Birds are deserting cities for country areas

BUSINESS took me to Dublin the other day, but it wasn’t very hectic business so I ended up with some spare time to watch brent geese grazing on the pitches of the GAA Club in Sandymount.

There’s nothing unusual about this. I’ve often watched brent geese on various grassy areas around Dublin Bay. But when you give it closer attention it really is a bit strange. Wild birds don’t get much wilder than the brent goose, a creature born and bred in Arctic Canada. And here they are, spending part of the winter in the middle of our capital city.

It’s interesting how some birds move from the country to the city and some do the opposite — or, at least, it’s interesting to me.