The Lyons Share

I may be doing less natural history than usual but I still had an amazing year in 2012 so I thought it only fair to pull together some of the highlights and my favourite photos! I saw an additional 414 species in 2012 starting the year on 3735 and ending the year on 4149 species. So, in reverse order then my highlights were:

I found Marsh Clubmoss at Stedham after not being seen for a decade. We also then went onto Graffham and found three RDB saproxylic beetles on a single fallen birch tree including this Diaperis boleti.

Getting the twitch on again is always good value. Common Yellowthroat, Spanish Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Paddyfield Warbler, Kentish Plover, Siberian Stonechat (photo {of a photo}) and Desert Wheatear.

This was the Fern Weevil Syagrius intrudens. A remarkable alien weevil that got everyone excited and was my highlight of the meeting. I hope someone is going to organise an event next year.

This is the last of the Ireland posts. We left Connemara and headed to Kerry and straight to the Dingle peninsula to a whale watching boat trip. We didn't see any whales that day, as it was too choppy to see that far, but I did get some great gen from Britta Wilkens, who is the wildlife adviser on the boat. If anyone is ever in that part of the world, you should go out on this boat, it was great! The above photo was taken from the furthest west I have ever been in my life. We saw Grey Seals and plenty of sea birds but it was great hearing about cetaceans and Basking Sharks.

That evening, thanks to Britta's gen, we headed up to Conor Pass to look for Great Butterwort. We pulled over to let a car past on a very narrow stretch of road and looked up to see Great Butterwort growing right by the road! Spotted from the car, that's how big the flowers are!
The following morning the sea was calmer and I thought I might have a chance at Minke Whale, so we headed up to the cliffs tops where Britta told us that a man called Nick Massett might be watching. Within minutes of our arrival, Nick appeared for an hour or so and just as he had to leave he got onto a Minke distant. I struggled to relocate it but then suddenly it appeared. Then another! Two Minke Whales. A long overdue lifer for me and my first whale on my British Isles list! If you look very, very closely in the photo below, you might just be able to make out a wall. The whales were so far away they were only just visible through my scope!
We walked down the road a little way where St Patrick's Cabbage was growing in profusion. I clambered up to get some photos and on the way up, I spotted a Kerry Slug.
Niall found one other too by the road and he also spotted this as being different to the St Patrick's Cabbage, it's the closely related Tufted Saxifrage.
We didn't have much time in Killarney National Park on our last day but we did see the Strawberry-trees.

And Irish Spurge.
I had a great time in Ireland, a big thank you to Niall and his family and all the people we met who helped us out being Liam Jones, Britta Wilkens and Nick Massett. Thanks also to Mark Telfer and Don Hodgers for their help too.

Sea kayaking at Coral Bay in Connemara was awesome. Arctic Terns were flying overhead and we even had a go at a bit of snorkeling. I am thinking I might have to get into diving. On the way back from Connemara to Castlebar, we stopped by some rather impressive bogs and found these amazing Water Lobelias which were a new one for me. We did get seriously attacked by midges and ticks though which wasn't much fun. Even the plants in Ireland are carnivorous but fortunately they eat the midges and not tourists. In the week we recordered all three sundews, all three butterworts and Lesser Bladderwort too.

Earlier that day we had a look around Connemra National Park, where the showy St Dabeoc's Heath could be found.
This little hoverfly was a new one for me, being the north-western species of Chrysotoxum, Chrysotoxum arcuatum.

I got my eye in too for these really cool black and green cushion-forming acrocarps that I was seeing in the bogs, it's Campylopus atrovirens.
Connemara really is a beautiful place (despite the midges). Next up, I go further west than I have ever been before...

Firstly, a huge thank you to Niall (above right), Sean and Mary Basquille for their kindness and hospitality that made my first trip to Ireland so much fun (having the loan of a Mercedes for a week was pretty rad, I can tell you). I saw so much in Ireland that I will split it into three posts, this first concentrating on the Burren (thanks to Liam Jones for the above photo).

My first experience of the Burren was nothing other than magical. We pulled over in a completely random place as soon as we hit the edge of the limestone pavement and immediately spotted Bloody Cransebill everywhere. It really is one of the commonest plants there. This was immediately followed by numerous Transparent Burnets. I was photographing this Rustyback Fern when a Microdon mutabilis landed in front of me (a nationally scarce hoverfly). 

My head was starting to spin when I spotted Fly Orchids, Mountain Everlasting, Helicella itala (one of the commonest snails there) and what had to be Spring Gentian that had gone over. As I was trying to get a photo of this last, a tiny reddish moth flew past me and landed. Least Minor!

Back to the gentian and I walked right up to a very active Anania funebris (no photos) and then found several Small Plume-moths (again no photos). This was a really amazing hour and was perhaps the only real sun we caught all week. It was the only real chance we had to see any day flying insects.

Perhaps the most beautiful flower I have ever seen is the Spring Gentian. Common enough in the Burren but we were way too late for the vast majority of flowers and we really only found a few right at the end of our stay that were still in flower.

Also mostly gone over is the fantastic Mountain Avens (with Blue Hair-grass in the lower picture).

Other ticks included Shrubby Cinquefoil below and Lesser Meadow-rue (no photo).

And it was great to see species like Northern Bedstraw again after so many years. I must go north more.

During the second day in the Burren, we climbed two peaks and got some amazing views. It's not hard to take dramatic shots of wildflowers with amazing scenery in the background in Ireland. Here we have Hoary Rock-rose.

This Brittle Bladder-fern was also a tick for me.

I added a few new bryophytes, including a small amount of this stunning bright purple-red liverwort, Pleurozia purpurea.

Coming down a series of staggering terraces, each one more dramatic than the last, was a really memorable experience. Out of all the shots I took In Ireland, including all of the wildlife, it's these two that I like the most! I have never seen such a bizarre and strange landscape.

The next exciting instalment sees us head north to Connemara.

I am back from Ireland. I am pretty blown away and in need of rest but normal service will return shortly. To cut a long story short, I had an amazing time, added about 35 species and will be going back, maybe even later this year to look for more cetaceans...

I couldn't resist putting this photo in. It doesn't get much more Burren than a Transparent Burnet sitting on a Bloody Cranesbill now does it? Watch. This. Space.

I had just put my bag down and began working in a plot at Butcherlands today when I looked up to see a large wasp-like thing buzzing around my bag. It landed on it and I realised it was one of the black and red sextons that, although I have seen them in the past moth-trapping, I have never keyed any out to species. I rushed in and was suddenly hit by the stench. I tried to get a photo but the beetle dropped off and almost vanished into the mud, these are strong beasts indeed and I was amazed how quickly it could dig. I did get a shot that was good enough to key it out from though. I am a bit squeamish about putting these in pots, the smell is unbearable and I'd rather not have them stink out my reference collection. Using the key on Beetle News I am confident this one is Nicrophorus vespillo. I always assumed these beetles primary way of finding food was olfactory. Maybe they rely on sight more though. Or maybe my bag just really stinks.

Sean Foote popped in to say hello and spotted a nice Commophila aenea. I have only seen this once before at Friston Forest (this photo was taken at Friston - the one I took today was dreadful). It's odd that a species that feeds on the roots of ragworts can be so scarce. I end the day on 4025 species. This may be the last blog for a week or two. On Friday I am heading to Ireland for a week and coming back via Anglesey and Snowdonia and this time I will be leaving the laptop at home. But not of course, my camera and an arsenal of natural history literature and equipment.,,