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Arab News
23-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
In tune with nature: expert sounds out all of Ireland's bird species
COBH, Ireland: On a mission to record all of Ireland's bird species, many of which are dying out, Irishman Sean Ronayne calls his unique audio archive a tool to both raise alarm and bring hope. According to conservation bodies, some 63 percent of Ireland's birds are currently either red or amber-listed, meaning they are at severe or moderate extinction risk. 'Birds are in trouble in Ireland like they are across the world, the loss of wildlife — sonically and physically — is devastating to me,' said the 37-year-old. 'But I focus on hope and beauty, which is essential,' the ornithologist told AFP at his home near Cobh (pronounced 'Cove') in County Cork. More than four years into his recording project he has sampled 201 different Irish bird species, stocking over 12,000 audio clips from around the country, Ronayne told AFP. Just two remain to be documented: the great skua, and red-breasted merganser. 'If people realize just how spectacular wildlife is, there's no way they would let it disappear, attitudes would change,' Ronayne said. Ireland may be famed for its green fields, but Ronayne paints a bleak picture — 'realistic' he says — of a degraded landscape and a bird population decimated by vanishing habitats. Most of Ireland comprises intensively farmed fields bounded by trimmed hedgerows, drained and mined peatlands, overgrazed uplands, and minimal native woodland, he told AFP. Non-native conifer plantations — approximately nine percent of Ireland's 11 percent forest cover — are also a biodiversity villain, described by Ronayne as 'a species-poor industrial cash-crop.' 'I try to show people the beauty of what we're erasing and what we must stand up and fight for,' said the wildlife expert. Last year he published an award-winning book, released two albums, and made an acclaimed documentary film. His talk tour is currently selling out venues around Ireland. 'Wildlife sound is such a great engaging tool to connect people to nature itself and get them acquainted with everything that's on their doorstep,' Ronayne told AFP. 'If you know your neighbor you're more likely to help them in times of need,' he said. At the shows Ronayne, who was diagnosed with a form of autism as an adult, presents the story of his life and how nature is woven through it. He also plays audio of warbles, tweets, trills, screeches and chirps, and mystery sounds, inviting the audience to guess the origin. Some clips show birds mimicking other animals like dogs, people and other bird species. 'Some species in my collection can mimic 30 to 40 other species in their song,' he said. Laughter is common at his talks, but also tears and grief as listeners learn of Ireland's endangered birdlife. Ronayne regularly holds 'dawn chorus' walks, bringing small groups into silent forests far from road noise to experience the birdlife waking up. A gradually building cacophony of sound, the dawn chorus is 'a reflection of the health of a given environment,' he told AFP in an old woodland near his home while waiting for sunrise. 'The more sonically diverse it is, the healthier the habitat is,' he said. After unpacking his audio recorder, parabolic microphone and tripod, he quickly identified the melodies of song thrushes, robins, blackbirds, goldcrests and others as they greeted the day. 'Chiffchaff! Did you hear that?! There's a grey wagtail!' he exclaimed, head twitching toward each sound in the lifting gloom. Ronayne also hides recorders for weeks and even months in remote untouched places where birds congregate. On Ballycotton beach near Cobh, migrating birds swirled overhead before settling on an adjacent lagoon. Ronayne carefully placed a waterproof recorder — able to run for up two weeks — in grass by the shore. 'They have to fly right over here to there,' he said pointing upwards at their route. 'After I collect it I'll be able to monitor the birds, capture their calls, and tell environmental stories from the audio,' he said. Back home, he scrolled on a computer showing thousands of archived sonogram clips — visual representations of sound — of birdsong audio. Each entry included data on the behavior, calls and protected status of each bird: many either red or amber. 'First we must realize how wonderful nature is, then how fragile it is, and how much we have kicked it down,' Ronayne told AFP. 'When we as a society fall back in love with nature, and respect it as we once did, beautiful things will happen.'
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Planting trees is not back-breaking work
Matt Powell suggests the Sycamore Gap vandals be punished by an order to plant 2,000 trees each, describing this as 'loathsome, back-breaking work' (Letters, 14 May). It's a creative idea but, as a former forestry worker with years of tree-planting experience and a fine, unbroken back, I take issue with his description. It's healthy work, far more satisfying than many jobs, and planting 2,000 trees would only be about 10 hours' work at a reasonable PeaseInchigeela, County Cork, Ireland Jane Lowe wonders if she and her husband were 'sten party' trendsetters in 1979 (Letters, 18 May). My wife-to-be and I held a similar event in a riverside pub on the night before our wedding in 1965. Great CardenDenton, Norfolk When I married in 1998, I was the only male in a team of around a dozen workers. On the evening before my wedding, my female colleagues treated me to a meal out and referred to the event as 'Iain's hag party'. (Their words, not mine!)Iain LindsayOxford South Kesteven district council is to hold a festival for the centenary of Margaret Thatcher's birth. What form will the celebrations take? Is it planning to make half of the council employees redundant?Alex BaxterSouthgate, London A short note of gratitude for the friendship and support of Duncan Campbell (Obituary, 17 May), without whom Fair Trials would not have JakobiRichmond, London Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Body of 'murdered' woman found wrapped in black plastic under stairs of home she shared with husband, trial hears
The body of a missing woman was found wrapped in black plastic under the stairs of the home she shared with her husband, a court has been told. Tina Satchwell was discovered buried in a deep clandestine grave - dressed in her dressing gown and pyjamas and with shards of glass in her head and arm - at the house she lived in with her murder-accused husband, Richard Satchwell. A forensic officer said he noticed poured concrete was different to other cement on the ground under the stairs during a search of the property in County Cork, Ireland, in October 2023. Satchwell, 58, of Grattan Street in Youghal, is accused of murdering his wife Tina between March 19 and 20 2017. He denies the charge. Satchwell, originally from Leicester in England, formally reported his wife missing on May 11 2017. He initially claimed he believed she had left their family home because their relationship had deteriorated and she had taken 26,000 euros in cash they kept in the attic. Her remains were found buried under a concrete floor under the stairs in their home. Detective Garda Karen McCarthy told the Central Criminal Court in Dublin that she took samples from the body of Mrs Satchwell at Cork University Hospital where a post-mortem examination was taking place on October 12. Detective McCarthy said that she recovered Mrs Satchwell's dressing gown with a belt around it, her pyjama top and bottoms, underwear and a purse that was found in the left pocket of the gown. She said that the purse contained a Public Services Card with the name of Tina Satchwell, a Holland & Barrett rewards card, as well as a membership card for Rathcormac car boot sale. The court was also told that shards of glass were found in her head and arm and that she had been wrapped in a blanket. A sample of her head hair and toenail were also taken for DNA testing. The jury also heard about the moment a forensic archaeologist found a hand as they dug under the stairs of the Youghal home. Detective Garda Brian Barry, who is involved in the investigation of major crime scenes, was accompanied by building contractors to help in the invasive search on October 10, 2023. They were alerted to an area at the stairs by the garda search dog, Fern. Detective Barry said that he used purple lighting to look under the stairs and could see different coloured concrete. He described it as 'newer concrete' which he said was 'very suspicious to me' and was 'unusual'. 'I certainly took an interest in this,' he told the court. The builders used special kango hammers to break the concrete and they dug until they discovered black plastic sheeting about 64cm from the ground level. Detective Barry said it was unusual and he was 'very suspicious'. The contractors were told the stop digging and Detective Barry contacted the crime scene manager to require the forensic archaeologists to attend the area. Retired detective sergeant Shane Curran, a former member of the technical bureau and crime scene manager of the search, said that the dog was returned to the scene and confirmed the presence of human remains by going into 'freeze mode'. He said that two archaeologists and later a forensic anthropologist assisted in the recovery of the remains. He said they found the human remains of Mrs Satchwell buried deep under the concrete. He said that it was around 74cm to the depth of the burial site. The retired detective agreed that the process was slow and painstaking to ensure that all evidence was preserved. He described the excavation as 'complex', and said that Mrs Satchwell's remains were fully excavated on the morning of October 12. He said that metal detection equipment and ground penetrating radar was also used during the search, which had been scheduled to last a week. The court was told that the initial plan was to remove walls inside the property and knock down an extension at the back of the building as part of the search. This plan did not proceed following the discovery of Mrs Satchwell's remains. The trial continues.
South China Morning Post
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Meet Graham Norton's husband, Jonathan ‘Jono' McLeod: a Scottish documentarian, he won a Bafta for his film starring Alan Cumming – but does he stand a chance against Norton's dogs?
Famed Irish TV host Graham Norton quietly tied the knot with his long-term partner of six years, Jonathan 'Jono' McLeod, in 2022. The couple held their wedding at Bantry House in County Cork, Ireland, where Norton, 62, spent his childhood. Graham Norton, host of the BBC's The Graham Norton Show. Photo: Handout Advertisement He told Attitude in a February 2024 interview that he was enjoying married life, having been 59 when he wed. 'I was older, so I went into it with my eyes wide open. You know the pitfalls of relationships, the dangers. But I met someone who I was willing to take a bet on,' he said. Jonathan 'Jono' McLeod at last December's British Independent Film Awards. Here's the A to Z on Jonathan McLeod, the man who finally got the host of The Graham Norton Show to settle down. He's a Scottish filmmaker Jonathan 'Jono' McLeod with the Best Director – Factual Award for film My Old School at the 2023 Bafta Scotland Awards in Glasgow. Jonathan 'Jono' McLeod is a Scottish filmmaker. He's worked on various projects over the years but is best known for his 2022 documentary, My Old School, starring Alan Cumming. The movie earned McLeod a Bafta award for Best Director – Factual in 2023. He's spoken about the struggles of being gay
