In the final episode of Living The Wildlife, Colin Stafford Johnson tracks the hen harriers and learns more about the Burren in Co. Clare
Tim and Barry O’ Donaghue, from Co. Kerry, are part time farmers and NPWS rangers and from an early age Barry has been fascinated with hen harriers – majestic birds of prey.
Despite the terrible weather of last summer Colin Stafford Johnson tracks mother and chicks as they feed and shelter their chicks. We get a closer look as Barry tags them and tells us how his hen harriers have been spotted all over the country! Colin explains that for animals like these to survive we have to take care of our uplands.
We visit the Burren in Co.Clare to hear about Burren life. Brendan Dumford explains how it is farmed unlike the rest of the country. Animals graze the uplands in the winter and leave it to the wild orchids and wildlife in the summer. We also meet Gordon Darcy, and Colin smells the sulphur of a 3 billion year old sea – when Ireland sat on the equator.
Finally Colin takes us with his girls to look for Ireland’s most snake like creature – The Slow Worm. The slow worm looks surprising like a snake. It is more common in Britain than in Ireland but it can be found in the Burren.
