suspect that the goats might end up being molested by some of the savages that roam the countryside these days/

[Del.Monte]

More depressing news (?) I'm afraid ,,,,,Perhaps instead of wasting money on politically correct Irish language Covid advertising the money could be spent on telling people to put their masks in the bin not the ground.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62407026

[Del.Monte]

Nest boxes help Europe's largest colony of Roseate Terns thrive on Rockabill island - a good news story on RTE today.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/08 ... ate-terns/

[Del.Monte]

Avian Flu ripping through the Irish seabird population: https://birdwatchireland.ie/avian-influenza-an-update/

[Del.Monte]

More very worrying news about the effects of plastic in the oceans: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-seabirds

[Del.Monte]

David Attenborough's programme that the BBC thought too controversial to air is a damp squib: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... CMP=fb_cif There's a surprise then - not.