Living The Wildlife

Colin Stafford-Johnson returns for another series, this week he goes in search of one of Ireland’s most elusive native species – the pine marten – travelling to Connemara to meet a family of pine martens squatting in artist Richard Ward’s attic.

Colin goes on the hunt for a family of kestrels in Connemara and returns to visit the pine martens living in the attic at artist Richard Ward’s house. Colin begins this episode with a return to Tomnafinneog Woods in Co Wicklow where Emma Sheehy is investigating the impact of the pine marten on grey squirrels populations in Irish woodlands. To determine pine marten numbers in a woodland and the extent of their predation of grey squirrels, Emma has recruited trainer Louise Wilson from Conservations Dogs UK and her three-year-old labrador Luna, who is trained to find pine marten scats and has no problem sniffing out the evidence that Emma needs. In the space of a couple of hours Luna has located several scats that allows Emma to continue her investigations into this particular woodland. Colin then returns to Connemara for one last glimpse of Richard Ward’s pine marten squatters before the kits move on to find new territories of their own. And quite the visit it turns out to be, as Colin observes the whole family at play. The kits are much bigger now and as they leave home in search of their own territory, they’re quite prepared to fight tooth and nail to stake their claim. Colin continues his journey west to meet Dermot Breen from the National Parks and Wildlife service who has located a kestrel nest with five 10 day-old chicks whose diet is quite extraordinary. After observing the chicks for a few days, Colin discovers that – every 20 minutes – mum is returning to the nest with a lizard which the chicks take in turn to eat whole. A few weeks later, Colin returns, horrrified to find that the chicks themselves have been predated – possibly by a local fox or badger. It’s a heartbreaking revelation but Dermot points Colin toward another nest in a safer location further down the coast – a tiny island just off the cliffs of Connemara where three chicks are almost ready to fly. Guess what they’re feeding on? Lizards. What else?

In episode 3 Colin ventures out to Inishmurray Island in search of an eiderduck and goes lizard spotting around Howth head. Colin ventures out to Inishmurray Island off the coast of Sligo in search of a duck. But not just any duck: a bird that once kept the islanders warm at night. The islanders have long since departed, but every May, the eiderducks come to shore to mate. The island’s coast teems with males, easily identified by a distinctive black and white body and pale green head. The brown coloured females, however, who move to the centre of the island to brood their eggs, are hidden amongst the brambles and bushes. Ensconsed next to the lake at the centre of the island, Colin waits patiently to just see the newly-hatched eiderduck chicks make their way across the island to the sea for the first time before they’re even a day old. It’s a journey fraught with danger as black-backed gulls and herring gulls scour for easy prey. As it turns out, Colin has arrived at just the right time. Within 24 hours, the chicks hatch and soon set out for the sea where a huge swell has come in on the western side of the island. Every year thousands walk along the cliffs of Howth Head, unaware that only feet away from the path lurks Ireland’s only native reptile, the viviparous Lizard. In late September Colin meets reptile expert Rob Gandola who travels the world studying all kinds of reptiles. Rob, however, has a special place in his heart for the native Irish lizard and his enthusiasm is infectious! The pair come across a baby lizard that sits on Colins thumb, no bigger than a two euro coin, its tail already growing back from a previous altercation despite being only 2-3 months old. The challenge switches to finding an adult male Lizard and it doesn’t take long for Rob to spot the amazing colours and examine the design on the underbelly of a prime example of the species. Soon, it’s Colin’s turn for a close encounter as another lizard emerges to bas

Colin takes to the high seas in search of Blue Sharks off the coast of Cork. Setting out from Kinsale, he joins skipper Butch Roberts on an angling trip Colin takes to the high seas in search of Blue Sharks off the coast of Cork. Setting out from Kinsale, he joins skipper Butch Roberts on an angling trip. Not too long ago, Blue Shark angling in Ireland was a brutal affair in which caught sharks frequently died on board ship, but thankfully, times have changed. Irish anglers now contribute to one of the largest tagging programmes anywhere in the world, catching and releasing sharks after fitting them with tags supplied by the Irish Fisheries Board and recording measurements for research purposes. This has been extremely useful in compiling a database of shark numbers and sizes off the coast of Ireland. Colin spends the day with Butch and Paul Deane as they tour 13 miles off the Cork coast hoping for a catch. Colin’s aim, naturally, is to film Blue Sharks for his first time in Irish waters. To do this, the sharks are lured towards the boat using Butch’s special Rubby Dubby (mackerel ground up with bran) which attracts sharks from kilometres away but stinks up the boat something awful. Despite rough seas and wet weather, the lads succeed in tagging and releasing a beautiful female Blue Shark and Colin dives into the cloud of Rubby Dubby to see her swim away. Next comes the science. Colin meets Tom Doyle and Luke Harman from University College Cork with a view to tagging two Blue Sharks with tags giving different types of information One is a Smart Position Only (SPOT) tag that sends real-time data back to the university every time the shark breaks the surface. The other is a satellite tag which will disengage after 70 days and send back a welter of location, depth and behaviour data. Once again, Colin battles the elements to get his shots and Tom and Luke end a perfect day by catching two sharks, one male one female, from whom the tags will generate

Colin meets up with owl expert John Lusby to assess the current state of Barn Owls in Ireland. John works and surveys owl populations in the Duhallow region of North Cork – a real Barn Owl stronghold in Ireland. John, who spends his summers traveling around the country measuring and monitoring the health of the Barn Owl chick population, knows the location of nearly every Barn Owl nest in the country but when Barbara Lucey calls with a new nest in a very special location, John just has to check it out. Barbara woke one night to what she thought was the sound of her husband snoring before realising the noise was coming from outside the house. In Barbara’s garden is a tree that was hit by lightening six years ago, and here she found two barn owl chicks. These days, the tree is home to a charming owl family, with two new chicks tucked up in the nest waiting for their parents to bring them food. After an initial inspection and a chat with the neighbours, John returns the chicks to their nest and observes them as they make their famous night calling. A few weeks later, Colin returns to the tree to set up his scaffolding and hide before settling down for a night. Armed with a night-vision camera and special lights that block out white light, it’s not long before the chicks make their appearance, and their distinctive vocalisation which, in the past, was often mistaken for the call of the banshee. Colin’s eagerness to get the best shot of a feed gets the better of him. An accidental noise from the hide alerts the mother owl, who gives a startling rendition of her alarm call, bringing an otherwise successful evenings filming to a close.

In the final episode of this series Colin Stafford Johnson offers a guide through the Irish wildlife year In the final episode of this series Colin picks out a series of natural events that take place over a calendar year. Many people believe that all the things they see on Living the Wildlife aren’t accessible to everyone but this couldn’t be further from the truth as Colin offers a guide through the Irish wildlife year, from simply identifying butterflies to feeding garden birds in winter to jumping on a boat and going whale watching off the south coast. The episode begins in Castlegregory in Co Kerry, where every April the natterjack toads make their way to the breeding ponds and begin calling. The event only lasts a couple of nights but it’s a real cacophony of sound. The journey continues to Wicklow to listen to the dawn chorus, on to the high seas in search of basking sharks, lampreys in Co Limerick, a visit to seabird colonies in mid-summer and watching otters in Westport. It’s a real whistle stop tour of the country and some of its most spectacular events, taking in the extensive Living the Wildlife library footage and showcasing it in an incredible half hour of television.