Crab Graveyard

While birdwatching down at Liscannor Harbour my attention was diverted to what could be only described as a Crab Graveyard.One would wonder what impact the removal of this amount of crab regular from within Lahinch bay does to the natural function of such a marine ecosytem.
I dont know.

Great Black-backed Gull eats Sandwitch Tern

I was sat watching and listening to the Terns at Lady Island Lake , Wexford
A Great Black-backed Gull flys in -proceeds to kill and eat a juvenile Sandwitch Tern.
The best bits were not photographed as views were so much better in the scope.

A day round Tacumshin coastlines

 I started my at East end car park ,8am  at around 9;30 along the channel I picked up sight of a Marsh Harrier in the scope ,but disappeared as quickly as it showed. 

I did a few laps of the area with only the regular birds on show around the lake. I stopped at the Sluice gate for a while , It was getting hot in the day...nobody around  I found myself in a desert scene, I headed of along the dunes

While walking within the heat of the day , lots of Common Terns and a Roseate Tern passed by me  heading in and out to sea ,

Common Tern

 Roseate Tern

Stonechat 

Pyramidal Orchids bloom

Pyramidal Orchids add a spark of colour  to patches above the high water mark near Lahinch marsh

Ringlet Butterfly

The Ringlet has a short flight time of about 8 weeks. 

Viewed from above they seem quite velvet black, and underwing the spots stand out with a white eye

Can be seen feeding and flitting around bramble flowers.

Common Blue & Small Heath

Common Blue and Small Heath Butterflies are massing in our bogs and grasslands.

A simple walk should be enough to see them

Puffins of The Cliffs of Moher

The Puffin colony around Aile na` Sharrah side of The Cliffs of Moher seems very healthy , 5-10 metres up on the grass patches they bask in the evening sun,the sky full of auks bringing food into the nests and 100`s were sitting out on the water as Puffins do in the late evening

Evening Cliff Trek

A stunning evening at The Cliffs of Moher.

I took my two eldest daughters and their friend on a trek to the base of the cliffs to see the Puffins.

Its was an exiting time for them on the steep decent and climb back, and a moment to remember for all their days.

 You dont forget your first time at the bottom  of this majestic place

We returned to the top to Fulmars gliding in a view of Sunset over the Aran Isles

Tutsan - Hypericum androsaemum

When I came across this quite exotic flower growing on the cascades of Ennistymon I thought it to be and introduced invasive species/ type.
But later I found out Tutsan native plant. When crushed it stinks like a Goat ,hense its other name Stinking Tutsan.

Black tailed Skimmer

 My family and I were out on The Burren near Carron on one of our nature treks
We were watching Black tailed Skimmers copulating in the air and on the limestone.
           Quite a specticle. Children .....Consider it.... evolution on the wing, in motion, right before your eyes.

 The male is the blue one ."The things we all learn"
 He must grip a female by the head or thorax and hold her in the tandem position, with claspers at the tip of his abdomen that fit neatly, like a lock and key, with a special plate on her thorax or behind her eyes.

Once the pair is in tandem, and the female is receptive, she will curl the tip of her abdomen around working the pair into that heartlike copulatory position.

Heath spotted Orchid

Heath spotted Orchid can range in colour from white,pink and purple.

ID can be difficult ,the middle lobe of 3 is shorter and they do flower a few weeks before Common spotted.

These are found along the Cliffwalk path,Doolin

Bee Orchid

I came across a small patch of Bee Orchids close to Lahinch marsh.

A species I always wanted to see and was hoping to find on the Burren this year.

It goes to show that even a local walk in the rain can throw up something to brighten the day.

"Cuckoo Daddy"

Ive spent a few evenings listening to the Cuckoos with my 2 year old boy...The Cuckoo called on Tv while watching Springwatch and my boy responded " Daddy Cuckoo"..A day later " Daddy Cuckoo..Cuckoo".. and there was this Cuckoo on the post outside the kitchen.
Im still yet to get a clear good photo of a Cuckoo, and in a week they will be gone.