25th August 2019 - Rockpooling in Portmarnock

The August outing of the Dublin Branch of IWT saw us rockpooling in Portmarnock, led by our knowledgeable volunteers Kevin and Leyla. Overall there were some 35 participants - mainly young kids, and the weather was fine, but a bit dull. Kevin and Leyla were absolutely wonderful, and helped everyone to find lots of really cool things. As well as both brittle starfish and a common starfish, some fish species were found including Rock Goby, blenny, butterfish and a 5 bearded rockling.

Other highlights included a nudibranch - orange clubbed sea slug (Limacia clavigera), which was feeding on the sea mats (bryozoans) attached to rocks in the rock pools. We also found Elysia viridis, or the sap-sucking slug (photo below).

Some of the birds that hung around with us during the rockpooling included cormorants, common tern, heron gulls, greater black-backed gulls, oystercatcher and turnstones.

As well as all the wildlife, Kevin and Leyla talked to the children about marine pollution (plastic), and sure enough several kids picked up plastic items which they found in the rock pools. a very enjoyable and enlightening day was had by all.

7th July - Bull Island Wildflower Walk

Dublin Branch held its annual Bull Island wildflower walk led by Niall Mac Coitir of IWT Dublin Branch. This was a particularly good year, with an amazing variety of wildflowers to be seen, including six species of orchid! The six species were early purple orchid, common spotted orchid, pyramidal orchid, marsh helleborine, twayblade, and the elusive bee orchid. Other wild flowers seen were lady's bedstraw, restharrow, wild violets, hares foot clover, bird's foot trefoil, centaury and eyebright. It is not an exaggeration to say that the display rivals anything that can be seen in the Burren.

Common Spotted Orchid

Another common spotted

- they come in a variety of colours

Twayblade orchid with its green flowers

Wild Violet or pansy

Marsh Helleborine

Pyramidal orchid

Green Drinks 2nd July - Marine Protected Areas

For July's Dublin Green Drinks Regina Classen, of the IWT talked about the aims of the Bigger and Better Marine Protected Areas (MPA) initiative. Regina, IWT co-ordinator, campaigns in partnership with Coastwatch and Seas at Risk to promote the establishment of a Marine Protected Areas Network. MPAs are a proven way to achieve much needed ecosystem restoration, sustainable fishing and climate change mitigation. In theory, MPAs provide safe havens for animals and plants to grow and reproduce without the threat of human activity. An properly policed and extensive MPA network would provide a vital safe haven for wildlife. You can read more about the MPA campaign on the IWT's website: IWT Campaign 'Bigger and Better'

June 9th and 22nd - Ireland's Eye Trips

Dublin Branch held its annual Ireland's Eye trips on 9th and 22nd June, and as usual both trips were booked out. We were lucky with the weather as there was no rain, and our guide John Fox did an excellent job on both occasions. However, there were altogether fewer birds and chicks than in the past, and NO peregrine Falcons. There was also an unusual profusion of Hogweed everywhere. Despite this the trips were both enjoyable and informative.

Green Drinks 7th May - Field of Dreams

This month Bob Salisbury told of how he and his wife Rosemary transformed a barren corner of County Tyrone into a wildlife haven. When they took over the land it was a sterile landscape for wildlife, with open boggy fields that had been let go fallow. However Bob and Rosemary began a programme of tree planting and they created a series of ponds to drain off the flooded land, which led to a resurgence of wildlife.

Their renowned wildlife garden is now home to hares, owls, hawks, otters, woodcock, bats and many other species that hadn’t been seen in the area for years. It has become what Bob calls his FoD - 'Field of Dreams' and he has published a book about his experience https://blackstaffpress.com/…/field-of-dreams-how-we-trans…/

2nd April - People for Bees

This month's Green Drinks is about the IWT People for Bees programme. The alarming decline of our bees and other insects is clear, but what can you do about it? The People for Bees programme aims to support communities and individuals in Ireland to take action to help fight bee decline. IWT Coordinator Kieran Flood provided an update on our People for Bees plans for 2019 to let you what you can do to help out, including making your gardens and green spaces more pollinator friendly. Volunteers can also learn field skills like bee identification, bumblebee monitoring and biodiversity record taking. The project is aimed at community groups and members of the public in every province of Ireland.

You can learn more about this important initiative on the IWT website: https://iwt.ie/people-for-bees/

Kieran at a bee identification workshop

31st March - Killiney Beach Walk

This month Kieran Craven of CHERISH brought us on a walk along Killiney Beach. CHERISH (Climate Heritage & Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) is an EU funded Ireland - Wales project, that will increase cross-border knowledge and understanding of the impacts (past, present and near-future) of climate change, storminess and extreme weather events on the cultural heritage of reefs, islands and headlands of the Irish Sea.

Kieran told us all about the the geology of the Killiney Beach area, including the fascinating fact that granite from Ailsa Craig in Scotland is to be found on the beach - carried there during the last Ice Age! Kieran also told us how the whole of Dublin Bay is at risk from rising sea levels due to Climate Change.

You can learn more about the CHERISH Project at http://www.cherishproject.eu/en/

Kieran talks about tectonic forces

A look at some of the different rock types to be seen

Coastal erosion is happening at Killiney

and will only get worse with climate change

Green Drinks 5th March : Climate Change - Time to panic?

This month environmental activist John Gibbons talked about climate change. Things are much worse than most people realise.The world has been trying to tackle climate change for the last three decades. In that time, global emissions have actually risen by 60% and biodiversity collapses are now sweeping across ecosystems. Despite the abundant evidence of current harms and future dangers, governments, including our own, plough ahead regardless as catastrophe looms ever closer.

As thousands of schoolchildren take to the streets to protest this month, John told us to take on board the words of teenage activist, Greta Thunberg, when she says: "I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then – I want you to act”.

You can learn more about the challenges facing us at John's blog about Climate Change: 'Think or Swim' http://www.thinkorswim.ie/

17th February - St. Catherines Park, Lucan Liffey Walk

This month we were fortunate to have the wonderful Tim Clabon, who led us along the Liffey in St Catherine's Park. There was a good turnout and the weather was gloriously sunny. The park is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. As well as mature trees of oak, beech and willow, the park contains rare wild plants such as Hairy St. John’s Wort (Hypericum hirsutum), Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdelon)  and Green Figwort (Scrophularia umbrosa).

The park also has the usual variety of mammals such as grey squirrels, bats, foxes and badgers, and birds such as herons, kingfishers and little egrets. A wide variety of fish can also be found in the river, including trout, salmon and pike, and other aquatic creatures such as freshwater mussels. All in all, Tim provided the group with an enjoyable and informative day.

Green Drinks 5th February - Kildare Animal Rescue

This month we heard from Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit. They follow the principle of the 'Three Rs' - Rescue, Rehabilitate and return to the wild. No animal is turned away - from a badger to a dormouse, or from a swan to a pigeon!

Dan and Aideen offered advice for if you find an injured or orphaned wild animal - PLEASE DO NOT touch or pick it up unless it is in immediate danger. Please phone them (087 620 1270) or your local rescue centre first. If you need to move the animal place it in a quiet, dark and warm place. Then call for help. Offer only water – no other fluids.

Covering an injured animal will help reduce stress and keep it warm, but do not over handle the animal or bird. Put it somewhere quiet, dark and warm. Wild creatures are not calmed by contact with humans. Talking to them and stroking them can only increase their stress.

January 6th - Bull Island Bird Watching

The January outing of the Dublin Branch was the ever popular bird watching event on Bull Island. There was a good turn-out for the event, with benign weather conditions and a calm surface on the water. Led by the expert  John Fox of Birdwatch Ireland we saw plenty of birds: apart from 5 different varieties of gulls, there were geese (mainly Brent), ducks (shelduck, widgeon, teal, shoveler, pintail, mallard), all sorts of waders (redshank, black-tailed godwit, dunlin, curlew, turnstone, lapwing) and, of course, herons. All in all a good day out.

Black Tailed Godwit

Shelduck

December 16th Botanic Gardens

The December outing of the Dublin Branch was a trip to the Botanic Gardens to see what they are like in winter. Our guide for the day, Glynn Anderson showed us that there was still plenty to see, from mistletoe in the branches of a poplar tree, to the beauty of the evergreen yew trees with their attractive reddish bark. After a tour of the grounds, it was welcome to get out of the cold by stepping into the warmth of the tropical glasshouses. Glynn told us all about the tropical trees there from many kinds of palm trees to bananas. The trip showed that the Botanic Gardens are well worth a visit at any time of year!

Balls of Mistletoe growing on a poplar tree

An avenue of yew trees 

Green Drinks December 4th - Extinction Crisis

December's Green Drinks featured the IWT’s Pádraic Fogarty who gave an overview of the extinction crisis facing Ireland and the world. In light of the recent report from WWF/ZSL showing how the world has lost 60% of its large animals in the past 40 years, there can be no doubt that we find ourselves at the centre of an extinction crisis. How does it affect Ireland? What is the relationship between the extinction crisis and climate breakdown? What can individuals and communities do to prevent the crisis deepening?

Pádraic told the meeting that the extinction crisis is equally important to the climate change crisis. Carrying on with business as usual won’t help, instead there needs to be a radical change to the management of fishing, farming and forestry. It’s important to understand that species loss is caused by habitats destroyed by pollution and intensive farming not just by climate change, and a complete change of mindset is needed by everyone, from government agencies to the local community to end this. In the end, restoring nature - rewetting bogs, planting trees and developing nature friendly farming is the cheapest and easiest tool to tackle climate change.