Not as classically attractive as the animals whos waste they dispose of, dung beetles are nonetheless essential to systems like the Maasai Mara National Reserve where we filmed this beauty displaying its flying skills.
So big they sound like mini helicopters!
#TCDKenya2019
Apparently camera trap footage of a Thylacine has been sent to Hobart museum New Zealand for assessment and confirmation. If this turns out to be true it would be the most incredible natural history story of modern times.
I really hope it is!
Just got this email forwarded on to us from our kids school. (Blocked out names for privacy of people involved)
Couldn't be more proud of my kids.
Even more so because they didn't say anything about it. Just helped out and went on their way.
Chipper tonight for a treat 100% 😊
My mother-in-law is a retired botanist who has dedicated the last 20 years of her life to increasing native plant biodiversity in her roadside garden.
She woke up to find it destroyed the other morning.
@NatBroadbandIrl
please be more considerate when carrying out future works.
Well to do lad at the grafton street flower stand,
'What have you got for a tenner?'
Flower lady,
'A rose, but if you came home to me with one rose for valentines wearing that suit I'd break it over your head.'
I love this town.
😂😂😂
The citylink Galway-Dublin bus driver just announced that if anyone is watching films or listening to music on their phone without headphones on they will be asked to leave the vehicle.
He is an IDOL.
My botanist mother-in-law has spent the last 18 years restoring the roadside wildflowers in her local area of Westmeath. Most had disappeared thanks to the councils use of herbicides, but she sourced seeds and regrew all the flowers she remembered from childhood. Absolute legend.
9 years ago today Guns N' Roses walked on stage in the 3 Arena at 10.15pm (due on at 8.30), played 4 songs then left. I was so pissed off I took MCD to the small claims court and got money back for our tickets AND cost of that nights babysitter.
Felt like Perry Mason for a day.
Today was a punch in the gut.
I'm completely heartbroken.
Months of work documenting species, meeting with
@sdublincoco
officials, getting assurances that this oasis for wildlife would be protected.
All for nothing. Completely wiped out.
@sdublincoco
are a fucking disgrace.
Heartbroken to find tallaghts wetlands completely destroyed today. This was a vibrant multilayered ecosystem, home to protected Newts, Frogs, Bats & critically endangered European eels.
@sdublincoco
assured us this area & inhabitants would be protected. Environmental vandalism.
1/7
Couple of thoughts in response to this.🧵
First, it's a terrible photo of the wildflower meadow. The trimmed verges aren't shown, the flowers have gone to seed and are bent from a month of rain and wind.
A REALLY unflattering image.
Here's what it actually looks like now...
Yo Ireland.
Social distancing DOES NOT MEAN going straight to the pub after being told to work from home.
Pints will be there whenever this is over. Our old, our sick, our parents, our at risk friends and family members might not be.
Cop the fuck on.
#Coronavirusireland
@janky_jane
Wearing my full length leather jacket walking up O'Connell St. to Fibbers one night
I hear a bunch of lads shout
'Here WANKULA where's your coffin?!!'
I will never understand the smug satisfaction many Irish people seem to get from watching someone fail at something. It's an awful, shameful aspect of our character as a nation.
@NatBroadbandIrl
should offer to reinstate the wildflower embankment. Including the rare plants that were destroyed.
Some guy in a suit popping up the next day to apologise just isn't good enough.
FIX IT.
Remembering the time I had an unmerciful pain in my finger with non stop, repeat infections and swelling.
I took a blade to it in frustration one day and discovered a snakes tooth that had been lodged in there for a YEAR unknowns to me!
The living wall on the Trinity business school is in full bloom and buzzing with insect life. Imagine every new office or apartment build with something similar. Beautiful looking and great for biodiversity.
Just read that in 2022 the Mexican Bank will start running a new 50 pesos bill featuring an AXOLOTL to commemorate the foundation of old Mexico city, Tenochtitlan.
This makes me unreasonably happy. LOOK AT ITS FACE!!
Was out around Sally gap and surrounding forestry plantations checking ponds today as part of ongoing amphibian survey work. Every pond is full of dead rotting spawn. All of it failed. I've never seen anything like it before. Not a single tadpole where there should be thousands.
If you're sneering at kids protesting for their future and trying to save our environment because you read a dodgy climate denying article on Facebook once and now consider yourself a climatologist, you're actually a malcontent, uninformed prick and you need to cop on.
A sad sight to see in Trinity college this morning. The old Oregon maple on library square collapsed during the night. A beautiful tree that would have had Bram Stoker, Samuel Beckett and Mary Robinson among others, pass under it's branches in its 200 plus years on campus.
Advertisement doing the rounds on social media. I honestly can't think of a worse way to 'improve' a garden.
Boring, dull and lifeless.
I hate this trend.
1/2 Bit of a lighter story from last nights troubles.
After my shift was done, I offered some very nervous students a lift home as Taxis weren't coming into town.
Unbeknownst to me, I'd forgotten to take my maggot box out of my car after fishing last week....
7/7
A few brown seed heads for a week or two is a small price to pay to give nature a new home in the heart of Dublin.
Really proud of Trinity for making that sacrifice and leading from the front in this new approach to caring for the creatures we share this world with.
2/2... And the maggots had all pupated into flys, hundreds of them.
So we drove around a Dublin city on fire, in a 06 yaris, covered in bluebottles, while I profusely apologised for our insect passengers.
Students had a great laugh and got home safe.
I'm still morto.
🪰🪰🪰🚗
Great to see garter snakes finally well established in Wicklow national Park. Here they are in numbers emerging from their winter hibernation and preparing to mate.
A wonderful addition to Irish biodiversity that is sure to cause no issues whatsoever.
Happy to report I managed to get Sam the
@tcddublin
fox to take some medicated bait this morning to treat her mange. This one & done treatment should cure her completely.
Thanks to Pearse Stokes of
@KildareAnimals
for providing the treatment & his expertise.
Chuffed! 🦊❤
5/7
Yes, the end of the summer isn't the most beautiful time for a wildflower meadow. But it's all part of a wonderful natural cycle.
A cycle most people are unfortunately unaware of/detached from.
Another reason for TCDs wildflower meadow to exist, thrive & remind us.
I've said it before and ill say it again, when Attenborough gets as much abuse as Greta does for promoting the same science, then I'll believe her detractors aren't just a bunch of closet misogynists.
"But with Greta it gets people intensely angry because people don't like hearing a female speaking up."
@Rubberbandits
Blindboy on why he's inspired by
@GretaThunberg
, as others feel threatened by her.
3/7
The original post states 'This isn't saving the planet'...
True, and we never claimed it was. What we were trying to achieve is to provide habitat in the city centre for a variety of wildlife that would otherwise not find a home here. And we succeed, amazingly so!
At around 3.30pm yesterday, Gardaì executed a search warrant at a house in Youghal.
During the course of the search Gardaí seized €8,100 of diazepam tablets.
A man, aged in his 30s, was arrested and is currently detained.
Teaching the Dunning Kruger effect should be standard in all schools.
It should also be the universal opening screen of every social media app as a reminder.
Fianna Fáil Calls for Inquiry into Tallaght Wetlands Outrage:
My party leader,
@MichealMartinTD
, requested a full briefing from me on the recent scandal regarding the wetlands in Tallaght, and he took the opportunity to raise it in the Dáil Chamber today. This is not going away.
Just found this gem while cleaning out the attic.
I say 90% of Irish people with a passion for wildlife (of a certain age 😬😂), read this series of books at some stage.
Some legacy Tom.
More green washing from the government, "The target is for 70 per cent conifers & 30 per cent broad leaves"
Sitka spruce green conifer deserts are absolutely SHITE for biodiversity. We need native, broad leaf forests planted nationwide to restore habitat & combat climate change.
It's hard to believe that saving the environment has become so divisively politicised. Surely protecting our life support systems and living in a lush, vibrant world are desirable outcomes, regardless of your ideological leanings.
2/7
The flowers are dead & have just about spread their seeds. TCD deliberately leaves the meadow to do this so as to allow it naturally regenerate itself. Many people wouldn’t know this because they have never seen a natural wildflower meadow mature through the seasons before...
I'm currently working on a wildlife & vegetable garden for DEPAUL's homeless mens shelter Back Lane.
This will be a huge benefit to the lads mental health & wellbeing. We are on a very limited budget so are asking any garden centres/suppliers for help supplying plants etc . 🌱
Tested positive for COVID-19 today after a negative test last week.
Thankfully I've been isolating after a confirmed close contact... It's a sneaky wee bugger!
Feeling ok so hopefully that continues.
LETS DANCE YOU MICROSCOPIC BASTARD!
Bit of a party kicking off in the garden. Great to see them back again. Some of these frogs have been returning to this pond for over 10 years.
Absolute magic!
🐸❤
Our Sean is on the autistic spectrum & had difficulty socialising/partaking in sports until he started training in jiu jitsu. Here he is winning the final of his local competition section this morning. Cannot recommend jiu jitsu enough to help build confidence/character in a kid.
6/7
Increasing biodiversity isn't hard. Nature is resilient and will recover if given the opportunity.
The difficult part for many is a change in thinking.
About how we manage land.
About valuing a functional ecosystems over traditional green deserts.
This is sickening.
If you fall on your arse on a bog, mountain or forest trail and try to sue the people struggling to preserve the area you're an absolute disgrace. Take some fucking personal responsibility.
I hope she loses and is barred from every nature reserve in Ireland.
Here an example of what we have to deal with - being brought to court over a personal injury claim that happened 1.4 km from our nearest reserve !
Woodland charity faces crippling bills as it's forced to defend personal injury claim
4/7
From beetles and butterflies to bats, birds and dragonflies. Increases across the board. Species I've never seen in the college before showing up. Really wonderful and inspiring.
Beetle bonanza in and around
@tcddublin
wildflower meadows today.
Counted 7 species out and about, including this 22 spot Ladybird and her housemate Lagria Beetle.
Great to see in the heart of Dublin.
🐞🪲❤️
Moving to Wicklow has been amazing, but I really miss walking down to the local for a quick pint of an evening. Unfortunately there's none close to the new gaff.
So I built my own.... 🐸🐸🍻
Arranged a surprise 40th for my wife tonight. Ended up an hour late after getting stuck in extinction rebellion protest traffic at Merrion square.
Pretty annoying, but not quite as annoying as, let's say, the complete collapse of our natural world.
Keep it up
@ExtinctRebelsIE
🌱
Honoured to receive a honorary masters degree from Trinity today. Wonderful gesture from the place I've called my second home for 20 years.
Very proud to have represented Trinity at every level over my time here. Magic day!
Meet Little Séamus, our fully grown adult bantam rooster.
I'm incredibly proud to be the owner of one of the smallest cocks in Ireland.
#IsaidWhatisaid
Went to put on my gardening coat and luckily spotted this lovely lady having her winter sleep in the lining.
Coat and queen wasp safely back in the tool shed until spring.
I'll just wear another jumper until then.... 🐝
@saoirse_mchugh
@NatBroadbandIrl
She's in bits. Literally only called me an hour ago because she was too upset to talk. Plants she'd gathered for years.
By rights they should be told to reinstate the wildflower embankment.
The obsession with removing leaves from the ground in many of our town and city parks is incredibly detrimental to biodiversity.
Here's a beautiful example of what a winter woodland floor should look like.
Leave the Leaves 🍃 🍁🍂
Just had a lovely Email exchange with the guy who bough our old place. He was asking how to maintain the wildlife ponds & garden... his family love the frogs and newts. I'm so so happy.
It was really tough leaving so may wee pals behind hoping they'd be ok.
Magic news altogether
Looks like we are facing another harsh reminder that Twitter/Facebook isn't a reflection of the real world. We all need to start having real conversations with people outside of our own circles.
Every day since the lockdown I've been getting in and out of work on virtually empty Dublin buses. Thanks to all the drivers risking their own health to allow essential workers get to their Jobs.
A top bunch altogether.
@dublinbusnews
👏👏👏
Humans really missed a trick by not hibernating.
Eating a ton of food all summer. Sleeping straight through the miserable winter months then waking up to a sex festival in spring.
Magnificent.
Barbecues me Bollox.
The dogs on the street know who is deliberately setting these fires... actually more appropriate to say the sheep in the field know.
A shameful situation.
This weekend has seen devastating fires rage in Killarney National Park, the Mourne Mountains & near Pontoon Co. Mayo.If you are out enjoying the weather today please do not light fires or set up barbecues in forest areas - these fires are devastating & will take years to recover
Here's a randy common toad and frog trying to bang some unfortunate goldfish. Over the years I've had amphibians latch onto my fingers, hands, arms and boots while surveying during breeding season. Their drive to breed is insanely strong.
A hooded crow mobbing a rather unfazed young fox at Lincoln place gate Trinity college.
A scene straight from the countryside played out on the empty streets of Dublin.
Never fuck about with big constrictors. Always have someone with you if you are cleaning/feeding a pet snake and avoid draping them around your neck. Even a small snake can to put you out in seconds.
Important to note that green ways aren't necessarily environmentally friendly and some seem, at worst, just massive greenwashing projects.
Tearing up existing habitats to pop down a cycle lane with limited environmental impact assessments done isn't ideal.
Happens alot.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd spend an entire summer of my early 40's engaged in a property dispute with a 4ft tall bird, during a global pandemic.