Colin Guilfoyle

Thanks @rayofoghlu.bsky.social for the write up
It was great to see everyone and discuss restoration of forested peatlands in Ireland.

@colinguilfoyle.bsky.social

www.farmersjournal.ie/more/climate... Wild Nephin: restoration, research and rewilding - Free

Foraging Behaviour of Nesting Grey Herons Inferred from PIT-Tagged Salmonid Fish Studies of fish behaviour and ecology create opportunities for studying piscivores that have been underutilised. A leading example is the widespread use by fish biologists of Passive Integrated Transp...

How many salmon to herons eat?
Quite a lot. And they are willing to fly quite far to find them 😬🐟
👏🏼 analysis from Karl Philips et al
@colinguilfoyle.bsky.social @joshkakaufmann.bsky.social
bioone.org/journals/ard... Foraging Behaviour of Nesting Grey Herons Inferred from PIT-Tagged Salmonid Fish

She mentioned the lynx are not a huge issue but wolves a growing challenge - even with guardian dogs. Great example of a landscape with both species-rich grasslands and woodlands alongside each other.

Interesting to chat to a farmer in the Swiss Jura this week while hiking. On that day the sheep were being brought south to the alps for the summer, while they also keep cows, llamas and horses in a landscape alongside lynx and now wolves also.

This is great, you no longer have to plague your NPWS ranger if you see wildlife crime

We've had a huge amount of interest in this and as a result have added an online option for the morning talks - registration available through the following link: www.eventbrite.ie/e/biodiversi...

Will be long-term project but essentially forest-to-bog on deep peat, rhodo removal (has begun), expand native woodland where possible, control deer pop and keep sheep out.

For the symposium or for Nephin Forest ?

Biodiversity and Restoration in Wild Nephin - End-of-Project Symposium Join us for day of presentations and discussion about biodiversity conservation and restoration in Wild Nephin National Park.

For more information and to reserve a free ticket: www.eventbrite.ie/e/biodiversi... @edeeyto.bsky.social

Join us for a one-day symposium on the 12th June at the Marine Institute, Furnace, Co. Mayo where we will present new research focused on the biodiversity within @WildNephin & discuss the possibilities for the Nephin Forest + ecological restoration potential in the wider landscape 🌲

New in #BirdStudy
Concerning declines of #waders & passerines in #Iceland doi.org/10.1080/0006... #ornithology

A new study shows the expansion of Lynx in Europe - this is a phenomenal success story given the animal was intensely persecuted in much of its range.

www.kora.ch?action=get_f...

Wolf reintroduction to Scotland could support substantial native woodland expansion and associated carbon sequestration Our work shows reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands could help address the climate emergency. By controlling red deer populations, wolves would enable native woodlands to expand, capturing ....

Interesting bit of modelling doi.org/10.1002/2688...

Agree! But it seems a bit inconsistent? Example here - except for Owenduff/Nephin complex the remainder of these SACs/SPAs (which are almost all blanket bog) seem to be in Cat. 3. I would've thought Cat 4. to be more appropriate but I could be misinterpreting

A lot of peatland is included in Cat. 3 (light brown), north mayo for example, which is a bit strange. Would be interesting to see underlying data behind it

Development of guidance and schemes for appropriate upland / commonage afforestation would be useful. A lot of the dark brown in the map is unsuitable for good reason (peat) but other areas more down to productivity rather than ecology (e.g. Glenveagh and Killarney NPs all dark brown)

Another year of catchment sightings in Burrishoole. Didn’t reach the golden eagle 2024 target but white-tailed eagle becoming more frequent 🦅

Can this be accessed online Fintan?

Now open access !

Paper is not currently open access so please email or DM for a copy if interested!

Although forest to bog techniques have improved over the years, we hope the paper can help to inform the long term management of these sites and improve the chances of restoration success. We'll likely see many more of these projects in coming years in Ireland, including in Wild Nephin NP

The study also highlights the conservation importance of our remaining near-natural blanket bogs for threatened bird species such as golden plover and red grouse, and the complete community change which occurs following afforestation.

Overall we found that forest-to-bog restoration had benefits for Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland (BoCCI) but the community response was variable as a result of differing vegetation structure at the restored sites which included increased broadleaf shrub, dwarf shrub and deadwood cover.

Avian communities show distinct responses to forest-to-bog restoration Since the 1990's, attempted restoration of blanket bogs which have been previously afforested with non-native conifers has taken place in Ireland and …

My second PhD paper looking at the response of bird communities to forest-to-bog restoration is now online at the Journal of Environmental Management www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @edeeyto.bsky.social

Cold one for camera trap collection in Néifinn Fhiáin today @edeeyto.bsky.social