Get outside if you have clear skies! Bright and beauteous full moon to the northeast. My phone pic does not do it justice. Such a thrill to see it after all the rain, rain, rain.

If you’re feeling left out because you couldn’t see the #northernlights, well I couldn’t either in light–polluted Dun Laoghaire. Just a faint tint of green, barely perceptible to the naked eye. My cheating phone, however, had slightly better luck. But, I still feel I didn’t witness #auroraborealis

Garden visitor: phone pic through window. He/she has been here quite a bit since the cold snap, cleaning up under the bird feeders. I’m pleased at the healthy state of his/her coat. The local foxes had a lot of mange over the last few years.

Just a phone pic. But it might encourage you to go outside and look at the magnificent moon, with Jupiter in attendance below. Lots of light pollution where I live, but the sight still thrills me.

It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad. The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.

I managed an hour for my second #NewYearPlantHunt Seventeen species in flower. This clump of Scentless Mayweed agg. is so much hardier than all its brethren on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire. And this Pot Marigold in a back lane has a very cold caterpillar on board

I wimped out after half an hour of my #NewYearPlantHunt. Didn’t make it to the seafront or any of the back lanes. I forgot to put on appropriate footwear and my feet refused to go farther. Still, I got about a dozen species in flower.

www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/o... For all my fellow knitters out there, or those who know a knitter, an absolutely beautiful animation about this intricate craft.

Support the Bill to Ban Fox Hunting in Ireland 🦊 Background & call to action here 👉 iwt.ie/support-the-... @banbloodsports.bsky.social @irishenvnet.bsky.social #BanFoxHunting

I’m trying to empty one of the filing cabinets in my office, and came across this. No idea why I kept it. From the Daily Telegraph in 1997. Older gardeners will get a laugh out of it.

Irish bird-lovers: the annual Irish Garden Bird Survey starts tomorrow 🥳 🙌 🎉 If you need a reason to keep going in the darkest days of winter, count birds. If you want to be a citizen scientist, count birds. If breakfasts are boring, count birds. Got a few spare moments? Just count birds.

Well, this was a disappointment. Is there an actually delicious brand, or are they all overhyped? The chocolate on this tasted so-so and the pistachio filling was nice enough, but nothing special. #DubaiChocolate #speirgorm #spéirghorm

There goes the Navy from Dun Laoghaire: LE George Bernard Shaw

There's a roundabout in Cork where even during the worst traffic, drivers unfailingly allow others to merge in a "zip" by local custom. Driving through it restores my faith in society, every time. I just found out it's known as the "soundabout", and that's just wonderful.

If you’re still up and have a clear sky to the east it’s worth paying your respects to the Moon (it’s a capital M moon tonight), Jupiter and Gemini. All within the width of a hand held at arm’s length. #speirgorm #spéirghorm

Nothing I watch this Halloween can compare with these lines about midges I just read in Jane Powers's "An Irish Nature Year"

This fellow cleared the garden pretty quickly 😱 🐦‍⬛🐦 😨 I’m delighted to see him on the premises again. Look at his yellow eye 😍 #sparrowhawk #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirghorm

Catherine Connolly will be elected as Ireland’s next president. The second news item at present is the vast number of spoiled votes. My thoughts on spoiled votes in the ALT TEXT OF THE PHOTO #aras25 #aras2025 #spoiledvotes #spoiltvotes #speirgorm #Spéirghorm

They were too busy to go to the polling station. As you can see. We had to leave them behind. #DogsForCatherine

A superb nature book by Chloe Dalton. The writing is so simple and *restrained*, leaving space for the reader’s own feelings and imagination. You become as intimate as any human can with the curious workings of a hare’s fragile but joyous life. How anyone can support hare-coursing beats me.

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Quite a gorgeous day for the autumn equinox in #Dunlaoghaire Harbour.

Overnight oats! I’m bombarded by ads for them on social media. Now I’m going to have to try them. What’s the best recipe?

Excellent skies up there today and that's only right, seeing as it is #cloudappreciationday #lookup

My brain is tuned mostly to nature writing these days, but I still love writing garden visits (especially when the gardener is mad for nature). Here's my latest effort in Country Life www.countrylife.co.uk/gardens/coun...

Flower crab spider (Misumena vatia) tucking into a hoverfly for dinner. Isn't she just gorgeous? 😍 #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Seven-spot ladybirds making more ladybirds 😍🐞 Lots of aphids to sustain them on this teasel 😊 #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Eristalis pertinax hoverfly doing her grooming routine: getting all the pollen and other garden detritus off her elegant wings and legs. Isn’t she a beauty? The looped vein in her wing denotes that she was once a rat-tailed maggot, bless her. #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Midsummer in my bonkers front garden: it takes a lot of bashing around to make a place look this natural. Everything is drought-resistant & nearly all are friends of #pollinators Plant names in alt text #dunlaoghaire #Irishgarden #Gardening #flowergarden #pollinatorgarden #speirgorm #spéirgorm

#AshForFuture Ireland is requesting public reporting of healthy ash trees to help collect seed from plants that are tolerant/resilient to #AshDieback shorturl.at/vYbjZ "up to 10% of ash trees have some tolerance to the disease, with 1-3% showing a high level of tolerance."

@nicwilson.bsky.social I listened to your book. It is wonderfully honest and beautifully written. And you are a great reader. Well done on so many counts. (I also have those awful anxiety phone dreams. And also have a hag stone in my pocket to ground me!)

This monster of a Californian rose, Rosa nutkana ‘Plena’ flowers only once and it suckers everywhere, but I forgive it for a few weeks every summer. The scent is permeating my whole front garden.

It's #IndependentBookshopWeek across Ireland & the UK so show your indies a bit of love! Treat yourself to a new book, notebook or a few cards & bask in the glory of supporting a local business! #IndiesRock #BookshopsRock

I’m slowly and deliciously making my way through this #urbanplants book by @trevorthebotanist.bsky.social Piece by piece he puts together the extraordinarily layered puzzle that is our urban flora. I just love this book. Just published. I hope it’s okay to give it a plug on #wildflowerhour

I can’t resist two more #urbanplants for #wildflowerhour today Wall Rue (such a perfect little fern) Great Mullein (in my wall next to footpath — can’t believe a passerby hasn’t beheaded it) #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

More #urbanplants for #wildflowerhour Dog-walk in #DunLaoghaire (where the council no longer sprays weedkiller! Hooray!) Field Poppy Long-headed Poppy Creeping Thistle Pineapple Weed + leaves of Broadleaf Plantain (swimming in blocked shore) #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

#urbanplants for #wildflowerhour #DunLaoghaire Harbour this evening: Common Mallow Mexican Fleabane Buck’s-horn Plantain Rock Sea-Spurrey #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Is this #hoverfly Luniger sp? Don’t think it’s Scaeva — but could be wrong. Couldn’t get better pic. Wings look a bit cloudy. Can #entomology or #diptera person help ID? In Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. @jillwhitelock.bsky.social #insectID #invertebrate #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

The current situation here. We got soaked on our walk (14mm rain so far) and this seemed the best idea.

Just got URBAN PLANTS by @trevorthebotanist.bsky.social Ecological, historical, social info, accessibly written. As an avid inspector of walls, pavements & other niches, this is perfect for me. You too, probably. Accompanying pics from this morning’s dog walk. More in alt text #urbannature

Perfect day in #DunLaoghaire

Baby starling season! #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

And then, this just happened! I forgive the grey day everything. #speirgorm #spéirgorm

We’re back to grey old days now. But at least it’s grey until well into the evening #grandstretch And sometimes it’s madly colourful, if you know where to look. Here’s a lofty rainbow that appeared behind our house at 9.15pm the night before last. #speirgorm #spéirgorm

For #worldbeeday here’s a common carder BB I accidentally watered in glasshouse 😕 I put her on chives & she immediately probed the florets for nectar. After a minute she sat still to dry off. 20 minutes later she had flown off. #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

And here we have the magpie on my office windowsill telling me that the window feeder is nearly empty. I forgot to put a sign on it that said ‘blue tits only’, so the hooded crows and magpies have been having a great time. #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Scenes from my birdfeeders, through the kitchen window. 1. Grey squirrel demonstrating how to get into a squirrel-proof feeder. 1. Bullfinch looking all gorgeous. He and his missus are here every day. #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Rescued this female Orange Tip butterfly from glasshouse. She was reluctant to leave my fingers. I hope she’s not injured from batting against the glass. Male Orange Tip in garden a few days ago. I hope they find each other 💕 🐛🐛🐛🐛 #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy series makes me so happy. In this book, our protagonist comes upon yet another July 12th bonfire in Northern Ireland: “More smoke, noise, people — and worst of all, accordion music.” (Audiobooks are read by Gerard Doyle, who is a complete delight.)