Wild Sligo
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๐ณ Wildlife enthusiast and nature wanderer based in the North West of Ireland.
Sharing my amateur photos and videos of local wildlife and all things wild and beautiful.
๐ฆก Mr Badger is out and about early tonight! ๐ It's always a thrill to encounter these beautiful and rarely-seen creatures in the wild. This photo was taken from a relatively long distance at maximum zoom to avoid disturbance.
๐ณ Looking for a fun activity for your next woodland adventure with the little ones? I hereby present to you the ๐ฆ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ผ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ผ! An intuitive sighting-checklist game that can be played in a single day or spread out over multiple outings. I'm planning to create a coast-themed version as well! Please feel free to print it out or use it as a digital checklist on your phone. And if you feel creative, why not design your own local wildlife bingo? It's an engaging way for children (of all ages๐) to connect with nature and make your outdoor experiences even more memorable!
๐ฆ Following in mam's pawsteps! A lovely little video captured on the trail camera in the middle of the night. After leaving the den, ๐ณ๐ผ๐ cubs follow their mother for about 3-4 months, learning all the essential survival skills. After this time, they will be ready to head off to make their own way in the world.
๐ผ Something a little bit different today! A tiny fruit fly covered in bright yellow pollen, as seen under my pocket microscope. When we think of pollinators, bees and butterflies come to mind, but flies are just as critical in helping our wildflowers reproduce and thrive. Isn't it amazing how even the tiniest of creatures can play a significant role in the grand scheme of nature?
๐ฆก Badgers are creatures of habit and tend to follow regular pathways between their setts and foraging grounds, sometimes over many generations! Well-used paths like the one pictured here can be very conspicuous. They are typically quite narrow (about 20 cm), uniform in width and less messy than deer tracks. You can sometimes notice worn-off moss on roots or logs crossed by a badger path, as the badgers' bellies rub it off night after night.
๐ฆ "Where did mammy go?" ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ducklings (๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐บ๐ณ๐ฉ๐บ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด) are born precocial - meaning they can walk, swim, and feed themselves almost immediately after hatching. They stay with their mother until they can fly, at about two months of age.
๐ A sea cliff like the stands of an enormous stadium looking over the Atlantic, bursting with the noise, energy, and life of a seabird colony. A breathtaking sight, the existence of which depends on an unexpectedly delicate balance: disruptions from climate change, human activities, and disease pose serious threats to the survival of these colonies.
At least three species are visible here, the ๐ธ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ (๐๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐บ๐ญ๐ข), the ๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ (๐๐ณ๐ช๐ข ๐ข๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ), and a few ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ (๐๐ญ๐ค๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข) - all of which are included in Birdwatch Ireland's list of birds of conservation concern.
๐ฆโโฌ A ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ (๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข) looking out at sea. I absolutely love corvids and I think most people seriously underestimate how beautiful these highly-intelligent birds can be. What about you, do you like crows?
๐ฆ Three ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ does (๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข) visiting a secluded glade during a short-lived spell of sunshine, in the early hours of the morning. Nature's beauty in its purest form, right in the heart of the woods.
๐ณIt's good to be back home in Sligo after a few weeks abroad. Into the woods now to set up the trail camera for some new wildlife videos! Looking forward to seeing if there are any cubs around this year. ๐ค
๐ฆซ Three baby ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐๐ (๐๐บ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐บ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด) following their mother along the banks of a river in the town I grew up in, in northern Italy. Lovely to see the babies out and about, and quite unusual as they are a mainly crepuscular/nocturnal species! Coypus are native to South America and were introduced to Europe by fur traders. A few individuals have been sighted in Ireland since 2010, particularly in Cork City. I grew up a stone's throw from here and this is the first time I have spotted a wild mammal along the river, a sign of times changing and coypus extending their range to the foot of the Alps. Sadly, there are much worse signs of the passing of time and the effects of human impact on wildlife: about 20 years ago, bats, swallows, house martins and fireflies were abundant at this time of year - they seem to have all but disappeared now.
๐ชฒ Another picture from Italy today: a ๐๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐น๐ฒ (๐๐น๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข), a species that is not present in Ireland but is widely distributed in continental Europe. A member of the subfamily Cetoniinae, also known as flower chafers, they can be often observed on flowers feeding on pollen and nectar. They show distinctive white spots on the elytra and are covered in tiny white hair, also known as 'setae'.
๐ฆ I have been kind of quiet the last few weeks as I'm spending some time in continental Europe, and I find it's good to take a little break from social media from time to time. Here's a picture of a ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ (๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ด) I took today in my native northern Italy. He doesn't seem happy with the paparazzi! ๐ฌ As soon as the sun is high in the sky these fascinating reptiles pop out of every little nook and cranny to bask in the sunshine. Their extremely sharp claws allow them to climb up walls by interlocking into any slightly rough surface. This species is not present in Ireland, the common/viviparous lizard (๐ก๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ข ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข) being our only native species of reptile.
๐ฆ Check out the Sligo Biodiversity Week events, starting tomorrow! ๐
๐ฆ An adorable ๐ณ๐ผ๐ cub playing with some dry bracken leaves! Cubs emerge from their natal burrow (earth) at about five weeks old and may be seen playing outside in late April and early May, seemingly unaware of potential danger. Play is an integral part of the cubs' development, contributing to their physical, social, and cognitive growth while preparing them for the challenges of adulthood in the wild.
๐ชป The lovely ๐ฏ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐น (๐๐บ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต๐ข), one of our most beloved native wildflowers, famous for blanketing deciduous woodland with an enchanting carpet of violet-blue at this time of year. Each flower has cream anthers (the parts of the stamen where pollen is produced) and six backwards curving lobes. Bluebells attract a wide range of pollinators, particularly bumblebees, which makes them particularly valuable to wildlife.
๐ฆ An interesting find in the woods today - a ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ (๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข) jawbone complete with several well-preserved teeth. Like other deer species, fallow deer have hypsodont dentition, characterised by high-crowned teeth with a rough surface adapted for crushing and grinding, and enamel which extends past the gum line. This provides lots of extra material for wear and tear from their coarse diet, ensuring prolonged functionality.
๐ชถ A pair of ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐๐น๐น๐ (๐๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ด). The term 'herring' in the English name presumably originated from this species' habit of following fishing trawlers. Scientifically, they are classified as ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ด - 'larus' comes from the Greek for 'gull' and 'argentatus' is Latin for 'silvery'.
๐ฆก I wrote a little haiku for badgers. ๐
๐
๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐, ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐น๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐กโ
๐ด๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐ชธ Fossil of a colonial ๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น - fascinating traces of wildlife from times long gone! A common and often overlooked find along our coast. The Rugosa are an extinct order of solitary and colonial corals that were abundant in the Middle Ordovician to Late Permian (about 450 to 250 million years ago). They are sometimes referred to as 'horn corals' due to their horn-shaped chamber with a wrinkled (rugose) wall, and they were carnivores, using their supposedly stinging tentacles to capture tiny prey.
๐ฆ A ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ butterfly (๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ข), freshly emerged from its chrysalis, resting on my kitchen window to find refuge from the stormy winds. This species is unusual in that it may overwinter in two different developmental species: either as a caterpillar or as a pupa.
๐ฆ Who doesn't love a mid-afternoon nap? Male ๐ณ๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐ (๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ท๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ด) very rarely enter burrows (earths) - these are normally only used by the v***n and cubs for a few months in spring and early summer. For the rest of the year, both male and female foxes typically prefer to sleep under an open sky, or in the shelter of the undergrowth.
๐ชบ A ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐๐๐ต (๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด) caught on the trail camera searching for nesting material. Eggs must be on the way! Song thrushes typically lay 4 to 6 blue eggs with black speckles. Interestingly, their eggs are sometimes mistaken for robin eggs due to the existence of a colour named 'robin egg blue' (also known as 'eggshell blue'). In fact, the colour name refers to the eggs of the American robin, while our native European robin lay pale cream eggs with reddish speckles.
๐ฆ Spotted this beautiful ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต (๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ข) in Hazelwood this morning, an extremely rare visitor to Ireland! A very peculiar species native to the Fulia Islands, off the coast of Portugal. ๐
๐ชถ A ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ (๐๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ข ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ป๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ข) in flight. The breeding range of this species is impressively vast: it includes Ireland, Britain, southern Europe, the Middle East, much of Africa and southern Asia! The little egret was considered rare in Ireland until they first started breeding here in the 1990s.
๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ (๐๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข), a little spot of sunshine on the woodland floor. One of the first flowers to appear after winter, they provide a source of nectar for pollinators emerging from hibernation. The plant is toxic if eaten raw, but archaeological finds of charred lesser celandine tubers in Scotland proved Mesolithic people cooked and consumed it as a source of carbohydrates.
๐ฒ A male ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป (๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด) roaming the woods in the middle of the night. Stopping right in front of the camera to show his innate twerking skills! ๐บ๐ณ
๐ Despite the weather, I decided to head off to Aughris Head today and was delighted to spend some time watching one of my absolute favourite birds, the ๐ณ๐๐น๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ (๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ด). I love how these fascinating seabirds, closely related to albatrosses, glide effortlessly in the strongest winds, brushing against the rocky cliffs at full speed. They fly on stiff wings most of the time, making me think of paper planes. I wrote a little haiku about this fulmar that took a 15-minute nap before diving back into the wind. I hope you like it! ๐
๐น๐๐๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐
๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ค๐๐๐๐
๐ A walk on Streedagh Beach in the earliest hours of a rainy morning. Not a soul in sight. The song of the sea, oystercatchers running, geese flying low over the waves, the fossils of ancient creatures enshrined in the rocks, and a feeling of absolute peace. The wild Atlantic at its best.
๐ฆ Quite sad to see this ๐ณ๐ผ๐ walking with a noticeable limp in her left hind leg, captured on the trail camera. It looks like she can put a little weight on it and move it fairly normally, so hopefully it's just a soft tissue injury such as a little sprain and it will heal by itself in a short period of time. If she makes an appearance in any future videos and I'm able to recognise her, I will let you know!
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