Simon Gray

Another Marsh fritillary chrysalis & a freshly emerged butterfly, my first of the year.

Thrilled to find Wall Brown butterflies, Marsh fritillary caterpillars & a pupa, & the Mint moth, all at the wonderful St John's Point, Donegal.

Still lots of Wheatears passing through at the moment, and by now most of these migrants will be continuing much further north. An unfortunate male that we found dead today was richly coloured and had a wing length of 106mm, confirming it to be the larger Greenland subspecies

Sandwich Terns are only occasional visitors to Rathlin, so it was nice to see a pair dropping in on the shore this morning. A lone Pink-footed Goose was another surprise, as was a solo Fieldfare, and a Tree Pipit heard flying somewhere in the mist was also a highlight of today

A pair of Stonechats live along this stretch of road, almost guaranteed to show well every time we dander past. The male popped up as usual this morning, looking super smart at this time of year

Male Pied Flycatcher, this one was in Deepdale but they were near Low Force this morning too

Stumbled upon an amazing carpet of Adder's-tongues today - this field was absolutely covered with them! Too many to count, but easily the most we've found in one place

Aftermath of the fire on Carn Glenshane, the fire wasn’t moving fast and so has really hammered the sphagnum and other vegetation. It’ll take a long time for this to recover! @UlsterWildlife #wildfire #glenshane

Some great encounters this week in Co.Antirm!! Love spring ! @BBCSpringwatch @bbcniweather @UlsterWildlife

A few from the descent off Coumshingaun last week after hiking through the night to photograph the milky way over the corrie lake. #hiking

This agricultural field was awash with Lady's smock, Dandelions & White butterflies today, an absolute joy to stand amidst it all in the sunshine.

Another Ring Ouzel! After Saturday's brief sighting at Kebble, a second one appeared today at Knockans. Enjoyed longer views this time, watching it hunt around in the field before it snuck away in typical fashion

Great progress controlling Skunk cabbage Lysichiton americanus along the River Liffey in last 5yrs! Native plants returning after controls applied since 2021. Funding support each year from @KildareCoCo and @DeptHousingIRL @NPWSIreland @UCDSBES @ucdscience

Ring Ouzel in Upper Teesdale @teesbirds1 @DurhamBirdClub

Red Mason Bees have emerged from their overwinter rooms in our bee hotel, 2 weeks earlier than last year due to this warm weather! ⁦@UlsterWildlife⁩ ⁦@RSPBNI⁩ ⁦@BuglifeNI⁩ ⁦@Buzz_dont_tweet⁩ ⁦@NHM_Bees⁩ #redmasonbee

Extremely windy day up on Fair Head but was worth it for the views towards Ballycastle and Knocklayd ⁦@VisitCauseway⁩ ⁦@CausewayGlens⁩ #fairhead #causewaycoast #ballycastle

A different perspective on the ancient monastery site at Nendrum ⁦@StrangfrdLecale⁩ ⁦@MGSGeotourism⁩ ⁦@NTStrangford⁩ #nendrum #strangford

Gutted for the NPWS team at Wild Nephin National Park. They built this trail with locals to make the park more accessible. It had become so popular. My department will be putting all possible resources into establishing who started the blaze. The loss of habitat is devastating.

🔥 Peatlands store carbon, support wildlife & prevent flooding—yet they’re still being burned! The Wildlife Trusts are calling for a full ban on all peatland burning to protect these vital ecosystems. It’s time for action! 🌍💚 📢 Read more: wtru.st/44dkEUW