My wife and I went hiking in the Twelve Bens yesterday. Given my lack of fitness and the heat, there was an element of trudgery to the day. However, at the top of Ben Corr, there was a lot of two-banded longhorn beetles / Rhagium bifasciatum (and busy mating by the looks of it).

Think of CO₂ removal like a time machine. How far back does planting 100 million trees take us? One mature tree takes up ~25 kg of CO₂/year, so 100 million trees will take up 2.5 MtCO₂. That's a time machine that takes us back ~33 minutes in a year. Nature will not save us from fossil fuel CO₂.

A male Hairy Hawker is the first dragonfly to emerge from the back garden pond this year (that I have seen, anyway) - and only the 2nd recorded in Galway so far this year. #HairyHawker #dragonfly #BrachytronPratense #wildlifepond #Galway #ireland @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

A pair of Wheatears bring food to their nest hidden under a rock near Mám Éan in Connemara today (I could hear the chicks chirping every time the parents arrived) #wheatear #Connemara #MámÉan #Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

Every Mountain Meitheal day starts with loading up with tools. Looking forward to our Mountain Meitheal Ireland training weekend today and tomorrow! #mountainmeithealwest #mountainmeitheal #trailmaintenance #connemara

V quiet at my local polling station so far ( and an extra long weekend for the pupils of Scoil Bhride in Shantalla) #galwaywest #election @news.rte.ie @irishtimes.com

First recorded sighting this year of Orange Tailed Mining Bee in Co Westmeath in the Biodiversity Database, in my meadow in Rahugh (feasting on hawthorn pollen). Hopefully a good omen for Westmeath today in the Leinster Final! #wildmeadow #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #OrangeTailedMiningBee

This is cool. And I can safely say: “Brendan Approved” I’m not Catholic, but named after this one anyway. I turned out to be a pretty good navigator to boot.

First damselfly of 2026 spotted in the garden wildlife pond in Galway yesterday. Looks like a Blue-Tailed Damselfly (common bluetail), and it was resting for about an hour on a dried stalk close to the water, well hidden within the border plants at the edge of the pond. #IschnuraElegans #damselfly

A Galway traffic jam of a different sort today, as both the Coastguard and the Air Corp helicopters were queuing to land at the same time at the University hospital this evening #Galway #coastguard #AirCorp #helicopters

First brood of blackbirds spotted this year in the meadow (picked up on a trailcam). They are particularly vulnerable for the first week or so until they can fly, and a lot of predators pass through this hedgerow #blackbird #fledgling #Westmeath #Rahugh #Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

A Wheatear on Mutton Island this morning - another winter visitor from Africa #wheatear #Galway #birdwatching #Ireland #MuttonIsland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

Well done to everyone at the Irish National Archives for their work on the publication of the 1926 Census. It's a great public resource (and a great way to lose a few hours without realizing it!) - nationalarchives.ie/collections/... #1926census #Ireland

The suggestion that Ireland should reverse the ban on drilling for oil and gas has popped up again. I made a programme looking at this from every imaginable angle. Listen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1... Spoiler alert: The arguments for drilling don’t add up.

The Sand Martins are back in Galway, after migrating thousands of kilometers from Africa. Their journeys took them across the Sahara and the Mediterranean all the way to Nimmo Pier where they will nest in gaps in the pier wall. #SandMartin #Ripariariparia

Thank you to RTE Countrywide this morning (and Treasa Bhreathnach for her reporting) for their piece (www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...) on our February Mountain Meitheal West volunteer day on the Carran Loop. We'll be back in the Burren next Saturday working on the Blackhead Loop. @philipb-h.bsky.social

I was meant to be making a couple of raised beds at the meadow today (for spud-planting later this month) but I kept getting distracted by the antics of a couple of buzzards overhead #CommonBuzzard #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

A group of nine White-tailed Sea Eagles hanging out together last week in Connemara (eight in this video). 8 were tagged birds released on Lough Corrib in 24 & 25. Intriguingly one was untagged, potentially from an undiscovered nest somewhere? Incredible sight.

Beautiful atmosphere this morning here in Galway #moonset #Galway

The Barn Owl continues to rule the night in the meadow (despite the rain), but last week, it had to share the perch with another predator. First appearance of a Long Eared Owl this year. #BarnOwl #LongEaredOwl #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

Finally, the Common Snipe is back - it's been calling to this flooded part of the meadow at around the same time every night for the last 2 weeks. Those are willow saplings in the background that I planted over the winter. #Rahugh #CommonSnipe @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

There was no sign of frogspawn in the mountain pools in the Maumturk mountains in Connemara yesterday, but I did spot a frog swimming for cover in one pool, so they are getting ready to spawn soon. It was hard to spot frogspawn since many of the pools were covered in melting snow/hail

The frogs began spawning in the wildlife pond a week later than last year (it was Feb 5th in 2025 and Feb 12th this year), but this is the first time I got to witness the froggy lovefest in person, and just in time for Valentine's Day. #Galway #wildlifePond #frogspawn #Ireland #ValentinesDay

I was wondering when the first frogspawn might appear in the meadow drain, and it looks like it might be a while longer... @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social #barnowl #frog #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

First hike of the year yesterday, to Ben Gorm and Ben Creggan (South Top) near Leenaun. The cloud parted briefly for a view of Doo Lough and the Sheeffries, and we also spotted a Common Snipe, a pair of Ravens and an Irish Hare #hiking #GalwayWalkingclub #Ireland #Connemara

Yellowhammers chilling on the 'Pea Perch' in the meadow in Rahugh earlier this winter. #yellowhammer #perch #Rahugh #Westmeath

Xmas lights in the Claddagh looked great this morning as the holiday period draws to a close #Xmas #Galway #Claddagh #Ireland

After a bit of an absence, the barn owl has returned to using the high perch in the meadow, and has been hunting from it over the Xmas period. #BarnOwl #Rahugh #Westmeath #wildlife @birdwatchireland.bsky.social

Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over

As usual, the most interesting birds visit the garden when I don't have my main camera near at hand. I don't have big enough trees in my garden to attract treecreepers but this one paid no attention to me as it foraged on the tree outside my house on the street (iPhone, from 2 meters away)

Happy Christmas, everyone. It's felt like a long year (especially as we had the builders in). Pic below of the front garden before and after (I had to temporarily transplant a hedge from the back to the front during the build - it's replanted now). #Xmas #Galway #Ireland

Well, that’s the end of the shopping #CraneBar #Galway

A bunch of us from Mountain Meitheal West put up a new stile that cross the fence behind the Ben Lettery in the Twelve Bens on Sunday. Why ? Because the sheep had learned how to climb over the old ladder-style one. #mountainmeithealwest #stile #TwelveBens

Full moon over Galway city - all calm for now

Facebook memory reminds me that it is 6 years since @tg4.bsky.social did a story on our volunteer work on Mám Éan (and we’re still there!) #MountainMeithealWest #trailmaintenance #MámÉan #Galway #WesternWay #Ireland

The last Mountain Meitheal West volunteer day of 2025 took place last Saturday, repairing drainage along a section of the Western Way near Letterbreckaun (Binn Bhriocáin) mountain, the 2nd highest of the Maumturks. The weather was kind, and we made good progress. #MountainMeithealWest

I've a trailcam set up by a wet area in the meadow to record Common snipe but they haven't appeared yet. But it captured a thrush and a fieldfare - a winter migrant from Scandinavia. #fieldfare #thrush #westmeath #ireland #rahugh #wildmeadow

China's electrification transition is dramatic, and leaving us in the dust. So much for LNG-powered trucks! China and soon India are leapfrogging to the new. And our leaders pushing LNG and retreating on ZEVs look sad & vision-less in comparison. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/19/n...

Half an hour before sunrise #UniversityofGalway

The leaves on the apple trees in my back garden are still hanging on, and they provide excellent foraging for this Goldcrest, which can pick off tiny insects living on the leaves. I've slowed the video by 50% for ease of viewing. @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #goldcrest #backgarden #habitat #galway

A new visitor to this perch in the meadow. It can see a faint reflection of itself in the trail cam, hence the bemusement. #trailcam #greycrow #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland

What else to do on a wet, Bank Holiday Monday. #sodabread #Galway #homebaking #cooking #Ireland

Me, after two days of my wife's birthday celebrations...

20 years ago, I went for a hike over the mountain behind Kylemore Abbey with other members of the Galway Walking Club, which I had joined earlier that year. The route, which I don't think is accessible anymore, finished by passing the statue overlooking the abbey and down the path to the abbey.

Are you a little confused about how Ireland’s Presidential Election works? Fear not: I have once again picked up some 🔴 popular 🟠 coloured 🟡 chocolate-based 🟢 confectionary 🔵 treats 🟣 to show how the #aras25 votes are counted. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

It's Presidential election day today in Ireland. Democracy is a precious thing, so going to vote is a good thing. When I was born, the Irish President (De Valera) was a survivor of the 1916 Rising and a key figure in the fight for anyone in this state to have a vote. #IrishPresidentialElection

I like men a lot but the more time I spend with them the more I understand why nuns live so long

I repaired the high perch in the meadow this week after it fell down, and look who came back first. @birdwatchireland.bsky.social #BarnOwl #Rahugh #Westmeath #Ireland #trailcam

On a late August evening three years ago, I watched Emperor dragonflies aggressively defend their territories and hunt on the wing over a Burren lake. However, they too were being hunted by a nearby kestrel. #Burren #dragonfly #anaximperator #emperor #Ireland #nature #kestrel

I've was clearing the overgrowth from the lawn yesterday (due to the construction work earlier this year) and spent half the time uncovering frogs which I then returned to the wildlife pond (and yes, there are STILL tadpoles swimming in the pond) #frog #tadpole #Galway #wildlife #pond