Why did the mushroom go to the party?

Why did the mushroom go to the party?

Because he was a fun guy! Ah yes, it’s the old ones that are definitely best. But what are Fungi? Well they’re Fungi. Mushrooms, Toadstools, Molds, Yeasts and Truffles are all organisms that belong to a group called Fungi. There are about 70,000 species of fungi but it has been estimated that when unidentified and potentially undiscovered fungi are taken into account, then the total could be up to 1.5 million. That’s a helluva lot of shrooms.

Fungi are thought to have evolved about 900 million years ago from an organism that also gave rise to animals. This means that the humble mushroom that sits atop your steak on the dinner plate is actually more closely related to the cow that the steak came from then the carrots and potatoes that sit beside it. What distinguishes fungi from plants (in simple terms) is that they can’t make their own food by photosynthesis.

Fungi are so diverse it defies belief at times. 37 species have been recorded in the ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear power station. They have been found in severely contaminated areas and research suggests that they may be biodestructors of extremely radioactive material. They have been found in areas that have levels of radiation that are10,000 times higher than the level that can kill humans.

In 2000, a species called Armillaria ostoyae was found in Oregon that had been working it’s way through the soil slowly growing to an unimaginable size and killing trees as it went about it’s business. It covered 2,200 acres and was thought to be 2,400 years old. This fungi started off life as a single spore so small that it could only be seen through a microscope, and slowly grew over time to become the largest living organism ever found.

Mind boggling!!

Here are a couple of shots of Irish Mushrooms I took the other day in Howth. I went there specifically to find mushrooms but I didn’t think I would find the amount I did. They were everywhere. I haven’t identified any yet, but my id book isn’t the greatest. It only covers the commonest species. I must ask Santa for a more concise one. It’s definitely the right time of year to go mushroom hunting. There are many, many photo opportunities out there at the moment with various fungi covering almost every grassy and wooded area you can come across. That reminds me of an old joke. Why did the Fungi leave the party? Because there wasn’t mush room!

Yep, as I said earlier, it’s the old ones that are best.

www.davemcmanusphotography.com

The Butterfly Bush

I’ve always known that Buddleja was a seriously important plant for insects, but until a couple of weeks ago when I saw the one growing in the garden of my mothers next door neighbour, I didn’t realise just how important it really is. To say the plant was alive with butterflies was a gross understatement. It’s for this very good reason that Buddleja davidii is known as the butterfly bush.

Buddleja is technically an invasive species and is commonly found on waste ground, but something that provides so much benefit to insect species can hardly be looked upon as a bad thing. It can grow out of control very quickly if it isn’t pruned and this is a major reason why it isn’t seen in many gardens but with only a small amount of effort it can be contained and once it starts flowering in the summer months, the rewards make the effort of pruning worthwhile. This plant attracts almost every species of nectar sipping butterfly and moth as well as a fine collection of bees and other pollen spreading insects.

The plant has a very attractive purple coloured flower and many people mistake it for Lilac. There are about 100 species of the plant but for photographers it’s the davidii variety we are interested in. It’s beginning to tail off now for the year but there are still good blooms to be found along rail sidings. That purple flower you keep seeing out the window as the train heads into town is Buddleja. It is a key plant to have on your side if you want to capture photos of Red Admirals, Peacocks and Painted Ladys. Due to a variety of commitments, I was unable to make the best use of the plant this year but I will be making it a priority next year so I can get that perfect image of a Peacock that I’ve been after for a while now. I’m planting it in the new garden as well so let’s hope it takes.

In the meantime, there are still flowering shrubs out there and butterflies looking for their last meal before they too tail off so best of luck. Maybe there’s still one final decent image of the year left too take.

www.davemcmanusphotography.com

Wasps - Public Enemy Number 1?

It’s that time of year again folks. That’s right, it’s Wasp Bashing Season!! Maybe a strange pursuit for an environmentally sensitive soul like me, but I hate them! Period! Full Stop! You may think I am exaggerating here, but I’ve always considered Wasps to be the terrorists of the insect world. They spend their day flying around looking for innocent humans to torment and pick on. And when they get annoyed by our flapping and flailing, they line up their sights and come in for the kill with Red Baron like precision.

Actually wasps, and quite specifically Vespula vulgaris, the Common Wasp, are quite interesting animals. They are a highly social animal and live in nests numbering 2000. They make a nest so complex and strong that it puts all our architectural attempts to shame and yet they scare a lot of people. I’m sure that this can be put down to their sting.

A feature unique to the wasps is that the venom with which they sting contains a pheromone which alarms all other wasps in the area and invites them to join the attack on the victim, a bit like the way sharks will home in on the scent of blood. Bees fly in swarms and have the reputation for attacking in swarms, (think of the Africanized Honey Bee in the U.S.) but a bee won’t attack you unless it has to. The mechanism of a bee sting is fatal to the bee as it can only use its sting once, whereas the wasp can sting multiple times. So if you do get stung by a wasp, then get out of the area fast because more will find you to protect their buddy and sting the hell out of you.

At this time of year, between August and October, worker wasps are attracted into houses by fruit and jams. They love the juice from plums and apples and once it’s hot you can expect a few visitors during the day. They will travel a distance to get to a food source so the presence of wasps doesn’t necessarily mean there is a nest nearby but there may well be. I once had one in the house next door and it was an impressive sight watching them come in and out of the hive like planes landing and taking off from an airport.

So what do you do if you have a nest in your house/garden? Well, personally, I’d have a nervous breakdown as wasps are my enemy number one but once I got over that I’d call in pest control because I wouldn’t go near one and my advice to you guys would be to do the same. You can buy powder, spray and a type of expanding foam, which is said to work very well, but professionals are there for a reason and that’s why I call the wasp busters.

One insect even scarier than a wasp and relatively uncommon in Ireland is their close cousin the Hornet (Vespa crabro). A big brown and yellow devil that would strike fear into a pillar of granite. But looks can be deceiving. The Hornet is actually much less aggressive than most smaller wasps and has been observed actually retreating backwards when approached. Along with bees and fruit it has been known to eat the odd wasp larvae or two and is partial to the adults as well. It is also totally benign to humans. It doesn’t seek us out at all and will land on you without putting you in any danger. Maybe what we need is more hornets. A non aggressive, scary eater of all things waspish. I love it. Of course, they do defend their nests. Aggressively. In fact if you get too close they will attack you and defend their home with extreme prejudice and leave you in ribbons. So we just need to give them a little space and point them in the direction of their dinner of ‘my’ choice.

Yes, I think I could live with a Hornet for a neighbour, but until I’m able to erect the “beware of hornet” sign in the garden I’ll have to make do with the rolled up newspaper. And even though I should be more tolerant, I will continue to exact my measure of revenge upon the winged demons that torment me so. I really hate wasps!!

Litter Bugs Me

I’ve been known to have a rant about the odd thing or two in my time but one thing that constantly annoys me is litter. It amazes me the lengths people will go to, to avoid disposing of their rubbish in a proper manner.

Up to a few years ago I spent a lot of time fishing Irelands beaches. I was convinced at the time that I was the only angler who took their waste fishing line and rubbish home with them. Rolled up balls of line and reams of crumpled newspaper littered beaches. It was despairing to look at.

Whenever I walk with our dog along Dollymount beach on North Bull Island, I get the same feeling. Rarely have I seen a beach as polluted as Dollymount. It really is in a shocking condition and Dublin City Council should be taken to task over it. I will soon be taken photos of this beach and sending them to the powers that be and looking for an explanation as to why it is never cleaned.

Anyway, last week I was down in Howth trying to take a decent photo of the Bailey Lghthouse (which I didn’t manage – light wrong, not enough cloud etc, etc) and I scrambled down the cliff walk to Jameson Beach. Now this ain’t easy to get to. It involves a bit of a camel hike along the cliff walk and then the way down to the beach is quite worn, and overgrown with foliage. It takes effort, and yet when I got down there I found the beach festooned in beer cans and in one area the remains of a barbeque was neatly piled in one corner.

Did the people responsible for this litter think that by stacking it neatly, it would simply disappear? Or that maybe the council do a cliff clean service. It beggars belief really, but then again, that’s the type of world we live in. One were a small selection of the population don’t mind ruining the natural environment we live in. I mean, surely the most difficult part of the day was bringing it all down there in the first place?

Anyway, litter bugs me.

Unidentified Insects

I have opened a new gallery on the website entitled "Unidentified Insects". The title speaks for itself. Insects can be notoriously difficult to identify. Even when you have corrobberating photographic evidence from books or the web there is still a margin for error. It bothers me that customers may purchase a print from me thinking it
is a certain insect, only to find out at a later date that it is the wrong species. Until I get absolute confirmation from an expert, I think this is probably the best route to take. Any and all contributions from visitors to this blog or the website on identities will be most appreciated. Hopefully I can ensure that there are no mistakes made on identifications.

North Bull Island

I seem to be spending a lot of time on North Bull Island lately, trying to get to grips with the multitude of wildlife opportunities that a photographer can expect when he gets here. It’s amazing how much you can learn about your chosen craft. No matter how much you know, something new will always pop out of the woodwork and surprise you. I liken it to fishing in that even if you go out purposely looking for a specific subject you can often come back with a different, and very unexpected, catch in the bag.

I was walking through the Marram Grass looking for Common Blue butterflys resting on the stems when I came across a curious little bug of some sort. I had a feeling that it was the larvae stage of something but quite what that something was I had no idea. There was something familiar about it, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It turned out to be the larvae stage of a ladybird. As you can see in the photo, the head is still very recognisable as that of a ladybird but the rest of the body couldn’t be more different. When seeing one of the photos, my wife likened it to a tiny armadillo. It does bear a strange resemblance to one.

Common Blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus) and Six Spotted Burnets (Zygaena filipendulae) are now in abundance on the island accompanied by a lot of Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) but time moves quickly in nature and the blues in particular will start to disappear for the year soon enough. The aforementioned Ladybirds are everywhere. It’s the seven spotted variety that appear to be dominant and you can see plenty on the grasses where the dunes meet the beach proper. Get out and have a nose around before winter sets in and they’re all gone for another season.

I also came across a fabulous looking moth called the Drinker ( Euthrix potatoria) which is a lovely orange brown colour and gets it’s name apparently from it’s caterpillars which have a penchant for drinking drops of dew.

Most peoples thoughts will hardly have shifted into winter mode yet, but I'm busy trying to work out where the best position for a hide will be this winter. The island is a nature reserve and a very important bird sanctuary for many geographically important species. As the insects begin to disappear, my thoughts will start to turn to what can be captured on film over the winter months. I'm quite looking forward the temperature dipping a few degrees.

Nature On Your Doorstep

It always amazes me how far people will travel to see wildlife when there is every chance that you can see the same animals in your own area. Okay, there are always exceptions. If you live in the middle of a city like Dublin, you’re unlikely to see Pine Martins hopping from building to building while walking down Grafton Street. There are however, plenty of places in Dublin where you can see a huge range of wildlife species. It all depends what you are looking for.

On a recent photo session down the causeway road, heading towards Dollymount, I came across 5 species of butterfly. They were Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Small Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis urticae) and Green Veined White (Pieris napi). Cinnabar and Burnet Moths were busy feeding on Thistle beside the interpretive centre. There was a Kestrel hovering above the dunes and Egrets and Herons feeding at the waters edge on the mudflats. Curlews and Oystercatchers flew overhead and the sound of Terns was coming from the beach, presumably they were feeding on Sandeels.

The bright yellow flowers of Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) mixed in well with the lilac coloured Thistle heads while in the dunes Hares Foot Clover (Trifolium arvense) mixed with Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulnerary) and a smattering of purple Common Vetch (Vicia saliva) in the grassier areas.

All in all, this short session showed that there is an abundance of wildlife just down the road from Raheny, and this doesn’t include Saint Annes Park which is another hotbed of wildlife activity. North Bull Island is a great example of a nature reserve within spitting distance of a city and it’s proof, if indeed proof was ever needed, that you don’t have to travel far to find wildlife. Sometimes all you need to do is slow down, open your eyes and just see what unfolds around you.

North Bull Island or ‘Dollyer’ as it’s known to most Dubliners is a sand island that came into being due to construction of the North Bull Wall in the early 1800’s., starting of life as a sandbar It is a haven for wildlife, with the mudflats at the back of the island being of international importance for birdlife. As such it became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981.

Hello

Blogging is the way forward, or so I have been told, so here I am. I have unleashed myself on the world with a blog which should get filled with the weekly ramblings of a photographer with lots of time on his hands. Actually, in truth, I’ve started this as a way of de-stressing myself from the extraordinarily stressful job of renovating our house. Everything I own is covered in dust, cement, sawdust, plaster – you name it, it just goes on and on and my head is at breaking point. What better way of shedding the stresses of life than writing about photography and the subjects I photograph and sharing it with the world?

I’m primarily a wildlife and nature photographer with a very healthy interest in photographing horse racing as well. My work is mainly based in Dublin, Ireland as that is where I’m from and live. Dublin is a lovely city when you view it from the perspective I do. We may be in the middle of a recession and financial crisis but that doesn’t take away from the fact that we have some wonderful scenery and wildlife in our fair city. I mean, over 6 million people visit Ireland annually and most of them come through Dublin. Of course, those stats were before the recession, and they’re probably coming for the Guinness and not the Molly Malone statue, but still they come and their reward is a beautiful city with many natural highlights. Through this blog and my website I hope to show you those highlights.

If there's one thing I love, it's insects, and there will be plenty on show here through the summer. People can walk through a field, a grassy verge or even their back garden and be completely unaware of the invertebrate metropolis right under their feet. I shall be covering topics that cover all aspects of wildlife photography and not just the subjects of the photos.

I'll see you all soon.