nfreem wrote:Hi Nick,

I am probably going to get this wrong but could your Latticed Heath be a Common Heath? I know that both species can be variable.

Cheers,

Neil F.

Yes that would be a female common heath for me. Latticed heath has more of a chequered appearance on its wings

Was at Killyneather Wood in north Down today (its mostly beech/oak/hazel woodland with some larch, cherry and scot's pine trees and has large walled in open area with hazel trees and wildflowers), was sunny for a while before it rained then hailed. I had a look in a walled in hill with cuckoo flower...

So far seen lots of cuckoo flowers about, but no orange-tips. Wanted to look for green hairstreaks but the weather hasn't been great. Was sunny yesterday morning for around 2 hours then it tried to rain. I wouldn't mind if it actually rained heavy as its been so dry the past few weeks with only the ...

Great images again. Love that Hamerkop, interesting looking bird. Great reading and see the images on this thread thanks Michael.

Everytime I see those Warthogs, I can't help but think of Pumbaa (Timon and Pumbaa seen first in the Lion King)

Great images once again, love the White-Fronted Bee Eater and the zebra. One animal I always wanted to see was a warthog, unusual but neat looking animals.

Even small birch saplings can be very hard to get rid of. Your not wrong there, last time I was there, I pulled up 3 saplings only about 20cm or less in height, roots quite long and big. I didn't mention, there is a part on the left side of the path which has the bog on the right, that has another ...

Good Luck with your efforts. No Green Hairstreak or Large Heath? Thanks Scott. The green hairstreak has been found in the area (but that was in 1970-80s) but none since. The large heath appears to be absent from county Down, but at this site there is very little cotton grass at the moment so isn't ...

Some reletives of mine own a 10 acre (or there about) cutover bog with birch woodland in north Down, Northern Ireland was once cut for peat but that has long since stopped. The peat digging in places did damage some of the bog in places (as it does), but many of flora has remained such as marsh this...

Had a debate today. I was on an island in Strangford Lough today and photographed this bird. I thought it was a whimbrel but someone said he thought it might be a curlew based on the length of the bill but wasn't sure himself and now I am not sure. Not the best photo, but can anyone ID this bird?

Bracken fronds seen almost six inches above ground on a mountainside above Abergavenny in South Wales. We can expect similar with Bluebells from now on...that's unless you've seen some already :shock: Bill :D I saw bluebells on 25th here in an old woodland in North east Down, NI, did seem quite ear...

Great reading and love the images, thanks for sharing. Love the different butterflies, especially the Common Scarlet and different Orange and Scarlet-tip butterflies.

...saw a few Clouded Yellows just west of the Bistro on the Beach. This is one of the regular breeding sites, and I have little doubt that these are locally bred butterflies... Misha Goodness! With this and all the recent speculation about other species, will we soon be counting Clouded Yellow, Red...

That looks like Viburnum bodnantense, a beautifully scented garden shrub. I agree, there is a few around here and quite nice smell. Saw a peacock butterfly fly over my head today and another I think was a small tortoiseshell at BallyMaCormack Point, a National Trust coastal site at Groomsport, Co D...

Blackthorn,in contrast,flowers before the leaves. It is out now. Does it have to be a certain age before it does this? Mine is 5-6 years old and has produced leaves but no flowers yet. I have noticed that the hawthorn here that has flowered first, is the ones that have not been cut, not the ones al...

I've mentioned this in the Sightings category, thought it may prove of interest in 'unseasonal flora' also, today near Newport, South Wales, I saw Hawthorn in full bloom, anyone from the more kinder climes of the south seen it out this early? Bill :D Not from the south, but here in the east of NI, ...

Hi,

Thanks, probably the best plan. I'll ask my local plant recorder and see what he says. I'll post an update on how it goes.

21.9C max here today

Have to change that, my weather station read 22.3C max

I regularly visit a small wetland area (about half an acre or just a little over) at the edge of a field that has always been kept as a wildlife area. There is couple of quite wet areas that have watercress and cuckooflower in them and frogs often and I have found ringed and brown china-mark moths t...

Orange-Tip? Not even a cuckooflower about yet here. Did see a courting pair of small tortoiseshell as well as 4 other adults and a thousands of common frog tadpoles in a small wetland area in east Down, Northern Ireland, 21.9C max here today, but still not a lot of butterflies around, do see the odd...