January 23rd - Trip to National Botanic Gardens

On Saturday January 23rd the Dublin Branch took a trip to the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. Our guide Niamh was a mine of information about the many interesting things to be seen in the gardens, even in January. For example, there was already a beautiful display of snowdrops, rises and other bulbs, and Niamh showed us the shrub wintersweet, which flowers in January with a delicious, delicate fragrance. Mistletoe could also be seen growing on some of the trees, one of the few places in Ireland it can be seen. Niamh informed us however, that it is a bit of a pest and needs to be cut back regularly to avoid damaging its host tree. A tree looking beautiful at this time of year was the myrtle with its striking cinnamon coloured bark, looking a bit like a eucalyptus.

Mistletoe growing on a poplar tree

Myrtle tree

After a while Niamh took us into the warmth of the glasshouses, which was very welcome on a cold January day. There we learnt that all cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. According to Niamh, cacti are only seen in the Americas, which means you will never see them appearing in a spaghetti western! We also learnt many other interesting facts, such as teabags are made out banana leaves, and that vanilla comes from the seedpod of an orchid. Even in winter there were many orchids in flower in the orchid house, giving a gorgeous display. Finally Niamh showed us the carnivorous plants, like the pitcher plant, and our own native butterwort, which trap insects with their sticky juices, and slowly digest them. Alas there were no venus flytraps on display, as apparently people can't resist poking them to make them snap shut, and the plants become exhausted and die. Overall, the group were very happy at all that they saw, and agreed that a trip to the Botanic Gardens is highly recommended!

Learning about exotic plants in the warmth of the greenhouse

Learning about orchids

Some of the many ferns to be seen in the glasshouse

Green Drinks 5th January - 'Our Grass has always been this Green'

This month Dublin's Green Drinks heard IWT's Padraic Fogarty talking about how agriculture has shaped our landscape for centuries, but in its modern form just how environmentally friendly is it? Despite the official image of Ireland promoted by the government in its Origin Green labelling programme, with its slogan that 'our grass has always been this green', a lot of modern agriculture is having a destructive impact on our environment. Farmland biodiversity has been declining for the last three decades, which makes a mockery of the idea that Irish food is sustainably produced.

While Origin Green does monitor carbon emissions, it does nothing to stop the pollution of our watercourses from farm run-off, the decline in farmland birds, the needless culling of badgers, or the degradation of our uplands. For example, pollution of our rivers from silage and slurry run-off threatens the survival of species, such as the rare fresh water mussel, and the continuing destruction of our hedgerows is depriving many wildlife species of desperately needed habitat.

Pádraic also talked about what's in store for nature as government plans for ever-increasing production are rolled out, and about the ways we can accommodate the needs of farming and nature conservation. However, it is obvious that at the moment, environmental concerns are not given anything like the weight they should by politicians and civil servants, and conservation agencies remain badly underfunded. Unless things change we are facing a serious biodiversity crisis on this island.

November 15th - Birdwatching Bull Island

On Sunday November 15th IWT Dublin Branch went birdwatching on Bull Island, led by Sean our ever knowledgable guide. Despite the blustery weather and works to the sea wall at the causeway (don't mention the war!), the branch got to see quite a few birds. There were the pale bellied Brent geese, mallard, shelducks, shovellers, teal and wigeon, along with little egrets, curlews, herons and of course some hooded crows. An interesting fact that Sean shared is that there will always be lots of birds where streams come out into the sea, because believe it or not, the birds like to wash the salt off their feathers. So, at the point where the Naniken river comes out into the lagoon, there were indeed lots of birds gathered. Altogether an enlightening afternoon.  Photos courtesy of Brendan and Stephen.

Brent Geese

Curlew

Green Drinks 3rd November - Community Energy

The November Green Drinks, on Tuesday, November the 3rd, saw Kate Ruddock of Friends of the Earth Ireland talking on Community energy - how small local community groups can together use energy and resources most efficiently, and in a way that does least ecological damage. This has been slow to take off in Ireland compared to other countries, for various reasons, including a difficulty in selling excess energy onto the national grid. However, with enough determination, communities can achieve successful projects that provide them with self sufficiency in clean renewable energy.  

One of the most hopeful projects is happening on the Aran Islands, where the islanders are aiming to make the islands completely self sufficient in energy using wind power by 2022. Another place where this has been done is in Templederry, Co. Tipperary where the Templederry Community Group have constructed a windfarm.

The government is also going to introduce a White Paper for a scheme to allow local communities to form co-ops and invest in windfarms. It is hoped that this will chart a way forward for local communities and also help to lay to rest some of the controversies that have sprung up around windfarms in recent times. Progress towards renewables is happening, even if the pace of change is often frustratingly slow.

October 24th - Deer Rut Phoenix Park

Dublin Branch went for its by now traditional trip to Phoenix Park on Saturday October 24th to see the deer rut - when the stags face off against each other to see who is going to get to mate with the females. The weather was good, with the sun shining, and our guide Favel Naulty was very informative. Everyone got a good look at the stags doing their thing, and learnt a lot about deer behaviour. Photos courtesy of Joy and Eoin.

26th September Bat Walk Corkagh Park

We had a beautiful Autumn evening for the small but enthusiastic crowd who came to Corkagh Park for our Bat Walk led by Sean Meehan, Conservation officer with the IWT. A full moon sharpened the anticipation of seeing the bats which Sean assured us would be there. Sure enough, with the aid of two “bat detectors” which he had brought, they announced their presence as they emerged to feed. The best sightings were over the man-made lake and as darkness fell, Sean used his torch to facilitate our viewing. Sean provided a good deal of information on the different species and we were fortunate to observe members of four species, both the Common and Soprano Pipistrelle as well as the Leisler and Daubentons bats. After a couple of hours, a happy group made its way to the park entrance and as if to make up for there being no vampire bats we were treated to the banshee like screeches of a heron who objected to having its evening repose disturbed!!

Photo courtesy of Sean

Gathering in Corkagh Park as dusk fell

5th September - Rockpooling in Portmarnock

On Saturday 5th September 2015 IWT's Dublin Branch went on a rock pooling session in Portmarnock, to find out more about the marine ecosystem along our coasts and the animals that live in them. There was a good turnout, and glorious weather. Lots of seashore creatures were seen, such as anemones, sea snails and shellfish like mussels, and a great morning for all the family was had.