Paul Moore is a tillage farmer in east Cork who remembers, in 1980, skylarks singing on his land. These days, if you visit his part of Cork and ask for skylarks, the answer is simple: they are all but gone. [ Rathlin Island sees feral ferrets eradicated for the first timeOpens in new window ]A year later, in 2023, Moore heard skylarks singing in cereal fields at Oakpark in Carlow. Moore put the word out, and soon farmers from Dublin, Louth, Offaly and Carlow had confirmed that skylarks were breeding in cereal fields, some for many years. Perhaps skylarks in Ireland had adapted to cereal fields – places which aren’t ideal, but offer something modern grassland no longer could: time.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2026 07:32 UTC