FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

Puffin in flight  ( Chris Gomersall ) Excitement is building for the re-opening of one of Northern Ireland’s most iconic tourist destinations, the Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre. Rathlin Island is Northern Ireland’s only inhabited island and is also home to one of the UK’s largest seabird colonies.

Four of the UK's bird species, including  Puffin  and  Turtle Dove , have today [Thursday 29 October 2015] been added to the list of birds considered to be facing the risk of global extinction. The latest annual revision of birds on the  IUCN Red List , which has been announced by BirdLife International on behalf of the IUCN, doubles the number of UK bird species considered to be facing the risk of extinction to eight. The IUCN Red List assesses the threat of extinction for each bird species. Those with no immediate threat of extinction are listed as Least Concern. Those species considered to be facing a threat of global extinction are listed in three levels of descending threat: Critically Endangered; Endangered; and Vulnerable. Shockingly, a further 14 UK species are considered to be Near Threatened, meaning that any further deterioration in their status could see them added to the Red List too. Turtle Dove  has declined massively in Britain ( Photo...