The hills are alive with the sound of (bird) music

Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)

Well the birds (feathered variety) are definitely enjoying this endless sunshine and they are bursting into song all around. Their plumage is particularly vibrant and eye catching at this time of year. The visitors are arriving en masse (no worries about volcanic ash) and setting up their territories and preparing nests. My swallows arrived 2 days ago - I thought they were lost. The local birds are well ahead of the visitors, with some of them with their first broods already out and about.

Female House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Female House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Garden Birds

Male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

After a long, cold winter, spring is well underway now in this part of the world. Over the past few days we have had glorious sunshine and you soon forget those tough wintry days. My garden is a busy place at the moment with lots of birds carrying out their courtship rituals and collecting nest material. The bird feeders are attracting many different species and there is constant activity. I haven’t seen any wrens yet though. I thought my cat Lucky was retired but during one frosty night in January she managed to massacre 6 poor little wrens. The wrens had been nesting together, to keep warm, in a house martin nest at the apex of my house. They would gather in the evening and chirp and flit around the ground as they organised themselves for their nights sleep. And then the cat pounced!


Male Siskin (Carduelis spinus) and Male Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



Male Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)



Great Tit (Parus major)



Female Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)



Female Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)



Female Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)



Female Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)



Coal Tit (Parus ater)



Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)

Garden Biodiversity

Gardens provide valuable habitats for wildlife throughout the world. They are particularly important for many species of invertebrates. The level of biodiversity found in even quite small gardens is quite stunning. In The ecology of a garden: the first fifteen years Jennifer Owen describes a detailed scientific study conducted in her small suburban garden in Leicestershire, England. Between 1972 and 1986 zoologists identified a staggering 1,782 species of animals. This number is a significant underestimate of the actual number of species as some groups of inverebrates were not sampled in detail. Incredibly, they found 533 species of one group of animals, the ichnemonid wasps. The juvenile stages of ichneumonids predominantly parasitise insect larvae. Several of these were previously unrecorded in Britain and at least one was new to Science. So keep a look out - you might discover a new species during the family barbecue! On a summers day in my own garden (1/3 of an acre in the west of Ireland) I suspect that there are more than a million individual animals present. Apart from the obvious groups such as the birds, bees and wasps (Hymenoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), flies (Diptera), beetles (Coleoptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) and spiders (Arachnida) there are vast numbers of tiny, unseen, animals such as springtails living in the soil and leaf litter. I have photographed over 150 species of animals in my garden but I obviously have a long way to go. Below are a few of these:


Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)


Common Rough Woodlice (Porcellio scaber)


Hawthorn Shield Bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)


An Ichneumonid Wasp

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

The frogs eventually started spawning in my garden pond last week, almost one month later than normal. The temperatures in Ireland over the past 2 months have been the lowest for 50 years. There are only 3 species of amphibians found in Ireland: the common frog, the smooth newt and the natterjack toad. Until recently the prevailing scientific opinion was that frogs were introduced into Ireland somewhere between the 10th and 16th century. However, a recent genetic study, published in 2009, suggests that Irish Rana temporaria differ genetically from British and Western European populations. The UK scientists who conducted the genetic study of populations of European common frogs have put forward the hypothesis that a population may have survived in a glacial refuge during the last ice age. European phylogeny of the common frog (Rana temporaria): routes of postglacial colonisation into the British Isles, and evidence for an Irish glacial refugium. Heredity (2009). Well, whatever about all that, my frogs survived the recent cold snap and they are ready to multiply!

Common Lizard (Lacerta vivipera)

The common lizard (Lacerta vivipera) is the only reptile native to Ireland. It has a widespread distribution but is often overlooked. My cat found this one in my garden. Fortunately, for the lizard, I rescued it and released it unharmed (after taking a few pictures). Common lizards feed mainly on insects and interestingly do not lay eggs but give birth to live young.

Bristletail (Petrobius maritimus)

Bristletails are flightless insects belonging to the Order Archaeognatha (ancient jaws). Bristletails are an ancient group of insects and are found in fossils dating back as far as the Devonian period (400 million years ago). Although Petrobius maritimus are generally described as a species found on rocky shores I have a population living in my boiler house, about 1 mile from the sea.

Spider -v- Wasp

A window-lace-weever spider (Amaurobius fenestralis) attempts to capture a common wasp (Vespula vulgaris). The wasp became trapped in the tangle web and tried to extract itself by beating its wings furiously. The spider approached cautiously, avoiding the sting of the wasp, and managed to bite and paralyze the wasp. After several minutes of trying to drag the unfortunate wasp into its den the anaesthetic began to wear off and the wasp attempted to sting the spider. Eventually the spider realised it had bit off a bit more than it could chew, and retreated. A few minutes later the wasp broke free of the web and took off.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

This damselfly had recently emerged from my garden pond and was drying its wings in preparation for a new life in the air. The huge eyes are known as compound eyes with thousands of lenses in each one, allowing it to see in all directions. Damselflies spend most of their life under water as larvae, feeding on midge larvae and other tiny aquatic animals. After two years they transform into flying adults but only survive for 1 to 4 weeks.

Damselflies and dragonflies belong to the Order Odonata. There are 11 species of damselfly found in Ireland.

Chalcid Wasp

There are over 450 species of Chalcid wasp found in Ireland and they are common in every garden. These beautiful insects are tiny, less than 2mm in length, and usually completely overlooked. At first glance they appear to be tiny midges but on closer inspection their metallic bodies are unmistakable. They are very active and this along with their size make them difficult to photograph. Most species are parasitic on the eggs or larvae of other insects such as butterflies, moths, flies and beetles.

Bumblebee in Flight

The shutter speed for this picture was 1/5000th of a second showing that this bee's wings beat more than 5,000 times per second! There are 101 species of bee found in Ireland and identification can be extremely difficult. A useful website to help in identifying Irish bees is http://www.tcd.ie/Zoology/research/Bees/index.php

Parasitic Fly (Dexia rustica)

There are around 200 species of parasitic flies found in Ireland. This one lays its eggs in beetle larvae. When the young hatch out they proceed to eat the unfortunate host alive. They leave the vital organs until last to keep the host alive until the fly larvae is ready to pupate.