The essence of an Irish rainforest is best appreciated in ... the rain. Join myself and John Ross MacMathuna @ceanncait.bsky.social in a rainy rainforest. Volume up for the captivating sound of raindrops.

Saw my first frog orchids today at killard Point in Co down

Early purple orchid, butterfly orchids and possible marsh orchid? At local site today!

@ceanncait.bsky.social An magairlín meidhreach - bit early but can confirm they are still there along the Moygannon Path. Only this one nearly in flower

Visited the beautiful killard Point today! Stunning and special place

Spring in the woodland. No garden can compete with this

Common spotted orchid protocorns I've grown from seed. Not easy to photograph. I have two other species growing. Growing native orchids from seed is something I've wanted to do for a long time

Meadow season has begun! Yellow rattle starting to grow 😊

There is something timeless about collecting a basket of sticks for the fire

Storm eowin felled hundreds of non native western hemlock that were planted in this oak wood nearly a century ago but thankfully left the remaining oaks unscathed

Looking over the bridge near hilltown at the very headwaters of the river bann, northern irelands longest river flowing through lough neagh. A mess of burnt and dumped tyres

There are only two reasons our mountains are treeless. Grazing and burning.

The early purple orchid in the jar on the left was sown a month after the jar on the right. The only difference is that on the right I sterilised the seed with 10% bleach, the left with 70% alcohol.

All growing from a stone wall under drooping branches

Final orchid sowing of the season today. Some early purple orchids, common spotted orchids and bee orchids. Hoping to try some new species next year

I planted this wood in the year 2000. Hard to believe it is only 24 years old.

Great to see @calfraser.bsky.social on Bluesky! She's the author of 'Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution' (2009), the first book I ever read on the subject, and one that I often refer back to. Please give her a follow!

The three types of bread I made yesterday.. Sourdough, multi grain and wheaten

For all the Gaeilgeoirí out there, you can search "lang:ga" to find all Bluesky posts as Gaeilge 😎 I think this platform could truly foster a strong Irish community 🤞

Bread day

Beautiful wintery scenes in the Mournes

I have been attempting to grow some native orchids from seed this year. Early days but I'm learning alot. I'm about to start my third sowing of the season

If you want yellow rattle in your meadow next year you will need to have it sown very soon. Ideally already. It needs a period of cold to germinate for next year.

Ben Crom, Mournes today Spotting so many mountain streams which could be perfect sites for upland woodland restoration What are we waiting for?

Thinking of some of the beautiful wild orchids I saw last summer on this cold winters day

Bee orchid rosette gathering energy to flower next summer!

#sneachta ar na sléibhte thar Caisleán Ruairí

Israeli soldiers have blown up whole villages in southern Lebanon, one after the other. They are making it impossible for people to return. Make no mistake, this is ethnic cleansing. Zionists have long fantasized about Lebanon as their Lebensraum and they are trying to enact it

my.actnowni.org/petitions/st... Although I have reservations about the Mournes being described as ‘pristine’ here, this project is beyond unnecessary. Please sign.

Some beautiful bog plant communities within the forestry at Rostrevor. I would love to see some peatland restoration here.

Luí na gréine tráthnóna

I'll be participating in this discussion on Tuesday evening at 7pm along with some great people, if you're interested in learning more about rewilding, and our brand new book on the subject: 'Great Misconceptions'. 🌏

Just arrived on this side from the dark side. Hoping to find some of the crowd from over there