Panel: Niall Hatch, Eric Dempsey, Richard Collins and Éanna Ní Lamhna
Reporter: Terry Flanagan
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 segment about the very welcome return of the Atlantic Puffin to the Isle of Muck off the coast of Co. Antrim, following an absence of 25 years. This is wonderful news, not least because Puffins have been increasingly finding themselves under threat, with conservationists predicting that the species could go completely extinct within a century as a result of the enormous pressures we humans are placing on their environment.
To help you to learn more about Atlantic Puffins, our recommendation this week from the Mooney Goes Wild archives is a documentary all about them, first broadcast in August 2023 as part of our Nature on One series and presented by Niall Hatch. In it, Niall visits locations from the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare to the Westman Islands, off the southwestern coast of Iceland, to explore the beauty and astonishing adaptations of the Puffins, as well as to see how conservationists are trying to turn the tide so that these unique creatures can have a future.
To listen to this documentary from the Mooney Goes Wild archives, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22288739-listen-back-the-puffin/
Bird 'flu update: is it safe to feed garden birds?
We know that a great many of our Mooney Goes Wild listeners love to feed their garden birds, especially at this time of year. Given the recent highly publicised outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza, or bird ‘flu, in some poultry farms, we have received quite a few queries asking whether it is still safe to feed birds in gardens.
On tonight’s programme, we discuss the impacts of bird ‘flu both on wild bird population and on domestic poultry flocks, the biosecurity measures in place to help prevent contamination and the steps members of the public should take if they come across a suspected case of the disease.
We also highlight the advice on bird feeding from BirdWatch Ireland, which is that it is still perfectly safe to feed birds in your garden. The NGO notes that, unlike birds packed together in seabird colonies or wetlands, the species of bird that typically visit gardens are very unlikely to come into contact with the H5N1 virus. There are other diseases which can afflict garden birds, however, so please be sure to keep your feeders clean and dry.
We also look forward to the upcoming Irish Garden Bird Survey, BirdWatch Ireland’s largest ‘citizen science’ survey, which will kick off on Monday 1st December and run for 13 weeks. It’s a great way for you, our listeners, to help them to keep track of our feathered friends.
To report suspected cases of bird ‘flu to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, visit https://aviancheck.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/report
For more information about caring for birds in your garden, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/irelands-birds-birdwatch-ireland/garden-birds/
For more information about BirdWatch Ireland’s upcoming Irish Garden Bird Survey, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/surveys-research/research-surveys/irish-garden-bird-survey/
After 25 years, Puffins return to the Isle of Muck
Regular listeners to the programme will be aware that the iconic Atlantic Puffin, surely our most beloved seabird, is under threat. Factors such as overfishing, disturbance, predation by invasive alien species and climate change have been hitting them hard, resulting in widespread breeding failure and leaving the species in a precarious position.
We were delighted to hear, therefore, that thanks to the stalwart efforts of Ulster Wildlife, the Northern Irish conservation charity, Puffins have returned to nest on the Isle of Muck off the coast of Co. Antrim for the first time in 25 years.
As we discuss on tonight’s programme, this exiting development was in large part made possible by the systematic eradication of non-native Brown Rats from the tiny island. With these voracious predators no longer present to devour the Puffins’ eggs and chicks, the species can once again nest in peace and produce the next generation of pufflings. Very well done to everyone involved!
For more information about the return of Puffins to Co. Antrim’s Isle of Muck, visit https://www.ulsterwildlife.org/news/puffins-make-comeback-isle-muck-thanks-decades-conservation-effort
Roger Casement: patriot, diplomat, poet, human rights campaigner . . . and naturalist?
A hugely significant figure in Irish history, Roger Casement is best known today for his efforts to bring about Irish independence and his consequent execution in 1916 by the United Kingdom for treason. There was more to him than that, however, and in his time, he was also a celebrated poet, diplomat and, most significantly, a human rights campaigner and activist who can truly be said to have been ahead of his time.
On top of all of that, he was also a dedicated and talented naturalist, a side of his life that is perhaps less well known today. Many of the biological specimens he collected on his extensive travels can still be found in the Natural History Museum in Dublin today.
Eric Dempsey feels strongly that this is an aspect of Roger Casement’s life that is underappreciated and, on tonight’s programme, he tells us about his plans for a special documentary to shed more light on Casement’s natural history exploits and achievements.
For more information about Roger Casement, visit https://www.nli.ie/1916/exhibition/en/content/rogercasement/
Domain of the Dinosaurs exhibition
On Saturday 15th November, a fantastic new exhibition was launched at The Glucksman art gallery in University College Cork. Entitled Domain of the Dinosaurs, it is the biggest fossil exhibition ever held in Ireland, and the first to feature Irish dinosaurs. In total, over 5 tonnes of material, including nine huge skeletal casts and over 250 real fossils of dinosaurs and other long-extinct creatures, will be on display, making it a must-visit attraction for anyone with an interest in prehistoric life.
In the coming weeks, we will be broadcasting a special programme dedicated to this fantastic exhibition, which will run until 12th April 2026. To give you a sneak peek of what to expect, for tonight’s programme we dispatched our roving reporter Terry Flanagan to attend the launch, where he spoke with Prof. Maria McNamara, Professor of Palaeontology at UCC’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, about the landmark exhibition.
For more information about the Domain of the Dinosaurs exhibition, visit https://www.glucksman.org/exhibitions/domainofthedinosaurs
Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland: 5th edition
There is something almost otherworldly about dragonflies and damselflies, with their long, slender, delicate bodies, astonishing aerial prowess, brilliant iridescent colours and capacity to brighten a summer’s day.
There are a great many different species of them, too, as is revealed the moment you pick up the recently published book Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland by David Smallshire and Andy Swash. This is a fully revised and updated fifth edition of their bestselling photographic field guide, proving that there is a significant appetite out there for books on these winged jewels.
On tonight’s programme, we speak to David Smallshire about the fascinating lives of these amazing insects, the differences between dragonflies and damselflies and the challenges of creating a comprehensive photographic guide to this exciting invertebrate group.
For more information about Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland, published by Princeton University Press as part of its WILDGuides series, visit https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691276595/dragonflies-of-britain-and-ireland-fifth-edition
Up close and personal with Ireland’s largest oak tree
10 years ago, Derek spent some time with the arborist Bernard Carey in the village of Mountshannon, Co. Clare, discussing a report Bernard wrote with University College Dublin and the organisation Treeconomics on the value of trees. In a pilot study, they created a report from a software called i-tree that was developed by the U.S. Forest Service, looking at the value of trees in the village.
Recently, our researcher Michele Browne happened to be in Co. Clare, where she met with Bernard to discuss the key aspects of this report, as well as to pay a visit to Ireland’s largest oak tree, the Be Binn. She also spoke with Aileen Dunne of local business Oak House Ceramics.
For more information about Treeconomics, visit https://treeconomics.co.uk