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Guest Posts by expert wildlife authors

The hidden life of rivers

Earlier this year, in the midst of lockdown, Ireland’s Wildlife Contributor Albert Nolan took his children to a river near his home to explore its hidden wildlife. We took the short trip to Toorenbrien Bridge, careful not to stray over our allotted 2km lockdown radius. Here there is a large….

Going wild at home: The Blackbird.

Blackbird_Turdus_merula

For the last few days, I have been watching a beautiful male blackbird in the garden. He arrives around the same time every day, flying up from the wooded valley that runs away from my house. I am not sure if my garden forms part of his territory or he….

How Planting a Wildflower Bed Can Boost Local Wildlife

Over the past hundred years or so, as farming practices have changed and urban sprawl has extended, the number of areas of wild grasses and wildflowers in Ireland and the UK has significantly dropped. Some organisations state that the loss of ‘unimproved grasslands’ is as high as 99% in Ireland….

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:….

The hidden creatures of the Glen — Glen of Aherlow nature trail

Treecreeper

Ireland’s Wildlife contributor Albert Nolan takes a walk around the woodland nature trail at the Glen of Aherlow in County Tipperary… and discovers a hidden world of wildlife. Dark, threatening clouds were rolling across the Galtees and spilling into the Glen of Aherlow as I pulled into the car park…..

The Wild Postcard Project: boosting awareness of Ireland’s Biodiversity

A new biodiversity art project aimed at Ireland’s youth is looking to spread the word about Ireland’s amazing wildlife far and wide with postcards. Founders Eileen Diskin and Angela Stevenson explain… A survey several years ago in the UK found that the general public is largely unfamiliar with the term ‘biodiversity’,….

Frogs bounce back at Kildare site after unexplained 2014 deaths

Healthy frog 2015

Just over a year ago the Herpetological Society of Ireland (HSI) was called out to a site in Kildare where hundreds of common frogs were lying dead. Thankfully, one year on things seem to have improved, but the exact cause of the mass mortality remains a mystery… Rob O’Sullivan, PR Officer with the HSI….

Does the Pine marten have a role to play in the conservation of the red squirrel?

Red Squirrel Ireland

Following on from research by Dr Emma Sheehy at the National University of Ireland, Galway, a team at Queens University Belfast is trying to shed light on what exactly is going on in the interaction between red squirrels, grey squirrels and pine martens — and they need your help. Researcher Lily Price….

WOW: RSPB Northern Ireland’s new and improved Belfast Lough reserve

Lapwings at Belfast Lough Reserve

RSPB Northern Ireland’s Belfast Lough nature reserve at Belfast Harbour Estate has undergone extensive refurbishment to give it a renewed WOW factor.  Media and Events Officer Amy Colvin explains what all the fuss is about. Belfast’s Harbour Estate isn’t the sort of place you’d expect nature to flourish – but prepare to….

Jinny go up: the story of the thistle

Six-spot Burnet moths on a thistle flower

You have to walk through a lot of farmer’s fields today before you find a good patch of thistles. This strange thought occurred to me the other day after several strolls in the countryside around my house. For a plant that the books claim is extremely common I found it….

The Urban Birder in Ireland

The Urban Birder in Ireland

I was born in London but whenever anyone asks me where I’m from my stock answer is always that I am a black, Afropean, child of the earth and Honorary Irishman. I particularly cherish the ‘Honorary Irishman’ bit of my epithet because I really do feel a close affinity with….

Secrets of the Sycamore

A Sycamore Tree

“So that’s what my breath looks like!” exclaimed my young daughter as we walked up to school on a cold and frosty morning. They had been busy breathing in deep lungfuls of the autumn air and watching excitedly as it escaped through their cupped hands. The novelty had long worn….