Blue Bells

The first plant we noticed once the sheep were gone, was the re-emergence of the

 Wild Irish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta Coinnle corra) 

They reappeared in the East and West hedgerows.

This is one of my favourite spots in the wild garden.

Happy Earth Day 2019!

Below is a picture taken 3 years ago when the forest of 200 Irish native trees was planted - (dedicated to my parents on Earth Day 2016) and the beginnings of a natural pond/wetland. 

The second photo is of the forest today.

Re-wilding Ireland

www.wearetheark.com

Irish Bat - a Soprano Pipistrelle?

I opened the window this morning and was greeted by this face crawling from the window reveal! I managed to take this picture before it soundlessly took flight. Looking at my Batalas 2020 Identification Card from Bat Conservation Ireland - I think it’s a Soprano Pipistrelle? I’ve sent the picture onto Bat Conservation Ireland and await their reply.

The Swallows have returned!

The Swallows have returned!
While the Swallows were holidaying in Africa, the little Wren has built its nest using the Swallows' mud nest as a base. We've put up a new platorm under the eaves for future nests - but will the Swallows & Wrens co-habit?!

The Re-Wilding of An Spéir - Spring Equinox

An Spéir March 21 2019
Spring Equinox March 22nd

Aerial Photograph by
Derek Delaney Photography

An Spéir
 (meaning 'Sky', in Irish)

 is a 3 acre piece of land in County Kilkenny, Ireland.

This is to be the first of the documentation of the land
 'an Speir', Re-Wilding Ireland Project :

 'We are the Ark'
www.wearetheark.org
created by

Mary Reynolds : Nature Activist and Reformed Landscaper

www.marymary.ie

 The documentation will start with aerial photographs taken on Spring and Autumn Equinox and Mid Summer and Mid Winter Solstice for 2019 and continue for a decade to 2029.

Background of the Re-Wilding Ireland Project

The land had been grazed for decades and the first thing we noticed once the sheep were gone and while the build was taking place, was the re-emergence of the wild Bluebells in parts of the East and West hedgerows.

Once the new build was completed in 2015 and the disturbed earth was shaped and leveled, a mixture of grass seed and wildflower seeds were sewn. The first year saw a magnificent meadow mix of flowers, the next a few, mainly Ox-eye daisies and from then on the grass and buttercups took over.

We mow (with an electric mower powered by electricity from Photo Voltaic panels on the house) a roaming path around the house, through this grass.
The main paths, visible from above, through the 2 South fields are created by daily walks by myself and family, the small lateral ones by foxes and other creatures living in the dense hedgerows. On frosty days and occasional snow falls, I see someone has been out before me!

In 2015, we added a mix of 200 Irish Native tree saplings and small trees (Elm, Oak, Ash, Rowan, Beech, Alder, Holly, Crab Apple) to the South West bottom field and scooped out

section for a pond. A small area of the pond is lined with pond liner to retain some water. Frog spawn was first laid there in 2018 and again this year - the pond now a-wriggle with tadpoles. The field is often water logged, which the Alders love, and within the second year Compact Rushes have sprouted. A ditch runs along the West and South boundary and fills and empties according to the rainfall. This year, sees the appearance of sapling Goat Willow, under planting itself among the new trees and a small bush of Gorse, now in flower.

With the inspiration of Mary Reynold's book 'Garden Awakening', I've drawn up a plan to introduce a few curved 'huggles' to gently sculpt this field and create outdoor 'rooms' of interest.

Once left to re-wild, the bracken and brambles have advanced from the hedgerows onto the fields and there are many small Blackthorn saplings, now heavy with flower.

This is the time of the 'Sloe' with the fields edged with white flowering hawthorn.

Artwork by Ruth Evans Art