May expedition

For our May expedition we were blessed with better weather and more things to see and discuss. During the month Peter and Eugene had completed our construction project (grant aided by Waterways Ireland). The bird boxes and bug hotels were treated by the young people on a Friday evening. 

They were placed along the canal and in members’ gardens. In the week preceding the expedition, a very large bug mansion was placed on the high bank near the bridge and two smaller ones along the canal towpath. These represent a huge effort on the part of Peter and Eugene and we were very pleased to receive colourful signage from Waterways Ireland. Thanks to Waterways Ireland we also now can put up signs at both ends of the walk to warn walkers and cyclists of the event.

 

 Our expedition began by spending 10 minutes looking at the moths which had been trapped overnight in the Roes’ garden beside the canal. The trap was opened in the shade of a tree and we were able to see a wide variety of moths in terms of colour, shape and size. 

The smallest one was an Epiblema scutulana, which feeds on thistles.

It doesn’t have an English name; its scientific name refers to it feeding on roots and then to its pattern resembling a Roman shield. 

It has a bird-dropping style pattern and is, therefore, confident of not being predated by birds. We passed the resting moth round the group in an egg box. A White Ermine was passed around the group in a bug viewer.

 

Despite it being sunny, we were disappointed to see few butterflies and bees. Eoin was the most successful recorder as he had been allotted the Hairy Dragonfly (Spring Hawker). Its presence and the upward growth of horsetail gave us a chance to talk about relics from the age of the dinosaurs.

Among the other things seen and discussed were:

• hawthorn in full bloom;
• Common Frog
• flag iris at the edge of the canal (the only iris native to Ireland);
• bog bean in the water.
  

Further out in the canal were the first leaves of the water lily.

Most of the newly-blooming flowers were yellow, including silverweed and bird’s foot trefoil, which attracts the Common Blue butterfly. Anther interesting yellow flower that appears on the boreen and in members’ gardens is wood avens (the only one of the three avens native to Ireland that we can see here — the others being mountain avens and water avens).

We discussed the pervasive and damaging presence of bracken, which looks like an attractive fern but which suppresses wild flowers and produces carcinogenic spores in autumn. Members were encouraged to try to eliminate it in their gardens by repeated cutting (it can take up to six years to eradicate).

   

Date: 28 May 2016 Time: 12-1.15

Attendance: 19 (including 8 children)

What we observed and talked about —

Amphibians: Common Frog

Bees: Bombus lucorum, Bombus pascuorum

Birds: Blackbird, Great Tit

 

Butterflies: Green-veined White, Orange-tip, Small Tortoiseshell

                   Speckled Wood, Wood White

Damselflies: Common Blue Damselfly

Dragonflies: Spring Hawker

Flowers: Marsh Marigold, Dandelion, Nettle, Lady’s Smock, Silverweed,

               Wood Avens, Dog Violet, Vetch, Red Clover, White Clover, Sedge,

               Water Mint, Bindweed, thistles, Flag, Buttercup, Common Plantain,

               Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Water Lily, Meadowsweet, Bog Bean, Herb Robert

Macro moths: Alder Moth, Muslin Moth, Pale Tussock, Small Square-spot,

                       White Ermine

Micro moths: Epiblema scutulana

Plants: bracken, bulrush, horsetail

Trees: elder, hawthorn, willow