Very little to report today:
Common Sandpiper - 1, Collector's Bay, Quoile Pondage, Co. Down
Check out these photos, taken by Danny Boyd at Port Ballintrae early this week, of a Herring Gull and an expectant female Eider!
Butterfly and Moth Update
The first Small Copper of 2010 has been
reported in
Northern Ireland; http://www.bcni.org.uk/Main.
| 11/05/2010 | Small Copper (2) | Murlough NNR, Co. Down | George Monteith |
This now makes 14 butterfly species
seen in
Northern Ireland this year (*Dingy Skipper, Reals Wood White, Large
White, Small
White, Green-veined White, Orange-tip, *Small Copper, Green Hairstreak,
Holly
Blue, *Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Speckled Wood, and
*Small
Heath). Species asterisked (*) were seen for the first time in 2010 in
May; all
others were first seen in April apart from Large White (16th March),
Peacock
(9th March) and Small Tortoiseshell (19th March), There was a record of a
Small
White out of doors at Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, on 10th January, but
this it is
felt must have pupated indoors so is not counted.
Incidentally there is a summary table
of earliest
and latest dates in 2010; see Summary Report for (2010) on the Butterfly
Sightings Page at http://www.bcni.org.uk/Main.
Hopefully Wall Brown, Marsh Fritillary,
and
possibly Painted Lady and even Common Blue may follow before the end of
May,
though perhaps not if the current cold weather lasts.
Thanks to Ian Rippey for this update.
Thanks to Ian Rippey for this update.
Warning of extinction threat to Twite in Ireland - see here
There are now over 700 photos on this blog.
