Gearóid Ó Muilleoir, pen name Dúlra, is a wildlife buff who was brought up on the slopes of Belfast’s Black Mountain where he spent almost every waking moment hillwalking, birdwatching and fishing.
He’s witnessed massive changes in the local environment, with fields disappearing and nature retreating. “When I was young we had corncrakes breeding in the heart of west Belfast and a barn owl used to swoop down over the street as we played in the evening," he says.
“All that’s gone - but the one thing that has given me heart is the rewilding movement. Nature just needs to be given the space to do its thing without human interference and it can return from the brink.”
Gearóid has spent a lifetime in journalism, working with all the main newspapers here and he’s now production editor of the Sunday World. Outside of the environment, his other passion is the Irish language and he’s a regular on award-winning Belfast station Raidió Failte.
TYTO was a truly unique dog – on a global scale. She had special powers, so special that today dogs in France, Spain and Australia are following the path that she forged.
IF Dúlra was in a pantomime, they’d be screaming “It’s behind you!”
THIS bird could save Lough Neagh. It’s an osprey – iascaire coirneach in Irish – photographed by birdwatcher Michael Latham as it plucked a fish from the River Bann this week.
YOU know it’s going to be a good day when your favourite bird decides to drop in for lunch.
THE connection between nature, the environment and the Irish language was explored and celebrated at a recent unique event at Belfast’s Window on Wildlife.
WHEN five pairs of barn owls nested this spring around Lough Neagh and its County Antrim hinterland, it was the same number as last year. “We’re always happy if we hit the same number as we got before,” says owl saviour Ciarán Walsh, “although we do always want more.”
IT always takes a bit of effort to head to our mountaintops – they are cold and windy inhospitable places.
THIS is the common green grasshopper – but not just any common green grasshopper. This one lives in Dúlra’s garden. And that amazing image you’re looking at, well, Dúlra took it on his phone this week.
JUST a week after Dúlra hailed the authorities for letting wildflowers flourish under the Balls on the Falls, they were all obliterated.
IT’S just great – grass as thick as a sheep’s coat right in the centre of one of Belfast’s busiest junctions.
WHEN Dúlra’s two girls were young, he decided to take them to one of Belfast’s most famous landmarks, one that they would hopefully never forget – the summit of Cave Hill. They probably can’t remember it now – but Dúlra will never forget it!
THE RSPB’s embracing of the Irish language is certainly worth crowing about.
BY the time Germany scored their fourth goal last Friday night, the sky outside Dúlra’s front window matched Scotland’s mood – dark and foreboding. By 9pm the sun had set, the long June day was approaching its end and so he was almost as stunned as that poor Scottish team when a bird appeared outside, one that had never appeared there before.
IF Dúlra’d had a grand to spare, he would have bought the lot. Because as soon as he set eyes on the shelves full of old Observer books this week, his mind raced back to a time decades ago when he pored over every word in the tiny books, which are a mine of information.
SWIFTS are spectacular birds – perhaps the most spectacular of them all. They have evolved so much that they have all but abandoned land, becoming totally aerodynamic and preferring to spend their whole life on the wing. Except, of course, to breed.And that’s where their problems start, because people have robbed them of their breeding sites. Year after year in Belfast and towns and villages throughout the country, the wall cavities they once nested in have been filled in, while newbuilds aren’t bird-friendly.