Donal Hickey: look but don't get too close to those bird nests

As far as that bird knows you’re a predator! In the natural world, there’s nothing good about a large animal trying to seek out your nest

If a parent bird gets frightened, they can leave, or even completely abandon, the nest, leaving chicks without food and exposing them to predators. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

It’s becoming a growing problem each summer — people taking photographs at, or near, birds’ nests, especially seabird colonies. Understandable, given that everyone has a camera on their mobile phone and opportunities for a good picture are hard to resist.

There is, however, a red line — a rule that the welfare of the subject must come first. This is according to Birdwatch Ireland which is appealing to people not to go too close to nests.