Naturefile

RTÉ lyric fm

Naturefile is a celebratory journey to the lesser-known realms of nature in Ireland with Anja Murray. With surprising stories uncovered each week, about everything from lichens to trees, Swallows to Sea Eagles, starfish and turtles, there are elements of science, history and folklore.

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

82 episodes
Updated July 25

Episodes82

Newest first

Oct 14, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Deer Rut
At the dawning of each day through the month of October, deer lock antlers in a fierce mating battle. The deer rut is a contest between males - the winner will acquire the right to a whole harem of females. This week Nature File is all about the autumn deer rut. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 7, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Alder
One of Ireland's most widely distributed trees, often found in damp boggy areas and along river banks. Like most broad-leaved trees, Alnus glutinosa flowers before the leaves are out with attractive long reddish catkins appearing as early as January. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 30, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Octopus
An octopus, octopuses or octopodes is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class of squids, cuttlefish and nautiloids See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 23, 2023 · 7 min
Naturefile - The Rowan Tree
Rowan trees grow well in the mountains, so it's well known as Mountain Ash. Berries are ripening now and provide important food for thrushes and other birds through the winter months, hence they'll often be closely guarded by the birds who covet it! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 16, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Sturgeon
Sturgeon are enormous fish, swimming in oceans and rivers since the time of the dinosaurs. Our hunter gatherer ancestors feasted on Sturgeon, as did more recent medieval communities in Ireland and across the continent. Now Sturgeon have been gone from Irish waters since the 1980s, though there are plans afoot to bring them back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 9, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Crabapples
Wild crab apples are the tart little ancestors of thousands of varieties of domesticated apples, often planted or seeded wild in hedges near old farmsteads. This morning we explore this fruit, which is ripe in September and sustains many bugs and beasts through the autumn months. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 2, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - The Colour Purple
As the vibrant greens of summer morph into brown and golds of early autumn, wildflowers seem to love coming out in purple. From ‘devil’s-bit scabious’ to blankets of wild heathers, purples are a popular colour at this time of year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 26, 2023 · 5 min
Naturefile -
Scallop is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 19, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Ants
There are thousands of ant species across the world, but here are some you are more likely to find in Ireland. Anja tells us more! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 12, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Alien Wildflowers
Terms such as wild, native or alien are often used by botanists but what exactly do they mean? How long does a plant have to have occurred here to count as native? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 5, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Choughs
Now that the chicks have fledged, Red-billed choughs can be seen soaring over the coastline in flocks and gathering together on clifftops and coastal grassland, where they to poke their distinctive red beak in the ground in search of small insects to eat. Explore the unexpected ways of being a chough in Nature File this Saturday morning. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 29, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Wild Peas
Wild peas are clambering through hedges, woodland edges and pockets of wild tangled growth right now, using their climbing tentacles to help them get to the light. These delicate wild flowering plants are the original ancestors of domestic pea. Discover the world of wild peas on nature file this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 22, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Cold water coral reefs
Spectacular coral reefs thrive on Ireland’s continental margin, some reaching over 100m in height, teeming with life forms of every description. Discover the strange world of Irelands’ cold water coral reefs this Saturday morning on Nature File. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 15, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Puffins
During the summer months, puffins are tending to their young, with their yellow, red and orange bills stuffed with sand eels and sprat to bring to the baby birds, who are still hidden away in burrows. Explore the strange world of puffins in this weeks Nature File with Anja Murray. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 8, 2023 · 5 min
Naturefile - Mice
Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse. Mice are also popular as pets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 1, 2023 · 5 min
Natuefile - Aromatic Herbs
Most of the aromatic herbs we are familiar with are more at home in the Mediterranean, though native plants such as bog rosemary, wild thyme, sorrel and water mint have long been used for adding flavour to food. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 24, 2023 · 5 min
Naturefile -Lizards
Across the worlds there are many types of Lizard, but one one species made it to Ireland, and here they manage to live discreetly, going largely unnoticed by us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 17, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Osprey
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 10, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - solitary bee
There are 70 different species of solitary bee in Ireland, these are different to bumble bees and honey bees, but are often hard to tell apart from a wasp or a fly! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 3, 2023 · 6 min
Naturefile - Pilot whales
Pilot whales live far from land, out on the deep water habitats along the Rockall trough and along the continental shelf. There these highly social animals live among close family for their entire lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.