'When the birds began nesting, it gave people the signal that life goes on'
Niall Hatch at BirdWatch Ireland's nature reserve in Newcastle, Co Wicklow. Picture: Garry O'Neill
For me, it's been a strange time. I have been working from home, of course, and while a lot of my work is desk-based anyway I would tend to be out and about a lot more than I am now. The talks that I give around the country and internationally have disappeared but over the last number of months people have gotten into the habit of attending events online and they've become the new normal. We've started to see online events fill up the calendar and that's really gratifying.
It's been challenging for BirdWatch Ireland because, usually, we would have 450 events per year. While some of these events have come online, it's not quite the same as going out birdwatching. It's been touch and go with our bird surveys, too, because, depending on the restrictions, we haven't been able to get out and about to count the birds and lots of our volunteers have had to stay home.
