Horizons

By SYLVIA THOMPSON

By SYLVIA THOMPSON

A bird in the hand

Birdwatch Ireland’s annual Garden Bird Survey is up and running for 2009/2010. Now in its 16th year, the survey monitors winter bird populations.

“Watching birds in the winter garden brings cheer to cold, dark days and participants have the satisfaction of helping different species survive,” says Oran O’Sullivan of Birdwatch Ireland. “Increased participation helps us track changes and provides data on biodiversity.”

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After a succession of mild winters, 2008/2009 brought the coldest conditions in 18 years. Meterologists are predicting a white Christmas this year. See birdwatchireland.ie for tips on feeding wild birds in the winter months.

Being green this Christmas

Have yourself a clean, green Christmas – that’s the message from Repak, which is encouraging householders to recycle all the extra packaging that comes with the festivities. While Irish people have one of the best records in Europe for recycling, cleanliness is still an issue. So remember to keep all cardboard clean and dry and remove plastic inserts before flattening for recycling. Glass bottles and jars should be empty and rinsed out, with their lids left off. Food cans should also be clean, with lids left inside. And yes, aluminium trays from take-aways can be recycled, but cleaned first. Used batteries can now be brought back to shops which sell batteries and check out sites like freetrade.ie to pass on unwanted gifts. See repak.ie for details of local recycling centres.

Assembling a sporting list

The Irish Sporting Heritage Project is a new project whose aim is to assemble a comprehensive online database of sport in Ireland since the mid-19th century.

Funded by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the project will give details of all sports, from cricket to tennis, Gaelic football, golf and boxing.

The project co-ordinator, Roisin Higgins, is currently seeking information from the public on past and present sporting sites in their locality.

See irishsportingheritage.com, e-mail higgins@irishsportingheritage.com or tel: 01-614 7452 for more details.

Ecoweb

Check out this community-based bicycle recycling project which accepts donated bicycles, repairs them and resells or donates them to disadvantaged groups. Cycling training is also available. www.rothar.ie