Controlled burning demonstration
Cork Wildfire Co-operative Group, of which RaptorLIFE is a partner, organised a vegetation management and controlled burning demonstration at Millstreet Country Park. The demonstration was conducted to show landowners how to burn safely for the sustainable management of our uplands. RaptorLIFE were proud to participate in this initiative and plan on putting into practice some of the techniques we...
Inspiring Environmental Awareness in Our Communities
Check out the ESAI website for an article on RaptorLIFE in the 2017 ESAI Spring newsletter http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=4f5195295381516c8d91f2230...
Introducing Fionn (male, tag no. 160250)
This male was tagged on 7/7 at a site in the Ballyhoura Hills, North Cork, at approx. 28 days old. It’s nest site was in dense heather/gorse among 2nd rotation conifers, quite close to a used track high up the mountainside. This male was one of a brood of 3 that fledged successfully from the nest. After fledging he remained in the nest area for some weeks when he could be heard calling/begging...
Introducing Fraoch (female, tag no. 160251)
This female was tagged on the 15th of July at an approximate age of 24-26 days. The nest was located at a traditional bramble and rush site in the Mullaghareirk Mountains in Co. Cork. Monitored by both staff and volunteers as part of IRD Duhallow’s RaptorLIFE project, the chick was in a brood of 2 and was the heaviest of all the 10 chicks tagged this year. The nest was located in a firebreak...
Not every chick will make it….
As part of this research 10 hen harrier chicks were tagged from ten different nests within the Slieve Blooms, Ballyhouras, Knockmealdown and Mullaghareirks mountains. Recent analysis of the incoming tracking data shows that that at least five of these birds are alive and well. Unfortunately, some of the tags are recording little to no activity (movement) indicating that these birds may have died...
Tracking Irish hen harriers - tagging
Studying Irish hen harriers can be challenging. Many of us have taken part in the most recent national survey (2015) and enjoyed some great days out, perhaps the first sky-dancing male of the season or finding a pair at a new site or the first food-pass and female returning to a nest site. All this helps to give us a more or less complete picture of the status of Irish hen harriers and population...
Welcome to Hen Harrier Tracker
RaptorLIFE have been busy this summer monitoring hen harrier – a big thank you to all the volunteers who gave up many hours of their time to help out! The season culminated with a total of ten chicks satellite tagged, with four of those from the Duhallow region. This is a joint project between RaptorLIFE, the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Irish Raptor Study Group. All three...
Freshwater workshop - 11am Saturday 13th August 2016
FREE EVENT - Led by Freshwater Ecologist Dr. David McCormick When: Saturday 13th August 2016 - 11am to 4pm Where: IRD Duhallow, James O'Keeffe Institute, Newmarket, Co.Cork - 11am Presentation on Freshwater Ecology - 12pm lunch provided - 12:30 Interactive fieldtrip to investigate native fish and freshwater insects REGISTRATION REQUIRED: If interested please contact the IRD...
The Amazing Swift Talk - 7:30pm, Thursday 23rd June 2016
The Duhallow Birdwatching group and IRD Duhallow RaptorLIFE are hosting an information Seminar on Thursday 23rd June entitled “The Amazing Swift” with guest Speaker Lynda Huxley. The Swift is an enigmatic bird that comes to our towns and villages from May through to August. They are truly amazing birds as they fly for most of their lives, only landing to breed. When a fledgling swift leaves...
DuhallowLIFE in the papers
Over the duration of the project, DuhallowLIFE has featured in many newspaper reports. Here is a link to download all those newspaper clippings. It's a big file (60MB) as we've been very active in disseminating information on the project
European LIFE conference on Nature Conservation in Duhallow
So finally as we are coming to the end of the IRD DuhallowLIFE project and the beginning of a new EU LIFE project; RaptorLIFE. To celebrate these two momentous occasions we recently held a two day project conference in Newmarket. Co Cork. The first day (May21st) of this two day conference marked the end of the four and half year EU LIFE project, known as DuhallowLIFE. This project,...
International EU LIFE Conference - NATURA 2000 Day
IRD Duhallow cordially invites you to attend the International EU LIFE conference celebrating hands on community participation in nature conservation, on the 21st and 22nd of May 2015. The conference marks the end of the current LIFE project and the commencement of a new RaptorLIFE project. There will be a wide range of interesting speakers including experts from Ireland, the UK, Belgium...
Conservation Plan for the upper River Blackwater SAC
A key action of the Duhallow LIFE project is to put together a Conservation Plan for the upper portion of the River Blackwater Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and we are looking for input from the public and interested stakeholders to ensure that this plan is relevant, captures the main issues and most importantly provides a practical road map for the conservation of the SAC. Where possible we...
LIFE and Freshwater Fish
New EU LIFE Freshwater Fish Report A new document “LIFE and Freshwater Fish” has just been published by the European Commission. The document provides an important update on Freshwater Fish communities and outlines Freshwater Fish conservation projects funded under the EU LIFE programme to date. Did you know that “Freshwater fish are one of the most diverse groups of vertebrate...
Launch of new EPA funded Community Water Management Research
Managing our water is essential to support life and protect our ecosystems. A new EPA funded research project was launced at IRD Duhallow which aims to develop and transfer knowledge regarding how we as a community can manage our own water resources for everyones benefit. The project official title is ‘Delivering Integrated Water Management Through the Bottom-up Approach: A Critical Analysis’...
