Laudato Si
I recently received what I considered to be quite an unusual request to present at a conference. It wasn’t the standard environmental or ecological conference I usually attend, but a …
Ecology Archive
How to Look for Signs of Bats
This is a guest post written by Andrew Harrington. Andrew has also written other posts on this blog. So, you might have figured out by now that I quite like bats, …
The Pine Marten of the Mourne Mountains
The Mourne Mountains situated in the south eastern corner of Northern Ireland are a granite mountain range. The area is popular with tourists, hillwalkers and those interested in wildlife. The …
The Montado, the Mouse and Landscape Connectivity
It’s been quite a few years since I visited Portugal during my third year field trip as part of my undergraduate Applied Ecology degree in University College Cork. It …
Feeding the Buzzards
Birds of Prey in Ireland About 100 years ago, Ireland was devoid of large birds of prey like buzzards, red kites and golden eagles. Their populations were decimated by …
How to Look for Pine Marten
The pine marten (Martes martes) is making a recovery across Ireland, and is one our most beautiful but elusive mammals. It is notoriously difficult to see as it tends …
How to Look for Otters
In the first of a new series of posts about “How to Look for Mammals“, I take a look at one of our semi aquatic species, the Eurasian otter. …
How to Look for Mammals
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to present a workshop at the National Biodiversity Data Centre on Saturday September 13th on the art of “Tracking Ireland’s Mammals”. This was …
Wind Turbines Pose Risk to Bats
The Drive for Green Energy We need sustainable, affordable and clean energy production to fuel the economy, and the drive towards more environmentally friendly energy production versus coal and …
Attraction in the World of Bats
We spend much of our lives attempting to figure out the opposite sex in the hopes that it will lead to increased opportunities to attract a mate. But even when in a relationship, looking …
What a difference a shrew makes
Last year, I wrote an article about how we used pine marten (Martes martes) scats or faeces to detect the DNA of small mammals that the pine marten had …
Nietoperek Revisited
This post was written by Andrew Harrington You might remember last year Denise wrote an article on this blog about the Nietoperek bat reserve in Poland, which is one …
The Urban Otter
The banks of our own lovely Lee are not just a pretty place for a walk, the Lee is an important place for the otter, often described as our …
The “Infallible” DNA Test
Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and pine marten (Martes martes) produce scats (faeces) that look quite similar. There are a list of rules, suggestions, smells and descriptions used by field naturalists …
It may be time to squirrel proof your bird feeder
Grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) were introduced into Britain and Ireland in the late 1800s and early 1900s from North America. The species is classed as invasive, and it has …
Timing and defining the Killarney shad
Killarney National Park situated in South West Ireland is famous for containing some unusual species that are not found elsewhere in the country including the Kerry spotted slug (Geomalacus maculosus), a …
From faeces to species: genetic identification of otters from spraints
Non-invasive genetic monitoring involves the use of DNA to survey a target species without directly trapping or observing it. The technique is particularly useful for rare, elusive or secretive …
Calling into question the accuracy of the ‘Standard Otter Survey’
We are required to survey otters across Europe as the species has been designated as being of conservation concern, under the EU Habitats and Species Directive. This means that …
The extinction of the Irish brown bear
A new study by Saoirse Leonard and co-authors from the Institute of Zoology, London and the University of Liverpool model the potential survival of brown bears in an Irish …
Science Ink – When science and tattoos collide
A wolf in dog’s clothing?
When I first visited the Zumwalt Prairie, NE Oregon in 2007, wolves were still absent from the area. Wolves from the translocated population in Yellowstone were at the time expanding …