I was coming through Clonmel around 11pm last night. A fella was thumbing at the last roundabout.

He was in a tracksuit and unsteady on his feet.

I usually try pick lads up, as I used to have to thumb myself and know what it's like to be stuck

But it was late...

For landowners, policymakers or environmental professionals this going to be interesting!

Delighted to have re-found Killarney Fern where it was 1st recorded in Co. Clare by Thomas Hughes Corry in 1879. I presented this and other recent fieldwork highlights at a fantastic BSBI Ireland Spring Conference 2024 yesterday at the National Botanic Gardens.

Excellent talk by Phoebe O'Brien on Biodiversity Ireland invasive plant species guide available to buy & lessons learned. See pics. Also new book co-written by Phoebe coming at Xmas on invasive plants of Britain and Ireland. #BSBISpringConference

Fascinating talk by Philip Keena from ATU MFRC using underwater drones to survey for aquatic plants & finding rare charophytes w/Cillian Roden in Connemara. #BSBISpringConference

Inspiring talk by Donncha Ó Catháin on refinding Fern records in Clare from old historic records. Gr8 example of refinding Killarney Fern recorded by botanist Corry frm 1880 who sadly died at age of 23 out in field 😞. Refinds can tell us abt change. #BSBISpringConference

Bookings for #BSBISpringConference close tonight...so be quick and visit bsbi.org/irish-conferen… if you'd like to come along and find out what's new in Irish botany! Its all free too. BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland NBG Ireland National Parks and Wildlife Service Oonagh Duggan Micheline Sheehy Skeffington Olly Lynch Milner Phoebe O'Brien

Hearing the vice president of the IFA on the radio this morning saying 'we need some help from mother nature'. I couldn't help but think Mother Nature nature feels similarly about the IFA...

Illa de Cortegada, unha verdadeira selva atlántica 🌿

This is a thread about hedges. They matter more than you think. And they are way more interesting. Let me explain… (1/12)

This is how biodiversity loss happens.

A wet patch of a field drained.

And for what?

A bit of marginal grazing in an unprofitable system.

Agri-environment schemes count for little when landowners can do such damage (often inside the law) with impunity.

Ag spaisteoireacht..

I would love to know what these tiny ?eggs on Lungwort are. Growing on Oak, #Mayo #insects

Quercus robur (one of 2 oaks species that are native to Ireland) in a city park in Malaga. Strange to see it without epiphytes; any specimens of this size at home will usually be covered in moss and polypody ferns!

An Ghleann/The Glen in Newry

Such a crying shame that Cherry Laurel is ubiquitous here, and people use it as a dump for household waste.

Positively, wood anemone and lesser celandine peaking through now. Suspected Lophocolea fragrans and Lejeunea lamacerina on shaded rocks.

Striking landscape-scale habitat loss in mid-Co. Clare region. (Images 2017 - 2023).

Hoping for improved regulation on foot of newly-launched National Biodiversity Action Plan 🤞

Time will tell..

An excellent week in the temperate rainforests of Cornwall monitoring the SW populations of Killarney Fern Trichomanes speciosum. They’re so much larger, broader and further creeping than the northern plants. Good amounts of regen from gametophyte too. #Wildflowerhour

Nice line of oaks growing precariously from a rocky scrap.. Leafy liverworts a plenty including Saccogyna & plagiochila.

Scarlet elfcup, script lichen, and glue fungus. Perfect vernacular names to describe their appearance!

Epic 200 metre urban hedgerow with GalwayCountyCouncilClimateAction in Tuam.

100 Goat willow
200 Hawthorn
90 Spindle
100 Guelder rose
50 Dog rose
150 Hazel
75 Bird cherry
75 Wild Cherry
50 Elder