Terry Flanagan

Let's go to Terry Flanagan now at his home in Dublin 15.

Terence, tell us about your report for this week.

Yes, well, Derek, you were talking about hooded crows earlier.

Well, this week's report is with Dr. Fionn O'Markic.

Fionn is working with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and they're undertaking a study monitoring rookery numbers throughout the country.

And they're doing this to compare it with a similar survey conducted in 2017.

Fionn has two study areas in County Kildare.

Each is a square five kilometres by five kilometres.

And I recently met up with him as he undertook a count at one of his study sites.

Okay, there's probably, what, 10 or 12 or maybe more nests there, are there?

And they're all on the top of those trees there.

I think they look like sycamore trees.

Now you're doing research on these rooks, not just at this particular rookery, but in the whole of North Kildare.

Most people like birds, but rooks and crows in general are not that well liked.

However, despite that, and despite the fact that they live in close association to humans, their numbers seem to be doing really well.

That's really interesting because no matter where you go in Ireland, particularly rural Ireland, you hear that sound that we're listening to here now.

And that's why it's so important to continue doing this research, which to some people might say, oh, should we always know that there's lots and lots of roots there?

But we really need the data to show that.

Okay, I just watched one here.

He's just landing overhead.