Some pictures I took recently

Hotei

Beautiful Demoiselle (female) Calopteryx virgo

Nightforce 65X55

Nightforce 65X55

Hotei

Stonechat fledgling




Meadow Pipit fledgling




Young Starling

keps

Lucan Demesne

Is this a sparrow?
I thought it was initially when I saw it on the ground here







but then when it landed on a branch - I thought its feather arrangement was more attractive than that of the sparrows in my back garden?

keps

wren

Hotei

keps wrote: »

Is this a sparrow?

Yes keps, it's a House Sparrow.

Nightforce 65X55

Took these photos earlier , the First one I haven't seen before , It is Blood Red on the Ground, I actually thought it was blood drops.Quite small . no more than 40mm High

The 2nd is a Marsh / Bog plant , it was growing at the edge of a pond....

Hotei

@ Nightforce

The first is a member of the Geranium family, and at a guess I'd say Shining Crane's-bill, Geranium lucidum? Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum with similar looking flowers, is hairier and the seed heads would be narrower looking.
The second plant is the Cuckooflower, Cardamine pratensis sometimes called Lady's Smock. It's quite common in marshy, boggy areas at this time of year.

splish

Cryptic Wood White Leptidea juvernica pair from yesterday. Fascinating to watch.

Cryptic Wood White Leptidea juvernica pair by Ciarán Byrne, on Flickr

OpenYourEyes

Black Guillemot by Brian, on Flickr

_Tombstone_

Nightforce 65X55 wrote: »

Stunning little fella. Never seen one of them, where do you find them?

Great Pic NF.

keps

bark

Nightforce 65X55

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

Stunning little fella. Never seen one of them, where do you find them?

Great Pic NF.

Thanks Tombstone, They are very small butterflies , only about 25mm across the Wings, I have seen them pass through the garden sometimes but these photos were taken on a piece of waste ground . They are known as the Common Blue so I assume that they are widespread.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

Stunning little fella. Never seen one of them, where do you find them?

Great Pic NF.

You should find them in any untended grassy area from April to September.

keps

grey wagtail

splish

Green-veined white Pieris napi

Green-veined white Pieris napi by Ciarán Byrne, on Flickr

Capercaillie

Frog and newt from the garden ponds

OpenYourEyes

Roseate Tern by Brian, on Flickr

A Roseate Tern, starting to get the red at the base of its bill. It'll get progressively more red as the season goes on and will be around half red by the time it leaves Rockabill later in the season.

(picture taken under NPWS license)

Hotei

Common Blue Polyommatus icarus






Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas








Small White (male) Pieris rapae

keps

amazing photos Hotie - just superb



and all I have is an Orangetip - anyway

Hotei

keps wrote: »

amazing photos Hotie - just superb

and all I have is an Orangetip

Thanks keps.
There's nothing wrong with your Orange-tip shot either - very nice!

keps

colours

_Tombstone_

The butterfly must have just flew out of shot^^^^


































:P

New Home

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

The butterfly must have just flew out of shot^^^^

No, the butterfly took the photo! :pac:

ThunderCat

A racing pigeon has been hanging around the back garden for the last few days. I was able to get close enough to it to read the band number on it's leg and it turns out it is from Liverpool and was born in 2007. It remains to be seen if this is just a pit stop in Dublin for it or weather it will stay here permanently like another racing pigeon that comes to the garden.

whyulittle

A new record in the garden today, unfortunately not a living one - Pygmy Shrew


Not in the garden - Green Hairstreak

keps

Cormorant - Liffey/Lucan Demesne

take off

ThunderCat

A few from my stroll in the park yesterday evening

ThunderCat

A few more...


In the case of the Mandarin Duck, are his head feathers that way because they are wet or is it due to something else?