National Dawn Chorus Day; Mini BioBlitz report; Amazing Fact and more - 15th May 2012

female Great Tit

Goodness, isn’t spring just so slow! Our temperatures are depressed, those northerly winds are a complete pain and the advances that our plants, invertebrates, birds and mammals were making in March, have all dissipated with the opposite now taking place – in fact good numbers of breeding birds are already failing if not delaying their breeding attempts. And as for those butterfly and dragonfly records – again they seem to be really late, certainly here in the south-east. When you think that the Met Office broadly class spring as March, April and May, with summer being June, July and August – what happened to our spring? And speaking of spring, this next few weeks is normally that time of the year when not only are our wild flowers at their flowering best, but it is also that time for those most special plants – our wild orchids. During the week, The Irish National Heritage Park, Ferrycarrig, had an excellent showing of Early Purple Orchids dotted about in the shaded woodland and there were Early Purple Orchids on the roadside in Murrintown a couple of days ago – just delightful plants. Another week and we should be finding Bee Orchids closely followed by Pyramidal, Fragrant, Butterfly and the various Spotted species – do we really appreciate just how lucky we are with these delicate, and highly susceptible to any changes in environmental and soil conditions, species of plant….

Scarce Prominent

NATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY: Is this Sunday– that is Sunday 20th May, at 4.30am with the Wexford Naturalists’ Field Club leading the Annual Dawn Chorus Day at the Irish National Heritage Park, Ferrycarrig, Wexford. The Dawn Chorus is FREE, though there will be a charge for breakfast for those that wish to avail of this social occasion. There is ample car parking so why not join Don Conroy, Alan McGuire and Chris Wilson and enjoy this ‘SPECIAL’ ANNUAL SPRING EVENT.

Early Purple Orchids

The recent Mini BioBlitz at The Irish National Heritage Park, Ferrycarrig, and run by the Wexford Naturalists’ Field Club was a great success – the relaxed atmosphere, the beautiful weather and the really quite significant total of species recorded in those few hours made for an excellent day out. There are some really nice wildlife habitats and nature walk areas around the grounds of the park, and these obviously contributed to the total of 334 species recorded – and not all the species lists are in yet! Highlights were probably the Comma butterfly, a new location for this expanding species in Co. Wexford and the delightful display of Early Purple Orchids dotted about the park. Positive feedback from the occasion means that this particular activity will again be on the agenda for next year. Many thanks for all those that participated and helped to organise the day, with particular thanks to the Staff at the Heritage Park who more than excelled themselves in their welcome and help.

male Orange Tip butterfly

A REMINDER - WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION, JOHN F KENNEDY ARBORETUM: The last fifteen days of the delightful works of Edward (Edno) W. Delaney, New Ross in his ‘Nature In Focus’ Wildlife Photographic Exhibition at John F Kennedy Arboretum, New Ross – try not to miss it, as it is well worth seeing. John F Kennedy Arboretum opening hours are 10am to 8pm daily – with last admissions 45 minutes before closing.

DID YOU KNOW? That our Hedgehog – Scientific name: Erinaceus europaeus. Irish name: Gráinneog - has one or two litters of young each year, with four to five young in each litter. A baby hedgehog is called a ‘hoglet’, a term introduced only in the mid 1990s to describe the young. Hedgehogs are usually nocturnal, sleeping for a large portion of the day in the shelter of hedgerows, under bushes or in a suitable hole. Our hedgehogs hibernate through the winter with length of hibernation determined by temperature and abundance of food. There are between 5000 and 6500 spines on the average adult hedgehog. Hedgehogs are good climbers and are also well able to swim. One of the most reliable ways of checking trends in hedgehog populations is to count the number of corpses on particular lengths of road – sadly because on hearing danger approaching they curl up in a ball instead of fleeing.

WILDLIFE RECORDS: All the records collected in the Mini BioBlitz 6 hours will be added to the County’s Wildlife Database – more useful information for our biodiversity. If you have any records do please continue to provide by email to records AT wexfordnaturalists.com or info AT wildside.ie. or 'On Line' at www.wexfordnaturalists.com. They can also be posted to Harm at ‘Records Officer’, Wexford Naturalists’ Field Club, c/o Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, North Slob, Wexford, or by phone to Wexford Wildfowl Reserve on 053-9123129. Thank you for your help.

AMAZING FACT: The male Emperor moth can detect the pheromones of a virgin female of his own species from a distance of 11km (7miles). The chemoreceptors on the male’s antennae can detect a single molecule of the scent of which the female carries less than 0.0001mg.

Next week’s ‘WEXFORD’S WILD HERITAGE’ radio programme will be on between 12.15pm and 12.45pm on ‘The Saturday Show’ on South East Radio on Saturday 26th May. Supported by South East Radio and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, the show features Don Conroy, Alan McGuire and Chris Wilson, on location, from around the County. For more information, or to hear last week’s show why not log onto www.wildside.ie.