A little celebration of Irish Wildlife
World Wildlife Day – 3 March2022
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Tag Archives: Ireland’s Wildlife
Wild New Year 5th January
So the final of my 12 days of Christmas wild things I thought I would also choose some of my favourite nature images of 2021, as it also links nicely with this week’s lens-artist challenge.
I took lots of frog photographs when the frogs were mating in the garden pond, and to find a favourite is really hard. But I decided on this monochrome image.
Garden robins bring our family so much joy. “Robin friend” was so tame he was happy to preen and sing right in front of us, so I have to include more than one photograph.
I just love ladybirds and getting a good ladybird photograph is hard, but I really like this one.
Once spring comes flowers and bees become my main focus. So I had quite a lot of images to choose from.
Seeing a large pod of dolphins from the coast during the summer was a real privilege, so while not the best of photographs this is a special memory for me from 2021.
And below just a few other favourites.
There were quite a few rainbows in 2021 too, so it seems a fitting place to end. And also to thank all those who followed me in 2021, thank you for your support and encouragement.
Wild Christmas 24th-27th December
Cathy alerted me to the fact that in the UK, the Wildlife Trust challenge people to the 12 Days Wild at Christmas, running from the 25th December to the 5th January. The idea is to do something to help nature but I was thinking it may be nice opportunity to just observe and record nature too. I am going to try and share with you what I see each day. I am starting on the 24th though as this may well be one of my wildlife highlights of the year.
December 24th
We went for a local walk and spotted these two Irish hare in our neighbours field. I think they thought it was spring as they were chasing each other around.
Hares, and particularly Irish hares, are among my favourite animals.
They ran though the whole field, coming quite close at times.
December 25th
All I have to show for this day is our Christmas tree. This year it is a birch tree.
December 26th
We enjoyed a lovely walk with my sister and spotted this raven who appeared to be cleaning his beak on this old fence post.
December 27th
A finally a cute little mushroom from our walk today, not sure if it is going to grow to a shaggy ink cap or if it is something totally different.
More to follow during the week.
Lens-Artists Challenge #120 – What A Treat!
Here in Ireland, we find ourselves in lockdown again. So we have to stay within 5km of our homes. So for this week’s lens artist challenge it was a case of heading back over the year’s photos and seeing what types of treats there were.
Seeing and being able to photograph wildlife is always a treat for me.
bumblebee on knapweed
White butterfly on verbena
Tortoiseshell on scabious
Male bullfinch enjoying dandelion seeds
grasshopper
Silent Sunday
Taking a break
One of my favourite things to do to relax is go somewhere with with my camera, and see what wildlife I can find. Here are some of my favourites from the summer.
Pyramid Orchid – it seems to have been a good year for these beautiful orchids.
Dark-green fritillary butterful likes flower rich coastal habitats which is exactly where I spotted this beauty, near Ross in Co Mayo.
Also at the coast but this time at Cross beach in Belmullet this amazing see-through and pink jellyfish. Haven’t identified this one yet so open to suggestions.
Something else I haven’t identified yet is this (wet) hairy caterpillar!
Of course I have to add a bumblebee (white tailed) – this one feeding on ragworth, hence all the yellow pollen on it’s body.
Inspired by this week Lens-Artist Photo Challenge – taking a break
Saint Mark’s flies
Today, 25th April is St Mark’s day and I have never seen so many St Mark’s flies around us. Whether it is the couple of warm days we’ve had over the Easter or just a bumper year for these odd little flies I am not sure. One of the distinctive features of these flies is their dangling legs. They are found around woodland edges, hedgerows and wetlands.
St Mark flies – Bibio marci
I think when I took these photos only the males were about. They have larger eyes and are blacker and smaller than the females.
The flies are harmless and feed on nectar so are also accidentally pollinators. They only have a short flying life cycle and spend much of their lies as larva in the soil when they eat rotting vegetation.
Bibio marci
Murtagh's Meadow 