Extinct in Ireland, September 4th, the Bittern
My rather melancholy September project continues. Another bird today, this time the bittern. From “Whittled Away”: Eaten in Medieval times, it nested in undisturbed wetlands until the mid 1800s. Winter…
Tag: extinct
Extinct in Ireland, September 3. The Capercaillie
Continuing my September project with the first avian entry, the capercaillie. From “Whittled Away”: An oversized grouse of woodlands, the last record of which was from Thomastown, Co Kilkenny in 1760…
Extinct in Ireland: September 1st, the sturgeon
I’ve been reading Pádraic Fogarty’s “Whittled Away: Ireland’s Vanishing Nature”. It’s a sobering read, puncturing the fond illusion that many Irish have that their homeland is some kind of environmental paradise,…
Séamus Sweeney 