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seabirds

Avian Influenza hits Irish seabird colonies

Northern Gannet

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI H5N1) has hit Irish seabird colonies this breeding season after running rampant through similar colonies in the UK earlier this year. The disease, which can infect a wide range of bird species, appears to have hit breeding Gannet colonies particularly hard. Gannets, our larges seabird,….

Puffins of Ireland

In this guest post, contributor Charlotte Klassa takes a closer look at many people’s favourite Irish seabird, the colourful and charismatic Puffin. The Atlantic Puffin is a strange bird. It looks like a penguin and a toucan rolled into one. This is the tell-tale sign of the auk family of birds:….

Record year for Irish little tern colony

Ireland’s largest little tern colony at Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, has enjoyed a record year in 2014 according to conservationists monitoring the site. Wardens recorded 120 breeding pairs nesting at Kilcoole this season, smashing the previous record of 106 pairs from 2006. According to figures reported on the Kilcoole Little Tern Conservation blog….

The puffins of Skellig Michael by Crow Crag productions

We just had to share this captivating video of the puffins on Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry. shot in June of this year by Peter Cutler for Crow Crag Productions. You’ve got to love puffins — they have a comical charisma all of their own, although, truth be told I personally have a soft spot….