This month, branch Chair, Jez Simms, describes how some Egret species began to visit Ireland regularly, one species even breeding here now. It was not until the latter half of the last century that birders in Ireland began to regularly encounter a beautiful pure white heron known throughout Europe and […]
Environment
The illegal wildlife trade is the second biggest international crime after drug smuggling, but one hears about it less often. Personally, I think that wildlife smugglers should be punished far more harshly than drug dealers – after all, if someone wants to inject himself with heroin or addle his brain […]
Some English animal names don’t precisely define any one particular creature: prawn is a good example. According to my old seashore guide book, Palaemon serratus is the common prawn. In Ireland, however, fishermen call this a shrimp, and prawn to them is Nephrops norvegicus. But Nephrops, the Dublin Bay prawn, […]
This month, branch committee member Andrea Reichstein travels up to Rathlin Island, off the northern coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland, to experience its birdlife and so much more. After visiting Cape Clear for the very enjoyable week-long ‘Seabirds to Songbirds’ course held by Dick Coombes for Birdwatch Ireland […]
