The causeway linking Clontarf to Bull Island traverses a section of wetland of huge ecological importance.
It was still dark when the BirdWatch Ireland volunteers began to gather on a recent Saturday, armed with powerful binoculars.
They were there to count and catalogue the different species of bird that gather at low tide. As the suns began to rise over the horizon, the volunteers split into groups and spread out to their observation points. Ireland's bird population provides us with a very handy barometer of the overall health of the island’s biodiversity.
These monthly studies, carried out by BirdWatch Ireland across the country, provide the necessary data. And what the data tells us is far from good.
"Nature in Ireland is dying," Oonagh Duggan of BirdWatch Ireland told RTÉ's Prime Time.
She detailed some startling figures, such as a 40% drop in the numbers of wintering waterbirds since the late 1990s. This includes the numbers of mallard ducks - one of Ireland’s most-familiar waterbirds - declining by 40% in that same period.
Kestrel numbers have dropped by an estimated 45%. Of Ireland's 24 species of nesting seabirds, 23 are listed red or amber as birds of conservation concern.
A biodiversity emergency was declared here in 2019.
'Nature is dying' - Ireland's biodiversity emergency
It was still dark when the BirdWatch Ireland volunteers began to gather on a recent Saturday, armed with powerful binoculars.
They were there to count and catalogue the different species of bird that gather at low tide. As the suns began to rise over the horizon, the volunteers split into groups and spread out to their observation points. Ireland's bird population provides us with a very handy barometer of the overall health of the island’s biodiversity.
These monthly studies, carried out by BirdWatch Ireland across the country, provide the necessary data. And what the data tells us is far from good.
"Nature in Ireland is dying," Oonagh Duggan of BirdWatch Ireland told RTÉ's Prime Time.
She detailed some startling figures, such as a 40% drop in the numbers of wintering waterbirds since the late 1990s. This includes the numbers of mallard ducks - one of Ireland’s most-familiar waterbirds - declining by 40% in that same period.
Kestrel numbers have dropped by an estimated 45%. Of Ireland's 24 species of nesting seabirds, 23 are listed red or amber as birds of conservation concern.
A biodiversity emergency was declared here in 2019.
'Nature is dying' - Ireland's biodiversity emergency