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A wonderfully wild weekend

Common Dolphins

Like it or not… when you’re watching wildlife in Ireland you’re inevitably watching the weather. With our Discover Wildlife Weekend looming I’d spent the last week watching the weather forecasts with growing trepidation. Would the weather gremlins play ball? West Cork is a truly spectacular wildlife location, but so much depends….

Wildlife Photographer of the Year coming to Dublin!

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The world-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) exhibition is coming to Dublin this year… for the first time ever… and we have a pair of free tickets to give away to one lucky Ireland’s Wildlife reader. Co-owned by the Natural History Museum in London and the BBC, WPY is widely….

Are Irish badgers a distinct subspecies?

Undoubtedly one of the biggest wildlife issues in Ireland and Britain over the last few years has been the role of badgers (Meles meles) in the transmission of TB to cattle and the subsequent culling efforts to curtail the disease. This has understandably led to public outcry over this culling….

Gear Review: LED Lenser P5R.2 Rechargable LED Flashlight

P5R.2 Charging

Pros: Great looking, exceptionally bright little rechargeable torch with excellent build quality. Small, sleek, lightweight and robust — ideal for slipping in a pocket or pack. Outstanding flood-to-spot functionality with LED Lenser’s patented fast-focus system. Extremely versatile little light. Convenient magnetic charging system powered through USB. Cons: Proprietary LiIon battery limits replacement options…..

Wildlife Portfolio: William Helps

Pike in Cover by William Helps

In this instalment of our Wildlife Portfolio series we take a look at the work of William Helps, a wildlife artist based in Rosscarbery in Co. Cork. Click on any of the images in the portfolio below to open up a larger version and scroll through the gallery. About William Helps….

Wildlife Portfolio: Phil Pound

In this first in a new series of posts featuring the work of some of Ireland’s best wildlife photographers we look at the winning portfolio of West Cork photographer Phil Pound, who won the prestigious “Best Wildlife Portfolio” and “Best Single Wildlife Image” in the 2104 Irish Professional Photographers Association….

Ireland’s first white-tailed eagle fledgling shot dead in Tipparary

One of the first two white-tailed eagles to hatch in Ireland in more than a century has been found shot dead in Co. Tipperary. The male bird was one of two chicks reared successfully by a pair of re-introduced eagles at a nest site on Lough Derg near Mountshannon in….

Out of the blue: Ireland’s blue whales photographed

Blue Whale Ireland

Blue whales are perhaps the most evocative and spectacular of all the great whale species. The largest animals ever to have lived on earth, there’s an almost mythical quality surrounding these ocean giants. Hunted almost to extinction at the height of the whaling boom the species is thought to be recovering….

Kite Lynx HD 8×30 binocular review

Pros: Super compact and convenient, with great build quality. Exceptionally wide field of view and large central “sweet spot” give that elusive sense of immersion that marks a great binocular. Very bright, pin sharp image with excellent colour fidelity and contrast, surprisingly good low light performance considering the small objective lenses. Superb close….

Friends in high places: red squirrels, grey squirrels and pine martens

Irish pine marten populations recovering

There are two squirrel species found in Ireland.  The native red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris, and the invasive North American grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis.  In Ireland, the UK and Italy the grey squirrel threatens the survival of the red squirrel as the effects of competition and disease from grey squirrels almost….

The history of the Red Squirrel in Ireland

Red Squirrel in Co. Waterford, Ireland

The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is one of our most charismatic species, found in woodlands in many parts of Ireland and is an animal that warms the hearts of those lucky enough to observe it. In recent years the decline of the red squirrel has been associated with the spread….

16,000 trees to be felled at Gougane Barra, Co. Cork

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Coillte, the state-owned forestry organisation, has closed Gougane Barra Forest Park in County Cork, and plans to fell around 16,000 trees in the forest — mainly Japanese Larch — to prevent the spread of disease. The disease, known as “Sudden Oak Death” in the USA,  is caused by a fungus-like plant….