5,000 birds fall out of the sky

Weird story from Arkansas. Five thousand blackbirds dropped dead out of the sky on New Year's Eve, all within a square mile (they must have a lot of blackbirds in Arkansas?). Then, unrelatedly, 83,000 thousand dead fish washed up along the Arkansas river.

What to feed the birds

Right so we don't care if this is totally naff: it's time for a post on the dos and don'ts of feeding the birds during the cold weather.

Here's how to sort the hazelnut whirls (yum) from the coffee crèmes (ugh), as told to us by Niall Hatch of Birdwatch Ireland.

Yum:

• Sunflower seeds. If birds were people and the mixed birdseed you get in supermarkets was Cadbury's Roses, sunflower seeds would be the purple ones. The other stuff is just filler – pigeons can eat it, but little birds like finches only really like the sunflower seed.
• Stale cake and biscuits if you have any lying around. In winter, birds need a very high-calorie diet.
• Wholegrain bread, cos they like the seeds. Bread is easier to digest if it is soaked in water first.
• Peanuts in a wire mesh feeder.
• Fat e.g. suet.
• It’s also a good idea to put out a dish of water (and replace it if it freezes). Birds need to keep their feathers clean for insulation.

Ugh:

• Uncooked rice because it absorbs moisture and swells in their stomachs, which is very harmful. Cooked rice is ok.
• White bread won’t do any damage but it isn’t very nutritious. Brown bread is alright, but wholegrain is better.
• Loose peanuts: easy to choke on.
• Salt: toxic to birds.

In my garden (in Lucan) this winter there have been about six or eight collared doves (pictured left) every day, which we never really had before. They look like pigeons but much prettier and not as fat.

Collared doves first came to Ireland as recently as 1959, apparently, and they mostly live in suburbs and small towns. They almost exclusively live near human settlements.

In the 19^th-century, these birds were only found in sub-tropical Asia. By the 1930s they had reached the Balkans, and they spread to England in 1955. In the 1970s they somehow ended up in the Falklands, and then in the Bahamas and they are now considered invasive in Florida. They're basically on the brink of world domination but nobody knows why their population has exploded. Here’s an interesting article about them from the Examiner earlier this year.

Endangered ringtones

Forget about crazy frog, kids, all the cool people are downloading the Puerto Rican crested toad, if the Irish Environmental Network (IEN) is to be believed.

IEN has drawn its bulletin readers' attention to a website that provides "rare and endangered animals calls for mobile phones."

"Putting these unique cries, howls, and warbles on your phone for the world to hear is one great way to spread the word about endangered species from the rockhopper penguin to the Puerto Rico rock frog — and to help remind others why they need our protection," IEN enthuses.

Why didn't someone think of this before? Has anyone told the UN? Is there provision for ringtone subsidies in the Nagoya agreement? When is the techno remix out?

Myxer: Privacy Policy | Terms - More from Center for Biological...

Myxer: Privacy Policy | Terms - More from Center for Biological...

Myxer: Privacy Policy | Terms - More from Center for Biological...

Environmental events this week

A few environmental events happening this week:

1. Tuesday, November 2: Green Drinks in Messrs Maguire on Burgh Quay. The special guest speaker this month is Padraic Fogarty, chairman of the Irish Wildlife Trust and he'll be talking about upcoming reform of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy. There's also (free) vegetarian food and (not free) pints....allegedly the most eco-friendly pints in Dublin.
2. Tuesday, November 2: A talk by Dr Peter Cox from the Social Sciences Department of Cheshire University about planning for and supporting urban cycling. It's on in the Greenhouse (formerly ENFO) on Andrew's Street.

3. Thursday, November 4: UCD's Earth Sciences Institute will host a seminar on Smart Cities, addressed by Michael Roche of IBM and chaired by Dublin City Council planner Dick Gleeson. It's at 12.30pm in the Wood Quay bunkers.

By the way, the following Thursday (November 11), Mary Robinson will speak on the topic of climate justice in the Edmund Burke Theatre at 12.30pm. The Earth Sciences Institute are advising that anyone who wants to attend should book a place. Details are here.

August 20's show

On this show...

• Dirty old town? Dublin's litter problem and new efforts to tackle it.
• Wildlife events in your area for Heritage Week.
  And...
• Dublin City Council's latest move in the Poolbeg incinerator controversy: Is it check mate for opponents of the plans?
  As well as this week's round up of environmental news.
  
  
  
  
  Powered by Podbean.com
  
  
  Presented by Christina McSorley and produced by Valerie Flynn.
  

Petition to protect seabirds

Birdwatch Ireland has called for support for a new campaign asking the EU to inroduce a strong Action Plan against bycatch of seabirds during fishing.

An estimated 200,000 birds are killed in this way each year in the EU, among them a number of important species that are found in Irish waters. These include the critically endangered Balearic shearwater, and the fulmar (pictured) - best known for its colonies at the Giant's Causeway.

Birdwatch says fulmar numbers are down at Irish colonies, but the reason for this is not known.

Podcast of May 21's show

On today's programme:
- All Dublin's latest environment news
- Port in a storm: controversy over plans to expand Dublin Port
- All creatures great and small: biodiversity in Dublin Zoo
- Green procurement: how green Government purchasing benefits the environment and the bottom line
and
- A growing movement: we look as allotments and the grow-your-own movement

Presenter: Padraic Ryan. Reports: Valerie Flynn, Fergal Reid, Padraic Ryan and Jack Cane. News by Lorcan Archer. Produced by Padraic Ryan.

Podcast of May 21's Show

Earth, Wind and Spire's Podcast

Today's Show!

Ears (well, no ears, but still) cocked to listen to Earth, Wind and Spire...

Earth, Wind and Spire is on today! 3pm on 103.2 Dublin City, live online at www.dublincityfm.ie, and, I have to tell you, today's programme is the cat's pyjamas.

We have:

- All Dublin's latest environment news

- The port in a storm over proposed expansion

- All creatures great and small - a look at biodversity in Dublin Zoo (and a listen to some serious Siamang Gibbon vocalising)

- Green is gold - how green procurement will aid Ireland's economic future

and

- We unearth the wonderful world of allotments and grow-your-own

Now all you have to do is find something to kill time between now and 3!

Padraic Ryan and the Gibbons (Padraic isn't in the picture)

Dublin Zoo's Siamang Gibbons can cart-wheel with the best of them. But can they handle an Earth, Wind and Spire questioning? Tune in this Friday at 3pm, 103.2FM to find out.

(In truth, we didn't interview the Gibbons. They're shy about radio. But they were kicking up quite a stir while we found out about Biodiversity in the Zoo, and you can find out more about that, Friday, 3pm, 103.2 Dublin City FM, or by listening to the podcast on earthwindandspire.blogspot.com)

A Taste of What's To Come

Greetings to all fans of Dublin, the environment and news!

Things have been slightly rejigged for the inaugural broadcast of Earth Wind and Spire on 103.2 Dublin City FM, and we will now be airing our first show on the FM band on Friday, 16th of April at 3pm.

Fear not though, as we've uploaded two snippets related to this week's environmental news that should give a good impression of what sort of material to expect next week.

Lorcan Archer presents 'This Week in the Environment', our weekly news round-up.

Jack Cane delivers a special report on last Monday's fire at Bull Island Bird Sanctuary.

Thanks for listening! This blog will continue to be updated regularly as we go to air.