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💚 Wildlife and nature along my path
🦊 Amateur photos, trail camera, creative bits
🌍 NW of Ireland

02/11/2026

🌊 Meet the eider (Somateria mollissima), Ireland's heaviest duck (up to 3.04 kg)! This solitary male was swimming slowly along the rocky shore at Raghly, giving me plenty of time to take some nice photos and admire his striking plumage up close. A stunning bird with a wonderfully sociable nature, and a true seaduck. Eiders are resident along Ireland's northern and north-western coasts, but are only present as scarce winter visitors in the south of the island.

Bonus fact: male eiders have an absolutely distinctive and hilarious call that sounds as if they’ve just overheard some juicy gossip. Look it up! 🙂

31/10/2026

💀 There is something fitting about finding the old remains of this fox deep in the woodland at the end of October, when the cycle of life and death feels particularly close. Pictured is part of the lower jawbone, with two teeth still attached - once part of a breathing, beautiful creature. Now, a still and silent reminder that nature holds not only the vibrant beauty of life, but also the solemnity and mystery of its inescapable passing. And there is beauty in that, too.

29/10/2026

🦭 Yaaaawwwwn... apparently, even seals have those kinds of days! I caught this common seal (Phoca vitulina) mid-yawn at low tide, making for a rather unusual shot. Quite an impressive set of teeth!

26/10/2026

🌊 A common tern (Sterna hirundo) in flight, with Saint John's Point lighthouse and the southern coast of Donegal in the background. This species winters along the coasts of West and South Africa. This one seems reluctant to leave Ireland behind, but the long journey awaits - safe travels, little wanderer!

25/10/2026

🤔 What do you think is going on with this badger’s muzzle? I love playing wildlife detective whenever a good trail camera mystery comes along! When I first watched this footage, I wondered if it was simply an odd reflection of light, sometimes known as lens ghosting. This can happen with infrared trail cameras, particularly in wet conditions, and it was a very rainy night! But looking more closely, I suspect he/she might have had some leaves or perhaps seed burrs (burdock?) stuck just above the nose. What do you think?

23/10/2026

🦅 The eagle and the crow. Look at the size of that massive wing! Having the rook in the frame really helps put things into perspective and gives a great sense of just how massive a white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) really is. At this particular moment, she was beating her wings out of sync, perhaps making a slight turn or adjusting to the wind. But I want to believe she had spotted me and gave me a little wave! 😬

I've still got a few more decent photos and videos of her from last week. Rather than flooding the page with eagle content (tempting as that may be!), I'll share them bit by bit to keep things varied. I hope you won't mind seeing a little more of this beauty!

22/10/2026

🦌 Watchers in the fog. The local herd of fallow deer (Dama dama) shrouded in the early morning mist.

21/10/2026

👑 Another birdwatching first for me this month, following the white-tailed eagle (more photos coming soon!) and the greater yellowlegs: I finally managed to photograph a kingfisher! A female, as you can tell from her orange lower bill (should I say "queenfisher" then? 🤔). And speaking of royalty, I love how the little bit of wood sticking up from the pole she's perched on looks like a crown on her head!

I've seen kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) plenty of times, but almost always as a shrill flash of blue darting across the water, never giving me a chance to take a photo. This time, I managed to keep my eyes on her until she settled on a perch far away for a few seconds, just long enough to grab this shot at maximum zoom. It's far from a good photo, but I'm delighted to finally tick "photograph a kingfisher" off my bucket list!

20/10/2026

🦌 Male fallow deer (Dama dama) locking antlers in a little friendly tussle! The fallow deer rut is now in full swing, with vocal activity generally running from September through November. This clip is from a while back, but I've never shared it before. Just wish I'd set the trail camera a few steps further back to capture more of the action, but I'm still delighted to have picked the right location and angle based on the field signs!

19/10/2026

🤩 The star of yesterday's lovely outing with the Sligo branch of Birdwatch Ireland was this greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca). A rare vagrant from America, and a first record ever for Sligo!

With its greenshank-like appearance, it might not be the most striking bird at first glance - I suppose it probably won't get as many likes as the white-tailed eagle 😜 - but for wildlife lovers and birdwatchers of all experience levels, it's a truly exciting and memorable sighting, and a lifer for me!

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