Horizons

Hardy individuals with a passion for birds will arise before dawn tomorrow to join fellow enthusiasts in parks around the country to hear early morning birdsong. Birdwatch Ireland's National Dawn Chorus day is a celebration of wildlife offering participants the opportunity to learn how to distinguish between different bird songs and discover which bird species to most expect in their local area.

Here's a sample of events on tomorrow: Birdwatchers in north Dublin are meeting in the car-parks of Newbridge House, Donabate and Ardgillan House, Skerries at 5.30 a.m.; In south Dublin, birdwatchers are meeting in the car-park of Dunnes Stores, Cornelscourt at 4 a.m. to go to Cabinteely Park; Birdwatchers in Galway are meeting at 5.30 a.m. in the grounds of NUI Galway at Dangan, along the River Corrib and in Coole Park near Gort, Co Galway; Birdwatchers in Cork are meeting at 4.50 a.m. in the car park of Lissard Estate on the Castletownshend Road, half a mile outside Skibbereen.

Meanwhile, celebrity birdwatchers, artist Don Conroy and Wexford Wildfowl Reserve warden Chris Wilson, will record the events at the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, meeting at Culleton's Gap, Raven Wood, Curracloe, Co Wexford at 4.30 a.m. and RTÉ's Mooney Goes Wild team will be recording the early morning birdsong in Cuskinny Reserve, Cork.

See www.birdwatchireland.ie for full details.

For those who prefer to pursue their interest in birds from the comfort of their own homes (and gardens), checking out the proceedings of the first Eurovision Bird Song Contest is a must. Twenty European countries have nominated the song of their favourite bird. Ireland's entry is the Song Thrush. The idea originated with the Estonian Ornithological Society and the Estonian Fund for Nature with the aim of drawing the public's attention to European birds and the protection they require.

The recordings of the nominated birdsong are on the website, www.birdeurovision.org and everyone is invited to vote for their favourite song before May 25th. The winner will be announced on that day in Tallinn, Estonia, on the same day as Eurosong 2002.

The need for a national survey of chlorine levels in drinking water was stressed at How Pure is Our Water, a recent conference in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. John Hanily, principal environmental health officer at the Western Health Board, called for the national survey when he found that just under 70 per cent of drinking water samples had levels of chlorine unacceptable by EU water quality standards. The risks of high levels of chlorine (which are used to disinfect water supplies) are linked to the chemical by-products, specifically chloroforms which are formed due to excessive chlorination. These chemical compounds are associated with increased risk of colon and bladder cancers, miscarriages and birth defects. "When you consider that water is now legally defined as a food, consumers are entitled to know about any chemical additives in water," said Hanily.

A series of workshops entitled Composting Made Easy will start on Wednesday. Venues include Finglas, Ringsend and ENFO in St Andrew's Street. Contact the Irish Wildlife Trust on 01-6768588

Web World

www.earthsummit-ireland.org This website was set up by Irish Environmental NGOs as a forum to discuss issues preceeding the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa in August/September this year. The view was that the Government's submission might whitewash over any contentious issues. However, so far there seems to be very little online debate and very few proposals. So what's the problem, guys?