“On a River in Ireland” — the international title of the series aired locally as “The Secret Life of the Shannon” — has won three awards at the prestigious Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, including the “Grand Teton Best of Festival” award. Popularly dubbed the “wildlife film-making Oscars”, the Jackson….

New research published by the Herpetological Society of Ireland has confirmed that the deadly chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) is absent on the island of Ireland. That’s good news for Ireland’s only 3 amphibian species, the common frog, the smooth newt and the natterjack toad. Along with climate change and habitat loss,….

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Irish Grey Partridge Trust are working together on an innovative trial to breed the endangered corncrake in captivity for the first time in Ireland. Fota Wildlife Park in Co. Cork is assisting in the experimental captive breeding programme. A pair of corncrake….

Irish born white-tailed eagles are on the wing again for the first time in more than a century. A pair of reintroduced adult eagles successfully reared two chicks at a nest site on Lough Derg, near Mountshannon, Co. Clare. Both chicks fledged successfully last week in what is a momentous….

Ireland’s 2013/14 “Large Whale Season” got off to a flying start last week with a brand new entry to Ireland’s humpback whale catalogue. Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) member and keen whale watcher Nick Massett observed and photographed the whale — the 23rd humpback recorded in Irish waters, and….

Ireland’s largest conservation charity, Birdwatch Ireland, has responded strongly to recent comments by Limerick Co. Councillor John Sheahan calling for an “Open Season” on the protected hen harrier — one of most threatened birds. “Cllr. Sheahan’s ill-informed and short-sighted statement shows how far we have to travel as a state….

Peregrine falcons nesting in south Tipperary have been deliberately shot in a spate of attacks over recent weeks according to a report from Bridwatch Ireland. The birds, two of which died and one which sustained permanent injury, are believed to have been shot in three separate incidents. The body of….

Councillor John Sheahan, Cathaoirleach of Limerick Co. Council, has called for “Open Season” on the hen harrier, a protected bird of prey that breeds in the county. Cllr. Sheahan, who is a member of Fine Gael, said that unless the restrictions on land use in EU sanctioned Special Protected Areas (SPAs) in….

In general Ireland’s local authorities seem to see roadside verges and hedgerows as areas to be trimmed and tamed. You see evidence of verge cutting and the decimation of hedgerows everywhere as you drive around the country. Neatly side-stepping the law in the name of health and safety, local authorities….

The team of volunteer experts at Colebrooke Estate in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland were crowned “All Ireland BioBlitz Champions” for 2013 over the weekend with an impressive closing tally of 1,086 species in 24 hours. Colebrooke beat Lough Key Forest Park, Co. Rosscommon (959 species); The Burren National Park, Co. Clare….

An area covering more than 11,000 hectares of the Nephin Beg range in North West Mayo has been designated as an official “Wilderness Area” following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Coillte (the Irish forestry service) and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The document….

An investigation has been launched by authorities following the discovery of 32 dead mute swans at a lake in Co. Donegal. Conservation rangers recovered the birds earlier this week from New Lake in Dunfanaghy, which is a Natura 2000 “Special Protection Area” (SPA) under the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild….