Panel: Richard Collins, Terry Flanagan & Niall Hatch

Reporter: Jim Wilson

In addition to listening to us on RTÉ Radio One at 22:00 every Monday night, don't forget that you can also listen back to each of our programmes any time you like at www.rte.ie/mooney. There, you will find an extensive archive of past broadcasts, conveniently split into different topics and segments.

Tonight’s programme features a report about the Great Irish Fossil Hunt, a public participation project being run by University College Cork in order to identify locations across Ireland, both rural and urban, where fossils can be seen.

With this in mind, and to help you to learn a bit more about the fascinating world of fossils, our suggestion from the Mooney Goes Wild archives this week is a report about the International Fossil Workshop that was hosted by UCC in 2017. First broadcast in July of that year, it explains how leading academics from all around the world were on hand to share their expert knowledge of fossils, especially those preserving the soft tissues of animals and plants, which could open an invaluable window into our prehistoric past.

To listen to this segment from the Mooney Goes Wild archives, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21207552/

Magpie missing its tail

Perhaps the most striking thing about a Magpie is its very long tail, which makes these black-and-white members of the crow family instantly identifiable . . . provided that they have a tail in the first place, of course. While walking through the RTÉ campus at Montrose recently, Derek was surprised to spot a pair of Magpies foraging on the grass, one of which was completely lacking tail feathers, giving it a very unusual appearance, as you can see in the video he shot.

What could have caused it to lose its tail, and will it be OK? As the panel discussion which kicks off tonight’s programme reveals, the tail feathers of many birds have evolved to pull away with surprising ease if grabbed by a predator: the bird loses its tail, but lives to fight another day. It’s quite possible that a fox or a cat pounced on Derek’s Magpie, its paw trapping the tail feathers, which then came out when the Magpie flew rapidly away.

The good news is that birds generally grow back these missing tail feathers over the course of just a few weeks. Indeed, all birds lose and the regrow their tail feathers at least once a year, albeit generally one at a time, rather than all at once. Until the feathers have grown back, the Magpie will find it harder to fly, as the species relies on that long tail for stability and manoeuvrability in the air, but hopefully the inconvenience will just be temporary.

For more information about Magpies, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/magpie/

Giving rare waders a head start in life at Fota Wildlife Park

The Dunlin is a small wading bird which formerly bred in good numbers on machair, upland and offshore islands along Ireland’s west and northern coasts. Number have declined by more than 90% in recent years, however, and the species is now Red-listed as an Irish breeding species, with fewer than 30 Irish breeding pairs remaining nationally. Habitat degradation and increased predation are the primary drivers of this decline.

But efforts are underway to stem this sharp decline and to reverse the fortunes of these charming little waders. Ireland’s first pilot Dunlin "headstarting" programme – literally, giving the vulnerable chicks a head start in life – is underway at Cork’s Fota Wildlife Park, in collaboration with the LIFE on Machair project. Fota is a project partner of the Breeding Waders European Innovation Partnership (EIP) and the second conservation centre in Europe to be involved in such an initiative, following Norden’s Ark in Sweden, which began a similar programme in 2023.

As part of the pilot project, three clutches of Dunlin eggs were collected from nesting sites and transported to Fota Wildlife Park, where an expert animal care team are incubating and rearing the hatchlings in custom-built, bio-secure facilities. One clutch has already been successfully ringed and is due to be released later this month.

On tonight’s programme, we speak to Jess Hodnett, a Ranger at Fota Wildlife Park and a member of the Dunlin headstarting team, about these very special birds, the challenges she and her colleagues face in rearing them and the hopes for the future of the species in Ireland.

For more information about the Dunlin headstarting programme underway at Fota Wiildlife Park, visit https://www.fotawildlife.ie/blogs/news/fota-wildlife-park-as-project-partner-of-breeding-waders-eip-helps-pilot-ireland-s-first-dunlin-headstarting-programme

For more information about the Breeding Waders EIP, visit https://breedingwaders.ie/

For more information about Dunlin, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/dunlin/

Terry’s portable amber time-capsule

For the past 20 years, our roving reporter Terry Flanagan has kept a piece of amber in his pocket at all times. This golden pebble of ancient, fossilised tree resin was a gift to Terry from his wife Angela, and he is never without it. It is a beautiful object in its own right and a fascinating geological specimen, but it also contains the perfectly preserved bodies of several tiny insects that died many, many millions of years ago but still look as good as new.

On tonight’s programme, we chat about amber, how it is formed, its unusual properties and what it can uniquely reveal about the ancient biological history of our planet.

For more information about amber and its ability to preserve long-dead plants and animals, visit https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/what-is-amber-fossils-science

Take part in the Great Irish Fossil Hunt

The Great Irish Fossil Hunt is a new campaign run by the Science Department in University College Cork to encourage the Irish public to find fossils and to submit photographs of their discoveries.

The aim is to create a fossil map of Ireland that will capture the full range of fossils that can be found all around the country. This map will include fossils in natural rock outcrops, but also fossils visible in the stones that have been used to construct buildings in our towns and cities. This will help to make fossils much more accessible to the Irish public, no matter where someone happens to live.

Keen to learn more, fossil-enthusiast and Mooney Goes Wild roving reporter Terry Flanagan travelled to Co. Tipperary – to the Old Clonmel Courthouse, to be specific – to view fossils in a most unlikely location and to speak to Maria McNamara, Professor of Palaeontology at UCC, about the project.

For more information about the Great Irish Fossil Hunt and how to submit your own fossil photos, visit https://www.ucc.ie/en/fossil-heritage/thegreatirishfossilhunt/

Bee Safari at Harper’s Island Wetlands Nature Reserve

On 28th June, Harper's Island Wetlands Nature Reserve in Glounthaune, Co. Cork played host to its first ever Bee Safari, led by avid bee-watcher Colm Damery. The event, organised by Glounthaune Community Association, provided an opportunity to learn about local bees and pollinators along the reserve’s nature trail. Participants observed various bee species, including White-tailed, Buff-tailed, Red-tailed, Early and Common Carder Bumblebees, as well as Honeybees.

Jim Wilson, our man in Cork and one of the founders of Harper's Island Wetlands Nature Reserve, was on hand and recorded an interview with Colm for tonight’s programme all about this fun and informative family event.

For more information about Ireland’s bee species, visit https://pollinators.ie/record-pollinators/bees/

For more information about Harper’s Islands Wetlands Nature Reserve, visit https://birdwatchcork.com/about-harpers/

BirdWatch Ireland identifies Ireland’s most important areas for seabirds

On World Seabird Day, 3rd July, BirdWatch Ireland, in conjunction with BirdLife International, published a map showcasing the 73 most important areas for seabirds in Ireland. 24 areas have been identified in Irish marine waters, along with 49 terrestrial sites on the coast and on islands which host breeding colonies.

These sites form part of a global network of the most significant sites for the conservation of birds that have been identified by BirdLife International and its national partners, including BirdWatch Ireland, known as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). These new Irish sites for seabirds are now part of the IBA network of 14,021 sites in 243 countries and territories, covering 11,195 bird species across 16 flyways.

The 24 marine sites and 8 of the terrestrial sites are newly identified IBAs. The Irish Government is legally obliged under the Birds Directive to designate areas important for breeding, feeding and wintering for certain bird species, including migratory birds, as Special Protection Areas (SPAs). BirdWatch Ireland and BirdLife International are calling for these IBAs to be designated as SPAs. The 41 other terrestrial sites are existing IBAs or SPAs which should now be legally updated by the State.

The Irish Government has committed to protecting 30% of Irish marine waters by 2030. If the marine IBAs identified by BirdWatch Ireland and BirdLife International are designated, they will make a significant contribution to achieving this binding target.

For more information about BirdWatch Ireland’s Marine IBA project , visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birdwatch-ireland-publishes-73-important-bird-and-biodiversity-areas-for-seabirds-in-ireland/