Irish Extra – April 2023
Saint Patricks day heralds the end of the Gun packs season in my local area. They have a mixed pack of hounds and many of these too are mixed with hound spaniel crosses, harrier beagle crosses and many others, if it hunts its welcome! The club hunt various areas locally throughout the winter and do a great job keeping the fox numbers at an acceptable level. We are right in the middle of sheep country and while nobody would want to eradicate foxes, it is necessary to keep the population level. These types of packs are the back bone of a rural community, many of the guns have been involved since they were young boys and know the land, landowners and farmers well and their visits are most welcome and a valuable service to farmers and others within the local area. The guns now spend the Spring and summer months keeping the pack busy with exercise, kennel work and preparations for next season.
The hooded crow has been in my sights recently as part of a Wading Bird project I have been involved in over the last couple of years. I can’t say the Hooded Crow is a particularly attractive bird to look at, but it is fascinating none the less. They are cut from a different cloth and are a particularly tough bird that has little fear of anything and have no problem giving you a good firm nip should they get the opportunity. Their claws too are very heavy duty and I feel can give you as good a squeeze as a Harris Hawk should you not look what you are doing. While running a good line of Larsen traps over a moorland type area I have found my catches to be sporadic. One day there could be a bird or two in each trap and then nothing for a few days, and then perhaps three of the traps will be full with nothing for another few days. The weather seems to play a part in this and looking over my records there is a definite increase in catches on the colder and wetter days and this year we had three or four days of reasonable snow for the time of year and of course the traps were going non-stop. The Hooded crow there is no doubt, can do a lot of harm to livestock and other animals, often harming young lambs as well as song birds,nests and leverets etc. They appear not too fussy about what they eat and only just this morning I observed a pair feasting quite happily on a road kill badger which has been there for over a week.
Consultation on “Open Seasons Order”
14 of the 21 species covered under the Open Seasons Order (Ireland) have been highlighted as being of national-level concern in 2019, on foot of a National Parks and Wildlife Services report to the EU on the status of bird species in Ireland, while 15 are listed as Amber or Red on Birdwatch Ireland’s Birds of Conservation Concern Ireland (BOCCI) list.
The review aims to bring forward proposals to ensure that the hunting of these species is sustainable, and in line with Ireland’s obligations to safeguard threatened bird species and the “principles of wise use” under the EU Birds Directive. It also seeks to gather views on the steps that could be put in place, for example, with respect to improvements in data collection and the management of the Order to protect vulnerable bird species. The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcolm Noonan, has launched a public consultation on the review of the Open Seasons Order for birds, which allows for the hunting of certain bird species. Mr Noonan commented on the consultation:
“Our aim is to continue to restore and preserve the conservation status of vulnerable bird species, and in the context of hunting and the Open Seasons Order, to support sustainable hunting practices. We must also develop better processes for data collection and periodic review of the Open Seasons Order. This must be collaborative, and based on scientific evidence.”
The public consultation forms part of Ireland’s review of the Annex II bird species included on the Open Seasons Order (see Notes below for further information on Annex II), with a view to ensuring that hunting of these species is on a sustainable footing.
In parallel, the National Parks and Wildlife Service is undertaking an analysis of available data in order to inform decisions on the retention or removal of species, or to the amendment of the open season for particular species. NPWS is also seeking to set out other short, medium, and long-term actions that will be required to meet Birds Directive obligations and to ensure the sustainability of the Open Seasons Order. As part of this public consultation, the NPWS will engage with stakeholder groups and members of the public to consider how best to manage the Open Seasons Order, and to gain a clearer picture on the impact of hunting on threatened bird species. I would encourage everyone to take part in the survey which can be found online quite easily by searching “Open Seasons Order”.
Tuna Time!
It is often unknown that Ireland hosts a magnificent fish and the opportunity to catch them each year. The magnificent Blue Fin Tuna has been part of a catch and release tagging programme over the last number of years which gives anglers the opportunity to catch these amazing fish while also providing much needed and important data on the species. etween 2019 and 2022, some 1,500 Atlantic bluefin tuna were successfully caught, tagged, measured and released off the Irish coast by authorised charter skippers. The largest tuna tagged to date in the programme was 2.75m, weighing an estimated 372kg. All tuna were carefully managed in the water alongside the charter vessel, subject to strict guidelines set by the Tuna CHART programme, and all were released alive. Data from the tagging programme have been collated by the partnership for reporting to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).
The core aim of the Tuna CHART programme is to collect data and tag these large fish, which is underpinned by ensuring good fish welfare, leading to successful release of the bluefin tuna. Authorised skippers will be required to collect data on every bluefin trip undertaken and each bluefin tuna they catch, tag and release and their angling and data recording expertise is an important part of the overall survey programme.
Well done to “Enno Vom Lankernbrok” owned and handled by Jake Vangrove who travelled to Germany from Ireland last month along with my old pal and last years Irish HPR Team Captain & my good friend Derek Oconnor and Conaill McAdam to take part in a working trial. Enno scored 74 in a VJP trial taking joint third amongst 22 other dogs which was impressive to say the least. The lads had a fantastic few days in Germany were they were made very welcome and enjoyed the finest of German hospitality, they are looking forward to returning once again in the Autumn with Enno for the next step on his journey. It is very admirable that a handler would take his dog back to its home country to participate in trials and working exams and I wish both Enno and Jake “Veil Gluck” for the future.
Irish Shots
Jenkinstown Gun Club members young & old meeting with the local school principal to promote the NARGC school colouring competition, a great initiative for future country sports enthusiasts.