😊

Special thanks to @joannedenyer.bsky.social for travel across the country and sharing all her knowledge as always :)

Great day @bbsbryology.bsky.social outing exploring a woodland just outside of Maigh cuilinn on the weekend. Highlights included a lovely wooded cliff face with Hymenophyllum tunbrigense and this suspect Anthoceros sp. + more@joannedenyer.bsky.social @aoife-emb.bsky.social @ollysflora123.bsky.social

Cololejeunea calcarea (rock pouncewort) growing on limestone in this lovely woodland last week. Cluain na mbinne, Gaillimh

Today we split up and tackled two different sites. We returned to a previously treated woodland to assess progress and we're happy to see minimal regrowth and the natives bouncing back. However we weren't so happy to see the giant Rhodo growing at the second site! Our work continues...

Coill i Cluain na binne, thuaidh ó Maigh cuilinn. Very lush limestone woodland and some Neckera crispa and Ctenidium molloscum sporophytes, never consciously noticed these before

Galway Green Drinks continues to grow!

What an incredible turnout for this month's Green Drinks! Thanks to all who joined us and especially to @hannahmul.bsky.social for teaching us all about turloughs.

Stop a Canadian corporation harvesting huge forests of seaweed from the west coast There should be a public consultation on this plan opening soon but lets gather signatures to demonstrate the fact that up and down the west coast, thousands of people don't want our seaweed rights gi...

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: my.uplift.ie/petitions/st... @uplift.ie

Tetraphis pellucida with its distinctive gemmae cups (although I think there would sometimes be more of them than my sample had) growing on a wooded ledge in Leic aimhréidh. A first for me, thanks @joannedenyer.bsky.social for confirming :)

(Eurosong 1996) - Sean Monaghan - "Amhran an ronnach" YouTube video by NN2006

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQTk...

Looks like a Conocephalum species, potentially C. conicum

Suspect Anthelia julacea, always a tricky one to photo (well!) from the Mourne mountains this weekend. The records suggest it isn't very common there

Go raibh maith agat, ní raibh ann ach seans. Ní raibh mé á chuarta

Likely Rhabdoweisia crenulata growing at high altitude on a NE rock face. Another first for me and the maamturks/Mám toirce records it seems. Thanks @nimbosaecology.bsky.social for ID help

Scapania ornithopoides. Céad uair agam an speiceas seo a fheiceail agus an chéad suíomh dhó sna Mám Toirce cé go bhfuil roinnt maith cuntais dhó ó na beanna beola. Rud aláinn a bhfaca mé fhéin agus @timoceallaigh.bsky.social lá oíche nollaig

An-suimúil, cheapaim go dhá craobh coll a bhí ann sa gcás seo ach i ndáiríre níor smaoineadh mé air mórán

Glue Crust (Hydnoporia corrugata) I suspect from coill Seanna gurrán @irishwoodlandtrust.bsky.social nature reserve. Seems to be no records for the species in Conamara and not something I have ever seen around

Also some riverside Huperzia at fairly low altitude and suspect sparrowhawks dinner table

Fontinalis squamosa from Bavan, Cooley Mountains, Co. Louth in upland boulder stream

Doesn’t seem to be previously recorded from this region

@bbsbryology.bsky.social

and for my anti-Rhodo propaganda here's my favourite vascular plant demonstrating its potential to shade out the Braunia @rhodorangers.bsky.social

Glyphomitrium daviesii growing on outcrop (photo taken by Rudraksh Gupta)

Hedwigia stellata on outcrop (photo taken by Rudraksh Gupta)

A nice day out in north Conamara today with my friend Rud to revisit a population of Braunia imberbis and do a bit of recording. Hedwigia stellata and Glyphomitrium daviesii were particularly nice looking also. Thanks to @nimbosaecology.bsky.social for the heads up on seeing G. daviesii

Small acorns ✅️
Mighty oaks 🔳
Massive woodlands 🔳

ó mhac a deo, cén uair a bhfeicfeas muid an ribe róibéis sa gcoill?

Aspen, restricted to just two islands on the lough. Haven't recorded it on any other lough islands but occurs very sparingly on some mainland coastal cliff sites.

Yew berry.

Rock Whitebeam with Derryclare conifer plantation and hill in the background. The species seems to favour the western, more exposed sides of islands. Probably doesn't tolerate too much shading from bigger trees but as a result is often quite wind-burnt and stunted.

Mature Yew tree. Red Deer are starting to have a negative effect on vegetation structure and tree regeneration. They happily swim out to these little oasises for shelter and productive feeding.

Nice day out on the islands of Derryclare Lough on Tuesday. We were out to collect Yew berries & cuttings for propagation for further planting locally. We were also hoping to collect some Rock Whitebeam berries as well but didn't find any unfortunately. Quite a rare species away from Killarney.

Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)

Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Juniper Juniperus communis subsp. nana & Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) amongst Ling Heather.

Lichen

Took a trip up to Tully Mountain SAC/Letter Hill about a fortnight ago. It's designated for it's European dry, Alpine & Boreal heaths. Unusually for an upland site in Connemara, it's in good condition due to low numbers of sheep present. Juniper & Bearberry were frequent at the higher elevations.

Tá mé an-bhródúil a bheith pairteach don ghrúpa iontach seo i nGaillimh. Dream díocasach agus daoine álainn freisin

Turns out a combination of not using That Other Site and the economic landscape at the moment in general does, in fact, makes fulfilling the whole "starving artist" stereotype a whole lot more achievable 😅

To round up my year of biological recording, here are my favourite finds from each month of 2025!

January - Jubula hutchinsiae

I re-found this colony recorded in 2004 in the Glen Stream, co. Down. A v interesting & unmistakable oceanic liverwort of humid wooded stream valleys

Thanks to everyone who braved the weather to join us tonight! We had a fantastic talk about the future of food and land use in Ireland by Dr. David Styles, Associate Professor in Agri-sustainability at the
University of Galway.

I was going to get you another mattock instead :P