White-winged Black Tern

On Sunday 5th June a White-winged Black Tern dropped in to Lough Atedaun, Corofin, County Clare.  This striking tern should be in eastern Europe, nesting within some marshland.  The bird spent the day feeding along the North and west shores of the lake, occasionally landing on a lily pad for a rest.  This is the sixth county record of this rare tern. Previous records were two in the 1800's, three in the 1900's and this one in 2011.

Kilcoole

During my travels last week I paid a visit to a few friends who are wardens at  the Little Tern colony at Kilcoole Beach in County Wicklow.  I managed to photograph some of the Little Terns flying up and down the beach.  While I was there we came across a wide range of wildlife as can be seen from the selection of photographs below.

 Little Tern in flight

 Little Tern hover

 Oystercatcher on beach

 Common Blue Butterflies male & female

 Ghost Moth

 Unidentified Bug possibly a rare Eurydema dominulus?

 Skylark

 Ringed Plover

 Shelduck at Webbs Field

Sunset over Webb's Field & the Sugarloaf Mountain to the right

Elephant Hawk Moth

At another area of Kerry while doing some work, I lifted a piece of galvanise to see this freshly hatched colourful Elephant Hawk Moth Deilephilia elpenor fly out from beneath the galvanise.

Green Weevil

Also near Brosna in Kerry, these Green Weevils Phyllobius pomaceus were in large quantities, eating their way through lots of Bramble leaves.

Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar

I came across this Garden Tiger Moth Acrtica caja Caterpillar near a roadside, just outside Brosna Village on the Kerry Limerick border during the week.

White-tailed Bumble Bee

White-tailed Bumble Bees have been out and about for over a month now.  I noticed more actively searching for nectar during one warm day this week.

Large Red Damselfly

This Large Red Damselfly was one in my garden over the last few days and one of the first I have seen out and about this year.