2nd June, Ireland part 1
This is now the third year of my ‘mission’ and a year where said mission had to be altered slightly. With Large Tortoiseshells now almost certainly back in the UK, the mission was now to photograph all
60 species. After managing the LT already and then getting the Wood White a few weeks ago I was left with a handful of species which required more than just day trips to find.
The first one on this list was one that does often get neglected, the Cryptic Wood White. For me though it’s no less important than any other of our natives even though it supposedly does look identical to it's mainland cousin.
The same work colleague who helped me find Swallowtails last year offered to chauffeur me around Ireland and after some discussion we decided our base of operations would be Galway on the east coast, thinking that perhaps I might also be able to get Irish
sinapis as well as some of the other species that are confined to the Burren area.
We had several hours in-between landing in Shannon and booking in at Galway so we decided to take the scenic route through the Burren, a wise decision just for the scenery alone, a truly beautiful part of the world with some stunning vistas.
We drove around for a while looking for somewhere to park, not easy on these narrow country lanes but eventually we found a lay-by and got out for a wander. A few rather tatty Brimstones were active but not much else was seen. Nearby we found a small meadow that didn’t seem to have any signs saying ‘keep out’ so we snuck in and walked around the edge. It was a beautiful hay meadow with a rich flora, perhaps being left fallow this year and although we didn’t put up any butterflies at first, damselflies and dragonflies were very numerous.
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On the return walk though, a solitary Wood White casually fluttered past, not stopping and vanished over the hedge.
Opposite the meadow was a country lane that looked good for a wander and almost immediately we came across a few more Wood Whites going about their business along the edge. I was immediately taken by how different they looked from the ones I’d seen at Chiddingfold a few weeks earlier, noticeably greener/yellower.
A bit further along several more were seen, including a rather popular female.
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I did mean to record exactly where I was but completely forgot due to the endless scenery and excitement of finding Wood Whites so quickly. But doing a little bit of research (and much searching on google maps) it looks like, quite by accident, I was just a stone’s throw away from the
Lough Bunny site listed on the Wood White distribution map on here. So, based on location I must be seeing Irish
sinapis.
We carried on along the lane for the best part of an hour, finding several Large Whites (in fact more than I’ve seen all season so far) a tatty Small white,
a few Speckled Wood and a lovely fresh male Common Blue. He was very reluctant to open his wings but when he did I was taken by the shade of blue, deeper than English cousins and the darker black border inside the white fringe.
Stopping to chat with some friendly locals we found out we could go onto the Burren landscape itself which was being used to house some horses. I found more Common Blues, all males, all fresh, all unwilling to open their wings and all unwilling to pose for me! A couple of Small Heath were active and I came across a single Dingy Skipper, presumably the paler baynesi race, although how much of paleness was due to its age is impossible to say.
Butterfly wise that was about it. Odonata were again quite numerous though.
Time had vanished and when I checked my phone I found that the hostel we had booked had emailed asking when we were due to arrive. A good start to the trip, now off to dump our stuff and find some good old Irish pub grub
!