ALL TOO RARE Curlew’s days are numbered

A curlew wading through the water in the Timoleague estuary this week. Research this week from UK-based charity Curlew Action claimed the bird is likely to be extinct in Ireland within a decade. It is estimated there are only 105 pairs of the bird left in Ireland, down from around 5,000 in the 1980s. The 98% decline is due to afforestaion in inappropriate areas, agricultural intensification, disturbance, pollution and climate change.                      

(Photo: Andy Gibson)