I saw a thing in the garden (2 Viewers)

[flashback]

no mow may was good for the daisies and skutchgrass in our lawn, but also threw this up; a twayblade. it's a common orchid, but first time i'd seen one in our garden.

View attachment 17182

oh, nice.

I was living by Charles Fort for a bit, and I'd walk alongside it out the coast every day. There were was a rake of marsh orchid (I think - some class of orchid) growing along the side where the stream flowed.
I'd come down every day, marveling at this carpet of flowering orchid, and think how well they were keeping it, leaving it alone, perfect.


Turned out they were just waiting for a dry spell so they could run the mower through the place without it getting bogged down. One morning the entire lot was mowed to the ground.

I felt a bit sick.

 

[magicbastarder]

spent two days at bloom this weekend. chatted to a chap who was able to tell us that a pine marten was caught on trail cam in the phoenix park, trumped by news a little later that one was found as roadkill in drumcondra.

 

[flashback]

yeah, that Pine Marten / Red Squirrel story is lovely.

Not sure if it's apocryphal, or commonly known, but I've heard:
The grey squirrel was out competing the smaller native Red, and Red was becoming increasingly scarce.
They did some Pine Marten population restoration, and as the Marten numbers started to rise, they noticed that coincidentally Red Squirrel numbers also started bouncing back.
The hypothesis I heard was something like the Martens were hunting the Greys, who'd never really faced them as an evolutionary pressure and were unable to deal with them. The Reds, who'd evolved under pressure of Marten interaction were able to deal with them however, and they regained their niche alongside the Martens.
So, you had two species making a resurgence for the price of one.

Pine Martens are little murder machines allegedly. Cats f the Trees, they'll bite your toes because they just can't help it.

 

[magicbastarder]

all pretty much accurate bar that there wasn't any active pine marten project, they just started coming back after the persecution pressure was lifted.

 

[magicbastarder]

i was also shown video footage of a badger sett (including badger cubs), captured on a site (not going to mention where) which is about 1km from donnybrook village. nice to see they can still make it in the big smoke.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

spent two days at bloom this weekend. chatted to a chap who was able to tell us that a pine marten was caught on trail cam in the phoenix park, trumped by news a little later that one was found as roadkill in drumcondra.

I went for one day but I pretty much just focused on the food. It was my first big outing since before covid and I found it pretty overwhelming.

 

[magicbastarder]

i would have been pissed off if i was interested in gardening and had paid €30 in.
the big tent used to be full of big stands of orchid specialists, fern specialists, etc. etc.
now it's lads trying to sell you non-stick pans.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

i would have been pissed off if i was interested in gardening and had paid €30 in.
the big tent used to be full of big stands of orchid specialists, fern specialists, etc. etc.
now it's lads trying to sell you non-stick pans.

I didn’t go in there but that’s disappointing to hear. The show gardens seemed less about show and far more leaning on the marketing side of things.

 

[ann post]

Bloom was better before they sold out?

 

[Unknown Convict]

yeah, that Pine Marten / Red Squirrel story is lovely.

Not sure if it's apocryphal, or commonly known, but I've heard:
The grey squirrel was out competing the smaller native Red, and Red was becoming increasingly scarce.
They did some Pine Marten population restoration, and as the Marten numbers started to rise, they noticed that coincidentally Red Squirrel numbers also started bouncing back.
The hypothesis I heard was something like the Martens were hunting the Greys, who'd never really faced them as an evolutionary pressure and were unable to deal with them. The Reds, who'd evolved under pressure of Marten interaction were able to deal with them however, and they regained their niche alongside the Martens.
So, you had two species making a resurgence for the price of one.

Pine Martens are little murder machines allegedly. Cats f the Trees, they'll bite your toes because they just can't help it.

I heard reds, being lighter, are able to evade pine martins by going to thinner branches where they heavier greys can't.

 

[Unknown Convict]

I have houseplants, not a garden.

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[flashback]

I heard reds, being lighter, are able to evade pine martins by going to thinner branches where they heavier greys can't.

Yeah, I heard that one. I also heard that the Greys weren't nesting in appropriately hidey spots, and the Pine Martens would come in and the place ended up looking like a scene from a Quentin Tarantino film.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

Just saw this little guy

 

[ann post]

Just saw this little guy

Recording System :: Irish Hedgehog Survey

records.biodiversityireland.ie

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

Recording System :: Irish Hedgehog Survey

records.biodiversityireland.ie

Done

 

[magicbastarder]

Just saw this little guy

not necessarily a good thing that it's out in the daytime. if you have wet dog food, leave it out for it.

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

not necessarily a good thing that it's out in the daytime. if you have wet dog food, leave it out for it.

I Don't. I did think they were nocturnal alright, have seen them nearby a few times late coming home from somewhere or other

 

[seanc]

Finally saw ducklings the other day. They're nearly as big as their mum. Apparently she was hiding them in calmer waters upriver.
So that's goslings, cygnets and now ducklings. I don't see anything from the coots and moorhens, nor gulls, egrets, herons or wagtails.

Also, there's a crab knocking about. It lives in the wall.

The swans and Canada geese had a rumble today. Went on for hours. The swan was just having none of it and kept going at the goose until it fucked off. Kinda cool from a distance, less so when there's a massive bird scrap two foot from my window. I know swans are big, but, swans are BIG.

 

[flashback]

i was swimming in front of the place here last night, it was dead calm, and a few minutes after I got in I noticed a luminous point of light by my hand. I thought I'd left my watch on which has glowing numbers and I was thinking it was knackered, but I hadn't. They were these funny points of light, I don't know if they were jellyfish or what. I couldn't make out what they were, it was a dark night and also they almost seem to throw themselves into shadow.

I don't think I've ever seen them from the shore, but that night I saw a couple in the water. I mentioned it to a local and she said they might be these little fish that move closer to the shore sometimes.

 

[magicbastarder]

Rare phenomenon bioluminescence has been sighted off Dublin beaches recently

Nature really is something.Earlier in the week, there were majorly beautiful sights to be seen off Dublin coasts come nightfall.Bioluminescence occurred on the Dublin seafront at Sandycove on Monday June 12th, as a result of the recent warm but calm conditions. Flossie and the Be

lovindublin.com