Some pictures I took recently

Zebra Jumping Spider, taken in Santorini, Greece

Zebra jumping spider - male by niall.hirsch

little grebe

The head arose and appeared to many:):)



little grebe

Some of you may be interested in the data I got back from Euring on the ringed Black Headed Gull whose photo I posted last Friday- having seen it in Bushy Park.

The bird was ringed in Oslo in 2011
The gull has been spotted in Ireland every year since 2012
Here is a record of sightings
7/8/12 Sandycove
20/10/12 Booterstown
10/11/12 Bushy Park
12/2/13 Sandymount
9/4/13 Oslo and spotted 4 times in Oslo in all- last sighting 1/8/13
29/8/13 Booterstown( 3 times to 30/9/12)
25/6/14 Oslo
28/9/14 & 18/10/14 Booterstown
7/4/15 Oslo also 10/4
29/7/15 & 6/8/15 Booterstown
3/4/16 Oslo
8/7/16 Bushy Park ( earliest summer sighting in Ireland)

Boxing mad!!!

Boxing mad! by niall.hirsch, on Flickr

Love Heath Orchids. So many different shades of pink too. Have a carpet of them near me every year. So pretty.

TT

Forget-me-not Shieldbug Sehirus luctuosus nymph. 50+ nymphs at local quarry at the weekend This is a new site for the species and only the 3rd Carlow/Irish site in which the species has been seen since I rediscovered the species last year. Before that the species hadn't been seen since 1926 in Ireland.

Forget-me-not Shieldbug Sehirus luctuosus nymph by Ciarán Byrne, on Flickr

Forget-me-not Shieldbug Sehirus luctuosus nymph by Ciarán Byrne, on Flickr

Out gardening, found this little bird huddled by the wall, no fear of humans and looks like a fledging.

bird by Elena Ní Dhoriadh, on Flickr


The tree it was under did not have nests, I assume it was from the trees about 10metres away.
Was not 100% sure what to do, so decided to leave it alone, see if parent birds come looking and just watch out for any cats.

Long story short, started to pant, which I know is really a bad sign and sure enough - 10mins later I looked out window and it was dead as a door nail on its back.

Can anyone identify the type? I have some other photos on the flickr.

Even though the black headed gull is, presumably, a recent arrival, it has no hesitation in taking on the local grey heron!!!
( Bushy Park)

I am amazed at the fishing ability of the Little Grebe.
The part of the pond it was 'fishing' in was almost totally covered with that green stagnanty stuff so there must have been little or no light beneath the surface.

But time and again it emerged from its dive with a small fish for its chick:)

Sandpiper by Adrian Sadlier, on Flickr

There was about 30 of these birds scattered nearby getting an early morning snack in Located here, but the grass is a lot more yellow, and it was a stuffy 23 degrees at around 07:20am.

I'm kinda fond of this black headed gull- as it is my first ever 'find' of a ringed bird - my new friend J1N4

And the great 'thanks' and feedback from Euring was amazing. The bird's trips back and forth to Oslo would put Ryanair to shame!( See post 7645)


Anyway - I kept my eye out for it over the last few days on my walk past the Bushy Park pond but no sign at all!


- but then today a reappearance!:):)


ringed BF gull

Nettle bed which I put in during the Spring. Corncrake calling in it, singing his little heart out.




Second corncrake calling from my Iris/hogweed cover patch.
They are both late arriving but very pleased to have them.:)