Columns - Irish Examiner

Richard Collins

Conservationist will fly with swans from Siberia to Britain on motorised parachute

Bewick’s swans breed in Arctic Russia but spend the winter in western Europe. Some visit Ireland. 

Mon, 04 Jan, 2016

Pine marten’s American cousin

SEVEN fisher cats were released into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State on December 3. The three males and four females had been trapped in British Columbia.

Mon, 28 Dec, 2015

A look at the huge appetites of whales

AS EVERY whale-watcher knows, a feeding frenzy of noisy seabirds out on the open ocean usually means there’s a whale underneath. Whalers, long ago, hadn’t the fancy technology sailors and fishermen have today; they often relied on birds to guide them to their quarry.

Mon, 21 Dec, 2015

Cats not the only lounge lizards

Darwin noted that domestic cats have larger guts than their wild cousins, writes Richard Collins

Mon, 14 Dec, 2015

New research unfolds long-living secrets of the mouse lemur

The mouse lemurs of Madagascar are the world’s smallest primates. 

Mon, 07 Dec, 2015

The Mexican Environment Secretary, Rafael Pacchia, says that the number of monarch butterflies hibernating in his country will be three to four times greater this winter than it has been in recent years, writes Richard Collins

Mon, 30 Nov, 2015

Plenty of hoopla about Hoopoes as they treated birdwatchers in 2015

Birdwatchers will remember 2015 as the year of the hoopoes. 

Mon, 23 Nov, 2015

Sharp declines in Puffin populations and other birdlife

THE International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) keeps tabs on plants and animals worldwide, writes Richard Collins

Mon, 16 Nov, 2015

‘Seagull Hawk’ hen harrier still vulnerable

THE hen harrier gets its name from our countrymen for butchering their fowls’, wrote William Turner in 1544.

Mon, 09 Nov, 2015

Ostriches barter eggs for survival

THE current edition of Zoo Matters has an interesting item on ostriches. Dublin Zoo’s cock and six hens share a communal nest each year, as is the custom with these flightless birds. Ostriches are used to a warm climate. 

Mon, 02 Nov, 2015