For this month’s blog we’re doing something a little different: putting the focus on a phenomenon rather than a bird. It’s one that’s easily missed, occurring in the dead of night when you’re sound asleep in your warm bed. But out there, in the dark, untouched by streetlights, creatures start to stir. As the sun… Continue reading Dawn Chorus – A Guided Walkthrough
This has been one of the rainiest starts to the year in a long time. A dry morning has you thinking you're safe but come lunch time, that fine misty spray will start tumbling in the breeze — if you're lucky. If you're not, the torrential downpour will last for twenty minutes, tops, before dissipating;… Continue reading Shoveler – Sporting the Tricolour for Paddy’s Day
I've been seeing more patches of blue sky and flower bulbs bursting into life lately, and I feel like brighter days are well on their way. I wish I could say the same for this month's bird but unfortunately, they seem destined to vanish from our island in the imminent future. Before that happens, we… Continue reading Curlew – Doomed to Disappear?
With all the gloomy wet weather we've had over March, we wanted to talk about a real sunburst of a bird that's made a comeback in recent years to hopefully chase the grey skies away. This gorgeous bird is one of Ireland's more colourful specimens, and they're residents all-year round. This month's bird is the… Continue reading Goldfinch – Flame of the Forest
For many people in Ireland, the word "crow" is a catch-all term used to describe almost every black bird they see. This assumption is sometimes correct, since more often than not these birds do usually belong to the Corvidae family, of which the crow is a member. But this generalisation glosses over the unique traits… Continue reading Jackdaw – A case study on leucism