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Wildlife News

Wildlife related news from around Ireland and global wildlife news that impacts Ireland.

Oak Processionary Moth confirmed in Ireland

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed earlier this week that colonies of the invasive Oak Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea processionea) had been discovered on four oak trees in a Dublin housing estate. The caterpillars and the trees have been destroyed in an attempt to eradicate the pest before….

World Migratory Bird Day — ESRI Mapping Migration

Swift Migration Ireland

Around 450 different bird species have been recorded on the island of Ireland, and although a lot of them are migratory and rare, now is the best chance to catch a glimpse of them as they return north to build nests and prepare for the breeding season. Esri Ireland, a….

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,….

Wally the Walrus stops off in West Cork

On the most recent leg of his remarkable journey, Wally the wandering walrus who was first spotted off Valentia Island in Co. Kerry back in March 2021, was seen lounging aboard a moored motorboat in a small cove near Clonakilty on the West Cork coast. Wally, a young male walrus,….

Rare Marsh Harrier breeds successfully in Ireland again

Marsh Harrier Breeds in Ireland Again

For the first time in more than a century, not one, but two pairs of Marsh Harrier have bred successfully in the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Raptor Study Group (IRSG) confirmed in December that the rare birds of prey successfully reared young at sites in counties Galway and Westmeath….

Humpback Whale Catalogue breaches 100 animal milestone

Humpback whale off Ireland's Wild South Coast

The Irish Whale And Dolphin Group’s (IWDG) Humpback Whale Catalogue has broken the 100 individual milestone. On the 20 July IWDG researcher Nick Masset photographed two new Humpback Whales off the coast of West Kerry, and HBIRL#100 and HBIRL#101 took their respective places in the photo ID catalogue that documents….

Irish eagle numbers boosted

Irish White Tailed Eagle Population Boost

Ten new White-tailed Eagle chicks arrived in Ireland from Norway last week to bolster population numbers as Phase II of the ongoing White-tailed Eagle reintroduction programme got underway. The ambitious reintroduction programme, a joint initiative between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Golden Eagle Trust, began with….

Live White-tailed Eagle Webcam

White-tailed eagle live webcam

Thanks to the National Parks and Wildlife service we can now follow the intrigues and antics of the white-tailed eagle pair nesting in Glengarriff Co. Cork live via their very own nestcam. Part of a reintroduction programme for the species that began in 2007, the adult eagles (male Blue W….

David Lindo (AKA The Urban Birder) to open Cape Clear Wildlife Festival

Birdwatch Ireland’s Cape Clear Bird Observatory celebrates its 60th birthday this year, and to mark the occasion the island is hosting a nearly two-week-long wildlife festival from Monday 02 September to Saturday 14 September. Well known British “celebrity birder” David Lindo, The Urban Birder, swaps his familiar cityscapes for the….

Minister halts plans to allow hedge-cutting in August

Plans for August hedge cutting shelved

Minister for Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD has announced that she will not exercise her discretionary powers under the new Heritage Act to allow hedge-cutting to proceed in August this year. “Hedgerows are a very important wildlife habitat, providing food, shelter, corridors of movement, nest and hibernation….

Smart technology reveals new gull behaviour

Black-tailed_gull

Attaching sensors to animals in order to study their movements and record aspects of their behaviour has become commonplace over recent years. However, because they need to be lightweight, these automated bio-loggers typically have limited battery capacity. That’s a challenge, particularly when you want to use power-hungry data collection methods….

Irish Humpback Whale linked to Cape Verde breeding grounds

Humpback Whale match Cape Verde

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has announced a positive match between a Humpback Whale photographed at feeding grounds off the Irish south coast in 2015, and an animal photographed at breeding grounds in the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa in April of this year. This is the….