THE short daylight hours of the Christmas holidays and of winter in general offer the opportunity for those who enjoy the outdoor world to read up on the finer details of natural history and be replete with knowledge and curiosity when the world reopens to welcome a new spring.

WITH rising temperatures, courtesy of greenhouse gas emissions, you might expect birds to linger on at migration time, taking an extra ‘sus beag’, before the arduous journey to far-off lands.

Three days to go to Cheltenham now and the excitement is mounting.

THE common or garden swan, the mute swan, is one of Ireland’s most widespread and familiar birds.

The Union flag could soon be flying over Belfast City Hall again, a senior loyalist politician claimed today.

The highest rate of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world has been found in a small group of islands in Scotland, researchers have said.

Renowned angler John O’Connell, believes this year’s salmon season has been the best in the province for 40 years.

THERE are not as many books about birds in Ireland as there are about birds in Britain.

THE collared dove, now firmly established as a native bird, bred for the first time in Ireland in 1959.

As summer approaches, it’s a good time to take up a new outdoor hobby and few are as rewarding as birdwatching, says wildlife expert Jim Wilson

WE’RE getting to the time of year when book tokens are in circulation, so I’m going to mention a few recently published books with an outdoors theme that I have enjoyed.

BOOKS make excellent Christmas gifts and last Monday’s Examiner carried recommendations from the crime-thriller, vampire and general fiction genres.

I HEARD an unmistakable sound — a wild trumpeting filling the sky.

A CYNIC might suspect that birder and photographer Ronan McLaughlin this month choked Cuskinny Marsh of its oxygen — and consequently its marine life — as a stunt for the upcoming launch of his calendar collection of exquisite wildlife photography, and to make his images all the rarer, as he has tracked the months and the seasons on this widely-sung and justly-appreciated marsh beauty spot.

THE first DNA analysis of the Travelling community has proven that it is a distinct ethnic minority who separated from the settled community between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago, experts have claimed.

LONG RUN became the first six-year-old since mighty Mill House in 1963 to win the Gold Cup when producing a stunning display of raw power and limitless stamina at Cheltenham yesterday.

As an entrepreneur who runs a thriving dental healthcare business, amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen is well-placed to advise weighing room colleagues lacking a full set of teeth.

I WAS impressed with The Shorebirds of Ireland, recently published by The Collins Press, a beautifully-produced treasury of well-written, informative text by Jim Wilson, with a gallery of wonderful bird photographs by Mark Carmody.

Dunguib has enjoyed the perfect preparation for tomorrow’s Spinal Research Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

BOOKS make ideal Christmas gifts.

Damien Enright on bird-watching and massaging hedgehogs.

Veteran unionist politician Jim Wilson is to bow out of the Stormont Assembly at the next election, he announced tonight.

Politicians opposed to the seven new super councils planned for the North were accused today of being more concerned about their own careers than what is best for local government.

With all 108 seats filled in the Northern Ireland Assembly the party shares are:

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was today heckled during an assembly election visit to Antrim.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was today facing the prospect of a more hardline Assembly team as some of his harshest critics in the party were selected as candidates for the next Stormont election.

The Ulster Unionist Party must return to its original Assembly commitment to keep Sinn Fein out of government until the IRA disarms and disbands, South Antrim MP David Burnside insisted today.

Thousands of gallons of disinfectant used to combat foot-and-mouth are pouring into Northern Ireland’s waterways, it was claimed today.

UUP leader David Trimble was dealt a stinging blow last night when the South Antrim branch of his party spurned his preferred candidate for the upcoming British general election.