Late July 13

Another random selection of stuff from the last week.

Young Wood Mouse, much nicer than your run of the mill House Mouse.

G1RRRW Sanderling, Omey Island 30th July 2013. Ringed Sandgerði,Iceland on 10th May 2011 and recorded for the first time at Omey Strand 4th August 2011, remained all winter and came back again the following winter.

G4YYGW Sanderling, Omey Strand, 30th July 2013. Ringed Sandgerði,Iceland on 20th May 2008 and first seen at Omey Strand on 7th August 2008. Been here every winter since.

G1RRRW and G4YYGW together on Omey Strand, 30th July 2013.

W6RYRY Sanderling, Gortnagaryaun Strand, Co. Mayo, 25th July 2013. Waiting on details.

Juvenile Common Gull, Mannin Bay, 23rd July 2013 feeding on crab.

Common Snipe, Truska, 23rd July 2013.

Common Snipe drumming, Truska, 23rd July 2013.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Irish Stoat Part 2

Here's the second patch of Stoat shots along with his admiring audience who seemed to be agitated and bemused by his antics in equal measure.

Irish Stoat Part 1

I was incredibly lucky today to come across this fantastic little guy today at Renvyle Head. He hung around a small area for about 40 minutes and showed brilliantly all the time. It was a real pleasure to be in its presence. I often think for such a common mammal I can go a year or two between sightings. It was almost unfazed by my presence and spent most of the time running along and through a dry stone wall and bounding through tall grass. It also spent a fair amount of its time going slightly crazy running, jumping and rolling around on open ground also. It is an often reported behaviour which is supposed to mesmerise potential prey. In this instance it certainly had an attentive audience of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Wrens. It was a real challenge to photographed it while it was doing all this whizzing around at incredible speed. I'll post more shots depicting these in another blog posting.  They are usually called "weasels" in the Irish countryside but Weasels are in fact completely absent from Ireland. We also have our own endemic race of Stoat here in Ireland - hibernica.

Mayo Pilot Whale

I saw another long dead Pilot Whale last week along with a colleague of mine at Inishnakillew between Westport and Newport. Looks like it had been there some time and the smell was particularly horrendous downwind of it. A few gulls in attendance as well. Quite a small animal at only 2.2m metres so it was still quite a young calf.

Other dead animals (by a magnitude of a few million years).

Macros, macros, macros

A big selection of shots of insects, flora, landscapes, etc. taken with the new Tamron Macro 90mm f2.8 lens during my travels during the last week. Again any ideas on some of the species would be appreciated.

Bombus muscorum variation allenellus, Inis Meáin, this form is only found on the Aran Islands.

Bombus muscorum, Inishbofin, the normal form.

Chrysotoxum festivum, a hoverfly that mimics a wasp.

Episyrphus balteatus Marmalade Hoverfly, Inishbofin.



Eristalis sp. - nemorum?

Eristalinus sepulchrais, the lower hairy eyes are a clincher

Eristalinus sepulchrais

Helophilus pendulus, Knockboy.

Xylota segnis

Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonchya fulva

Chloromyia speciosa

Chloromyia formosa

Syritta pipiens

Syrphus torvus/vitripennis

Cinnabar moth on Ragwort.

Dark Green Fritillary, Inis Meáin.

Tachina grossa

Wild Honey-bee.

Larvae Ladybird, looks like it came straight out of the set from Men in Black.

Beetle/Weevil sp.?

Irish Moiled Cow, Inish Meáin, traditional Irish breed.

Meadow Brown

Inis Meáin

Mweenish Island with the Twelve Bens in the background.

Mweenish Island

Sea Bindweed

Peacock caterpillars feeding on Nettles.

Ectemnius sp.

Ectemnius sp.