Wildlife Watch
What's flying what's dying, what's migrating what's waiting, what's blooming what's drooping.....
Welcome to our new page highlighting some of the wildlife that can be seen around your locality at the moment. If there is something that you are unable to identify growing in our garden, flying along the ditch outside your gate, or crawling across the school yard, take a picture and send it to us so we can put it on the website and give some information about it. Or maybe you, or your class group in school would like to write an article and send it to us for the website.
For the month of August we have chosen to feature the Red Admiral butterfly and the Fleabane plant.
Red Admiral
The Red Admiral is one of Ireland's largest and most vividly marked butterflies. When not flying, it usually basks with its wings wide open, exposing soft velvet black upper-wings and a bright band of red/orange across each forewing.
The eggs are laid singularly on the upper surface of nettle leaves and the caterpillar feeds on these leaves. The caterpillar lives in a silk 'tent', similar to a spider's silk.
The butterfly can be found in a range of different habitats, but is most common around woods, gardens, orchards and hedgerows where there is shelter and an abundance of flowers. The majority of them migrate for the winter, but there is a small number that can survive the Irish winter climate. Migrants fly to the Mediterranean or North Africa. The numbers of Red Admirals reach their peak in August and early September.
Fleabane
This plant is found in damp places and hedgerows and is common throughout the country. It is a late summer bloomer and can be seen in abundance at the moment at the Wildfowl Reserve.
It is a stiff, downy plant and can grow quite tall, sometimes up to a metre in height. The leaves are covered in soft hairs, and the daisy-like flowers are bright yellow in colour.
The plant was traditionally used for medicinal purposes, especially in treating dysentery. As the name suggests, it was also once used to banish fleas. The plant was placed on the top of the fire and the smoke that was produced drove out the fleas.